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• State treasurer in Hudson Tuesday
• Hudson - Taser halts runaway horse

State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass will visit St. Croix and Pierce counties Tuesday, May 13, including a 10 a.m. stop at the Hudson Middle School Media Center, where she will discuss EdVest, the state's 529 college savings plan.

Wisconsin was one of the first states to recognize the need for incentives to encourage families to save in advance for the increasing costs of higher education.

In 1996, the state legislature authorized the creation of a state-sponsored college savings program. Federal legislation had just formalized the structure and tax benefits for state-administered college savings programs, known as 529 plans.

In mid-2007, EdVest marked its 10th anniversary, during which time it was the nation's 13th largest college savings plan with over 227,000 participants and over $2.1 billion in assets, as of May 31, 2007.

Wisconsin's EdVest plan was administered initially by the Department of Administration, and since 2000 by the State Treasurer's Office. It is governed by an 11-member College Savings Board appointed by the governor, with program management by Wells Fargo Funds Management LLC.

According to Sass, EdVest offers many benefits, including:

* An annual Wisconsin state tax deduction on contributions of up to $30,000 per beneficiary.

* Federal and Wisconsin state tax-free earnings when used for education expenses such as tuition, room and board and books.

* Flexibility to use at schools almost anywhere in the U.S., including technical colleges, two- and four-year colleges and graduate schools, as well as many schools abroad.

The St. Croix County Sheriff's Department may have found a new use for a TASER gun.

Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said a deputy was called to assist in a run away horse incident in the town of Troy.

"The horse got lose and the owner told the deputy to shoot the animal if it got out on to a busy highway so it wouldn't cause and accident," said Hillstead.

"The deputy had a TASER with him. He got about 10 feet from the horse and fired the TASER and the horse dropped. They were able to get a halter on the horse and lead him away without incident," the sheriff said.