Category: The Latest From Forest Lake Times

Amy Doeun
Wyoming Reporter
For the Wednesday, Oct. 18, meeting of the Wyoming City Council, Council Members Claire Luger and Joe Zerwas were absent, but there was still a quorum.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Frontier Communication
The first item on the agenda was a Frontier Communications competitive franchise application. Scott Bohler and Tom Murn attended the meeting. Murn said that Frontier is very community-oriented: “We make and drive multiple decisions (based on a community orientation), and we participate in all sorts of community activities.”
Frontier offers television through an internet connection.
“Broadband is the future of our product. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge; this is a modern delivery of TV over the internet,” Murn said.
Bohler added that the service will use existing lines and will not require a large amount of setup, offering an alternative to cable TV. Bohler and Murn said they intend to reach the entire city.
The council unanimously voted to approve the application.broadstreet.zone(50962);
Salt shed
The council

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Does the name Aristides de Sousa Mendes mean anything to you? How about a huge, historic picture named “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso? I ask because they represent perhaps the best and worst of humanity and because I encountered both on a recent visit to Spain and Portugal.
Let’s start with the best. We went on a Lisbon tour with a remarkable historian and college teacher named Paulo Scheffer. He showed us around the city, giving us information I had never read or heard before. He’s writing a book about the history of Jews in Portugal. He’s a passionate, fascinating historian.broadstreet.zone(48036);
One of the people he mentioned was Aristides de Sousa Mendes. Scheffer said it’s too bad that a movie like “Schindler’s List” has not been made about Mendes. After hearing the story and reading more from other sources, I agree.
Mendes represented Portugal in Bordeaux, France, during World War II. Ignoring the orders

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Submitted photo
Forest Lake’s Maria Hunter, an English Language teacher at the K-12 tuition-free online public school MTS Minnesota Connections Academy, hosted students and their families on a field trip to Interstate Park in Taylors Falls. Visit www.MinnesotaConnectionsAcademy.com for more information.

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More than 100 students, staff, family and friends participated in the fifth annual Lino Lakes Elementary Stem School 5K Run/Walk on Sept. 24.
This year, the 5K had special meaning to everyone, as the race was dedicated to the memory and celebration of Holly “Soden” Farwell, who lost her hard fought battle with breast, brain and lung cancer in July of 2016. When the school started its partial Spanish immersion program in 2006, Farwell was hired as the first teacher for this new program. She taught both first and second grade Spanish at Lino Lakes Elementary for six years. The impact Holly made on her students, her parents and the staff at Lino Lakes will leave a lasting and positive impact with the community.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Farwell’s son, Fletcher, and her husband, Casey Farwell, plus some family and Holly’s friends released pink balloons to officially start the 5K.
The event was supported by the Lino

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The Fairview Lakes Volunteer Organization invites the public to remember or honor a loved one as part of the annual Love Lights Tree Lighting ceremony at 4 p.m. Dec. 4, at Fairview Lakes Medical Center in Wyoming. This year’s ceremony, which is open to the public, will include the reading of the names of those honored or memorialized, the tree lighting, entertainment, and holiday refreshments. All funds donated provide scholarships for area students pursuing health care careers.
For a donation of $10, you can purchase a light to memorialize a deceased loved one, to honor a relative or friend, or to express a holiday greeting.broadstreet.zone(48036);
For a donation of $100 or more, you can provide an ongoing memorial for a deceased loved one or honor a friend, relative, or special milestone. Every year, a gold or crystal ornament will be added to the lighted tree at Fairview Lakes Medical Center for the

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Jody Cowdin grew up in Forest Lake. She graduated FLHS in 1975. She went off to college and met a man. They dated for a year and a half and were married after her sophomore year. Two weeks after the wedding, the abuse began.
“I experienced the shock, confusion, terror, shame, anger and full range of emotions that victims often hide inside,” Cowdin said. “I managed to pour myself into my education and I finished my bachelor’s degree and began a teaching career. To be honest, I didn’t even know it was called abuse for the first eight years of our marriage until a therapist we were seeing used that word.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
The therapist threatened to call the police and file a report if Cowdin’s husband ever hurt her again. That provided a small amount of relief for Cowdin.
“The injuries from physical abuse may heal, but the emotional abuse goes deeper and is

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Judges are not gumball machines. That seems like a pretty simple idea to grasp. Machines and people are very different. Because of this, few would reasonably expect a lot of similarities between judges and gumball machines. However, that position can sometimes change quickly when folks learn that two different judges hearing the exact same case could rule in completely different ways, and that both decisions could be legally correct.
How could this be? Shouldn’t all judges come to the same result in the same case? No, because of judicial discretion.broadstreet.zone(48036);
If you go to a gumball machine and put in your penny, a gumball comes out. Every gumball machine will do the exact same thing. Unlike gumball machines, each judge is different. Each has their own life history, view of the world, philosophy on life, and unique personality. Accordingly, any two judges could view things quite differently.
About 15 years ago, I attended

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Tracy Nelson Maurer of Forest Lake has received a James Cross Giblin Juvenile Nonfiction Scholarship Award from the Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, Penn. The scholarship provides financial assistance to attend a five-day workshop, “Writing and Revising Narrative Nonfiction,” at the renowned Highlights Foundation writing program facility in the Poconos Mountains this November.
The Highlights Foundation board of directors awards scholarships “to those who best document a serious commitment to writing for children, a level of talent, and a financial need.” The late James Cross Giblin, an editor and author recognized as a major force in contemporary children’s literature, established the award to help encourage and support nonfiction writers.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Maurer, who has published more than 100 nonfiction books for children and young adults, will study with award-winning authors Deborah Heiligman and Barbara Kerley.

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Shirley Stroh, age 90, of Forest Lake, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on November 2, 2016.
Preceded in death by her husband, Earl.
Shirley will be deeply missed by children, Diane (Ken) Beers, Stephen Nielsen, Mark Nielsen, James (Lisa) Nielsen, Donna Galloway, Pamela Stroh, Kevin Stroh, Karen (Jon) Thorell; 22 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; 5 great-great-grandchildren; siblings, Marilyn (John) Jernberg, Caren LaBelle, Richard (Carol) Anfinsen; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Funeral Service 7 p.m. Thursday, November 10th at Roberts Family Life Celebration Home, 555 SW Centennial Dr., Forest Lake with visitation beginning at 5 p.m. until time of service. Interment 11:30 a.m. Friday, November 11th at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

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Photo by Ryan HowardThe Daniel DePonti airport paving project is close to completion, but a low estimate on fill material has led to a significant cost overrun.
The Oct. 24 Forest Lake City Council meeting wasn’t long, but it was eventful, including an unfortunate update on the airport paving project, a council decision on its sewer upkeep and an impassioned statement from the police chief.
Paving projectbroadstreet.zone(48036);
The actual paving of the Daniel DePonti Airport is on schedule, with project completion expected next week if weather permits. However, project engineering firm SEH informed the city in an Oct. 19 letter that due to the project plans underestimating the amount of fill needed to replace removed topsoil, the project is expected to exceed its $2.47 million bid amount by $500,000 to $800,000 – an increase of 20.27 to 32.44 percent.
“Subgrade issues, inconsistent topsoil depth, an extremely short design period, and a redesign late in

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