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
- 4 years 10 months
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Amanda Rude and her husband, Steve, are the new owners of the Casa De Pelo salon. Amanda has been a hairstylist at the longtime local business for the past five years. For the past couple of years, former owners Roxane and Ric Peterson have been grooming her to take over the salon with the understanding that she would have the first opportunity to purchase the business when they were ready to sell. Ric's retirement from Andersen Windows last spring is what motivated the Petersons to sell now, according to the Rudes. They officially took over on Monday, Feb.
Superior eliminated Hudson from the WIAA boys basketball tournament on Saturday, defeating the Raiders 61-52 in a regional final played at Superior. The Raiders hung close to the Spartans in the first half, but were outscored 12-2 in the last four minutes of the third quarter. Superior led 45-36 at the end of the third period and by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter before the Hudson boys mounted a comeback. Raider senior guard Tyler Graskewicz hit a three-pointer with 1:25 left in the game to cut the Superior lead to 54-50.
Rich O'Connor of the Hudson Hockey Association told the City Council on Wednesday, Feb. 21, about the group's bid to bring the 2009 Pee Wee International Friendship Hockey Tournament to Hudson. He also succeeded in gaining $3,000 in city room tax dollars to pay some of the expenses of bidding for and hosting the event. O'Connor said the event would bring 400 players and 400 adults from around the world to Hudson, and have an economic impact of $800,000.
Hudson High School students have an opportunity to interact with teens from other countries this semester, thanks to the Youth For Understanding and Rotary International exchange programs. Three foreign exchange students are attending classes at the high school and living with local families.
A longtime Hudson civil engineering firm is under new ownership. This week, engineers Scott Ward and Angela Popenhagen purchased Stevens Engineers from Jim DeBenedet, owner for the past 17 years. DeBenedet will still be a familiar presence at the firm, staying on as a consulting engineer to provide continuity with clients and assist with the workload. He was hoping to cut back his hours, he said, but the firm has been getting a lot of new projects and he'll have to postpone his plans for part-time work.
Sign company owners expressed strong displeasure with a moratorium on new outdoor signs in a meeting at the St. Croix County Government Center last Thursday evening. The County Board's Planning and Zoning Committee held the meeting to get public input before redrafting the county's 40-year-old sign ordinance. The six-month moratorium that began Jan. 1 was enacted by the County Board out of concern about an increase in the number of requests for new signs.
The Hudson City Council last week asked City Attorney Catherine Munkittrick to look into options for increasing the number of Class B liquor licenses the city can issue. The action came in response to a request from lawyer Barry Lundeen, who is representing the developers of the Ban Tara commercial district on Carmichael Road south of I-94. Brian Zeller, a partner in the development, said Tuesday that Buffalo Wild Wings, a corporately owned national restaurant chain, is seeking a liquor license for a restaurant it would like to open in the Ban Tara development. Zeller attended the Wednesday
A third-quarter rally wasn't enough for the Hudson girls to overtake Eau Claire Memorial in their tournament opener on Tuesday of last week, and the Old Abes cruised to a 56-39 victory. The Abes got off to a fast start on their home floor, gaining a 14-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and a 28-17 halftime advantage. The Raiders fought back to within eight points at the end of the third quarter (36-28), but then the Abes poured it on again, outscoring Hudson 20-11 in the final period. "We battled back," Hudson coach Lisa Watkins was quoted as saying in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram fo
Hudson scored the first six points of the game and never looked back on its way to a 73-53 win over River Falls in a WIAA Division 1 boys basketball regional semifinal Tuesday night in River Falls. Hudson will advance to face top-seeded Superior Saturday (March 3) at 2 p.m. in Superior in the regional final. The winner will move on to the sectional semifinal March 9 in Marshfield. The Raiders got 18 points each from Brian Sparstad and Mike Zuehl in the win over the Wildcats.
In one sense, the Rev. Edward Moses was out of his element when he met with area pastors at the Hudson Bagel & Coffee shop Friday morning. On the other hand, he was right at home. The single-digit temperature outside was a marked contrast to the balmy air of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but the conversation inside the coffee shop was as warm as those back in the fellowship halls of his churches at Biloxi and Gulfport. Moses is the senior pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Biloxi and Mount Pleasant United Methodist in Gulfport.