Amy Doeun
Wyoming Reporter
At the July 18 Wyoming City Council meeting, Economic Development Authority President Mike Soule shared a quarterly report with the council.broadstreet.zone(48036);
“The commission is made up of seven members – five citizens at large and two City Council members,” he explained. “So far, this year our board has updated our bylaws, made a couple of minor changes in it and worked with WSB to create a strategic plan (for the city). The cost of the project is $5,000 and covered by donations (mostly from area businesses). … Final cost to the city was zip, zero; we feel that it will be a valuable tool.”
Soule went on to say that the EDA wants to partner with Chisago County and is considering promoting the city on the freeway.
“We are very excited about moving the economic future of Wyoming forward,” he said. “We are all committed to doing just that.”
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Category: The Latest From Forest Lake Times
Stevens honored as rising star
Miller & Stevens Law has announced that Vince Stevens was once again named a Minnesota Rising Star Attorney for 2017 by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers. Stevens previously received this distinction in 2007, 2009, and 2012 to 2016.
According to the Super Lawyers website, Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Only 2.5 percent of Minnesota attorneys are named to the Rising Stars list. Attorneys are eligible for that list if they are 40 or younger or have been practicing for 10 years or fewer. The list is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.
Stevens practices in civil litigation, including commercial litigation, personal injury, family
Forest View teacher provides Good Neighbor Meals to homeless
Forest View Elementary third grade teacher Christine Davis and 24 other staff members and their spouses spent April 29 feeding the homeless at the Berean Church in St. Paul through a program called the Good Neighbor Meal. The Good Neighbor Meal, according to the Good Neighbor Center website, is an event held on the second and last Saturday of each month in order to “provide fellowship and a meal for those who wish to spend some time with friends at no cost.” Each event is put on by various people and churches throughout the Twin Cities and often it serves to help feed the homeless.
Davis planned the menu for the event and was told it would cost between $350 – $400. She asked her colleagues for cash donations, and also found an anonymous donor who said they would match up to $200 in donations. Panera Bread also donated five boxes
A nearly forgotten burial ground
Photos by Derrick KnutsonLoren Magnison checks out the sign he and Ron Hult created to mark the site of the North Branch Poor Farm cemetery.
There’s a cemetery in North Branch that isn’t visited often. It’s tucked away about 200 feet northwest of the Harder Avenue and Heritage Lane intersection. It’s a simple resting place for people who ended their lives as paupers.
Lifelong North Branch resident Loren Magnison is the volunteer caretaker of the grounds; he mows the grass when it gets long, makes sure the 20 headstones stay standing, and he, with the help of Ron Hult, created a sign for the entrance to the area that reads “Poor Farm Cemetery.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
“I’ve been taking care of it since Ecumen moved out of here, which was 2010, I think,” Magnison said.
According to information from findagrave.com: “This is the second Chisago County Poor Farm, established about 1885, two miles east of North Branch.
Fairview awards scholars
Each year, the Fairview Lakes Medical Center Volunteer Organization sponsors $1,000 scholarships for 23 academically outstanding local students interested in pursuing health care careers.
On June 13, the organization honored its 2017 scholarship recipients at an annual awards program. This is the 55th year the Fairview Lakes Medical Center Volunteer Organization, previously the Fairview Lakes Auxiliary, has supported local students through these scholarships.broadstreet.zone(48036);
“We raise money throughout the year for scholarships, so it’s wonderful to meet such accomplished and deserving students,” Fairview Lakes Medical Center Volunteer Organization president Linda Peterson said in a press release. “It makes me confident that our future health care will be in good hands.”
This year’s winners were selected from more than 106 applicants and were chosen based on scholarship, need, and health care-related experience.
Scholarship recipients included high school students, traditional college students, and adult college students, including those enrolled in medical school and pursuing advanced nurse practitioner
Maria Elena Martin
Maria E. Martin, age 53 of Forest Lake, Minnesota, formerly of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died Saturday, July 29, 2017.
She was a loving wife and teacher who will be deeply missed by many.
Maria is preceded in death by father, John; aunt, Lena.
She is survived by her husband, Danny; mother, Annie; brother, John; nephews, Anthony, Dominic; beloved aunts, uncles, family and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at Mattson Funeral Home, 343 North Shore Drive, Forest Lake. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service at the funeral home. Interment at Scandinavian Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Joni and Friends, PO Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376-3333. Online condolences may be made at www.mattsonfuneralhome.com. Cards and memorials may be directed to Mattson Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 343 N. Shore Drive, Forest Lake, MN 55025.
Winthrop Lee Bradshaw Jr.
Winthrop Lee Bradshaw, Jr., age 83 of Columbus and Forest Lake, passed away peacefully of old age on July 27, 2017.
Captain Lee has made his final departure to points unknown. He was well known and respected throughout the aviation community, which was such a big part of his life. Lee was born on December 17, 1933 to Lee Sr. and Billie Yates in Maryland, and was close to his step-father, Emerson Phillips. He joined the USAF in 1951 and left as an aviation cadet in 1955. He then went to Parks College of Aeronautical Technology in St. Louis and graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. Lee was hired by Northwest Airlines in October 1958 and moved to Minnesota, and lived here ever since. In 1974, while flying a Pitts Special biplane doing aerobatics at an air show, Lee had a terrible crash and was informed he
Firefighter pay among topics at Scandia meeting
Hannah Davis
Scandia Reporter
Firefighter retirement and pay increase wrap-up, new appointments in city volunteer positions and discussion on a community solar garden were at the forefront of the Scandia City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Firefighter pay and benefits
Last month, the City Council discussed a request by Fire Chief Mike Hinz to raise the retirement benefit to Scandia firefighters by $300 per year of service. The firefighters retirement, funded through the Public Employees Retirement Association, is provided in a lump sum and will now pay firefighters $2,800 per year of service upon retirement. After the funding study showed the current investment returns and current value of the account will bear no cost to the city, the final approval for the firefighters retirement increase was approved unanimously.
Firefighters are also now approved for a raise to take effect for 2017. In 2016, a raise of 3 percent was approved for the 2017 budget.
Budget discussion process begins in FL
The Forest Lake Finance Committee met July 25 (after press time) for a preliminary discussion about the city’s 2018 budget. The City Council has scheduled budget discussion workshops for each Wednesday in August at 6:30 p.m., though if the council feels the budget and levy have been discussed adequately after a few meetings, it may not end up meeting on every Wednesday. The workshops are held prior to the council’s vote to set a preliminary levy and budget in September. Once the preliminary levy is set, it cannot increase from that number through the remaining budget deliberations. The final levy and budget will be approved in December.
FLAAA vs. Public Safety
A team of FLAAA softball coaches met a team of Forest Lake Police officers and firefighters in a pair of softball games at Fenway Park July 13. The coaches claimed victory in both contests, which were played as part of the FLAAA Community Get Together festivities. The community raised $278 toward Fenway Fields renovations, and the Forest Lake Police Relief Association contributed $222 to bring the total to an even $500.