Menomonie Mayor Randy Knaack is so tired of all the scum in his fair city, he’s literally built a machine to rid Lake Menomin of its stinky problem. If you’ve ever visited the lake, or even glimpsed at the surface for more than 10 seconds, you’re sure to have noticed the petulant blue-green algae giving the water a don’t-even-think-about-stepping-foot-in-me look. Charming, right? Knaack doesn’t think so. Instead of sitting back in his big (probably leather) mayor’s chair, bemoaning the problem, he has taken matters into his own hands, deciding to MacGyver that algae to kingdom come – he built (and funded) a machine that can literally suck the algae off the lake’s surface. You read that right. Menomonie’s mayor is so dedicated to solving the algae problem, he has reached into his own pockets to eradicate the pesky scum. The best part of this idea? Once the machine gets some more funding and is up-and-running, Knaack hopes to get members of city council to hop on and take a ride. I don’t know about you, but the image of local government officials cruising around Lake Menomin on an algae-sucking machine really made my day. Mayor Randy’s scum-sucker: an idea that definitely doesn’t suck. Well, actually, it does suck, but … you know what I mean.