Spring Green, Wisconsin
Thursday, April 4, 2024 | Vol. 5, No. 7 FREE, Single-Copy
Sauk Prairie Healthcare, Lone Rock resident holds land Arena holds another special Inside this Anthem dispute speed record for a decade meeting on police The road to the record books starts here. edition Pages 1, 9 Pages 1, 5 Page 5
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Lone Rock resident’s motorcycle national land speed record stands for an impressive ten years Elizabeth Baumberger, Junior Intern Something of a motorsports milestone has been reached in 2024 for Lone Rock resident Gary Ilminen. The American Motorcyclist Association National Motorcycle Land Speed Record he set at the 2014 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials has survived unbroken nearly a decade later. 10 years and numerous bottles of Bonneville salt ago, under clear August skies and on vast salt flats, a man and his motorcycle waited at the starting line to the track where untold records had been set before him, and where he would become a part of history. The man: Ilminen, amateur motorcycle tuner, racer and moto-journalist. The cycle: a 1974 Honda CB350F. The recordsetting bike ran in the 350cc Production Classics class in the 2014 race, meaning the engine and frame had to be in stock production form—as they were
Photo contributed by Gary Ilminen Gary Ilminen on a speed run on the salt flats at the Bonneville International Speedway in Utah. originally manufactured. Bikes in this class must be manufactured between 1960 and 1980. A three-mile course lay ahead of Ilminen. In land speed racing, the goal is
to achieve the fastest timed mile in your class. The timed mile is preceded by a one mile run-up, and ends in a one mile shut-down. Several factors affect engine
performance and top speed at the Bonneville International Speedway, located near Wendover, Utah. Because the track is nearly a mile above sea level, air density is lower, causing engines with old-style carburetors to run too rich, reducing their power. The salt surface provides less traction than pavement, and a bike’s age and restoration status at the time it’s run could also affect overall performance. Keeping these things in mind on race day, Ilminen strategized by keeping the bike in fourth gear for the entirety of the timed run. Ilminen’s bike is powered by an air-cooled, four-cylinder engine running on octane pump gas. To prevent prohibited fuel additives from being used, bikes competing in the pump gas category are fueled on the salt flats at the event under event officials’ supervision. As Ilminen sped across the track, he
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Sauk Prairie Healthcare no longer in-network for some area patients as hopital, Anthem are at odds over costs
Gary Ilminen, AMA National Land Speed This Motorcycle contract termination will aff ect afterChampion their plan year2014 ends, members Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare As of April 1, area Anthem Blue Cross roughly 2,700 patients, or approximately can still utilize Sauk Prairie plan holders. Bonneville Salt Flats, Wendover, UT. Record still stands 10 years later. facilities supplement Blue Shield insurance holders will no 7% of Sauk Prairie’s patient population, for in-network emergency treatment, “This is very disruptive and stressful to longer receive in-network treatment accordingClassic to the healthcare system. 1974 as Honda Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield patients. We believe that it would only 80.102 mph, 350cc Production Division, CB350F when their current plan year ends at This termination will also affect patients considers any emergency treatment as be right for Anthem to allow enrollees Member of theHospitals Hurley of Plain 1973.in-network. Sauk Prairie Healthcare andSchool who visitDistrict Sauk PrairieClass Healthcare’s to stay with their providers through
Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief
Clinics, after the health system and insurance company could not come to an agreement to continue providing covered services.
and River Valley Spring Green clinics. While patients will no longer be able visit Sauk Prairie Healthcare clinics or hospitals for routine care services
Sauk Prairie Healthcare is urging patients to call the number provided on their insurance cards to determine how their plans are affected. This includes
the end of their benefit year,” said Amy Ryan, a spokesperson for Sauk Prairie
dinner at the Hilltop, near Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, to bring producers and consumers together. The Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative’s mission is to protect and nurture soil and water quality, natural areas, viewsheds and cultural resources in the Lowery Creek
Watershed. The watershed is an area in Iowa County that includes land east and west of Lowery Creek from about 10 miles south of Spring Green to the Wisconsin River.
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Clean water, local food a collaborative effort Jim Massey, Contributed Members of a pair of groups in the Spring Green area believe they have something special in their midst, and they want others to discover and appreciate it as much as they do. The Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative
and Savor the River Valley, partnerships with different but somewhat compatible missions, are reaching out to area residents and visitors in an attempt to help farmers and food producers within the region. They are planning a Farm and Food Tour, monthly field events and a farm-to-table
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