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• Lost money? Stake a claim on what's rightfully yours
• Randy Iten launches road-kill record Web site
• Hudson -- Victoria Bear found guilty of homicide

St. Croix County Treasurer Cheryl Slind and State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass are working together to reunite you with your lost assets.

Unclaimed property consists of financial assets that have had no activity for five years or more. This includes savings accounts, checking accounts, uncashed dividends, stock, customer deposits or overpayments, uncashed paychecks, life insurance policies and much more.

St. Croix County has created a Web site of St. Croix County unclaimed property this is available by viewing at www.co.saint-croix.wi.us and clicking on "St. Croix County Unclaimed Funds".

There currently are 114 pages of unclaimed property just from the St. Croix County area. This is searchable by using Adobe 7.0 or just scroll down the list as it is in alphabetical order.

If you locate your name on the list, write down the property identification number at the far left and contact the State Treasurer's Office via phone at 1-877-699-9211 or in writing at Wisconsin State Treasurer's Office, 1 South Pickney Street, Suite 550, P.O. Box 7871, Madison, WI 53703.

You can also go to the states website and fill out the necessary paperwork and submit the information requested.

For a statewide search you can go to www.ost.state.wi.us and click on "Badger Bucks" - enter your name and or identification number to see if you have any unclaimed funds statewide.

So check it out. You may be lucky to have funds or property you never knew you had.

By RiverTown Staff

Two Wisconsin hunting companions recently launched a unique new Web site, www.roadkillrecordbookclub.com.

The men came up with the concept last summer when Randy Iten, formerly of Hudson and now of Prescott, discovered a huge black bear lying in a ditch along I-94 - it had just been struck by a truck.

Iten, a lifelong hunter, was enroute to a game farm to train his young bird dog and knew exactly what to do: He called the Department of Natural Resources service center in Baldwin to report the road kill. The DNR officer who took the call assured Iten they would pick up the bear immediately.

Following his dog-training session, Iten stopped by the DNR office to make sure the big bear had been collected. While discussing the situation with officers, Iten asked what was going to become of the bear. He was told it would be sold for $50. Iten, who has hunted bear many times, offered to pay the $50 and was issued a seizure permit.

The bear was loaded onto a trailer and taken to Iten's taxidermist for mounting.

Following discussions with his hunting companion, Richard Sanders of Prescott, the two formulated the idea of a record book for road-kill animals.

"Some of the best whitetail bucks in the country are killed on the highways every fall during the rut," said Iten. "It's a shame to just leave them lie there. One of the nicest whitetail bucks I have ever seen got hit by a car not five miles from my house. Big deer like that should be recognized."

As the two discussed the Web site concept, they formed specific categories for road-kill animals - big game, game birds, predators, small game and furbearers, etc.

"This started out as a joke between Richard and me, but the more we thought about it the more it appealed to us," said Iten. "Who is to say that a huge road-kill black bear like the one I came upon should not be entered into the record book? Road-kill animals can't be listed in Pope & Young, Boone and Crockett or the Safari Club record books, so why not give them their own place of registration? Just because they got hit by a truck or a car doesn't make them any less important to nature."

Iten and Sanders point out on their Web site that picking up road kill is illegal in some states or, at least, may require a seizure permit from conservation officers.

"We urge our members to always check the legalities of picking up a road-kill animal with their local Department of Natural Resources or game and fish department," said Iten.

The Road Kill Record Book Club offers memberships, record book listings, an annual awards division plus wearable safety gear - caps, T-shirts, etc. For more information, visit www.roadkillrecordbookclub.com.

By Meg Heaton

mheaton@rivertowns.net

Victoria Bear was found guilty Monday in St. Croix Circuit Court of homicide by negligent use of a vehicle in connection with the death of Michael Strauch on Sept. 23.

Strauch, 55, was killed after his motorcycle struck Bear's vehicle on Coulee Road, after she pulled out in front of him from 18th Street around 6 p.m.

Strauch's widow, Barbara, and his children were in the courtroom along with other family members and friends.

At her arraignment before Judge Eric Lundell, Bear, 56, entered a plea of no contest to the felony charge. She was in court with her attorney, James Johnson of Hudson, and her ex-husband, Peter Bear. A misdemeanor charge of writing a worthless check was dismissed against Bear as a result of her plea.

Lundell asked Bear a series of questions prior to her plea to be sure she understood the charges and the consequences of becoming a convicted felon. Lundell pointed out that Bear would not be able to vote for the duration of her probation and a waiting period, she would never be able to own a firearm and she would always have to reveal her status as a convicted felon on job applications and other documents.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gehler told Lundell that his office would be recommending five years of probation and up to one year of jail time. Lundell told Bear that he was not bound by Gehler's recommendation but that he would decide her sentence based on the results of the pre-sentence investigation and his experience of 19 years on the bench. The date for sentencing was set for July 2.

For more information see the April 24 edition of the Star-Observer.