Police in Forest Lake are investigating a pair of vandalism reports from early Sunday  morning. Chief of Police Clark Quiring said the first incident was reported at 4:25 a.m. when a home owner in the 1300 block of SE 16th Avenue was awakened by the sound of the living room picture window being broken. A 1998 Dodge pickup parked in the driveway also suffered extensive window damage. Quiring said $3000 in damage was listed.

At 5 a.m. on Sunday, police were called to the 200 block of NW 4th Street where three windows of a vehicle parked in the driveway had been smashed out. A golf putter found at the scene was likely used to break the windows, Quiring said. No arrests have been made.

Teachers in the Forest Lake Area School District on Wednesday overwhelmingly ratified a two-year contract offer. Jim Lindstrom, chief negotiator for the Forest Lake Education Association, said the proposal was approved by a vote of 394 to 55. The new contract covers the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years. Teachers will receive a combined 4 percent salary schedule adjustment over the two-year period.

Lindstrom said the settlement was reached in part because of the state mandated Jan. 15 settlement deadline and the realization that the school board did not have additional revenue to use for teacher compensation. Had the district and FLEA not settled by Jan. 15, the district stood to lose about $200,000 in state aid as a penalty, Lindstrom said.

The ISD 831 School Board will meet in special session at 7 p.m., Thursday at the District Office Building to take action on the two-year contract.

A second major grant is now in hand for the Forest Lake Sports Complex project now on track to break ground this spring. The Forest Lake Area Athletic Association drive announced this week it has received a $250,000 grant from the Hardenbergh Foundation.

A second major grant, this one from the Hardenbergh Foundation, has pushed the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association Forest Lake Sports Complex closer to its fund-raising goal

(Illustration courtesy of the FLAAA )

A half dozen years ago when a commuter bus route from Forest Lake to the Twin Cities was given a trial run, it failed. Lack of ridership was the reason. Monday’s start of a new bus service from Forest Lake to Minneapolis is not seeing that trend, at least not in the early days of the service.

Well over 200 riders took advantage of Metro Transit Route 288 from Forest Lake to Minneapolis on Monday and the ridership count exceeded 300 on Tuesday as the new service is off to a good start. Monday was the first day of the new trial program which has received special funding tied to the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

(Photo By Cliff Buchan)