Winona Daily News (Newspaper) - April 27, 2007, Winona, Minnesota iNSiDE WSU considers itself prepared for shooting Region 3A SERVING THE WINONA AREA SINCE 1855 A BIG WIN Cotter softball team wins over ield 100 1B FRIDAY APRIL 27 2007 50 CENTS School survey shenanigans District leaves out answers to nine questions in presentation of results By Britt Johnsen Winona Daily News Would you vote for another public school referendum Thats one of the questions the Winona public school dis wants to know In hopes to glean perspective on that and other topics the district recently hired a research company to conduct a com munity survey Then they presented the findings But the presentation left out answers to nine ques tions including some about how voters think the district has handled their tax dollars And reasons for conduct ing the survey do not align with the boards prior tion In November 2005 the SURVEY ONLINE To view a copy of the contract between Springsted Inc and Winona Area Public Schools go to and click on the Winona Area Public Schools Community Survey Results link on the left rail under News Also a list of survey questions not included in the districts report may be found at Winona Superintendent Paul Durand said he expects to receive a final report next week and doesnt know why the data was presented as incomplete board gave implicit direction to Superintendent Paul Durand to pursue a cus tomer satisfaction survey to get community feedback But the contract with the head research firm shows the survey was also used to get feedback on whether a refer would be possible The contract states that Springsted Inc proposes to gather qualitative feed back about the district and to evaluate the feasibility of placing a tax proposal on the ballot in the future to respond to facility and technology Springsted Inc is a finan cial advisory firm For this survey it teamed up with the Center for Community Opin ion Don Lifto senior vice president of Springsted said the Center for Community Opinion completes many dif ferent kinds of surveys including public opinion on referendum s Durand and board mem bers have said the survey was used to gather general com munity opinion about Winona public schools education not just on a referendum Durand presented the sur summary findings at the April 19 school board meeting however the presen tation did not include answers to various questions including some regarding public opinion on Winona schools financial manage ment Durand said those answers were not to the school district Lifto said he doesnt know why the questions were not included in the presentation Springsted provided the dis Lifto said its routine to provide summary reports and that Springsted has provided similar presentations to dozens of school districts around the state Durand said he expects to receive a final report next week and doesnt know why the data was presented as incomplete In pursuing this story the Winona Daily News was denied requests for informa tion about the survey District See SURVEY page 4A SUNDAY Art appreciation 101 You dont have to have a masters in art to appreciate it With a few tips and an open mind the world of art can be a lot less intimidating and a lot more enjoyable Ahhh relief Restroom access is remedy for those with irritable bowel problems ST PAUL AP Its a del topic irritable bowel problems provoking discus sion in the most public of places the halls of the state Capitol Minnesota lawmakers are moving ahead with a requiring retailers to open their employee restrooms to people with medical condi tions that can bring on sud den urgent bouts of diarrhea The state Senate voted 5210 on Wednesday to give the restroom access pre liminary approval The meas ure is modeled after laws adopted in Illinois and Mary land Similar bills are before legislators in Michigan and Texas Its meant to help people like Dayna Johnson a sufferer of Crohns disease Its a chronic intestinal condi tion that causes food to pass through the digestive system with alarming speed Johnson has been turned away from gas station restrooms when If youre in a place that doesnt have bathrooms it causes severe panic And that just makes it Dayna Johnson sufferer of Crohns disease she really really had to go That leaves her only one alternative Rush to the next said Johnson 23 If youre in a place that doesnt have bathrooms it causes severe Johnson said And that just makes it An estimated other Minnesotans are afflicted with inflammatory bowel dis eases that make finding a bathroom a matter of frequent and critical concern The sponsored by Duluth DFL Sen Yvonne Prettner Solon wouldnt require merchants to ure their stores to provide bathrooms if none exist But stores would have to let people with a medical See ACCESS page 4A Ready For The Worst JAMES A DAILY NEWS Sarah Mueller center watches medical volunteer Linda Koenig examine her 11monthold daughter during a mass clinic Thursday in Mondavi Wis Sixty community members visited the medical operation staffed by 75 volunteers The Buffalo County Department of Health and Human Services was testing the readiness of its emergency clinic to provide medications and vaccinations to a population in the event of terrorism or infectious disease outbreak backs smoking ban By Martiga Lohn The Associated Press ST PAUL A statewide smoking ban moved closer to reality Thursday when the Minnesota House voted to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants starting in 2009 But theres one big tion in the Freedom to Breathe which passed 8545 It would let local Authorize ventilated smoking rooms in bars where customers could light up with out ordering food or drink because employees couldnt enter during business hours The stricter Senate version approved last month would outlaw smoking in bars restaurants clubs and other the tion of patios that would be to an establishments workers The Senate ban would take effect Aug 1 Both bills would signifi cantly expand the movement for public places in Minnesota where 18 cities and counties have passed smoking bans If the smoking ban becomes law Minnesota would become the 19th state to prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants Were not telling smokers they cant said Rep Dan Severson Rapids Were telling smokers that they cannot give their secondhand smoke to other people in public places Its about the rights of Opposition came from DFL and GOP legislators repre senting mostly rural areas and small towns They worried about what happen to their local taverns and other gathering places have an oldtime country sound By Kari Knutson Winona Daily News The are a cover band from about 80 years ago If they feel like playing something maybe theyll play a little 1960s era Merle Haggard Otherwise they stick to what they call the golden era of country music from Appalachian old timey music to hillbilly swing and honkytonk Were stuck in the past said band member Kari Lar son The group will perform tonight at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse The repertoire consists of early western swing American fiddle tunes and old country Larson says they try to balance their sets with familiar songs like Hank Williams Hey Good with gems by artists such as Mil ton Brown and His Musical Brownies WHAT WHEN 7 today WHERE Blue Heron Coffee house 162 W Second 507 4527020 TICKETS WEB SITE A lot of the songwriting was so poetic in a very straightforward way its like an opera in two min Larson said The started as a duo with Larson and Lisa Schultz who both live in Maiden Rock Wis They became a about two years ago adding fiddle player Meghan Dudle and a bass player They are cur rently auditioning a new bass player Larson says it was defi an adjustment to add new Lilies but that it allowed them to do things that a duo just couldnt do Plus we can only play one instrument at a Lar son said v Larson sings and lap steel gui tar ukulele and Schultz plays guitar banjo and mandolin and Dudle plays fiddle and sings Bassist Liz Draper will play at the Winona show Larson says she Schultz still like to play as a duo depending on the gig Ifs always trickier book ing things with four peoples lives instead of two Larson said So far theyve stuck to cov ering other peoples music although theyve toyed with the idea of writing originals Larson sees no shortage of classic songs that she and the band can rearrange She sees the role as help ing keep those old songs alive Thats just the music we all Larson said CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The are from left Kari Larson Lisa Schultz and Meghan Dudle The group will perform tonight at 7 at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse 162 W Second St Tickets are INDEX Business 8B 7B Minnesota 2A 68A Sports 13B NATION Flight frees Hawking from imprisoned body page 7A NATION Senate votes for Oct 1 troop withdrawal deadline page 6A River stage feel Details 2A
