Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013
HCGazette“One of America’s Finest Small Market Radio Broadcasting Companies”
909 North Railroad StreetEagle River, WI 54521
(715) 479-4451
The $1.5 billion Gogebic Taconite Mine(GTAC) experienced a temporary slow-down as masked eco terrorists trespassed
and attacked the drill site area threatening and in-juring GTAC employees and damaging equipmentand property. Felony charges have been filedagainst the certain eco terrorists involved.
Following the attacks by eco terrorists, GTACwas forced to hire professional security guards toreplace local Iron County law enforcement be-cause local law enforcement officials werestretched thin due to the July 4th holiday activi-ties.
According to GTAC spokesperson Bob Seitz,the security guards from a Scottsdale, Arizonacompany, Bulletproof Securities “did a great jobout there… we have a safe work site.” The guardswere hired due to prior threats and violencecaused by eco terrorists who mostly belong to or-ganizations outside of Ashland and Iron Counties.At this writing, the guards were temporarily pulledfrom the site pending proper state licensing. Ac-cording to Tom Parrella, the president of the Ari-zona security company, they had a three-hournotice to provide immediate security at the Wis-consin GTAC work site; they inadvertently neg-lected, due to time constraints, to obtain licensing.Seitz, in a statement made to the Wisconsin StateJournal said that as soon as the state issues thepermits, the guards would return.
See Mine, Page 3
www.heartlandcomm.com
Armed security guards at GTAC site.
GTAC MINE
MOVING FORWARD
HCGazette
Page 2 . . .Pres. Release
Page 4 . . .Ashland News
Page 5 . . .Eagle River News
Page 6 . . .Iron River News
Page 7 . . .Park Falls News
Jim Coursolle, CRMCPresident and CEO
Deb Josephs, CPACorporate CFO
Wendi Ell, newsletter designer and publisher
In ThisIssue
Hundreds of Jobs for Heartland Broadcast Area
The Heartland Vice Presidents/Gen-eral Managers will assemble atthe corporate offices in Eagle
River on Thursday, August 8, 2013 at11:00 a.m. According to Heartland CEO,Jim Coursolle, “We, as a team, get togetherto discuss Heartland expenses, revenuesand EBITDA during the afternoon of Au-gust 8, 2013.” The meeting will set thestage for the remainder of 2013 and for
2014, the year ahead.EBITDA is an accounting term acronym
which represents: “Earnings Before Interest,Taxation, Depreciation and Amortization.EBITDA is a margin that companies andlenders use to measure progress and a com-pany’s ability to handle certain levels ofdebt load.
See EBITDA, Page 3
HEARTLAND MANAGERS TO MEET AUGUST 8th
EBITDA, Expenses and Revenues will be Main Topics
Pres. ReleasePres. Release
Page 2 Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013
This Fourth of July was abit different than most atthe Coursolle home. Our
youngest daughter and her familywere not able to visit until the fol-lowing Saturday, July 6th, becauseof work schedules. Diane and Ispent timeby our-selvesgoing to amorningchurchservice,going out tobreakfastand justpreparingour homefor the visitof our daughter’s family andfriends on the following Saturday.We did lots of catch-up around-the-house odds and ends.
On July 4th morning, I wasasked to do the Communion serv-iced at our local Catholic Churchsince the person who regularilydoes it had the day off. I had towrite a homily (short presentationduring the service). I went on-lineto research some sites looking for aFourth of July theme. ”CatholicOn-Line” had some relevant info
and I’d like to share some of thethoughts with you along with a lotof my own.
As you know, in June of 1776,Thomas Jefferson brilliantly com-posed the first drafts of the Decla-ration of Independence. After somerevision, the bulk of the documentwas approved by Congress on July4, 1776. While the Declarationwould soon become one of theworld’s most significant docu-ments, its second sentence is per-haps most famous:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are createdequal, that they are endowed bytheir Creator with certain unalien-able rights, that among these areLife, Liberty and the Pursuit ofHappiness.”
In my opinion, these rights ofLife, Liberty and the pursuit ofHappiness have been put in harm’sway given the many alarming ele-ments present in today’s Americawhich oftentimes seeks to deal afatal blow to Life, Liberty and thePursuit of Happiness, whetherthrough direct attack or throughconcealed manipulation of publicopinion. Many in our country be-lieve our nation is in trouble. Somecontinue to attempt to remove the
Creator from the very foundationof our country contrary to the be-liefs of our founders.
I would like to focus on one ofthe three unalienable Rights withthis column; that right being the“PURSUIT of Happiness.” Thekey word in this phrase is “Pur-suit.” Somewhere along the line,in my opinion, some peopletended to get the idea that ourConstitution or our governmentshould, guarantee “Happiness”rather than the “PURSUIT of Hap-piness.” Instead of having the free-dom (Liberty) to be involved inthe quest or search for Happiness,some people just wanted whatthey defined in their own mind asHappiness, which often times wasmoney or free stuff from the gov-ernment without obligation. OurConstitution never guaranteedthat. The interpretation of whatour Constitution guaranteed waseveryone’s equal right to pursueHappiness without government in-terference or interference by oth-ers (within the confines ofreasonable law and morality).
The Fourth of July is called In-dependence Day. We celebrate ourindependence from what our fore-fathers interpreted as tyranny and
interference with the “Pursuit ofHappiness.” It was that highlysought after “INDEPENDENCE”that catapulted this nation to theposition of the greatest nation onearth.
Today, I worry that we have lostthe will and desire to be INDE-PENDENT. Are we becoming anation of DEPENDENTS? Havemany of our citizens lost the willto become self-reliant, self-respon-sible and INDEPENDENT? Do wewant to be taken care of? Have wedecided that FREE STUFF is moreimportant than FREEDOM?
Maybe it’s time to review thewords of John F. Kennedy, the35th President of the UnitedStates: “My fellow Americans, asknot what your country can do foryou, ask what you can do for yourcountry.”
Maybe it’s time to re-read theUnited States Constitution and fol-low the direction of our foundersbefore we siphon away the enthu-siasm, ingenuity, creativity, wealthand INDEPENDENCE from thisamazing land of ours?
Maybe?May God, the Creator, bless you
and America from Sea to ShiningSea!
Jim CoursollePresident, CEO
Birthday “Broadcasts”
July
2nd – Dan Wheeler – Iron River
7th – Erik Helgemo – Iron River
9th – Julie Anderson – Eagle River
22nd – Don Slapelis – Eagle River
25th – Deb Josephs – Corporate
August
19th – Brad Zima – Iron River
27th – Jim Coursolle – Corporate
Market Managers
Dan Wheeler ................................$24,470
Scott Jaeger ................................$20,406
Jim Hodges ................................$13,695
Sales Reps
John Warren................................$36,727
Trish Keeley ................................$18,628
Sue Baker ....................................$12,427
Sandy Berg ..................................$11,644
Tim Zier ........................................$8,816
May Top Sellers
Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013 Page 3
Mine, from Page 1
In the Ashland and Hurleyarea, the GTAC Mine is slatedto provide 2000 initial con-struction jobs and then, whenoperational, 700 mining jobswith another 2000 ancillaryjobs predicted. According toHeartland CEO Jim Coursolle,the GTAC Mine “is a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity forour Heartland service area inNW Wisconsin and we aregrateful to GTAC presidentBill Williams and the ClineGroup for this mine.”
In a recent letter to GTACpresident Bill Williams fromstate legislators Sen. BobJauch (D-Poplar) and Rep.Janet Bewley (D-74th Assem-bly District), they stated: “Weare calling on you to immedi-ately remove the heavilyarmed masked commando se-curity forces currently hiredto protect your company’sproperty in the Penokee Hills.The images are horrifying andthe action by the company tohire this high security Arizonafirm is appalling. These kindsof security forces are commonin third world countries butthey don’t belong in NorthernWisconsin. We cannot beginto describe how upset the citi-zens of Northern Wisconsinare at the sight of our forestsbeing patrolled by maskedsoldiers carrying militarystyle assault weapons likemercenaries in a time of war.”
Prior to March 2013 whenWisconsin Governor ScottWalker signed legislation al-lowing GTAC to proceed withtheir due diligence process,Heartland’s Jim Coursollebroadcast several editorials onHeartland Ashland and ParkFalls stations in favor ofGTAC, stating that the minewas all about hundreds -- andwith supporting employment –thousands of jobs for one ofthe highest unemploymentareas in Wisconsin. Coursolletold the HCGazette that hewas seriously contemplatingcontinuing his editorial re-marks, but when he read theJauch/Bewley letter to GTACpresident Bill Williams, Cour-solle said, “I couldn’t havedone a better job than Bob
Jauch and Janet Bewley didwhen alerting the people inthe Ashland and Iron Countyarea to the absurdity con-tained in their letter.
People are turned off by BobJauch and Janet Bewley be-cause – please notice – theycompletely failed to condemnthe eco terrorists assaultingGTAC employees and destroy-ing property, yet Jauch and Be-wley condemned GTAC fortaking measures to protect itsown employees and property.There is something very shal-low and strange about the let-ter Jauch and Bewley wrote;the health and safety of GTACemployees is certainly themost important priority here.”
In a sternly worded state-ment made July 12, 1013, Gov.Scott Walker demanded thateco-terrorists disrupting thepreliminary work at the pro-posed GTAC Mine be held ac-countable for their actionsaccording to a story in the Wis-consin Reporter. Walker said,“These extremists – who aredisrupting work and causingharm to law-abiding employ-ees – should be prosecuted tothe fullest extent of the law.”The Governor also said, “I ap-preciate the efforts of law en-forcement in the area andspoke with the Iron CountySheriff to offer any assistancethat may be needed going for-ward. The laws of Wisconsinwill be upheld.”
On June 20, 2013, the Ash-land County Commissionerspassed a zoning ordinance thatwould require GTAC or anyapplicant to pay to the county$100,000 for a special use per-mit. If the special use permitaccount would dip below$50,000 dollars, additionalmonies would be required tobe paid by GTAC or any appli-cant. At this point, GTAC hassaid they will not apply for thespecial use permit and willprobably locate the GTACmine entirely in Iron Countycausing Ashland County tolose significant tax revenue.The Iron County governmenthas been much more reason-able and favorable to the sig-nificant job opportunitycreated by the proposed GTACMine.
EBITDA, from Page 1
Coursolle said that as Heart-land begins to explore ways toexpand its ownership of radiostations in NW Wisconsin andthe UP of Michigan, Heartland,and all management level em-ployees, will need to strategizeways to raise EBITDA levelsby a combination of reducingexpenses and raising revenues.He said, “I have asked bothKathy Wawiorka, HeartlandCorporate Business Manager
and Deb Josephs, HeartlandCFO to assist me in scrutiniz-ing all company expenses.Lenders look at EBITDA mar-gins very closely and so willthe Heartland managementteam going forward.
‘Economies of scale’ or morestations adding to revenue pro-duction and the sharing in ex-pense payment as illustrated byour most profitable four stationAshland market, makes finan-cial sense to the growth and fu-ture of this company.”
God
Bless
America!
2320 Ellis Avenue. P.O. Box 613, Ashland, Wisconsin 54806
GM Notes...By Scott Jaeger, GMWBSZ/WNXR/WJJH/WATW
Icannot believe people aretalking about BACK TOSCHOOL! It’s now the mid-
dle of July and we are off and run-ning. The first week of July was alittle messed up with the 4th fallingon a Thursday, but it’s been back inthe saddle after that.
As I am writing this, we are gear-ing up for the Big Bay Days Festivalin Ashland. Wednesday and Thurs-day are Maxwell Street days wherethe downtown businesses hit thestreets with incredible sidewalksales. There are food vendors, musicand a ton of great sales! Skip and Iwill be broadcasting live fromdowntown on Wednesday from 8-11am. Then Friday the Bay DaysFestival really kicks in. Saturday isour 5th Annual Bay Area Battle ofthe Bands. It will feature 4 incredi-ble bands battling it out for $3,0001st place prize money plus a head-line gig at the Big Tap Beerfest atBig Top Chautauqua.
The 4 bands are ROK from Iron-wood, Dungeon Wench from EauClaire, TripleKoin from Minnesotaand Crescent Moon from Superior!We are looking forward to reallyRockin’ Out on Chequamegon Bay.
It’s the perfect venue as we areunder a big top tent overlookingLake Superior! For more informa-tion on Bay Days, you can visit theAshland Chamber website atwww.visitashland.com.
Wednesday, August 21st is the25th anniversary and celebration ofthe Senior Expo in Ashland. TheSenior Expo is a huge event givingthe Seniors in the area a day of freehealth screenings, seminars, shop-ping, food and fun. This year we areoffering a variety of entertainmentincluding some local talented singersperforming in a variety show of 60sand 70s music, 2 Man Band and Co.performing a lot of favorite showtunes and also 50s and 60s. Therewill be a seminar and exhibit on thehistory of the Ashland ore docks,along with a Social Security Bene-fits seminar, Yoga for Seniors, elderlaw planning seminars and muchmore! The event is sponsored by
Memorial Medical Center, AshlandHealth and Rehab, UCARE andHeartland Communications.
We are also focusing on theCounty Fairs. We are involved withIron County, WI, Bayfield County,Gogebic County and wrapping it allup at Ashland County over LaborDay weekend. There are alwaysgreat entertainment and fun at all ofour county fairs.
On a personal note, I would liketo wish my wife, Kim a happy an-niversary. She has actually survivedbeing married to me for13 years onJuly 22nd! We will be taking a fewdays off to enjoy ourselves. We willbe taking in the Wisconsin Dells andthen heading to a Milwaukee BrewerGame on July 25th…maybe theywill actually win!!
In the next issue, I will be able totreat you to some great photos of theBay Days and the Battle of theBands!
AshlandAshland
Skip HunterAshland Program Director
Scott JaegerAshland VP and GeneralManager
www.wbszfm.com
www.wnxrfm.com
www.wjjhfm.com
Page 4 Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013
Skip Hunter broadcasting live in front of Hitt’s Fine Furniture in downtownAshland for Maxwell Street Days. He is interviewing Maribeth Monroe from theAshland Chamber of Commerce.
Jim HodgesEagle River VP and GeneralManager
www.wrjo.com
Mike WolfCorporate Program Director
909 N. Railroad Street, P.O. Box 309, Eagle River, Wisconsin 54521
Eagle RiverEagle RiverGM Notes...By Jim Hodges, GM WRJO/WERL
There’s no shortage of sum-mer activities in EagleRiver and Vilas County
each year. From Muskie fishingtournaments to camping and boat-ing, our area offers something foreveryone. One of the summer tradi-tions is the WRJO Street Danceheld in downtown Eagle River. De-voted radio station listeners, snow-birds who have returned to theircabins and cottages and tourists turnout every Thursday night for 10weeks to dance, win prizes and sim-ply enjoy the music and peoplewatching. One of the bands that en-tertained is the Bill Hassey Orches-tra, who performed July 11th. Eachweek features a different type ofmusic, from karaoke sing-a-longs,rock, pop hits and yes, even polka,the WRJO Street Dances are nowinto their 14th year.
One of the summer’s biggestevents is the “Festival of Flavors.”
A relatively new event, attendeessampled a wide variety of Wiscon-sin foods, including cheese, icecream, cream puffs and more fromthe 40 Wisconsin-based vendors.Jim Hodges, General Manager,WRJO/WERL Radio, was theemcee and master of ceremonieswhile Amy Linnett, WRJO morningdrive air talent, broadcasted live.The event also featured music,chef’s demonstrations, giveaways, aroot beer float eating contest andprize drawings.
WRJO broadcasted live from theThree Lakes Fire Department“Radar Run Shootout and Fly-in.”The event featured boats racingdown a 1,000 yard shoot of water tosee how fast they could go. Withhundreds of boaters viewing fromtheir own boats, airplanes were fly-ing in overhead landing at the air-port giving attendees a chance to seeairplanes up close. We also broad-casted live from the recent “EagleRiver Airport Air Show,” too. We’reeverywhere in the summer!
The WRJO “Kiss My Gas” con-test is in full swing.When gas prices hitnearly $4.50 per gallon,people were frustratedwith the big oil compa-nies and probablywanted to tell them ex-actly what to do withtheir high prices! And“Kiss My Gas” was de-vised, giving listeners achance to win a $1,000gas card in early August.
Contestants must visit sponsors tofind their game card number, writeit down, fill out the entire card, andthen drop it off at WRJO. Contest-ants who qualify by having visitedall the sponsors will gather for thegiveaway August 3rd.
Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013 Page 5
Wolf tackles 5 lb. Heart AttackBurger.
One of the 10 WRJO Street Dances was held in downtown Eagle River, with the Bill Hassey Orchestra performing.Participants dance, win prizes and simply enjoy the music and people watching.
Page 6 Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013
Dan WheelerIron River VP and GeneralManager
www.wikb.com
Brad ZimaIron River Program Director
809 West Genesee Street, Iron River, Michigan 49935
GM Notes...By Dan Wheeler, GMWIKB/WFER
It’s time for the 46th annualU.P. Championship Rodeo anda weekend of events during
Rodeo Daze on July 19-21 in IronRiver. This is it, the biggest weekendof the summer in Iron County. Thefestivities will include the popularDowntown Market Daze, Miss U.P.Rodeo, the Windsor Rodeo Run, afoot-stompin’ street dance downtown,the ever-popular Wild West Parade,the annual Art Round-Up at the Wind-sor Center, and The Rodeo Vittlesluncheon at First PresbyterianChurch. WIKB fans will then be ableto listen to “Dust on the Bottle” beingsung by American country musicartist David Lee Murphy who will beintroduced by none other thanWIKB’s own Brad Zima. Look forpictures and details to follow in nextmonth’s newsletter.
Brad Zima posted this picture in front of Ker-mits in Iron River. The location of WIKB’s Sum-mer Fun Party. People registered prior to the bignight of fun, prizes, and games at Kermit’s PizzaPub and Grill, one of the best places to be in IronCounty.
Good MorNiNG,telephoNe tiMe
As the old saying goes,“Home is where the heart is,”and, with Telephone Time,the longest running radio talkshow in Upper Michigan, itis only a telephone call (or internetstream) away!! Calls come in from
all around the country… Penn-sylvania, Missouri, Las Vegas,just to name a few!! The fol-lowing is just a sampling ofwhat we “get” to hear everyday:
…Looking for homing pigeons.…Bullet proof vest for sale.
…Wanted to buy: a set of dominos.…Giant bunnies for sale.
…Bob Dillon listens to TelephoneTime!…Looking for a Japanese interpreter.…In dire need of two or three babypigs.…Old fashioned cream separator forsale.…Two free mini horses to a goodhome.
Get your adding machine out.Displayed here is what the win-ner of the grand prize received atKermit’s Summer of Fun Partyheld June 26th.
Ashley, the winner of the Ker-mit’s Summer of Fun promotionshown here with her son in herFacebook picture. To qualify for thechance to win at Kermit’s you had toparticipate through Facebook.
Iron RiverIron River
At left, Elvis tributeartist Ryan Roth per-formed at the Windsor Au-ditorium in Iron River onFriday, July 12, as part offundraising concerthosted by the Friends ofCamp Batawagama. Dur-ing the musical event,Roth interacted with theaudience. Here, he singswhile wrapping a scarfaround Elvis fan VirginiaLaFountain. Accompany-ing Roth on stage was theEAS Tribute Band. Elviswas live in the studio dur-ing Telephone Time,speaking about thefundraiser with Brad.
At left, First NationalBank and Trust tossed red,white and blue beachballs to parade spectatorsto celebrate America’sbirthday during the 4th ofJuly parade in Iron River.
Darla IshamPark Falls VP and GeneralManager
www.wcqm.com
Joel KarnickPark Falls Program Director
GM Notes...By Darla Isham, GMWCQM/WPFP
As the summer is unfoldingup north is a very busyplace. I put off until after
the 4th of July on late Friday eveningto go and do my grocery shopping aswith one grocery store in Park Fallsany time prior to late Friday eveningthere were no parking spots, no cartsand it was a mad house on highway13 trying to get into any driveway.When I got to the grocery store one ofthe clerks told me that the store had awhopping record week for sales likethey never experienced before. It leftme wondering what could the reasonbe for such a busy grocery shoppingrush on this 4th of July? Could it bethat more folks are staying close tohome and not traveling far over a hol-iday?
I did a little research and foundthat Auto club AAA predicted that40.8 million Americans will travel atleast 50 miles from home over July 4,traditionally the most traveled holidayof the summer. That's a 0.8% dip fromlast year but still higher than the 13-year average of 38.9 million Ameri-cans who celebrate Independence Dayby getting out of town. Since the holi-day fell on a Thursday, travel waslikely to be down slightly comparedwith 2012 because of a shorter travelwindow, AAA says. The continuingfallout from budget cuts by the federalgovernment may also keep moreAmericans at home.
Whatever the case may be, I wasvery thrilled to get the news from thestore clerk because it told me thatthere was a lot of money left here inPark Falls from grocery shoppers thatmay not have been from our directlocal area, and I imagine some had tohave gotten gas, checked into one ofour beautiful Price County Campgrounds, may even have stopped at adiner.
Which brings me to our recentBrewer Bus trip. Folks are still willingto spend on summer baseball pleas-ures if they don't have to drive them-selves. Fifty eight people from thesurrounding area were very excited to
see a Brewer game and our youngestas you see in one of the photos is en-joying his prize the brewer winter cap.It was like 89 in the shade and he stillhad it on his head! Our local SuperOne grocery store donated a wonder-ful bag lunch for everyone and one ofour great retail outlets PackerlandPlus donated about 30 prizes to giveaway on the bus, as what is a bus tripwithout games. Our next jaunt to Mil-waukee will be in September and thatbus is almost filled as well.
And as our warm summer dayscontinue to pass our 98Q vehicle isgetting a work out as well....Paul Dis-chler and his family of girls startedtheir 4th of July in the Park Falls pa-rade, then headed to Phillips 18 milessouth of Park Falls for their 4th ofJuly parade. Plus many live remotes atlocal businesses like SchumacherAuto, Northwoods Community CreditUnions "Member Appreciation Day",South Side True Value Hardware, andPioneer Days and Flambeau Rama,still to come. As the old saying goeswe're not letting any grass grow underour feet!
There is also something else worthmentioning. Since the year turnedover to 2013, Price County has hadsix new businesses open with anotherin the next few weeks opening tomake a total of seven to date. Itseemed for awhile every other day mysales reps were coming in off thestreet and telling me we have anotherbusiness that's going to open. This is agood sign that our small NorthernWisconsin Communities are stillgoing strong and continuing to grow.
Have a great summer, before youknow it we'll be talking about ouraward winning "DEER HUNTERSROUND UP."
1329 4th Avenue South, P.O. Box 309, Park Falls, Wisconsin 54552
Volume 4 • Issue 7 • July 2013 Page 7
Milwaukee Brewer Bus trip, Live remote at Northwoods Community CreditUnion customer appreciation day, live remote at Schumacher Auto, The Dis-chler Girls enjoying the 4th of July parades.
Park FallsPark Falls