Throwback Thursday: Tarzan Edition

The cast performs in PHS's December production of Tarzan. (Photo Credit: Amanda Cooper)

PHS Scholarship Fundraiser

by Anna Greenhalgh

The PHS Scholarship Fund is hosting an Auction Bash! There will be auctions, both silent and aloud, on the 28th of February after the New Year. This fundraiser is being held for future scholarships and all parents, not just high-school parents, are invited. The theme this year is Hillmen, so grab the gear and let’s get moving!

“Parents can contact me with any questions, and if anyone would like to reserve a table in advance for themselves and their guests, I can help with that too,” says director Sheila Kelly. “The more the merrier!”

Contact Ms. Kelly at (608) 348-2615 for more information.

Four Guys and A Rumor

by Saafia Masoom

No, PHS, Cole Haas (‘16) is not moving to Delaware. His father isn’t having spine problems. And, nobody in the Haas family is dying.

Four boys among our student body recently learned a lot about the power of social media and rumors in very little time. It all started out as good fun, and to be honest, it ended in good fun when everyone realized what had happened.

The idea to start a rumor about Haas came to his buddies Cody Schambow (‘16), Josh Reuter (‘16), and Mitch Knockel (‘16) one day during their Algebra II class. “We were just going to start a rumor about Cole because we were mad about something,” says Schambow. That night each of them posted a picture of Haas on Instagram with a caption saying that they would miss their friend dearly when he moved to Delaware. While it was completely false and meant to last for only one night, none of them could have predicted the madness that followed.

The snapchats, tweets, and posts on social media started flooding in just minutes. “It was crazy,” says Reuter of the way everyone seemed to hear about the rumor almost instantaneously. The Haas family began receiving calls from other parents in the community, some of whom had heard that Haas’s dad was going to Delaware for medical reasons. Others thought Haas was on his deathbed. Amidst all the commotion, the boys received a call from Haas’s mother within half an hour of the original post.

Meanwhile, Haas himself was completely unaware. Says Knockel, “Cole was out hunting, and he didn’t know any of it was happening.” When he did find out, Haas took it in stride and went a step further: he decided to go along with it. “I pretty much thought it was funny. I wanted to see how it would turn out,”  he shares.

And, that’s when things began to get out of hand. With the help of a heartfelt post by a friend of theirs and Haas’s compliance, the charade went on for a solid week. By about Day 4 or 5, the school called the Haas family, having gotten the word. At that point, the boys decided it was probably best to kill the story. They spent the next days dispelling the rumor while Haas posted a disclaimer on Instagram about it. 

“I didn’t think it would escalate that quickly,” mentions Reuter. But, even with a harmless intent, the story got around to a large population of the school. 

All four boys are equipped with their social media outlets like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter, and they can attest to the fact that PHS’s rumor mill is in business. “People do talk trash on Twitter all the time,” states Schambow. 

It’s a lesson well-learned that surprisingly did not end in serious consequences unlike so many other instances of social media and rumors-gone-wrong. “If it’s in good humor like ours, it’s not bad,” points out Knockel. “It was meant in good humor, and Cole thought it was funny.” 

In any case, the student body might just be thinking twice before hitting that all-powerful “post” button.

The Curse is Broken

by Eramis Momchilovich

Cold Fusion seems to have broken the curse! Every previous establishment that has tried to succeed on the corner of 2nd St. and Main St. has failed to make it past the one year mark. Cold Fusion has spent far over a year in that jinxed location and is still going strong thanks to the “fun, hardworking staff” and the “great customers and the community’s support,” according to district manager Cassandra Blatz.

Cold Fusion opened in August of 2013 and has since been eager to serve and become involved in the community. Blatz accounts some of the restaurants success to having “established a business that caters to the city’s diverse demographics of both family and residential customer and the college students.” Cold Fusion also offers a unique and diverse menu with weekly specials that have become a community favorite. 

Their success has been so great that Cold Fusion has opened a new restaurant in Middleton this December. This new restaurant holds the same hours as the Platteville location (Monday-Sunday 11 a.m.- 2 a.m.) and offers the same menu, as well. . Here are some of their Weekly Specials:

Monday (4pm-10pm) 75 cent Jumbo Wings

Tuesday (4pm-9pm) Sushi

Wednesday (4pm-10pm) Burger Night

Thursday (All Day) Kids Eat Free

Friday (4pm-10pm) Fish Fry

Saturday (4pm-9pm) Prime Rib Dinner

Sunday (All Day) Prime Rib Sandwiches

Being a “fusion restaurant,” Cold Fusion has become popular through the many styles of cooking it uses and its many ethnic influences. Blatz says that some of the house specialties “are items from our award winning BBQ pit menu, fresh salmon dishes, and our chicken alfredo nachos.” And, vegetarians and vegans, never fear; Cold Fusion also offers meal options that will work with your diet specifications. Whatever your food preference, Cold Fusion is sure to satisfy!

Driftless Market Expands

by Adam Roberts

Over the summer, a second floor with overflow seating, bathrooms and additional space that allows for more retail opportunities was  added to Platteville’s Driftless Market.

The expansion was mostly due to timing. “When we opened the store, we bought the whole building,” says owner Heidi Dyas-McBeth. “We had always rented the second story as a four bedroom apartment.” However, when the tenants did not renew their lease this summer, it seemed the best time to expand the store. “We were at a place where we could really use the additional space,” says Dyas-McBeth, and the expired leases gave them the opportunity to expand.  “Had that apartment not become available, I don’t know that we would have expanded."  

The change took some work. Renovations were needed, including painting and removing drywall for a door to the staircase. The opening of the new floor was also slowed by the tornado that hit Platteville in June. “We were going to open in July, but then the tornado hit,” says staff member Cena Sharp, a key employee to the renovation. “That set us back like crazy.”  The new floor was finally ready for a soft opening in September, and the grand opening was just last month.

Platteville's Driftless Market added a new floor. 

The extra seating was overdue, according to the staff.  “We’re getting busier now,” says Sharp. “We needed more space to grow as the store has become more successful.” The extra space can be reserved for meetings, as well as just for eating lunch.  

The extra space also allows for community events. “In the past we’ve offered cooking classes and other kinds of workshops, but we were very limited with the space we had,” says Dyas-McBeth. “[The new space] gives us room to do more educational things related to the products we have at the store.” Plans for more events are still in the air. “I want to get an open mic night up there,” says Sharp.  

The space is also available to rent for other causes. “Gifts That Give,” a gift shop full of items obtained through the Fair Trade movement, will be renting some of the space upstairs for the holiday season.  The gifts come directly from workers in Laos and Guatamala--not through any large distributors-- in order to ensure workers are given fair wages for their work. It will be open every Saturday from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

So, what is to be gained from all the hard work put into the expansion of the store? “We hope people will see the Driftless Market as a place to come and have lunch.” The extra seating is a nice place to enjoy food in an intimate setting. Their menu includes wraps, salads, sandwiches and more, with numerous vegan and vegetarian options. “We have meat, too,” Sharp assures, “but we are very conscious of the people that don’t eat meat or people that have allergies.” The store also has wi-fi, which makes it a great spot to do homework.  

So, don’t hesitate to stop in at the Driftless Market for a healthy, inexpensive meal or for anything else in the store’s wide variety of products. Says PHS student Emma Bryla (‘16), “It is very important to buy local, and the Driftless Market is definitely the number one place to do that.”

The Interview Screens At Millennium Cinema

  By Eramis Momchilovich  

     Despite the attacks on Sony by North Korea in late 2014 and all the controversy surrounding the movie, Millennium Cinema began showing the film The Interview on Christmas Day.

    The Interview was due to be released to theaters October 10, 2014, but was pushed back to December 25, 2014 and then completely canceled due to unprecedented cyber attacks on Sony Pictures that resulted in the leaks of intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material. Despite threats on the places where The Interview would be shown, Sony made it slightly less offensive and released the film online as well as in a select few smaller theaters across the nation.

    In the movie the main characters of the film, Dave Skylark and Aaron Rapoport, manage a celebrity tabloid show called Skylark Tonight. The two are recruited by the CIA to assassinate their latest interviewee and avid fan, Kim Jong-un, on their trip to Pyongyang. Seth Rogen and James Franco star in the comedy, which has brought in more profit than Sony might have hoped for after the threats, leaks, and cancelations. Whether it’s considered a success might just be up to those who see it, something people in the Platteville-area can boast with their local display.

    Millennium Cinema was one of these courageous theaters to show The Interview. “The Millennium Cinema was due to show this movie before the release was cancelled,” says general manager Jeremy Patnaude. “We were just following through on what was planned.” Showing a film that already had such a reputation would be a leg up for a small town theater like Millennium Cinema. Patnaude also stresses that Millennium's priority was to get the customers what they wanted by showing the anticipated film.

    On the opening night there was “a wide audience with people ranging from seniors all the way down to college and high school students,” remarked Patnaude. The hype from the controversy surrounding the film peaked many people’s interests and they were not disappointed. “People seemed to like it; it was funny,” added Patnaude. As to the possible danger, Patnaude isn’t worried. “Platteville is in the middle of nowhere, how could a terrorist even find us?” he says. So head over to Millennium Cinema for some stress free laughs.