Friday, December 24, 2004
Corvette hit major milestone in 1957
In 1957, Chevrolet hit a milestone: Building an engine that achieved one horsepower per cubic inch.
Longevity
Motorists are known not to change their vehicle's oil and oil filter every 3,000 miles as their manuals state.
Entertainment shorts
Central Lakes College is one of two Minnesota schools invited to stage a production as part of January's Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in St. Louis.
Upcoming entertainment events
BRAINERD
The week's top movies
1. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," Paramount, $30,061,756.
'Flight of the Phoenix' breaks old ground
Finally, a blockbuster movie has come along that brings back the meat-and-potatoes adventure missing from so many of today's big-budget films. Of course, "Flight of the Phoenix" is a remake of a 1965 Jimmy Stewart flick, but since I haven't seen the original, I won't complain that the special effects budget should've been spent on a fresh idea.
The week's top TV shows
1. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 22.3 million viewers.
(Garden) State of the Movies address
Sports movies, supernatural suspense dramas and animated kids' flicks ruled the multiplex in 2004, but as usual, the best films were hiding in big-city arthouse theaters, rarely venturing to our neck of the woods ("Napoleon Dynamite" and "Shaun of the Dead" were notable exceptions, but I would've loved to have seen "Sideways").
Plan a party
"My father only drank Champagne and my mom loved caviar, so I was off to a good start," she tells participants at her "Bubbles and Bites" workshop at a food and wine festival here.
Christmas is a time to reflect on traditions
The Christmas season in our household has both traditional and non-traditional elements to it.
Onamia girl struck by vehicle
ONAMIA -- A 14-year-old Onamia girl was seriously injured when she was stuck head-on by a vehicle, the State Patrol reported.
ADOPTION
Brian and Angela (Collins) Smolke, Burnsville, a son, Collin Edward Lee, born Feb. 20, 2004, in Seoul, Korea. Grandparents are Mary Collins, Morris, and the late Terry Collins, and Edward and Nancy Smolke, Brainerd.
CRIME
THEFT -- Holly Breen, 500 block of Northeast Fourth Avenue, reported a credit card stolen and $2,000 charged on it.
BIRTHS
Andrew and Ellie Conrad, Faribault, a boy, Hunter Joseph, 7 pounds, 8 ounces, Nov. 30, 2004. Grandparents are Thomas and Diane Segler, Brainerd, and Joseph and Kathy Conrad, Faribault. Great-grandparents are Ray and Jean Segler, Brainerd, the late Lenny Meier, Helen Conrad, Faribault, the late Roger Conrad, and the late Kenneth and Joyce Roschen.
Holiday closings
Post offices are open for regular business hours Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. There will not be mail delivery on Christmas Day or New Year's Day.
Lyscio home evokes the feeling of Christmas
Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger This stuffed Santa sits in a chair by the fireplace waiting for the "true" Santa Claus to come down the chimney.
Keep home appliances healthy -- and ready for the holidays
The holiday season is a time for family gatherings, entertaining, baking traditions and festive holiday meals. It's also a time when kitchen appliances get a real workout.
Basement system adds living space in a hurry
Basements are hot. And a lot of homeowners are cool with that.
Positive GMAC Real Estate donates toys
Positive GMAC Real Estate of Brainerd and Baxter had all 26 real estate agents and five personnel staff donate to the Toys for Tots program through the Greater Lakes Association of Realtors.
Area brief
The class will run six weeks. Cost is $28. Call (218) 894-2497 to register.
Precious gift
BACKUS -- Mortimer the Christmas Elf traveled all the way from the North Pole to Backus, just to deliver a little Christmas cheer and help the kindergarten class make gifts for their parents.
Emily students get into the holiday spirit
Melissa Hagelie's grades 3-4 class and Kimberly Opay's grades 5-6 class at Emily Charter School, including Alyssa Dunbar (front, left), Cathy Kile, Brett Eckert, Isaac Allen (back, left) and Ashley McCapes, worked together to make homemade baked ornaments.
Clubs at CLC elect officers
Psi Beta Psychology Club -- Jessica Spring, Brainerd, president; Quincy Vincent, Brainerd, vice president; Amanda Arneman Bakken, Baxter, secretary; Ashley Hofius, Perham, treasurer.
Holiday math lesson
Backus Elementary School students in Diane Doss' first-grade class decorated their own gingerbread houses last week.
LOCAL BRIEFS
Brainerd Postmaster Warren D. McQuay said the post office will be closed Saturday. Usual post office lobby services will not be available, with the exception of post office lock box service.
This was Brainerd
DECEMBER 23 - 40 years ago (1964) - Merry Christmas! Sincere good wishes for Christmas and the New Year. May happiness abound in your home Christmas Day and throughout the New Year.
LOCAL BRIEFS
The Brainerd American Legion will have a pancake breakfast 8 a.m. to noon Sunday at the American Legion, 708 Front St.
COMING SUNDAY IN NORTH COUNTRY
It was a busy year on the local outdoors scene. Look for an update on some of the more notable topics.
Highway department receives merit award
The Crow Wing County Highway Department recently received a Merit Award for Construction Excellence for its County State Aid Highway 20 project, also known as Riverside Drive.
Robbery suspect recently was in jail
Bank robbery suspect Jeffrey D. Ross was jailed in Crow Wing County in September.
Come here, kitty, kitty
A Mills Ford employee performing an oil change on a truck Tuesday in Brainerd was in for a surprise when a large tabby cat suddenly began hissing back at him from atop the gas tank.
Last-minute shoppers
Three registers had a steady flow of customers late Thursday night at Target in Baxter. Shoppers seemed to be beating the Christmas Eve rush.
Overheard
"It's incredible. I waited 41 years to wake up from a bad dream and I did. It was just a bad dream."
A happy baby turns one
CROSBY -- When Maren Jacquelin-Anna Riedemann of Crosby gets excited her grandma and grandpa call her "The Birdie."
The gift of life
There were only two gifts on Mike Smith's Christmas wish list this year.
Fire Destroys pastor's home
A Crosslake pastor and his wife lost their home in a fire Wednesday, but Crosslake firefighters were able to salvage the presents under the couple's Christmas tree as they were battling the blaze in the bitter below zero temperature.
COMING FRIDAY IN HOUSING
Christmas at the Lyscios
COMING SUNDAY
A freak accident nearly claimed the life of Dave Hess. But after nearly two years of nearly unbeatable odds, Hess is finally getting his life back.
Nisswa officer shot armed robbery suspect
Cass County Sheriff Randy Fisher Wednesday identified the officer who shot an armed robbery suspect on Monday after the suspect led law officers on a 45-minute chase.
Bright lights
Motorists traveling down Washington Street in northeast Brainerd on Thursday could not help but notice this nativity scene made of gold lights on the Zion Lutheran Church roof.
Overheard
"It's a good thing nobody was hurt. Everybody's safe, we're happy about that."
This was Brainerd
DECEMBER 24 - 40 years ago (1964) - The hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping is climaxing in Brainerd today. The past several days have seen Brainerd streets clogged with traffic and hundreds of shoppers.
Cass County deals with its share of crimes in past month
Cass County law officers and prosecutors are, no doubt, hoping for a peaceful Christmas season respite from the flurry of crime their county has seen since Thanksgiving.
Bank robbed, suspect caught
A 41-year-old Ironton man is in custody after allegedly robbing a Pine River bank and leading officers on a pursuit Wednesday through Crow Wing and Cass counties.
Gaylord Dabill
PINE RIVER -- Gaylord Dabill, age 89, of Pine River, passed away Dec. 22, 2004, at Whispering Pines Good Samaritan Center in Pine River.
Ernest Sarkela
BROWERVILLE -- Ernest Sarkela, 58, died Monday, Dec. 20, 2004, in Browerville. Funeral services will be Thursday, Dec. 23, 1 p.m. at Bethany Free Lutheran Church in Bluegrass with Pastor Stephen Papillon officiating. Friends may visit at the church during the hour before services Thursday. Interment will be at West Lyons Cemetery with full military honors.
Caroline V. Zittlow
Caroline V. Zittlow, age 86, resident of Brainerd, died Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004, at Bethany Good Samaritan Village in Brainerd.
Gaylord Dabill
PINE RIVER -- Gaylord Dabill, age 89, of Pine River, passed away Dec. 22, 2004, at Whispering Pines Good Samaritan Center in Pine River. He was born June 27, 1915, in Pine River to True and Harriet Dabill.
St. Luke 2:1-14
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
OTHER OPINION: HEALTH CARE
Gov. Tim Pawlenty's recent proposal for an alliance of state, labor and business groups to leverage health care purchasing power for cost control is the kind of proposal necessary to address out-of-control medical costs.
Open Forum: No more chicken chow mein, please!
I have attended BHS for one-and-a-half years. I have never had a real problem with the eating situations, but this year it changed in a bad way. The new food selection is pretty good, but the main lunch line is a disappointment. I feel that "Chicken Chow Mein" should never, under any circumstances be sold in a school. I'm not expecting a five star restaurant, I just feel it should be better. I would like a soup and sandwich line. It is healthy and good. Thank you for your time.
VOX POP
I can't tell you how proud I am of our country for voting their values at the presidential election (nationally) and now voting against the beer policy at the Crow Wing County Fair (locally). There really is hope out there even if Minnesota voted Democrat. It was close and even if the editor of the Dispatch is for the beer. We must not give up or give in to the liberals but keep on praying that they will see the light soon.
Open Forum: Oil conspiracy is behind high gas prices
Get all you can get, that seems to be the goal with our gasoline prices. I don't know who or why they think the prices must be so high. The lowest reported price today in Minnesota is $1.56. Why must our prices fluctuate so much? All the way from $1.72 to $1.79.
Found by the light of God
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Why is Dec. 25 the date to celebrate Christmas?
In simultaneous pre-Christmas cover stories, Time and Newsweek magazines sifted with skepticism the narratives of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke, the only accounts we have since no other chroniclers recorded this obscure peasant's nativity.
CHURCHES
Life-like figures of baby Jesus in a manger, watched over by an angel, grace the manger scene in the narthex of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in northeast Brainerd. Created by Fontanini of Italy and signed by Alessandro Fontanini, the Bob Dryden family gave these figures in loving memory of Linda Dryden.
Captain of 194th Armor reports support is 'amazing'
As the soldiers in Company A, 1st Battalion, 194th Armor, were packing and cleaning before leaving Fort Dix, N.J., for duty in Iraq, they were using every possible space for care packages.
From Artest to Sprewell, Sports Santa offers advice
As Axel used to say from his WCCO-TV treehouse, with accompanying sound effects, "And down the 'shimney' came Santa Claus."
Sports shorts
Three area athletes have been honored as Central Lakes Conference performers of the week ending Dec. 18.
Warriors comeback falls short in overtime
Korey Horn scored a goal in the second period to get the Warriors on the board. In the third Brainerd made a comeback as Mike Germain and Mike Baker each tallied goals to force overtime. Brainerd outshot the Rangers 31-25 in the loss.
Nearly perfect
Many coaches' motto is "Practice makes perfect."
Scoreboard
Radio/TV
Scoreboard
Thursday
Pierz Pioneers remain unbeaten
SARTELL -- Pierz's Tanner Tetrick was unbeaten with a pair of pins at 112-pounds to lead the Pioneers wrestling team past the Milaca Wolves 32-25 and the Sartell Sabres 48-6 Thursday.
Building momentum
The Brainerd Warriors gymnastics team finally has woke from its early season slumber. Last week the Warriors sleepwalked through a meet against the Little Falls Flyers, winning by a mere two points.
COMING FRIDAY IN SPORTS
Holiday cheer
COMING SUNDAY IN SPORTS
The first of a three-part series looks at athlete recruiting issues at Central Lakes College, which now offers in-state tuition to out-of-state students.
Former Warrior building Superior program
Amanda Johnson is coaching Superior, Wis., team.
COMING SUNDAY IN SPORTS
Recruiting Raiders
State forecast for South Dakota
Today...Mostly cloudy. A chance of light snow and flurries west spreading into the east in the afternoon. Highs from around 10 northeast to near 40 southwest.
State forecast for Iowa
.Today...Sunny this morning...Increasing cloudiness this afternoon.
Merry Christmas
Weather drawing by Elizabeth Rueger of Mrs. Brenny's third grade class at Baxter school.
Santa: Send more coal for Christmas
Bundle up, Brainerd and Baxter. High temperatures aren't expected to top zero degrees until Christmas Day.
Wisconsin state forecast
Wind chill advisories this morning for much of eastern wisconsin...
Cold, snow expected in Great Lakes and Northeast
More cold and snow was on tap for the Great Lakes and Northeast on Christmas Eve, while rain showers with occasional thunder were expected to the south. The rest of the nation was expecting clear to partly cloudy skies.
State forecast for North Dakota
.Today...Snow likely west. A chance of light snow in the
Ready for Santa
Weather drawing by Matthew Wright in the Baxter School third-grade class of Mrs. Brenny.
State forecast for Minnesota
.Today...Increasing cloudiness. A chance of light snow west in the
SENIOR CALENDAR
LAKES AREA SENIOR ACTIVITY CENTER