Author: admin

At the Dec.  1 meeting of the Forest Lake Area School Board,  board members voted to direct the administration to make budget reductions in the amount of $2.5 million for the 2017-18 school year.
Over the past several years, when budget reductions were necessary,  school district administration has reviewed enrollment,  staffing, and programs, and made recommendations to the School Board.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Moving forward, the Administrative Council, consisting of all building principals and district leadership administrators, will work through the “2017-18 Program Budget Reduction Process” and present a recommendation regarding specific cuts to the School Board for their April 6 meeting.

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Skaters enter 2016-17 with experience beyond their years
The girls hockey team has already begun play, earning a 2-2 tie at fifth-ranked Minnetonka and a 6-0 win over the Duluth co-op team at home. In those games, third-year head coach Todd Gutterman said, “we showed our youth. We have a lot of things to work out still.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
There is no dissonance to be discerned between those early results and Gutterman’s analysis – no more than can be found in the fact that the 2016-17 hockey squad is both young and experienced at the same time. Of 31 players listed on the varsity roster, there are four seniors and three juniors. Only three players graduated from last year’s team, which won the Section 7AA tournament and went to the state tournament.
That means there were not many spots to fill with new players, and many of the freshmen and sophomores bring extensive varsity experience.
“It’s

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Photos by Deno Johnson

Young talent bolsters state-level Nordic squads
A lot of things never seem to get old within the Forest Lake Nordic skiing program. First, head coach Deno Johnson, who has been in charge since 1998. Second, the team, which always seems to find new talented youngsters to fill out its roster. And last but not least, winning: both the boys and the girls teams were among their respective top echelons in the state last year, with the boys taking fourth at the state meet and the girls eighth.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The boys team beat Stillwater for a place at the state meet on a tiebreaker, avenging an identical loss in 2003 that still has Johnson sore.
“It just shows that if you stick around long enough, the tables will turn,” he said.
Junior all-stater Ryan Mead led the boys team last year and is set to do so again.
“He has set some high goals for

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Loving Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter, NieceLaney passed away, peacefully surrounded by family, on November 29, 2016. She was a strong warrior and fought courageously and now reigns victorious in Heaven with Jesus.
Laney is preceded in death by brother, Mambo; great-grandparents, Don and Lorraine Evenson, Jim Kinney, Gordon Peterson.
Survived by parents, Andrew and Nicole; siblings, Logan, Mason, Chloe; grandparents, Brad “Papa” and Barb “Amma” Turgeon, Gary “Bikey” and Kris Hays; aunts and uncles, Travis (Kalie) Turgeon, Ashley (Ike) Hartman, Amy Hays; cousins, Addy and Kellen Turgeon, Lucy, Wyatt and Ellie Hartman; great-grandparents, Bill and Lois Turgeon, Audrey Kinney, Emily Peterson.
Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday, December 2nd at Roberts Family Life Celebration Home, 555 SW Centennial Dr., Forest Lake. A Celebration of Laney’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 3rd at Hosanna Lutheran Church, 9300 Scandia Trail N., Forest Lake, with visitation one hour prior. Private family interment at

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Photo by Jason DeMoeMasquers Theatre actors play out a family road trip scene from the upcoming “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!”
Everyone’s heard the famous rhyme “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage,” but the anatomy of a real-world relationship isn’t always so simple.
Exploring all aspects of what a relationship can be is the premise of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” the latest musical offered up by Masquers Theatre Company to take the stage Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Dec. 2 to 18 at the American Legion in Forest Lake at 355 W. Broadway Ave. .broadstreet.zone(48036);
“The show is put together as a series of vignettes exploring the different aspects of single life, dating, marriage and everything in between,” director Vanessa Agnes said. “Relationships in one form or another are something that we have all

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Angie Hong
Guest Columnist
Drive by a group of condominiums in suburban Washington County and you’re likely to see acres of lawn with relatively uniform landscaping. One of the biggest benefits to living in a condo is having a property management company that takes care of drudgeries like mowing, shoveling and raking leaves. Because they are hiring out the work, homeowners’ associations usually stick with landscaping that is simple and easy to maintain. Recently, however, some local associations have begun to break the mold and are incorporating native plantings and rain gardens that don’t need to be watered and help to create habitat for pollinators and birds.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Evergreen Country Homes in Woodbury lies off Radio Drive, northeast of the Tamarack Nature Preserve. Last year, the association approached Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District to ask for advice in dealing with drainage problems on their property. Due to compacted clay soils and a berm along the

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