Living history: Wadena resident seeks $5,000 for accident a year ago

15 years ago

Excerpts from the Aug. 17, 2000 Pioneer Journal

• Wadena trooper receives second Lifesaving Award

Sergeant Richard Wussow, 53, of the State Patrol's Wadena station, earned the State Patrol's Lifesaving Award Aug. 9 for his quick actions at the scene of a serious personal injury crash.

Wussow was on an escort detail when he heard a crash on Highway 210 near Underwood on April 24.

The pickup driver was unresponsive when Wussow arrived at the scene. Wussow opened the man's airway, enabling him to breathe. The driver suffered critical injuries, but is recovering.

In the late 1970s, Wussow also received a Lifesaving Award for administering CPR to a crash victim on 35W in the north metro area of Minneapolis.

"The driver had a heart attack and was unconscious in the center lane of traffic," said Wussow. "I pulled him from the car and started CPR."

Wussow is a 30-year veteran of the State Patrol and serves in Wadena, Otter Tail and Todd Counties.

35 years ago

Excerpts from the Aug. 20, 1980 Pioneer Journal

• Arsenic site discovered by PCA near Wadena

Local and state officials believe they have discovered the buried quantities of arsenic north of Wadena following an excavation last week.

Representatives of the minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) visited the site last Tuesday and definitely discovered sawdust that the compound had been mixed with nearly 20 years ago, according to Greg Kempf, county zoning administrator. The site is located about six miles northeast of Wadena near Leaf River Station.

Kempf said the site must now be examined to determine how much arsenic is actually buried there and how it could be removed. He said the county may need to contact the Environmental Protection Agency for grant money to compete the study since the site may be one of the biggest in the state.

A spokesman for the MPCA had said earlier that the barrels of arsenic had been stored in a building at the site but when the building was demolished in the 1950s, the barrels, as well as some additional arsenic throughout the county, were buried in the same hole that the demolition materials were thrown into.

The Wadena site is one of at least 34 locations throughout the state where the deadly compound was used about 40 years ago to kill grasshoppers. The compound was distributed free to Minnesota farmers by the US Agriculture Department during the late 1930s and early 1940s to fight an infestation of grasshoppers.

Efforts have been made to locate the compound at the Wadena site in May with no success. The MPCA and local officials then scheduled the second dig last week.

State officials first learned of the problem in 1972 when a company building a plant near Perham sank a water well through one of the buried amounts of the compound. Twelve workers became sick after drinking the water.

Last April, a dozen cattle died on a farm near Two Harbors and during the investigation, 12 barrels of the compound were found in an old barn on the farm. A statewide effort then began to locate the remaining portions of the compound.

55 years ago

Excerpts from the Aug. 18, 1960 Pioneer Journal

• 6,600 tummies filled with dime lunches

Approximately 6,600 meals for a dime were served in Wadena last weekend as the annual Back to School promotion was staggered here. The special dime lunch was served during certain hours for three days at two locations on Jefferson Street in the business district.

That was the report Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce which sponsored the promotion. The serving was handled by a corps of 27 businessmen from Wadena, with the assistance of many members of the Wadena Girl Scouts who volunteered their services. It was pointed out that the pop which was served was donated to the cause and that some other items were bought by the sponsors at wholesale prices and even less, thus the bargain price was made possible.

75 years ago

Excerpts from the Aug. 15, 1940 Pioneer Journal

• Wadena resident seeks $5,000 for accident a year ago

Rides at the fairgrounds, owned by B.E. Onsgard of Duluth, were attached Monday by Sheriff John Bengtson following filing of a suit for $5,000 damages by Dorothy Braith of Wadena for injuries she claims she suffered while riding on Onsgard's tilt-o-whirl at the fair a year ago. All rides were operated under Sheriff Bengtson's supervision until bond was furnished by Onsgard.

Onsgard is again furnishing the rides for this year's fair. The suit brought by Braith through her attorney, Charles Kennedy of Wadena, charges Onsgard with negligence. The fair board is not involved. Onsgard is represented by Barron and Bradford, of Wadena.

Braith in her complaint alleges the metal bar used to hold riders in the tilt-o-whirl was dropped and struck her in the face.