Dennis Hillstead

Gov. Tommy Thompson last week appointed Woodville Chief of Police Dennis Hillstead as the new St. Croix County Sheriff. Hillstead will be sworn into office Monday Jan. 4.

Instead of decorating an evergreen, or outlining the house, Jeff and Tina Cooper put their Christmas lights on a deciduous tree in front of their home at 903 12th St.

Debbie O'Keefe looks forward to New Year's Eve. It's when she gets to dabble in show business.

"Women know what they need to do. But sometimes they need support to do it."

"My very first thought when I saw Cory lying unconscious on the floor, was 'well, it's our turn now,'" recalls Meg Heaton.

State champions! The Hudson Raider girls basketball team won the division 1 state title in march and is one of the top stories of 1998. The girls defeated Milwaukee Washington 59-56 in overtime. Celebrating are, front from left, Angie Baratto, Jill Barr, Greta Tracey, Allison Burchill, Jamie Page (front), Britt Peters (behind her), Melissa Anderson, and managers Char Marlow and Rachel Suneson; back, assistant coaches Brooke Shaw and Mark Kosloski, Kael Austrum, Trina Peters, Jenny Groom, Stacy Obermueller, Randi Miller, Corrin Von Wald, Jess Syfko, (the arm of Katie Garms), manager Katie Dold and assistant coach Shelly Litterick. Not pictured is head coach Dave Johnson.

Local stories, like those of most years, offered a variety of news in 1998, but the extremes of both the triumphs and tragedies seemed to make 1998 a very memorable news year.