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Willie Navy, who suffered several facial fractures in an assault in the early ho
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
Willie Navy, who suffered several facial fractures in an assault in the early hours of Feb. 6 in downtown Brainerd, wore a patch over his left eye while resting at his Brainerd home. Navy's eye had been stitched shut after being assaulted.

No. 1 - Top Stories of 2011: Community steps forward after brutal downtown assault

A brutal assault during the early morning hours of Feb. 6 in downtown Brainerd left one man with significant head injuries, another man with a year-long jail sentence and a third man with a...
by Matt Erickson
Brainerd School Superintendent Steve Razidlo smiled as the votes rolled in Tuesd

No. 2 -Top Stories of 2011: Brainerd School District referendum questions pass

Brainerd School District voters headed to the polls Nov. 8 and voted "Yes, Yes." Voters approved the first operating levy question, which asked for a renewal of $199.24 per pupil, with 7,036 yes votes, or 70.57 percent, to 2,...
JODIE TWEED

No. 6 - Top Stories of 2011: Westgate Mall new owners announce plans for changes, more jobs

New owners for the Westgate Mall brought welcome news of additional stores, a new theater, technology upgrades to the mall and, especially, the prospect of more jobs.
Renee Richardson

No. 7 - Top Stories of 2011: City moves forward with College Drive reconstruction

For the third year the College Drive Reconstruction project remained a controversial topic for the city of Brainerd. In 2011 the council, by a narrow margin, approved increasing the project from $6.9 million to about $9.4 million. More...
Matt Erickson

No. 8 - Top Stories of 2011: Brainerd teachers, school district, reach contract settlement

Just a couple weeks before Brainerd School District voters headed to the polls to vote on referendum questions, the district and its teachers' union reached a contract settlement in late October.
JODIE TWEED

No. 9 - Top Stories of 2011: Human Rights Commission abolished

The Crow Wing County Human Rights Commission was abolished by a 4-1 vote of the Crow Wing County Board on Oct. 11.

No. 3 - Top Stories of 2011: Sexual abuse accusations against Erickson go back decades

Thomas Richard Erickson, 69, was accused of sexually abusing young boys over the past several decades at his Nisswa home in 2011. Erickson was charged Aug. 26 with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of...
Jennifer Stockinger

No. 5 - Top Stories of 2011: Crosslake man guilty of criminal vehicular homicide

The story that began on May 9, 2009, when Sherman Bernard Frederick was driving a southbound minivan on Crow Wing County Road 3 when his vehicle struck and killed the son of Kory and Becky Larson is the Brainerd Dispatch's Top 5 story.
Jennifer Stockinger
Delta Air Lines are set to discontinue flights from the Brainerd Lakes Regional

No. 4 - Top Stories of 2011: Delta to pull out of Brainerd

Disappointment was apparent on faces of Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Commission members and airport officials this summer as they dealt with the announcement that Delta Air Lines was planning to eventually discontinue its service to...
Mike O'Rourke

No. 10 - Top Stories of 2011: Airport conflict of interest

Charges of conflict of interest resulted in the May resignation of Douglas Kuepers, a veteran member of the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Commission.
Mike O'Rourke

Stories of Christmas: Christmas Tree Woods - K1

The day before Christmas Eve I awoke to the sound of sizzling bacon. It was the crack of dawn and I heard my parents quietly talking. I sprang out of bed because I remembered that today we would harvest our Christmas tree.
Adelaide Sanford

Stories of Christmas: Believing in Santa - A1

The mood at my parents' house on Christmas Eve 1982 was very dismal. Eighteen days earlier a man who had just lost his job, sat in a Sandstone bar drinking for hours and then got in to his car to head home.
Margie Young

Stories of Christmas: Who Am I? - J1

Who am I you ask? I have some very peculiar qualities. Some good, and some not as good. Let's start with my good qualities. I have many. I make families forget their worries for one day, and come together. I make little kids...
Matt Maybon

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