Shortcuts | January 28, 2010

V1 Staff |

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP CHALLENGING YOUR IDEAS
OK, so you’ve finally perfected your Atomic Cheese Grater. Now what the heck do you do with it? You could submit it to the Idea Challenge—preferably during National Entrepreneurship Week (Feb. 20-27) for extra karmic business power. The Idea Challenge is an ongoing program designed to help you, the local entrepreneur-in-training, by teaching you how to develop, market, and build a business around your innovative ideas. Ideas have to be new and unique, and must present viable business opportunities (the Atomic Cheese Grater probably wouldn’t fly). You can submit your idea through the Eau Claire Economic Development Corporation’s website at www.eauclaire-wi.com.

GRANT PROVIDES BOOST TO COMMUNITY ARTS EDUCATION
Xcel Energy and Arts Coming Together are pumping a little creative current into the community. ACT, a program designed to promote the arts in Menomonie and Dunn County, will now be able to offer art classes and scholarships to local students and discounted classes to the rest of the community, thanks to a grant from Xcel. In addition, the money will be used to provide the Red Cedar Girl Scouts with lessons in various art forms throughout April and May, culminating in a judged show to be open to the public. Keep an eye out for said opportunities.

KILLEBREW TO INDUCT LOCALS INTO BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
Long-time Minnesota Twin and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Harmon Killebrew will be the guest speaker for the 2010 Eau Claire Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Dinner. “Killer” Killebrew, who is second only to Babe Ruth in American League home runs, had 573 career round-trippers before retiring as a career leader in home runs by a right-handed slugger. The event will induct Eau Claire Minor League stars as well as Andy Pafko on Monday, Feb. 1 at The Florian Gardens. It will also include raffles, baseball memorabilia and displays, as well as a silent auction. Tickets are $55 per person and are available at the Eau Claire Parks & Recreation office.

LOCAL ICE FISHERMAN TO APPEAR ON REALITY ICE FISHING TV SHOW
Lake Wissota’s Ice Fishing Tournament, which took place Jan. 22-24, will soon be part of the reality TV show Ice Men. The local footage is scheduled to air on the Versus network in February. Among the tournament’s goings-on were a seminar where participants got a chance to talk with pro fishermen, and a chance to qualify for the USA Ice Team, which will hold its World Ice Fishing Championship in March. The tournament also allowed the top 10 teams to automatically qualify for the NAIFC Championship in December.

CRAZY AWESOME PREDATORY ANIMALS MAY JOIN IRVINE ZOO
Lynx, white tigers, and Asian black bears may join the menagerie in Chippewa Falls’ Irvine Park zoo in the near future. In recent years, the park board has constructed new exhibit buildings for cougars and bears, and a new bobcat building is expected to be ready in the spring – all of which were paid for by private donations. The board is now working with an animal trader near Madison to bring in the new species. Also new this year: the buffaloes and elk will swap exhibit spaces, as there is now a regulation mandating that bovine buffaloes and deer can’t “go nose-to-nose” at the fence.