Wausau Daily Herald from Wausau, Wisconsin • 3

3A Wausau Daily Herald Saturday, April 20, 1996 Marathon County Firefighters, deputy save man from river An 18-year-old Edgar man was rushed by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield Friday night after being rescued from the Eau Pleine River in Big Rapids Park near Stratford. Sheldon Q. Michlig was listed in satisfactory condition at the hospital Friday night. A nursing supervisor there said he'd likely be released after observation.

Emergency personnel were called to the park around 7:45 p.m. after Michlig and three other young men fell from the raft they were on. The others John Zirbel, 17, Jared Drexler, 15, and Allen Carson, 16, all of Stratford were taken by ambulance to a local hospital and later released. The addresses of Michlig and the three boys were unavailable Friday night. Marathon County Sheriff's Department Deputy James Armstrong dove in to rescue Michlig along with three members of the Stratford Area Fire Department.

After securing Michlig, a neighbor's boat was used to bring the victim to shore. "(Armstrong) did a great job," said Stratford Fire Chief Walter Marohl. "Everyone worked together and helped get that young man to shore. Even the neighbor with his boat helped save him." Michlig was in the water for about 30 to 45 minutes. Law enforcement officials say high water levels and strong currents make area rivers extremely dangerous and to use caution.

Stations sold: WRIG, Inc. of Wausau has reached an agreement to buy local radio stations WIFC-FM and WSAU-AM from Journal Broadcast Group, Inc. of Milwaukee. The purchase will be completed by mid-summer pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission. WRIG owns WRIG-AM in Schofield and WDEZ-FM in Wausau.

FM, is a watt contemporary hits radio station. WSAU-550 AM, is a newstalk station which holds local broadcast rights to Milwaukee Brewers baseball, Green Bay Packers football, Milwaukee Bucks basketball, University of Wisconsin football and basketball and Wausau Woodchuck Northwoods League baseball. Free lecture: Marty Isaacs, a noted University of Wisconsin math professor will speak at UW-Marathon County on Tuesday. Isaacs' presentation is titled "Dirty Children, Unfaithful Husbands and Similar Problems." The lecture is free and open to the public. Isaacs was invited as part of Mathematics Awareness Week.

The event will be at 3:45 p.m. in South Hall 212. Open house: The Woodson YMCA is holding a grand opening for its new aerobics studio today from 8. to 9:30 a.m. The ft.

facility is the largest aerobic studio of its kind in the area, YMCA officials say. It includes a suspended wood floor, air conditioning and a 16-speaker sound system. The grand opening is free and includes an aerobics class beginning at 8 a.m. State Two rescued: A truck driver and his fire extinguisher helped two people escape flaming wreckage following a highway collision Friday that eventually claimed the life of one of the victims, the State Patrol said. Gary M.

Benham of Union Grove was driving a semi-trailer truck on Wisconsin 29 when it collided with a car at an intersection. Both vehicles caught fire. Benham and his passenger Robert E. Linkman jumped from the cab. Benham used the extinguisher on flames in the car containing a young man and a young woman, state trooper Keith Young said.

"If (Benham) doesn't put out that fire, I don't know that they get out alive," Dunn County deputy sheriff Dennis Smith said. The woman was taken to an Eau Claire hospital with breathing difficulty. -Wausau Daily Herald The Associated Press Judge denies motion in Unabomber Local News Editors Rich Jackson, 845-0655 Barbara Shay, 845-0635 Mark Treinen, 845-0705 Deep snow meltdown causes flooding Wisconsin River at Merrill expected to be feet above flood stage today By Robert Imrie AP Wausau Bureau Some rivers in northern Wisconsin spilled over their banks Friday, endangering roads and homes, as deep snows from a long winter finally began melting, the National Weather Service said. Flooding at the confluence of the Bad and White rivers near Odanah in Ashland County jeopardized's Delma Crowe's home. "It is right up here to the house now," she said.

"Oh yeah, we are in trouble. We have an old workshop that is flooded." Relatives, including her daughter, piled sandbags around the house about midday Friday as the river Hard rose, Crowe said. "The river still has ice on it," Crowe said. Erv Soulier, natural manager for the Bad River resources. Lake Superior Chippewa, said 20 homes in one neighborhood of Old Odanah were threatened by the rising river.

Four had been evacuated by early Friday afternoon, he said. "One individual had water up to his porch. That is when he made the move," Soulier said. The tribe dispatched about a dozen workers to help fill sandbags to protect the threatened homes. An old tribal administration building and Local schools Catholic church also were threatened.

Melting snow and rain Thursday night created the swollen rivers in northern Wisconsin. Some portions of extreme northern Wisconsin received record snowfalls, which as late as a week ago was still deep enough to endanger the deer herd. The Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers are expected to reach flood stage this weekend, said Brian Hahn, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Sullivan. The Chippewa River at Eau Claire was expected to crest Saturday at 3.2 feet above flood stage, Hahn said. During a June flood in 1993, the river crested at 6 feet above flood stage.

Rob Daily Herald Athens' Trinity Lutheran Elementary School Principal Bill Steltenpohl (left) and Pastor Gary Paul watch over students using computers I in the library of the new 13,200 square foot school. The school opened last fall and is now fully completed. 'Blood, sweat and tears' Volunteer labor key to making new Lutheran school a reality By Jay Faherty Wausau Daily Herald ATHENS Talena Redmann has mixed emotions about the new Trinity Lutheran School in Athens. "It's fun being in a new school and everything," said Redmann, a sixth-grader, "but I have a lot of memories from the old school." The new school will be officially dedicated on Sunday. It cost $770,000 to build plus thousands of volunteer hours.

"The impact of the volunteers essentially reduced the cost about $250,000," said Rev. Gary Paul. "They all have lost a little bit of blood here, and some sweat and some tears." The volunteers mostly cleaned, painted and performed basic carpentry work. Professional contractors were used for the electrical and mechanical parts. Students began using the building last fall, but it wasn't complet- Dedication ceremony Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens will hold a dedication service for its new school at 2 p.m.

Sunday. Alumni, family and friends are all invited to participate. ed until recently. "We had a lot of finishing up to do," Paul said. "But it's ready now." The major improvements over the old school include more classroom space, a computer and a family life center, or gymnasium.

Other improvements include air conditioning, handicapped accessibility and direct access to the church. The end result is a complete school with more educational space. There are six classrooms, including one that's being used for art, music and science projects. "We can certainly accommodate more said Principal William Steltenphol. "The students have everything they could ask for." Students seem to agree.

"I like the computer room and the bigger classrooms," said fifthgrader Megan Weise. Trinity Lutheran School was built in 1901 and the last addition was made in 1922. There were 89 students in grades 1 to 8 this year, plus eight in the pre-school program. Next year, Trinity Lutheran will add a kindergarten program, too. All of the improvements and added programs can only mean increased enrollment, Paul said.

"The unity in the congregation is solid," he said. "After they struggled through the decision to rebuild the school, they came together." Woman convicted in baby's death STEVENS POINT (AP) A woman accused of suffocating her baby shortly after giving birth in a bathtub was convicted Friday night of first-degree reckless homicide. Jurors deliberated about hours after Judge Thomas T. Fluguar said they could consider reckless homicide as an alternative charge to firstdegree intentional homicide. Julie Quinn was also found guilty The Wisconsin River at Merrill was expected to climb feet above flood stage by Saturday a level considered to occur once every 10 years, Hahn said.

The last time there was any spring flooding on the Wisconsin River at Merrill was in 1971, said Sam Morgan, vice president of operations for the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Co. Wisconsin Valley regulates Wisconsin River flows with 21 reservoirs from the headwaters in Vilas County to the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir in southern Marathon County. "We are going to have some relatively high flows, but I don't think we are going to have any damaging flooding," Morgan said. The snow pack now melting holds the equivalent of 6 to 8 inches of water and up to 10 inches in places, Morgan said. "Normally it is about 4 inches when it melts," he said.

Adding to the threat this spring was a wet fall season and a Tuesday night storm that dumped up to threefourth inches of rain along some upper stretches of the river. Most of the snow was expected to be melted in northern Wisconsin by the end of the weekend, Morgan said. "Already, we are seeing some of the peak flows on the tributaries," he said. Documents detail Blask incidents A in the bathtub of her home. "She wasn't a scared little school girl.

She was 30-years-old," Eagon said. "She wanted that child dead." A reckless homicide conviction would mean the jury believed Quinn caused the baby's death through reckless behavior that showed an utter disregard of human life. Quinn also was charged with hiding a corpse. By Peter J. Wasson Wausau Daily Herald Court documents filed Friday publicly detail for the first time incidents in which Lincoln County District Attorney James Blask is accused of shoving two people.

Blask was charged Friday with two counts of disorderly conduct in connection with the shoving incidents. He also was charged with obstructing an officer for allegedly lying to police in an effort to halt their investigation into his behavior. The charges carry a maximum penalty of a year and three months in jail. Until Friday, police investigating the charges refused to release reports on the incidents or statements taken from witnesses. According to the criminal complaint against Blask: On Feb.

6, Tomahawk resident Carl Rady was in Lincoln County Register of Probate Marilyn Rathke's office discussing an undisclosed matter. Rady has filed numerous court documents accusing Blask of mishandling his duties as District Attorney. As Rady attempted to leave the office, Blask "confronted him, physically forcing him back into the office." Blask then "physically laid his hands on Rady, attempting to physically search Rady and in fact pushed Rady backwards, pushing a clenched fist into Rady's chest with such force as to bend Rady's glass frames, which were in a carrying case." Blask only released Rady when a Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy approached. The incident was so disrupting Rathke took the next day off work. Following a Merrill High School basketball game Feb.

8, Blask accused referee Mike Van Lieshout of doing a job of officiating the game. Blask followed Van Lieshout down a hall leading towards a locker room and "continued to verbally abuse Van Lieshout and (fellow referee Thomas) Dotter in a loud, belligerent Van Lieshout tried to ignore Blask and continued toward the locker room. "As Van Lieshout got to the entrance of the boys locker room, Blask, using both his hands, shoved Van Lieshout into a wall next to the door of the locker room." The incident was witnessed by students, parents and coaches. After he was shoved, Van Lieshout went into the locker room and called police while Blask remained outside the door. Merrill Athletic Director Peter Miller then approached Blask and suggested he apologize to Van Lieshout, and Blask agreed.

Miller and a police officer then escorted Blask into the locker room where Blask apologized for yelling at Van Lieshout and for shoving him. Blask then continued to "berate Van Lieshout for what he claimed was a poor job Van Lieshout refused to accept Blask's apology. The officer who escorted Blask into the locker room at the basketball game said Blask called him in his office Feb. 12 to discuss the investigation against him. During the phone conversation, Merrill Police Lt.

Michael Caylor said, Blask denied shoving Van Lieshout, denied admitting he had shoved the referee and denied apologizing to him. "Based upon the information previously received, Blask's denials constitute false information and was designed to dissuade (Caylor) from further investigative activity as to the Van Lieshout DA's stormy tenure in Lincoln County of concealing a corpse. Fluguar ordered a presentence investigation, which could take six weeks. He said he might decide Monday when to schedule a sentencing hearing. During closing arguments Friday, District Attorney Thomas Eagon argued Quinn intentionally killed the baby Dec.

21, 1995, after i it was born James Blask's history as Lincoln County District Attorney: Jan. 1, 1995: after promising voters he "never will" plea bargain cases and will work to rebuild the Lincoln County Victim-Witness coordinator's office, Blask takes over as district attorney. I July, 1995: Blask suspends Assistant District Attorney Kurt Zengler, refusing to offer any public explanation. Zengler continues to be paid $23.68 an hour, 40 hours a week. I Nov.

9, 1995: Blask fails to appear for scheduled court hearings in Lincoln County and Judge J. Michael Nolan is forced to order Zengler in to handle prosecution. Blask, who was on vacation in New Jersey, says he wasn't supposed to be in that day, though Nolan and court records disagree. I Nov. 22, 1995: A Wausau Daily Herald examination of Lincoln County court records shows that Blask has plea bargained 36 of the 78 felony cases he had filed, despite his promise never to plea bargain.

The review also shows In memory of the victims Employees at the federal building in Wausau stood in the lobby for several minutes of silence in memory of the 168 people who died in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City one year ago Friday. Bob Daily Herald that Blask has lost or dismissed the rest of his felony cases and had never brought a case to trial and won. Blask says he's not plea -bargaining, he's "plea negotiating." Feb. 6, 1996: Tomahawk resident Carl Rady accuses Blask of shoving him in the chest during a confrontation in the Lincoln County register of probate's office. Rady has brought numerous allegations of wrongdoing against Blask in the past.

Feb. 8, 1996: Basketball referee Mike Van Lieshout accuses Blask of shoving him into a wall following a game in which Blask's son played.Police are called to investigate, but release little information. Mid-February, 1996: Gov. Tommy Thompson orders State Capitol police to investigate Blask's office, though the governor's office will not be specific about what the investigators are looking for. Detectives spend three days in Lincoln County interviewing witnesses.

Feb. 23, 1996: Blask fires Zengler after missing at least one arbitration hearing scheduled to try and resolve Zengler's suspension. Again, he refuses to give a reason for his actions against Zengler. March 5, 1996: a hearing scheduled to resolve actions against Zengler is suspended until June as officials argue about admissibility of evidence against Zengler. Blask does not attend.

March 18, 1996: citing Blask's refusal to discuss the Zengler case and allegations of violence against Blask, Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Mike Gravely announces he will run against Blask in November's election. March 29, 1996: a judge appoints Rhinelander attorney and former prosecutor Tim Vocke as special prosecutor to investigate allegations against Blask. April 19, 1996: Special Prosecutor John J. Hogan files Vocke's criminal complaint charging Blask with two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of obstructing an officer..