Thursday, March 28, 2019 • Vol. 134, No. 39 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Town of Rutland
Fast and loose Fight over fee prompts relook at deal between town, MIS ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Oregon artist Kerry Shea’s backyard studio is where she finds her “peace.” She holds up an abstract bodice piece that was molded from her daughter’s torso.
Achieving Peace Local artist Kerry Shea finds healing in her work
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Kerry Shea found her “sanctuary” when she moved to Oregon 28 years ago. After a life of instability, loss and trauma that led to battles with depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the local artist has found continuous solace in her
creations – clay sculptures, paintings, drawings, mosaics and photographs. As Shea has incorporated more color into her art over the years, she said it represents how much she has healed, how “self-actualized” she has become. “(My art) represents my progress,” Shea told the Observer. “It’s my evolution toward health.” Many of the clay sculptures Shea
displays around her Azure Court home depict abstract animal and human faces. If Shea turned the sculpture around, a new face and form emerges – a hodgepodge of intricate colors, patterns and techniques. “Each visual and tactile story that develops… demands complete
Turn to Peace/Page 8
The Madison International Speedway has been a summertime tradition since the 1950s. It’s been a place for parents to wow their kids with fast action and loud cars, for race fans to see drivers earn their stripes and a way for drivers with an eye for the big time to establish themselves on a Midwest circuit. Sitting between Oregon and Stoughton on Sunrise Road in the Town of Rutland, it’s provided summer jobs for local kids and their parents and brought people to the town for races. But it’s also provided headaches for the Town Board, which has to deal with citizen complaints, primarily about noise, and ensure the track is operating within its license. Each year before the racing season, the board issues an operating license after approving the schedule, and it did so again this year in February. Track owner Gregg McKarns has brought the schedule before the board each year since he bought the track in 2016, along with the $500 application fee. But this year, McKarns
If You Go What: Racetrack ordinance public hearing When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 Where: Town Hall, 785 Center Road Info: town.rutland.wi.us left feeling “screwed,” after the board voted to o n c e a g a i n c h a rg e t h e $50-per-raceday fee it had been waiving. The board hasn’t enforced that fee – which would add up to about $1,400 this year – since at least the 1990s, Sup. Dave Grueneberg, a former track manager, told the Observer. The board will hold a public hearing during its April 3 meeting, in which it will revisit the ordinance governing the racetrack, which was originally passed in 1987. The item is on the agenda for possible action after the hearing. That meeting also happens to be a day after the election in which the race for Town supervisor features two candidates, David Krueger and Grueneberg, who sit on opposite sides of the issue. Grueneberg will still be on the board during that meeting regardless of the election’s outcome, but he told the Observer he
Turn to MIS/Page 12
Spring election
Rutland, Brooklyn have contested races April 2 SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Two Oregon-area municipalities have contested elections on the April 2 ballot, and all voters will have a choice for state Supreme Court justice. The Town of Rutland features two contested races: one for a town supervisor seat and the other
a three-way race for two constable positions. In the Village of Brooklyn, there are two candidates for village president remaining in what was originally a three-way race that required a primary. Other area seats on the ballot, all of which are uncontested, include Oregon school board, Village of Oregon president and various town chairs and board members. While the Oregon school board race has two candidates for two open seats, the Oregon Education
Association has endorsed both incumbent Krista Flanagan and Brooklyn PTO president Ahna Bizjak. In a statement to the Observer, the OEA said the organization and the school board candidates “share common values in providing all Oregon students with a quality education and enabling educators to fully support their students and their needs.” Area judicial seats are also uncontested, with Beth Cox running for re-election as a municipal judge, Rhonda Lanford for
Dane County Circuit Court and Jennifer Nashold for Court of Appeals judge. The state Supreme Court race pits two newcomers against each other in Brian Hagedorn and Lisa Neubauer. Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 2. Check with your local clerk to find your polling place.
Town of Rutland Voters in the Town of Rutland
Turn to Election/Page 15
Contested races Village of Brooklyn president: Kyle Smith, Brit Springer Town of Rutland supervisor: Dave Grueneberg (i), Dave Krueger Town of Rutland constable (choose two): Shawn Hillestad (i), Nels Wethal (i), Steven Williams State Supreme Court justice: Brian Hagedorn, Lisa Neubauer
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State Supreme Court race also on ballot