Tuesday, May 15, 2007
EXTRA CREDIT
Kody Kirk, son of Tanya Kirk, Baxter, and Lyndon and Kim Kirk, Brainerd, was a member of a St. Cloud State University team that placed second in an American Advertising Federation District 8 competition. The district includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota and Canada.
Nisswa City Council
Meets 7 p.m. Wednesday
Cass court
WALKER - The following appeared recently in Cass County District Court:
ACCIDENTS
AITKIN - A 36-year-old Foley man was injured about 2:30 p.m. Saturday after his motorcycle was rear-ended by another motorcycle on Highway 18, about four miles east of Highway 169, in Aitkin County, the State Patrol reported.
CORRECTIONS
Because of incorrect information provided the Dispatch by the State Patrol, an accident report on Page 3A of Monday's Dispatch misidentified one of the drivers in a two-motorcycle collision Saturday afternoon on Highway 18 in Aitkin County.
Overheard
"He couldn't even tell anything had happened. The loons are out, the eagles are flying."
Johnson a fixture at Little Falls City Council meetings
LITTLE FALLS - Seventy-eight-year-old Joe Johnson isn't forced to spend every Monday night at Little Falls City Hall.
Ban imposed on recreational fires
Recreational fires have been banned in Brainerd and Baxter until further notice.
Doing lunch
NISSWA - It may have been the fishing opener, but many area women were lured to something a bit more entertaining than a fishing boat Saturday.
Images of a warm spring day
Kayleigh VonRuden picked dandelions in the front yard of her home Monday in Brainerd. The flower now dots lawns in the Brainerd area after the warm weather. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
Farm kids
How does that carton of milk or bag of carrots get to a grocery store near you?
Koering criticized by Walz
Crow Wing County Republican Chairman Dale Walz, writing on behalf of his executive board, expressed "disappointment and disapproval" of Sen. Paul Koering's voting record in an April 19 letter to the Republican lawmaker, it was learned Monday.
Board reviews, OKs long-range plan
The community has spoken, and now it's up to the Brainerd School Board to implement the district's long-range plan.
Council votes unanimously to appoint Taubert to fill vacant slot
CROSSLAKE - The city of Crosslake has a full council again.
Weather, fish cooperated
Nice weather and good fishing combined to make the 2007 fishing opener a success for most area anglers.
LOCAL BRIEFS
A basic motorcycle rider training course will be May 31 and June 2 and June 3 at the Staples campus of Central Lakes College.
This was Brainerd
MAY 14 - 80 years ago (1927) - Beginning May 14, the Brainerd store of the Burg company will celebrate the fourth anniversary of the founding of the company. During the four years the system has grown from nine to 33 stores.
Victim fell out of pickup
LITTLE FALLS - An 18-year-old woman who was killed Saturday after being struck by a pickup appeared to have fallen out of the box of the pickup and was then struck, the Morrison County Sheriff's Department reported.
In 2008, it's PL, Breezy's turn
The Governor's Fishing Opener is returning to Pelican Lake.
Overheard
"I think we're going to be OK on an override. There are people twisting arms.
Preliminary steps taken to replace bridge; council asking county to apply for funds
CROSSLAKE - The Crosslake City Council took preliminary steps to replace the Dream Island Bridge.
This was Brainerd
MAY 15 - 30 years ago (1977) - John Straka, No. 1 singles player for the Brainerd Community College Tennis Squad, remained in contention for the singles title following three rounds of play in the MJCAA State Tennis Tournament here.
LaRayne V. Klemaseski
LITTLE FALLS - LaRayne V. Klemaseski, 86-year-old resident of Little Falls, Minn., passed away Friday, May 11, 2007, at the Lutheran Care Center in Little Falls.
Kasey L. Stavish
LITTLE FALLS - Kasey L. Stavish, 18-year-old resident of Little Falls, passed away Saturday, May 12, 2007, as the result of an accident in Little Falls Township. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Little Falls with the Rev. Nick Landsberger officiating. Burial will be in the Randall Cemetery. Friends of Kasey Stavish may call Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. and Wednesday from 10 a.m. until the service at the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls.
Peggy Franzen Massood
BLOOMINGTON - Peggy Franzen Massood, Bloomington, passed away on May 13, 2007, at her home of cancer. Peggy was born May 10, 1955, the daughter of Howard and Delores Franzen and was a 1973 graduate of Aitkin High School. She is survived by her husband, Mike Massood; father; siblings; nieces; nephews; aunts; uncles; and cousins.
Walter A. Pankratz
Walter Albert Pankratz, age 85, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 12, 2007, at his home in Nisswa.
LaRayne V. Klemaseki
LITTLE FALLS - LaRayne V. Klemaseki, 86-year-old resident of Little Falls, Minn., passed away Friday, May 11, 2007, at the Lutheran Care Center in Little Falls. Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 18, 2007, at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery north of Little Falls followed by a gathering of family and friends at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Lutheran Care Center Chapel in Little Falls.
Garry Mayer
NISSWA - Garry Mayer, of Nisswa, passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, May 12, 2007.
Kasey L. Stavish
LITTLE FALLS - Kasey L. Stavish, 18-year-old resident of Little Falls, Minn., passed away Saturday, May 12, 2007, as a result of an accident in Little Falls Township.
Walter A. Pankratz
Walter A. Pankratz, age 85, of Lake Edward Township, passed away Saturday, May 12, 2007, at his home.
Richard W. Jurgenson
AITKIN - Richard W. Jurgenson, 99, of Aitkin, and formerly of Garrison, died Wednesday, May 9, 2007, at Riverwood Healthcare Center, Aitkin.
Obituary policy
Obituary notices are charged at 40 cents a word, exclusive of the first 125 words, which are free. A $10 fee is charged for a half-column photograph. To place an obituary in the Dispatch, consult the funeral home handling arrangements.
Eva R. Kuchera
AITKIN - Eva R. (Ward-Lamke) Kuchera, 86, Aitkin, died Friday, May 11, 2007, at Aicota Health Care Center, Aitkin.
Myrtle A. Schoeben
BACKUS - Myrtle Alta Schoeben, age 94, of Backus, passed away Thursday, May 10, 2007, at her home.
Lester D. Galles
LITTLE FALLS - Lester D. Galles, age 86, of Little Falls, Minn., passed away Saturday, May 12, 2007, at St. Otto's Care Center in Little Falls, Minn.
Obituary policy
Obituary notices are charged at 40 cents a word, exclusive of the first 125 words, which are free. A $10 fee is charged for a half-column photograph. To place an obituary in the Dispatch, consult the funeral home handling arrangements.
VOX POP
In response to the disgruntled citizen on the juvenile center, your lack of confidence in the local correctional facilities is overwhelming. You have conveyed no support for the local juvenile center to reshape those kids who may have taken a few steps down the wrong path.
Open Forum
We recently learned that the Department of Natural Resources could soon begin enforcing new dock size limits. Many of our constituents are concerned that this change will make it necessary for them to replace their current docks with new, conforming docks, at a significant cost to them.
What do you think?
Write us a letter or send us an e-mail
Open Forum
Mayor Wallin could take a few lessons from the Kixters. The Kixters do more to represent our community abroad than does the mayor. The Kixters have fundraisers when they want to travel to certain places. Apply this same idea to the mayor. If he wants to travel abroad, let somebody host an event to garner his expense monies. Something like, "Wienies in the Park", or "Jing for Jim". Those in favor of frivolous travel will dig into their pocketbooks and drop a coin or two for the cause. The private sector, whom we are told will benefit the most from the mayors' travel, could foot part of the bill as well. Hey I got an idea, why not send a few other city dignitaries on the taxpayers' dime. Who knows how greatly we can benefit from this "European Vacation".
Scoreboard
Area events
At bat with White Sox catcher Toby Hall
Before coming to the Brainerd Dispatch, I tried to make a career in the business side of sports. Along my travels across the country, I got to know four athletes, including former Tampa Bay Devil Rays catcher Toby Hall during the summer of 2003.
Correction/clarification
It was incorrectly reported in Monday's North Central Speedway story that Kris Macko won the Wissota Street Stock heat one race.
Helbling, Weitnauer earn All-GRC honors
ISLE - Jesse Helbling and Mike Weitnauer earned All-Great River Conference honors following the GRC championship meet Monday at Fiddlestix Golf Course.
Hoppe leads Brainerd to seventh
ST. CLOUD - Molly Hoppe's 87 led the Brainerd Warriors girls' golf team to a seventh-place finish Monday at the St. Cloud Tech Invite Monday.
BHS buries Princeton
An 11-run fifth inning, coupled with 18 hits, lifted the Brainerd Warriors past Princeton 16-6 in a five-inning non-conference baseball game Saturday at Adamson Field.
Carlson medals, Brainerd ties for win
COLD SPRING - Strong winds didn't stop senior Curt Carlson from shooting an even-par 72 Monday at Rich Springs Golf Club to lead the Brainerd Warriors to a first-place tie in Central Lakes Conference boys' golf.
Warriors' Shiltz runner-up
Austin Shiltz finished in second place
Bees lose via 10-run rule
SARTELL - Tate Rusk went 3-for-4 with an RBI single as the Brainerd Bees lost to Sartell 12-2 in an eight-inning Lakewood League amateur baseball game Sunday.
Lundgren, Waytashek excel at Northland
Former Crosby-Ironton Ranger Chelsea Lundgren and former Pierz Pioneer Melissa Waytashek made a splash in their freshmen seasons for Division III Northland College in women's basketball.
Former Twin to throw out first pitch
If you plant it, he will come.
Hardy leads St. Mathias past Braves
Adam Hardy had three hits and drove in two runs to lead the St. Mathias Devils to a 5-2 North Division win over the Brainerd Braves at Adamson Field in Victory League amateur baseball Sunday.
Welshons, Weizenegger make All-GRC team
ISLE - Aitkin's Melissa Welshons and Dayna Weizenegger made the All-Great River Conference girls' golf team following Monday's GRC championship at Fiddlestix Golf Course.
LOCAL SHORTS
Several lakes area wrestlers have been named to the Guillotine's academic all-state teams.
Aitkin hands W-DC loss
AITKIN - The Aitkin Gobblers closed out the regular season with a 6-1 non-conference boys' tennis victory over the Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines.
Lakes Area Lightning
to open inaugural season
The Lakes Area Lightning amateur baseball team will open its inaugural season at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Mills Field against the Harding Dinosaurs.
LOCAL SHORTS
Fast Cop Inc., with the help of the Crosslake-Ideal Lions Club, will host the Minnesota High School Shootout on Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway.
Pierz defeats Maple Lake 15-5
MAPLE LAKE - Paul Preimesberger was 2-for-2 with a double, home run, and four runs scored for the Pierz Pioneers as they defeated the Maple Lake Irish 15-5 in Central Minnesota Conference baseball Monday.
Rangers win pair in tourney
HINCKLEY - Jason Hite finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the Crosby-Ironton Rangers lost their first game in the Hinckley-Finlayson tournament 8-6 to the host Jaguars on Friday.
Sabraski battles Hines, Jordan for victory
BARROWS - For fans of B Modified racing, 2007 should prove to be a competitive year at North Central Speedway.
Warriors power past Willmar
WILLMAR - It was a tough day to be a pitcher Monday as the Brainerd Warriors cranked out five extra-base hits, including Chris Smolke's first inning, two-run home run in a 14-4 five-inning Central Lakes Conference baseball victory over the Willmar Cardinals.
Hasselberg medalist, Cardinals fifth
STAPLES - Cydney Hasselberg earned medalist honors with a 76 as the Staples-Motley Cardinals claimed fifth place in the Staples Invite girls' golf meet Saturday at the Vintage.
Pine River-Backus edges Nevis
NEVIS - Whitney Grimler finished 2-for-2 with a double as the Pine River-Backus Tigers defeated Nevis 9-8 Monday.
C-I Rangers split with W-DC
WADENA - Jena Larson pitched perfect softball for 2 2/3 innings but the Crosby-Ironton Rangers wound up losing to the Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines 3-0 in the first game of a Mid-State Conference doubleheader Friday.
Scoreboard
Area events
State forecast for Iowa
Wind advisory in effect this afternoon for portions of northern iowa...
State forecast for Minnesota
Wind advisory parts of southeast minnesota this afternoon...
State forecast for N.D.
Today...Thunderstorms ending north central and northeast early this
State forecast for Iowa
Today...Cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Showers
Wisconsin state forecast
Today...Windy and very warm. A chance of showers and thunderstorms north and central. Highs from around 80 far north to the lower 90s far southwest...Cooler near lake superior.
State forecast for Minnesota
Today...Partly to mostly cloudy. Cooler. Patchy fog in the
Fishing from the dock
Weather drawing by Jamie Truong of Ms. Hemstad's third-grade class at Baxter school.
Wisconsin state forecast
Today...Scattered showers and thunderstorms south...Becoming more numerous this afternoon. A chance of showers north. Cooler. Highs in the 60s to lower 70s...Cooler near the great lakes.
State forecast for S.D.
Today...Partly sunny and cool. Isolated afternoon showers north through eastcentral. Highs in the mid to upper 60s.
Spring is beautiful
Weather drawing by Rachel Komischke of Mr. Meyer's fourth-grade class at Lowell school.
State forecast for S.D.
Today...Mostly cloudy with scattered showers west...And a chance for showers and thunderstorms central and east. Highs in the upper 50s far west to the upper 80s far southeast.
State forecast for N.D.
Today...Partly sunny with isolated afternoon rain showers. Highs in