The State Canvassing Board  on Monday officially signed off on U.S. Senate recount numbers that showed  DFLer Al Franken winning the recount over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman by 225 votes.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced the final vote count at 1,212,431 for Franken and 1,212,206 for Norm Coleman. Coleman for Senate Counsel Tony Trimble stated soon after the Canvassing Board decision was announced that the Coleman campaign will contest the results of the Canvassing board. Millions of Minnesotans will be disenfranchised if the results are not challenged in court, Trimble said.

Earlier in the day Monday, the Minnesota Supreme Court  rejected an appeal by the Coleman for Senate campaign to include an additional 654 rejected absentee ballots to the U.S. Senate recount.
 

Slippery roads are to be blamed for a car-school bus crash in Forest Lake on Monday morning. According to the Forest Lake Police Department, a car traveling south on Everton Avenue and attempting to negotiate a curve to go west on 220th St. N. crashed with an ISD 831 school bus which was east bound on 220th Street and approaching the turn on Everton Ave. There were no injuries, police said. The crash was reported at 9:04 a.m. The two vehicles were traveling on city streets west of I-35 and south of W. Broadway Ave.

The school bus carried two students, a student aide and the bus driver. The car, a 2003 Ford Focus, was driven by Adam Pimentel, 21, of Shoreview. The car received heavy front-end and passenger side damage, police said. There was little if any damage to the bus. A second school bus was dispatched to the scene to transport the students to school.

(Photo By Cliff Buchan) 

Emma Elizibeth Shaffer, pictured with her parents Stephanie and Nick Shaffer, arrived at 5:26 a.m. Jan. 1 to become the first baby of the new year born at  Fairview  Lakes Medical  Center in Wyoming. Pat Rogowski of the Fairview Lakes Auxiliary is shown presenting the happy family with a giant basket of gifts donated by area merchants. The donated gifts, which were gathered and assembled by the auxiliary, include clothes, toys, gift certificates for groceries and restaurants, a savings bond, and a $25 gift certificate for the auxiliary gift shop. Emma also received a pink afghan handmade by one of the Fairview  Lakes’ obstetrical nurses. Each year the nurse crochets both a pink and a blue afghan for the first baby. Dr Therese Durkin, Fairview Rush City Clinic, delivered Emma, who weighed 7 lb. and was 19-1/2 inches long. Emma is the first child for Nick and Stephanie, who live and work in Rush City.

(Photo Submitted) 

It was a year of change, progress and the loss of a number of key community members who served the Forest Lake area for many years. It was a year for stories on the Broadway Corridor in Forest Lake, the eventual merger of Wyoming city and township, school budget cuts and a deadly spring tornado that tore through parts of Hugo. It was a year that saw the passing of Willard Houle, Norma Harper, Mickey Remitz, Clarence Fedje Jr., Jack Reese, Norm Tolzmann, Bud Robinson and Gary Menne, to name a few of those who worked on behalf of their communities in a variety of ways.

The devastation in Hugo was clearly seen in this air photo taken two days after a strong tornado ripped through Hugo on May 25, 2008. More than 500 homes received damage and 60 were completely destroyed.

(Photo By Cliff Buchan and pilot Samn Husnik) 

It was a whopper of a walleye for 17-year-old Kevin Schmidt of Forest Lake. Schmidt, who was fishing with his pal, Jake Semo, 17, caught this beauty on the Forest Lake chain on Saturday, Dec. 20. The walleye weighed in at 10 pounds and three ounces and was just over 29 inches long. Schmidt used a big shinner minnow to entice this beauty to take the hook. The fishing is good in the Forest Lake area.

(Photo Submitted)