Randy Hanson
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Randy Hanson has reported for the Star-Observer since 1997. He came to Hudson after 11 years with the Inter-County Leader at Frederic, and eight years of teaching social studies. He’s a graduate of UW-Eau Claire.
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- Member for
- 5 years 4 months
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Bill Alms won the special election Tuesday, Nov. 3, to fill the vacant District 2 Hudson City Council seat. Alms received 128 votes to 67 for Chris Kilber, the other candidate for the seat vacated by Mary Yacoub-Ra'ad last spring. City Clerk Nancy Korson reported the results at 8:31 p.m. Ironically, Alms was the only applicant not to receive a vote from sitting council members when they interviewed five candidates for the vacant seat last summer. The council scheduled the special election after it was unable agree on an applicant to fill the vacant seat.
Passersby have noticed the gradual transition of the stately late 19th century home at the corner of Third and St. Croix streets. First the overgrown arborvitae trees that hid the front entrance and porch were removed. Then the old asbestos and cedar-shake shingles were taken off the roof and replaced with new decking and shingles. More than 40 new Andersen windows were installed.
Nancy Korson hasn’t attracted much attention as Hudson’s city clerk for the past 11 years – and that’s just fine with her. “I like to be supportive and not necessarily in the forefront,” she said of her work style in a recent interview. Korson will be retiring from the position on Friday, Dec. 4, after a total of 26 years with the city. Her City Hall career started in 1989 when she was hired as the part-time billing clerk for St. Croix EMS, the Hudson area’s ambulance service.
Not everyone likes Hudson’s new LED streetlights. At the Oct.
George and Dorothy Nelson, members of Hudson High School’s Class of 1948, have donated $2,000 to the Hudson Marching Band for the purchase of uniforms and instruments. All three of...
Turnout will be the key in next Tuesday’s special election to choose an alderperson for the city of Hudson’s District 2, the two candidates for the position agree. In the 2015 spring election, just 207 of the district’s 1,647 registered voters went to polls at Faith Community Church on Carmichael Road. The 12.6 voting percentage was the lowest of the city’s six aldermanic districts. And that was a regularly scheduled election.
Hudson was saddened by the unexpected death of businessman and community leader Kevin J. Vance on Saturday. Friends said the 60-year-old Vance became suddenly ill and went to the hospital, but his condition declined rapidly. The cause of his death hasn’t been reported. Vance and his wife, Rita, owned several businesses together, including a chain of Taco John’s restaurants and the former Mr. Movies rental shop in Hudson. He helped Rita and a partner, Alicia Schneider, get a promotional products business named Logomos started in Hudson.
It wasn’t a difficult decision. “Does anyone have a problem accepting $163,000?,” Mayor Alan Burchill asked Monday night before the City Council voted to receive a grant from the Hudson Hospital Foundation to pay for a playground that can used by children with disabilities. The Universal Playground will be placed in Weitkamp Park. The council also voted to install a $137,000 rubberized pad that will go under the play equipment as the city’s share of the project.
There’s no missing the massive Woodland Hill complex rising in front of the bluff just east of the Hudson Hospital & Clinic campus. “I mean it’s big.
Brandon Lyksett was approved by the Hudson City Council Monday night to serve as the new director for St. Croix Emergency Medical Services. Lyksett, who has been a captain and critical care paramedic for the local ambulance service, was recommended for the director position by the EMS Commission, which interviewed the candidates for the job. He will replace Kim Eby, who resigned in early September to take a flight paramedic position with Life Link III medical flight service. Eby also is working as a St.