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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.
For a look back on some of the big stories of 2008, please read on.
January.....
January 3....Three union labor groups and non-union employees for the city of Forest Lake have new two-year contracts. The Forest Lake City Council has approved wage and benefit package increase that total 9 percent over the two-year period...A former member of the city council in Forest Lake and one of the pioneers of the weed harvesting program on the Forest Lake chain expressed concern that a council decision to end or the suspend program would be a negative blow to efforts to keep lake quality at high levels...Route 288, a one-year demonstration route, will open next week providing commuter bus service from Forest Lake to downtown Minneapolis. The program is being offered by the Metro Council with federal funds awarded as part of the I-35W bridge collapse fund...Forest Lake City Council continued to take applications for a temporary appointment to fill Bo Bogotty’s seat. Bogotty is recovering from a serious stroke....In Wyoming, firefighters contained a blaze at the Premier Marine boat plant in the city’s industrial park...Two Chisago City men wanted for robbery are arrested in Forest Lake.
January 10.....More than 200 riders flocked to the new Washington County Transit Center next to the Headwaters government complex on Monday to ride the new Route 288 commuter bus service to Minneapolis which made its first run...Members of the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association were elated as word was announced that the proposed Forest Lake Sports Center has received a $250,000 grand from the Hardenbergh Foundation...Teachers in the Forest Lake district now have a new two-year contract. Terms have been reached to settle the negotiations, which awards teachers a 4 percent salary schedule improvement over the two-year period...ISD 831 also announced this week more changes are likely for its policy governing criminal background checks for district employees and most volunteers...At its organizational meeting, Bill Bresin was reelected school board president.....The Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau celebrated as it reached its $100,000 fund-raising goal for 2007...
January 17....Plans for expansion of the Wal-Mart in Forest Lake to a SuperCenter have been dealt a serious blow. Work that was approved and slated to begin this spring will now be delayed a year, thanks to a delay in an Xcel Energy substation that will serve this area...In its ongoing debate over the suspended weed harvesting program, the city council agreed to appoint a committee to evaluate the program for 2008. The group will have representation from the Forest Lake Lake Improvement Association....ISD 831 confirmed financial figures this week that show the new two-year contract for teachers will add 9.7 percent to school districts costs over the period. The figure includes the cost of wages and fringe benefits....District 1 Commissioner Dennis Hegberg of Forest Lake was elected chairman of the Washington County Board of Commissioners for 2008....
January 24....Two teens from the Forest Lake area were seriously injured in a crash on I-35 at the US-8 exit north of Forest Lake. North Air Care was needed to remove one of the injured teens from the scene...Forest Lake High School musicians continued to prepare for their Jan. 28 music festival at the school...Faith Lutheran Church announced plans for its fifth annual father-daughter ball on February 9...Forest Lake City Council announced it will interview 14 candidates who are interested in serving as a temporary replacement for Bo Bogotty....
January 31....Major renovations and an expansion are in the works for Northland Mall in Forest Lake. The owners of Marketplace Foods in Forest Lake are in the process of buying the mall and will relocate their grocery store to the mall. The plans also include a family-style buffet restaurant and a liquor store...Wyoming Mayor Sheldon Anderson announced it would take up residency on top of Wyoming City Hall until he has raised $35,000 to help support the ISD 831 Community Education Teen Center program which faces financial difficulties...ISD 831 announced it must make general fund adjustments of $1.7 million in 2008-2009 to help balance the books. Some $500,000 of fund reserves will likely be used to soften the full impact of the budget cuts...
February.....
February 7...Norma Harper died at age 92 on Jan. 19. The Forest Lake woman was a key community member in the 1950s who led the push to build a hospital in Forest Lake...The two area youth hurt in a car crash here on I-35 are making improvements...Fairview Lakes Medical Center in Wyoming announced plans for its 10th anniversary celebration...It was a busy week for the police in Forest Lake who issued 17 driving while intoxicated tickets....
February 14....Hundreds of area residents turned out for area precinct caucus gatherings, many inspired by candidates running for president...Two school board members were handed censures by the board for actions in January. The school board officially voted to censure David Gay and Eric Langness for their comments in January that pertained to a call for discipline of Superintendent Lynn Steenblock...Just when it appeared the Forest Lake City Council would name a temporary replacement for Councilman Bo Bogotty, Bogotty returned from the sick bed to the council chambers, thus ending the appointment debate...
February 21....Forest Lake Ford, lodged in the midst of a financial crisis, filed for bankruptcy...On the ice surface, Arnie Rudenick was the winner of a 2008 Ford pickup truck in the VFW Post 4210 Fishapalooza Ice Fishing Contest. An estimated 7500 participants took part with more than $175,000 in prizes offered...As plans for the consolidation of Wyoming Township and the city of Wyoming continue, a new request was heard from citizens and former local officials to alter plans for the election of the new city council...On national television, Katie Henslin of Forest Lake won $449,000 in NBC’s “Deal or No Deal.”
February 28....The final push is on to raise $400,000 needed to launch construction of the Forest Lake Sports Center. The Forest Lake Area Athletic Association facility is shooting for a September opening....The Scandia Cafe celebrated a milestone be serving its one millionth egg. Jeff Lynn was the diner who ordered up the milestone...Columbus officials testified at the State Capitol in support of a bill that would allow simulcast betting at Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus...
March.....
March 6....Forest Lake High School graduate and former resident Ken Anderson is once again a musher in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Area businesses report on the pros and cons of the new smoking ban in Minnesota....The on-site sewer system that serves Columbus Elementary School is called a public nuisance after problems with the system continue to occur....
March 13....The pot continues to boil in the decision to censure two school board members. Members David Gay and Eric Langness, the subjects of the censure, continued to squawk about the actions during a school board meeting....Wyoming City Council announced it has received a $500,000 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development grant to assist with city plans to help Xccent relocated to Wyoming from Osceola, WI...
March 20....Krista Richter and El Ewert were two of the many friends of the American Legion to get “pie in the eye” during a fund-raiser for the Legion’s Fourth of July celebration... Michele McLane, one of the last people to safely drive her car off the I-35W during its collapse last summer, recounted her story in a Times feature story...Local musher Ken Anderson notched his best finish yet with a fourth place showing in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska...The future of a consolidated Wyoming city and township will now be decided by an administrative law judge....
March 27....The annexation hearings involving bids by Stacy and Chisago City to grab off chunks of Wyoming Township have opened...ISD 831 told the public it will reveals its plans for budget cuts at its meeting this week....After backing a plan for a quarter cent sales tax in Washington County to support transit needs, Commissioner Dennis Hegberg of Forest Lake is feeling the heat. He has received a flood of e-mail, most of which opposes the new county tax....In a change of heart, the Forest Lake City Council agreed to provide $20,000 in funding for the mechanical weed harvesting operation on the chain of lakes. The program had been suspended as part of the city budget for 2008....
April.....
April 3....Thanks to the efforts of Forest Lake resident Diane Finnemann, Vietnam Veterans Day is now official. Forest Lake celebrated last Saturday with a program at the new county government annex in Forest Lake. Finnemann’s brother, Skip Schmidt, was a decorated Marine from the war and the inspiration behind her drive...In an event related to veterans, Forest Lake High School receives negative publicity after it is forced to cancel a Vets for Freedom tour stop at the high school on March 25....Testimony continues in the annexation trial in Wyoming....Budget cuts will total $1.25 million in ISD 831, the school administration reported. Public pressure, however, has worked as the district agreed to spare some kindergarten cuts....Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus was awarded its liquor license by the city council...
April 10...Running Aces will officially open on Friday of this week...Traffic solutions continue to be a topic in Forest Lake as council officials look CR-2 (Broadway Avenue) and other roads in the Forest Lake area....Ground breaking ceremonies for the Forest Lake Sports Complex were set for April 19....Forest Lake native Jim Bullard was announced as the head of the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis...School board member Eric Langness announced he would be a candidate for the Washington County Board....
April 17....Brian Brenberg and Jessica Fedderly, two graduates of Forest Lake High School, announced plans for the formation of a Quest Scholarship to be administered by the Community Scholarship Foundation. They will attempt to network with Forest Lake graduates to seek financial backing...Dreary weather did not stop large crowds from showing up for the opening weekend of racing at Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus....
April 24....A creamery is now a reality for Autumnwood Farm in Forest Lake. Owners Pat and Charlene Daninger are now bottling milk from their cows in glass bottles for sale at a number of area stores... A September opening remains the goal as the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association has broken ground for construction of the new sports center featuring two ice surfaces...
May.....
May 1...Ralph Plaisted of Linwood looked back on the 40th anniversary of the Plaisted Polar Expedition that he led in 1968...A pillar of the Forest Lake business community is now gone with the passing of Willard Houle, for many years the owner of Houle Feed Mill in Forest Lake....North Lakes Academy, a public charter school in Forest Lake, has been approved by the state to expand its offerings to include high school studies....Forest Lake High School’s drama department announced it would present “The Mousetrap” as its spring production...
May 8....A man who is believed responsible for a St. Paul bank robbery has struck in Forest Lake, holding up a teller at the Mainstreet Bank. An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen....Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, announced plans to pursue legislation that would provide more oversight of watershed district taxing and spending plans...High School Principal Steve Massey detailed the school’s emphasis on college prep classes and a commitment to making sure local graduates do not need college remedial courses....
May 15....Two people were killed in a fiery crash on US-8 between Forest Lake and Chisago City....Forest Lake City Council gave its approval to development plans for Northland Mall which will change its name to Marketplace...Columbus resident Kristi Ahlberg, who excels with the cello, is also training to become a career pilot in the U.S. Air Force...Retired Army Col. Jim Noll of Forest Lake shared his military experiences, including combat duty in Vietnam, with students at Southwest Junior High School....
May 22....Forest Lake resident Julie Thomson stays busy with two jobs while her son, Army Sgt. Samuel Sohm, 23, serves in Afghanistan, and her daughter, Army Pfc. Katlin Sohm, 20, serves in Iraq....North Lakes Academy officials said they are now exploring potential sites for their new high school campus in Wyoming...
May 29....A killer tornado struck the Hugo area on Sunday, claiming the life of a two-year-old boy. Gov. Pawlenty has declared the community a disaster area. More than 500 homes were damaged and 60 were totally destroyed...Forest Lake Airport Commission officials expressed outrage upon learning that some $2 million in state funds in the form of a capital improvement grant for the local airport have been switched to other purposes as part of the state budget bill...A White Bear Lake man was killed in a single-vehicle rollover on N. 202nd St. in Forest Lake...Wyoming City Council has given North Lakes Academy the green light to continue with its plans to build its new high school in Wyoming...
June.....
June 5....In the wake of the killer tornado that hit Hugo, residents searched through the ruins looking for treasures small and large. Relief efforts were also forming in Forest Lake with a number of groups planning to help their neighbors to the south...At Forest Lake High School, 580 seniors were preparing to receive their diplomas....Months of hard work and fund-raising have been successful as the Children’s Memorial Healing Garden at Calvary Cemetery in Forest Lake is now complete...
June 12....There was a bad news report for the Fenway Athletic Park. Because of construction delays, city officials now say the bulk of the athletic fields won’t be available for use until 2010...Scott Dexter is named Wyoming chief of police. He has been serving as interim chief...Wally Houle, a Standard Oil bulk dealer in Forest Lake many years, and a former fire chief here, died at age 80...
June 19....The popular Rockin’ Hollywoods kicked off the summer Arts in the Park season at Lakeside Memorial Park with a rousing show attended by several hundred park visitors...Forest Lake native Kourtni Lind will show off her dance moves in the FOX TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance” program....The Youth Performing Arts actors will perform “High School Musical” as its summer show at Forest Hills United Methodist Church in Forest Lake....
June 26....Joe Houle and Norm Tolzmann will fill roles as grand marshal’s for the annual Forest Lake Fourth of July parade...A delay in the verdict on the Wyoming annexation case is putting the squeeze on Wyoming officials who are working on 2009 budget plans and the format for the November city council election....Tickets are now on sale for the Masquers Theater Co. production of “Oliver!” which will be on stage at Forest Lake High School...Columbus Mayor Mel Mettler and Forest Lake Mayor Stev Stegner announced plans to a harness race duel at Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus this week as a public service message to encourage area residents to visit the harness park...
July.....
July 3....After 35 years of parade duty, the German Sitting Band announced that the 2008 parade would be its last...The 84th annual American Legion Post 225 celebration will take place July 2-5...The Forest Lake High School Class of 1943 gathered for its 65th reunion...School board member Eric Langness received the Republican Party endorsement to run for the Washington County Board of Commissioners...Former Forest Lake resident Todd Fultz continues to make improvements at Regions Hospital in St. Paul where he has been a patient since early June when he was seriously hurt in a car crash near his home in Stillwater...
July 10....Nearly 200 parade units, led by the Forest Lake City Marching Band, entertained another large crowd on the Fourth of July in Forest Lake...World War II veteran Mickey Remitz of Forest Lake, one of the first 80 women in the country to join the WAVES, died at age 87...The Forest Lake Area Chamber of Commerce rededicated a plaque honoring the nation’s war dead at Lakeside Memorial Park on July 4...Grounds are now being prepared for a new Memorial Prayer Garden at Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake...
July 17....After months of delays and debates, the ISD 831 School Board voted last week to cut 20 Title I aides...The Wyoming City Council continued to debate issues surrounding the sewer system and odor control problems....Laura Edlund of Forest Lake was the female winner of the annual Lindstrom Loppet 5K run as part of the Karl Oskar Days celebration...Hugo resident and Forest Lake High School graduate Chelynne Pringle will travel to China as a training partner for the U.S. Olympic women’s freestyle wrestling team....
July 24....Plans to build a new North Lakes Academy charter high school in Wyoming have received final approval. The school will move from Forest Lake. Wyoming resident Rachel Wright announced plans to send blank greeting cards to troops in Iraq. An artist by trade, Wright said the cards can be used by troops to write to loved ones at home...The Scandia City Council received a positive report from its city auditor....A Forest Lake man who dumped fish in a garbage dumpster at a local convenience store is fined after entering a guilty plea in district court...
July 31...Scott Marshall of East Bethel, who enjoys playing Batman, is featured in a Page 1 article...A rural taxing district for land in Wyoming Township that will join the city of Wyoming, has been approved by the city council. The city and township continue to await word on the annexation ruling Chisago City’s bid to take more land from the township....The Forest Lake Relay for Life is ready for its 15th annual American Cancer Society all-night benefit....
August.....
August 7...What a relay it was! The annual Relay for Life committee reports that it raised a record $225,000 to support research in the battle against cancer...Neulan Midkiff, the Forest Lake preacher tied to a multi-state Ponzi scheme, was found guilty in federal court on 21 counts mail and wire fraud, failure to file tax returns and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Midkiff, 66, was found guilty of defrauding 519 people of some $30 million in the investment scheme...Six Forest Lake Police Department officers have committed to working security at the September Republican National Convention in St. Paul...A new city hall and public safety building remain on the wish list for the Forest Lake City Council....
August 14....Forest Lake City Council OK’d spending $38,000 for field corrections at the Fenway Athletic Park complex...Maranatha Assembly of God Pastor Mike Haseltine is featured. The story covers his love of God and his passion for motorcycles and race cars....After making budget cuts earlier this year, the ISD 831 School Board has nearly exhausted the additional one-time state aid that it received this summer. The funding was designated for fuel needs and some staff hires to soften budget cuts....
August 21....Wyoming officials expressed disappointment after an administrative law judge awarded 1200 acres of Wyoming Township to Chisago City in the hostile annexation trial...Another large crowd was on hand for the annual air show and open house at the Daniel A. DePonti Airport in Forest Lake...Musicians and dancers from throughout the Twin Cities joined traveling entertainers from Sweden for the annual summer festival at Gammelgarden Museum in Scandia....Faith Lutheran Church announced plans to celebrate its 120th anniversary....
August 28....A whirlwind year as Princess Kay of the Milky Way has come to an end for Ann Miron of Hugo who gave up her crown this week...Wyoming officials continue to discuss plans for the November city council election. By way of a 3-2 vote, the council agreed to elect a full slate of five members in November and move away from a plan to appoint two members of the former town board...Forest Lake resident Kourtni Lind is now home after a successful run on the FOX TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Ann Miron, right, appeared in the Forest Lake Fourth of July parade as Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The Hugo resident and Forest Lake High School graduate gave up her crown in late August on the eve of the Minnesota State Fair for 2008.
September.....
September 4...The Forest Lake Sports Center is nearing completion just in time for the skating season to start this month. Construction workers were wrapping up their efforts and the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association was working on fund-raisers to help complete the building....
September 11....Dr. Josee Gerard, one of the pioneers in a state movement to allow chiropractors to treat animals in Minnesota, is moving ahead with her practice following a state law change. She practices in Lino Lakes...Thousands turned out in Scandia on Saturday for the annual Taco Daze celebration and parade....The Scandia City Council continued its debate of land use by a St. Paul church that has land on White Rock Lake...Keys breaks ground for a new restaurant in Forest Lake....
September 18....Plans continue to take shape for a revamped W. Broadway Avenue (CR-2) and the downtown Lake St. and Broadway intersection where a roundabout is once again being considered...The Forest Lake High School Class of 1958 celebrated its 50th reunion with some of the events taking place at the Central Learning Center which was at one time was the high school here....Ralph Plaisted, the man credited with leading the first successful expedition to the North Pole, has died at age 80...Elvis, AKA Steve Marcio, entertained last week at Lakeside Memorial Park in Forest Lake....
September 25....Clarence Fedje Jr. a former mayor, firefighter and city clerk in Wyoming for more than 30 years, died in Florida at age 81...As planning continues for major road improvements in Forest Lake, the city council asked for a task force recommendation on the Lake and Broadway intersection in the downtown...Wyoming resident Sherry Pratt detailed her exploits on the bicycle which have saved her pocketbook and helped her stay fit as a fiddle....
October.....
October 2....A plea has been reached in the 2007 Enriquez criminal sexual conduct case in Forest Lake involving a Wyoming teen who was his student in a Community Education martial arts course that he taught. Under the plea, Enriquez will do no prison time, but will serve six months in the county jail for one felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct...
October 9....Samantha Opsahl has been crowned queen and Sam Kolbow king during the annual Forest Lake High School Homecoming celebration...Forest Lake Police Sgt. Rick Peterson has returned to duty here after graduating from the FBI Academy at Quantico, VA...Karla Hult, a Forest Lake High School grad and current reporter for KARE 11 TV, will serve as master of ceremonies for the Stepping Out for Youth Gala to benefit for the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau...Enrollment in Forest Lake Area Schools is down by 71 students this fall to a total of 7044....
Oct. 16....A roundabout is the plan of choice for the Lake St. and Broadway intersection in downtown Forest Lake. The plan was approved by the council with the lone dissenter vote coming from Mayor Stev Stegner...As work is finalized on the comprehensive plan in Scandia, citizen opposition is surfacing to some aspects of the plan...Wyoming City Council has amended its tax levy plan for 2009 to take into account the addition of Wyoming Township land to the city...
October 23....It’s 15 years in prison for Neulan Midkiff. The one-time Forest Lake minister was handed his sentence in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Because of a heart condition, Midkiff is expected to serve his time at a medical facility in Rochester. He was convicted in connection with a Ponzi scheme and fraud that took some $30 million from more than 500 investors....
October 30....The Forest Lake City Council held steadu on its decision to build a roundabout at its main intersection downtown. During Monday’s meeting, the council stayed firm on its previous action to approve the new circular intersection...During campaign stops in Forest Lake, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann and her Democrat challenger, El Tinklenberg, tried to win votes in the Sixth Congressional District race...
November.....
November 6...In local election, Stev Stegner was reelected mayor of Forest Lake, Mel Mettler won another term as mayor od Columbus, Dennis Seefeldt was reelected mayor in Scandia, and Sheldon Anderson won a three-way race to return as mayor in Wyoming....Forest Lake resident Dennis Hegberg easily bested Forest Lake challenger Eric Langness in the race for the District One Washington County Board seat....
November 13....In a moving program at Forest Lake High School, students paid tribute to veterans of the community in honor of Veterans Day...Thanks to the fast thinking of street department worker John Moxness, a red light mounted high on a light pole at the corner of Lake and Broadway has been saved. Moxness removed the light which was at one time used to alert the police and fire departments here. The light will be preserved at the Forest Lake Police Department and may one day go to a local museum...
November 20....Retired Scandia Elementary School Principal Jack Reese, 76, died following heart surgery....The study of issues tied to the Broadway Corridor project in Forest Lake is nearing an end with a recommendation soon to come to the city council for action....A man with Brazillian citizenship is arrested in Forest Lake and jailed on bank forgery charges....
November 27....Sheila Jean Robinson, the daughter of the late singer Ray Charles, detailed her life story in a Page 1 feature story....Forest Lake has lost an icon with the passing of Norm Tolzmann. Tolzmann, 85, served on the Wyoming Town Board and took part in more than 50 Fourth of July parades here....Wyoming City Council member Gary Menne, 64, died from complications related to a series of strokes....
December.....
December 4....Firefighter, school bus driver, Boy Scout leader and Col. Harlan Sanders look-alike. Neil “Bud” Robinson, the Forest Lake man who filled all those roles, has died at age 87...As Walmart returned to the Forest Lake City Council for approval of revised plans for its new SuperCenter store here, some on the city council did not look favorably on the plans...ISD 831 said it will look at a special tax levy with no voter approval needed to raise funds to pay retiree costs that now come from the general fund. Scott Dexter, who was appointed Wyoming chief of police earlier in ther year, has had a change of heart, telling the city council he will resign as chief with the intent of returning to his old job as a sergeant and an investigator...
December 11....ISD 831 learned that huge budget deficits at the state level will no doubt mean no new school district pupil funding in the two years to come and the likely need to cut some $6.5 million in district spending during that period...Roger Elmore, a former Wyoming Town Board chair, was appointed to the Wyoming City Council to fill the term vacated by the death of Gary Menne...Plans for the Broadway Corridor in Forest Lake have been given the green light by the Forest Lake City Council. Washington County planners received preliminary approval by way of a 3-1 council vote for a Broadway design that will feature center medians and new signal lights to improve traffic flow and make the corridor safer....Area residents flocked to the new Forest Lake Sports Center last weekend for a grand opening celebration for he Forest Lake Area Athletic Association facility....
December 18....While city of Forest Lake property taxes will go up 4.1 percent next year, property taxes for residents of ISD 831 will decrease by 4.2 percent...Santa Claus made his annual visit to Wyoming on Saturday and good contingent of kids and their parents turned out for treats and snacks, courtesy of the local Lions Club and area businesses...
December 25....Projected state budget woes continue to have a negative impact in this area. The city of Scandia has learned it will lose $36,602 of state aid it has planned to receive in 2008. The city of Forest Lake was told its market value homestead credit reimbursement would be cut by $131,621 for 2008. For both cities, the funds were to be received in late December...The Don and Mary Riepe family of Forest Lake shared their story of the arrival of quadruplets this fall...
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