Stanley-Boyd Schools open August 20, under the threat of COVID-19. Let us pray for the health and safety of the students, teachers, administrators and parents, who will be involved under these unusual circumstances. With a mix of in classroom and distance learning for students, many are woefully aware of the deficient broadband service in rural areas. Wisconsin is reportedly behind many other states in expanding broadband services. According to the Federal Communication Commission, nearly 500,000 rural Wisconsin residents lack broadband access. In an attempt to allow rural areas to join the digital age, some area legislators are attempting to get legislation passed that would provide incentives to internet providers to expand fiber-optic lines to rural areas. Lack of access to high speed cable services has also been a complaint of rural businesses for many years. Perhaps with school needs and work from home, a necessity for many, there will be progress forthcoming on this issue. *** We have entered the time period when political yard signs in Stanley are now legal. Word from an ardent Democrat is that prior to August 5, placement of political signs was not legal, but the Stanley Police Department did not enforce the law. *** Over in Thorp the law must have been different, as numerous Trump signs, and a lone Biden sign, appeared on Stanley Street way before August 5. Stanley Street is the street you enter Thorp on, if you travel there on County Highway X. Rumors in Thorp are that there is behind the scenes talk about changing the name of Stanley Street to Trump Avenue, if President Trump wins reelection. I think the person who reported this to me is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) but he indicated that those promoting the change think Thorp can make a name for themselves by being the first Wisconsin city to honor Trump in this fashion. I think he was kidding?? But then, who knows?? *** Speaking of President Trump, he has appointed a new Postmaster General and there seems to be a considerable amount of controversy regarding the appointment. We won’t get into the politics, but I will say since the new appointee, the mail service to Stanley has not been good for the newspaper exchanges that come to The Stanley Republican from nearby communities. Newspapers mailed from Owen and Neillsville on Tuesday, July 28, or Wednesday, July 29, never arrived in Stanley until Tuesday, August 4. So, it takes 7 or 8 days to get a newspaper the 21 miles from Owen, or the 45 miles to Stanley from Neillsville? Not exactly good service. *** Fall hunting is soon to be upon us. The high-profile Elk Hunt in Wisconsin will take place from October 17 through November 15, and December 10-18, and again only in the Clam Lake Elk Management Zone. According to the DNR, just shy of 28,000 applications were received for the four permits that were awarded to Wisconsin hunters from Appleton, Junction City, Marengo and McFarland. A harvest of ten elk was approved by the Natural Resources Board in May. Besides the four permits noted above, one permit goes to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for a raffle, and five permits are awarded to the Ojibwe Tribe, in accordance with a Ceded Territory Treaty. *** By now you have likely read, or heard of, the Verso paper mill shutdowns in Wisconsin Rapids and Duluth. There are over 1,000 mill workers that will be affected by the closures. But beyond that, there is the economic and environmental effects on the Wisconsin counties that have county owned forest lands. The Wisconsin County Forest Association has released a statement noting that forest products are the second largest industry in the state, supporting more than 64,000 jobs and contributing over $24 billion annually to the economy. The two Verso mills mentioned above, bought nearly 25 percent of the raw materials harvested in Wisconsin, much of which came from county forest lands., with the majority of that being low-grade hardwood pulp. The biggest effects will be the management of healthy forests will be reduced, and the prices paid by others are likely to fall as a high volume of pulpwood that went to Vescso will cause a back-up at other mills and thus a price drop will be experienced. Revenue from county forest sales in many cases supplemented county budgets or have been used for special projects. That is likely to change. *** A couple of nice things that crossed my desk this past week: Children fall in love with books because of the memories created when they snuggled up and read with someone they love. +++ When the coronavirus finally exhausts itself and the danger is over, let’s do something good for our country. Let’s spend our vacation in the USA, eat in local restaurants, buy American products, buy local meats and veggies and support local businesses. These businesses are going to find it difficult to get back on their feet and survive without our help. They’re suffering badly now. Our products are some of the best in the world. This country is one of the most beautiful. (I’ll second all of that!) *** Back on May 21, I provided a brief report on what was holding back the 8th Avenue Bridge Project. The other day I received an update on that project. Here is what I have for those interested: “The 8th Avenue Bridge WisDOT Grant contract documents were received three months later than was anticipated. Field topographic and data collection survey work for design is complete, we have completed Bridge hydrology calculations and submitted them to the WisDOT for their review and approval. Once the WisDOT hydrology report is approved we commence with bridge hydraulic analysis and design work. The proposed schedule is to bid the project this winter with Spring 2021 construction commence. The project schedule got pushed to next year due to late receipt of WisDOT grant contract and approval to incur costs, and we did not want to incur winter construction costs, etc.” In response to my inquiry, this information came from Cedar Corporation, the city engineering firm. So now you’re up to speed!! *** Smile time. A retired guy was repeatedly asked, “What do you do now that you’re retired?” After being irritated by a few questioners he responded,” “I don’t have much of a chemical background but what I enjoy the most is turning beer into urine!” +++ Last night my sister and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, “I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.” So, she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine. She’s such a brat. +++ If you go through life without connecting to people, how much could you call that a life? +++ “Life is short” really means “Do something.” +++ A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence. +++ If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles. Amen.