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• Only one serious accident during weekend's Flood Run
• Pierce County scoreboard
• Area schools to receive 4K startup grants
• Smoke, some structure damage in house fire

Only one serious motorcycle accident was reported during this weekend's 43rd Annual Flood Run around Lake Pepin.

The accident occurred at around 3 p.m. Saturday on Highway 35 just north of Stockholm, according to a Wisconsin State Patrol spokesman.

A motorcycle driven by Richard Sprandel, 59, Walker, Minn., left the roadway and then hit the guardrail, sending Sprandel down the embankment.

According to an official with the Plum City-Maiden Rock Ambulance Service, Sprandel was airlifted by Mayo One to a hospital in Eau Claire.

Sprandel's condition is not known as it is the policy of both Sacred Heart Hospital and Luther Hospital not to report on a patient's condition.

However, a State Patrol spokesperson said that he had talked with a state patrol official on Monday morning.

The accident remains under investigation.

There were several minor accidents in Pierce County, according to Sheriff Nancy Hove of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

"Most of them weren't even big enough for us to do a report on," said Howe.

She did note that there were three accidents that did have reports on them, but none involved injuries.

Hove said that participation in this year's Flood Run was less than last year.

"It was very quiet, only about one-third of the people from last year," she said. "I think the wet weather had a lot to do with it."

Monday, April 21

Softball

Ellsworth 4, Osceola 1; Prescott 10, Durand 1; Spring Valley-PC 5, Elk Mound 1

Baseball

Prescott 11, Baldwin-Woodville 1(5); New Richmond 8, Ellsworth 2; Elmwood 7, Boyceville 4; St. Croix Central 20, Spring Valley 0; Mondovi 16, Plum City 6

Golf

Ellsworth place second in six team MBC meet at St. Croix Central by shooting a 171. Prescott places fifth in six team meet at New Richmond shooting a 210.

Five area school districts have been notified that they will be receiving grant money from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to help start up four-year-old kindergarten programs.

Statewide, 32 districts applied for the $3 million grant program.

The amount of money each district is slotted to receive is based on the number of 4K students they expect in their programs, according to DPI officials.

Prescott and Ellsworth school districts each expect 80 students and are scheduled to receive $57,760 each.

Spring Valley expects 48 students and is scheduled to receive $34,656.

The Menomonie school district is projecting 189 4K students and was granted $136,458.

Finally, St. Croix Falls is expecting 60 students for their 4K program and is scheduled to receive $43,320.

According to DPI officials these amounts are not final.

The funding will be revised on July 15, after all participating school districts decide whether they are staying in the program or not.

Another revision will be made in November after the first actual child counts are made for the 2008-09 school year.

Final aid allocations for 4K start-up grants will not be known until June 2009 after the audited 2008-09 school year child count.

TOWN OF ISABELLE-A Bay City area house was damaged by fire Sunday.

The Ellsworth Fire Department was called to the residence at W6170 Hwy. 35, owned by Jerry Enevold and occupied by Jeffery Olufson, at 4:47 p.m. The occupants got out of the building and there were no injuries.

The blaze was under investigation early this week, but may have originated with a hot water heater. There was structure damage to one corner of the house and smoke damage throughout; the occupants had to find other living arrangements Sunday night.

Fire fighters were on the scene, on the north side of Hwy. 35 just east of the village limits in the Town of Isabelle, until 6:25 p.m.