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Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid St. Joseph Newsleader St. Joseph, MN 56374 Permit No. 21 ECRWSS Postal Customer
Newsleader Sartell-St. Stephen
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 Volume 21, Issue 38 Est. 1995
Happy boy remembered with love at memorial by Dennis Dalman editor@thenewsleaders.com
Town Crier
The radiant smile of Jacob Wetterling brought sunshine again and again on a gloomy day during a Sept. 25 community memorial service for him at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. Photos and videos of Jacob, taken so many years ago, were projected onto a huge screen throughout the service in the Clemens Fieldhouse on the CSB campus. All of the images showed an energetic, friendly, happy boy in love with life – a boy with a smile that could light up a room and with a sometimes-impish sense of humor. The service, with many musical interludes, was a joyous celebration of Jacob’s 11 years of life and of the hopes he inspired worldwide encapsulated in the slogan of “Jacob’s
Girl Scouts meeting set for Thursday, Oct. 6
Join the Girl Scouts at their First Mentor Meeting held Thursday, Oct. 6 at St. Francis Xavier School, 219 Second St. N., Sartell. New registrations begin at 5:45 p.m. with the meeting going from 6-7 p.m. This event is open to all girls K-12th grade from Sartell, St. Stephen, Sauk Rapids, Rice and Royalton.
Political signs not allowed in rights-of-way
Stearns County would like to remind property owners that placement of campaign signs and other unauthorized objects in highway rights-ofway is prohibited under Minnesota State Statute 160.27. In addition, campaign signs may not be placed on private property outside of the right-of-way limits without landowner consent. Highway rights-of-way typically include the driving lanes, inside and outside shoulders, ditches and sight corners at intersections. Crews will remove any unlawfully placed signs and impound them at one of the county’s local maintenance garages. County staff will hold the signs at the garage for a period of 10 days. During that time, the owners may come to claim the signs. If not claimed after 10 days, county staff may discard the signs. Violation of this law is a misdemeanor. Civil penalties also may apply if the placement of such material contributes to a motor-vehicle crash and injures a person or damages a motor vehicle that runs off the road.
Mental Illness Awareness to be held Oct. 2-8
National Mental Illness Awareness Week is Oct. 2-8. This week is marked by community education efforts in all 50 states to raise awareness that mental illnesses are treatable medical conditions, and that there is help and hope for children and adults with mental illnesses and their families. For more information, visit thenewsleaders.com and click on Sept. 30 Criers.
For additional criers, visit www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
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Insurance Advisors
Postal Patron
photos courtesy of Wetterling website
Above: Patty Wetterling at the memorial service for her son speaks to the audience right after 11 candles were lit to honor Jacob. At right: Many candles have been lit in memory of Jacob Wetterling during the past 27 years.
Hope.” At the service, those happy images of Jacob growing up were underlined by sorrow because the thousands who attended the service were all too well aware the remains of the happy boy of more than 27 years ago were found Sept. 1 in a pastureland near Paynesville. Jacob’s abductor and killer, Danny Heinrich confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and shooting the boy to death on the same night as the abduction, Oct. 22, 1989. A plea agreement led the 52-year-old to reveal what happened on that night, and though Heinrich on the terms of the agreement cannot be prosecuted for Wetterling’s murder, he faces up to 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography. Formerly of Paynesville, Heinrich’s last Happy • page 4
Braig-Lindstrom resigns from city council by Dennis Dalman editor@thenewsleaders.com
After reading excerpts from a poem, Sartell City Council member Amy Braig-Lindstrom resigned from the council at its Sept. 26 meeting. At the very start of the meeting, Braig-Lindstrom said she would resign because of resi-
dency requirements for council members. She and her husband, Matt, bought a home in St. Joseph some months ago, Braig-Lindstrom and their previous home in Sartell has now
Mobile-home residents work for ownership by Dennis Dalman editor@thenewsleaders.com
An effort is underway to save the former Hi-Vue Mobile Home Park in Sartell by allowing owners to buy and manage the place. The Colorado-based RV Horizons, its current owner that bought the Park two years ago, announced last February it plans to sell the property. At the Sept. 26 Sartell City Council meeting, members listened to a lengthy presentation by the Northcountry Cooperative Foundation and board members of Eagle’s View, the tentative name of the Park if residents succeed in buying, owning and operating the Park. The presentation included a tentative request the
City of Sartell help acquire a $1.5-million loan for infrastructure needs at the Park, to be repaid with strict provisions. The council was not expected to make a decision, only to consider the request for the time being. The Park in question, located along Second Street. S. in Sartell, is now known as Sartell Mobile Home Park. It has been at that location for nearly 50 years, and some of its longterm residents have lived there that long, not to mention some of their grown children and their children. The Park is, in that respect, generational. At the Sept. 26 council meeting, Kevin Walker of the Minneapolis-based Northcountry Cooperative Foundation preWork • page 3
been sold. Matt Lindstrom is a political science professor at St. John’s University/College of St. Benedict and director of the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement at SJU. Braig-Lindstrom was elected to the Sartell City Council in 2012. After announcing her resignation, Braig-Lindstrom, who’d signed up for the public-forum portion of the council meeting,
stepped up to the speaker’s dais. She then read excerpts from a poem that is dear to her heart, one of the poems that was read at her wedding 23 years ago. The poem is entitled Manifesto: A Mad Farmer’s Liberation Front and was written in 1973 by award-winning teacher/farmer/ novelist/essayist/philosopher/ poet Wendell Berry, who grew up and lives in north central Kentucky. Council • page 3
Local arts festival keeps hometown feel
photo by Carolyn Bertsch
Kris and Chase Desmarais of Sartell visit with Julianne O’Connell of St. Joseph at the Millstream Arts Festival on Sept 25. O’Connell owns The Book End, which rescues books from dumpsters and elsewhere and then recycles them back into the community and into the hands of grateful readers.
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Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
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Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
People
contributed photo
The 12U Sartell Swarm Fast-pitch Team Noble/Gack, took second place in the Fall Metro State Tournament held in Lexington/Circle Pines on Sept. 24. Team members include (front row, from left to right): Morgan Guggisberg, Megan Guggisberg, Morgan Gill, Lexi Noble and Molly Stein; (back row) Coach Greg Gack, Kaitlyn Lysen, Kaia Gack, Ava Tavale, Jocelyn Simones and Coach Andy Noble. Not pictured: Courtney Stutsman and Megan Hess.
Blotter
If you have a tip concerning a crime, call the Sartell Police Department at 320-251-8186 or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 320-255-1301, or access its tip site at www.tricountycrimestoppers.org. Crime Stoppers offers rewards up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for crime.
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TRUCKING Brenny Transportation, Inc. Global Transportation Service St. Joseph • 320-363-6999 www.brennytransportation.com
Call the Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader at 320-363-7741 if you would like to be in the Business Directory.
Sept. 12 6:11 a.m. Medical. Victory Loop. Officers were dispatched in reference to a 60-year-old, diabetic male who was possibly going into shock. Upon officer arrival on scene, the male was awake but unable to answer officer’s questions. Officers checked the man’s blood sugar, which was 57. Gold Cross Ambulance arrived on scene and treated the male’s low blood sugar. 11:09 a.m. Medical. Fifth Street N.E. Officers were dispatched in reference to a male who had fallen off a ladder and was now bleeding. Officers arrived on scene and located the male in his garage. The male was attempting to get an item from the garage rafters when he fell and struck his head. Officers placed a gauze pad on the back of his head and a C-collar was placed on him as well. Gold Cross Ambulance arrived on scene and transported the male to St. Cloud Hospital. Sept. 13 12:21 a.m. Suspicious vehicle. Pinecone Road S. While on routine patrol, an officer witnessed a vehicle
pull behind House of Pizza and turn all of its lights off. Due to recent thefts in the area, the officer got out of his squad and observed the occupants for several minutes. The driver saw a lighter being lit several times and could hear the occupants coughing. The officer approached the vehicle and could smell a strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside. The driver handed the officer a small glass one-hit pipe and a metal container containing a small amount of marijuana. The driver then stated there was nothing else in the vehicle. Officers searched the vehicle and located another one-hit pipe. The driver stated everything belonged to him. The driver was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and released. 12:31 p.m. Open door. Third Street N.E. Officers were dispatched in reference to a house that had doors that appeared to be kicked open. Officers arrived on scene and cleared the house of any persons. It appeared the house didn’t have anyone living in it; it appeared vacant. Officers secured all doors on the house. 11:06 p.m. Traffic stop. Sunset Avenue. While on routine patrol, an officer ran a plate on a vehicle, and the plate came back expired as of February. The officer stopped the vehicle and informed the driver the reason for the stop to which he admitted he knew the registration was expired but claimed he had just purchased the vehicle. The driver was issued a citation for the violation and released.
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Publisher/Owner Janelle Von Pinnon
Editor Dennis Dalman
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Newsleader staff members have the responsibility to report news fairly and accurately and are accountable to the public. Readers who feel we’ve fallen short of these standards are urged to call the Newsleader office at 363-7741. If matters cannot be resolved locally, readers are encouraged to take complaints to the Minnesota News Council, an independent agency designed to improve relationships between the public and the media and resolve conflicts. The council office may be reached at 612-341-9357.
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Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
Council from front page The following are some of the lines Braig-Lindstrom read: “So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest . . .” After reading from the poem, Braig-Linstrom offered thanks to the people of Sartell who elected her and supported her work on the council. “I want to thank those folks in the community who have given me the opportunity to serve,” she said. After a round of applause, Braig-Lindstrom left the city hall chamber. This Nov. 8, Election Day, two of four candidates will be
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Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com chosen by voters as city council members. One will take the place of Braig-Lindstrom, the other will replace Steve Hennes, who chose not to file for re-election. The new members will take their seats at the Nov. 14 council meeting. Braig-Lindstrom was influential in initiating a farmers’ market in Sartell many years ago, before she became a council member. During her time on the council, she served on numerous committees and advocated the importance of transparency, the need to connect with constituents and their wants and needs, amenities for senior citizens, communications with the school district, recreational options such as safe biking-hiking trails, promotion of the arts and a strong desire to have a com-
munity center built in a central location in Sartell with library services. The latter issue caused divisions on the council during the past year or so, with Braig-Lindstrom and council member David Peterson often voting as a 2-3 minority on questions regarding the community center and its south-Sartell location. At times the verbal exchanges between Braig-Lindstrom, other council members and the city administrator were contentious because of strong disagreements on certain issues and procedures. In a note to the Sartell Newsleader, she wrote: “I plan to do as little as possible. I will likely reincorporate into my life things from previous eras of my life, like pottery and swimming. I will continue to support all area farmers’ markets.”
Work from front page sented an outline of residents’ plans for the Park. Northcountry lends assistance to new and existing co-ops, mainly ones that involve housing, including mobile-home parks. Northcountry has been in operation for 17 years. There are 163 lots with mobile homes on them in Sartell Mobile Home Park. Since February, Northcountry and residents of Sartell Mobile Home Park have been meeting in an effort to buy the land at the Park from its owner, currently RV Horizons. To do that, 51 percent of residents there had to agree to proceed with the purchase. That
3 was accomplished with strong support, about 68 percent. The next step was a process to form a non-profit association, “Eagle’s View,” and a corporate board comprised of residents.
Background
There are about 1,000 mobile-home parks in Minnesota containing about 50,000 living units on lots owned by companies. Those who live in the mobile homes pay monthly lot rents to live in the parks. Many of those parks, because of crumbling infrastructure or other reasons, are being sold by the property owners, leaving the parks’ residents in a lurch. Two such parks, in St. Cloud and Waite Park, were recently sold, and the Work • page 7
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Happy from front page place of residence was in Annandale. The Jacob Wetterling service was at long last a form of closure for the Wetterling family as well as for thousands of people who wondered and worried for 27 years what had become of the boy. An estimated 2,800 people were inside the Clemens Fieldhouse for the 75-minute-long memorial service, and about 3,000 people watched a simulcast
Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com of the service at viewing areas in St. Joseph. Many more thousands also watched the service telecast live on some television stations. Jacob’s parents, Jerry and Patty, spoke at the service, as well as his siblings – older sister Amy, younger brother Trevor and younger sister Carmen. Jerry and Patty thanked all the law enforcement personnel at the service who had worked so hard for years to solve Jacob’s abduction and his fate. They also thanked all of the people who volunteered time to look for Jacob, giving time
and effort in a ceaseless determination to bring Jacob home. “We could not have survived for 27 years without the love and support of all of you,” she told those assembled. Then Wetterling focused on the subject of other missing children, a dedicated mission she has kept close to her heart for every day of the past 27 years. “Our hopes and prayers go to all the families who are still searching,” she said, fighting back tears. “We won’t ever give up. Jacob, we will always carry you in our hearts, and our love for you will never die.” The Wetterling family, along with friends, lit 11 candles in honor of the 11 years of Jacob’s life in St. Joseph. One of the candle-lighters was Aaron Larson, a best friend of Jacob’s who was with Jacob, along with Jacob’s brother, Trevor, at the time of the abduction. All three boys were riding bicycles home from a
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convenience store when the masked gunman appeared on the road out of the darkness. The St. John’s Boys’ Choir sang a sacred song, “Pie Jesu,” during the candle-lighting ceremony. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton also attended the ceremony, along with Minnesota’s two U.S. senators, Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. Earlier in the week, Dayton declared Saturday, Oct. 22, as “Jacob Wetterling Day” throughout the state. Other dignitaries at the service included St. Joseph Mayor Rick Schultz, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis, Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall and Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner. The featured speaker was Jacob’s cousin, Allen Overturf, now of Walker, Colo., who told some of his favorite Jacob memories from when he was growing up with his St. Joseph cousin: Jacob “the funny boy with twinkling eyes” who Brochures avail ab at Whitney Senio le r Center!
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loved to put peanut butter on top of his cereal; Jacob often coming home from school and telling his mother something happened at school that “just wasn’t fair.” “He (Jacob) taught us how to live,” Overturf said. One of the highlights of the event, which brought smiles and laughter from the audience, was a video of Jacob and his siblings, which they made for their father for Father’s Day. In the video, Jacob pretends to be his father, Jerry, reading a newspaper and listening one by one to the children, until at one point, not liking what he hears, he leaps up and says, “You’re grounded!” Another special moment of the service was when Red Grammer, a singer/songwriter from New Jersey, sang Jacob’s favorite song, “Listen,” which Grammer wrote. As Grammer strummed his guitar and sang his iconic song, the St. John’s Boys Choir backed him with choruses of the song.
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Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
Boys’ Choir and a couple of other musical performers. The memorial service was opened and closed by comments from College of St. Benedict President Mary Dana Hinton who talked about the promise of hope and of how grief and courage had lasted so long for the Wetterlings and others – 27 years. At the close of the service, Hinton said how important it is to find comfort in community and how the process of healing and peace must begin. She then invited all present to meet on the commons area outdoors for free ice cream bars, another way to celebrate the life of Jacob Wetterling. There were also speakers representing the Baha’i faith of which the Wetterlings are members and a woman representing the Dakota Nation, who quoted a Dakota poem: “Do not think of me as gone. I am with you still at each dawn.” The memorial service was almost visibly cathartic as participants worked through their sadness and, together, spoke of and sang the praises of the happy little boy from St. Joseph who is finally, at long last, back home.
“Listen, can you hear the sound Of hearts beating all the world ‘round? Down in the valleys, out on the plains. Everywhere around the world a heartbeat sounds the same. Black and white, red or tan It’s the heart of the family of man, Wo-oh, beating away Wo-ho, beating away. Wo-oh-ho, beating away.” Another emotional moment, combining sadness and spiritual uplift, was when author and singer/songwriter Douglas Wood of Sartell sang the song he wrote for Jacob not long after his abduction, a song called “Jacob’s Hope: The Missing Children’s Song.” “There’s a child all alone in the world tonight He was stolen away and we cry for his plight. But he’s not really gone ‘Cause we won’t let him go. We are Jacob’s Hope.” Other moving musical moments were provided by Robert Robinson, the great Minnesota gospel singer; the St. Benedict Women’s Choir; several songs by the St. John’s
5 photo courtesy of Red Grammar website
Red Grammer sang Jacob Wetterling’s favorite song “Listen,” at his memorial service. Grammar wrote that song decades ago.
Visit Saint John’s Prep for
Open House
photo courtesy of Robert Robinson website
Saturday, Oct. 1
Renowned Minnesota gospel singer Robert Robinson sang two powerful songs at the Jacob Wetterling Memorial Service.
9:30-11:30 a.m. Students in grades 5-11 are invited to visit Prep! Call 320-363-3315 to RSVP and reserve your space.
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One day. One message. One stand.
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Students all over the country will come together at local athletic fields to share in a night of hope….Fields of Faith. Students inviting students. Sharing their own faith stories, reading Scripture, and challenging each other to follow Jesus Christ. Fields of Faith is sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Are you at least 18 years old? Would you like to learn more about becoming a firefighter? Requirements: • Wear a pager and respond 24/7 to fire alarm/rescue calls when you are in town • Weekend and daytime availability (or able to be released from your job to respond) • Live within 8 minutes of the Sartell Fire Station • Drive trucks
• Complete Firefighter 1 training within one year • Complete First Responder (medical) training within two years • Train on the third Tuesday evening of each month for 4 hours • Pass the physical agility test, drug test, medical exam & background investigation
Fields of Faith Event Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 7-8 p.m.
Sartell HS Football Field (rain location Sartell HS Auditorium) Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Event includes worship, student testimonials and speaker Ryan Collins.
Applications available at: Sartell City Hall, 125 Pinecone Road N. or online at: www.sartellmn.com. Deadline: Monday, Oct. 17 at 4:30 p.m.
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We are deeply grateful for our 2016 donors! THANK YOU!
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Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
Our View Thank you, Wetterlings, for sharing pain, hope
Down, down, down with pop-up ads!
The Sept. 25 community memorial service hosted by the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph for Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted as a child from St. Joseph and killed in 1989, was a cathartic experience – a long-delayed cathartic experience – 26 years and 11 months delayed, to be exact. The service was, of course, very sad. However, more than the sadness that crept in, the event was a triumphant celebration of Jacob’s short life. And that boy crammed a lot of living into those 11 years: so much fun with his brother and sisters, his parents, his friends; involvement in sports he loved, like hockey; a plethora of school activities; and all kinds of merriment, monkey shines, mischievous pranks and all-around good humor. Those who knew him will never forget his “twinkling eyes” and that wonderfully contagious smile. Jacob was a good boy, a kind and caring, intelligent boy who used to come home from school and tell his mother quite often that something that happened to someone at school was “just not fair.” Even at his young age, he had a keen sense of fairness and justice. We are happy the Wetterling family now has Jacob home at last. They now know where he is and what happened to him. Yes, it’s a horrible outcome filled with unthinkable hideous acts of cruelty against him. But at least there is a semblance of closure for the family and for so many, especially in St. Joseph and Central Minnesota, who loved Jacob even if they didn’t know him personally. And, not to forget, Jacob touched to the core so many people worldwide, and “Jacob’s Hope” became the slogan for so many missing children and grief-stricken parents. Thanks to the Wetterlings, especially the relentless hard work of tireless Patty, Jacob’s mom, there have been huge strides made in helping children stay safe and in finding them quicker when they go missing. At the service, the series of photos of Jacob and his family, projected onto a giant screen, were so effective in “bringing to life” during that service a most incredible, fun-filled, life-loving boy. Those who were at the event or who watched it live via web streaming or on TV will likely never forget what an excellent service it was. Moving speeches, wonderful memories, heart-warming songs. It became apparent even early on in that ceremony that we are all better off for having known of the Wetterlings, personally or through the media. They are the family who never gave up hope after 27 years of the most unimaginable anxieties, terrors, never-ending anguish, all the while keeping hope alive for Jacob and for all other missing children. Even after the terrible and sad outcome in early September when his confessed abductor and killer led investigators to Jacob’s remains, the Wetterlings refused to cave into despair. They honored Jacob and his memory with such exuberance, and in doing so and sharing it with so many people, they transcended sadness and once again brought hope – “Jacob’s Hope” – to one and all. We say kudos to the Wetterlings; we say thank you, Wetterlings, for sharing your pain and your hopes with all of us. You have literally helped change this world for the better, with an unwavering “hope” being the key.
The ideas expressed in the letters to the editor and of the guest columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Newsleaders. Letters to the editor may be sent to news@thenewsleaders.com or P.O. Box 324, St. Joseph, MN 56374. Deadline is noon Monday. Please include your full name for publication (and address and phone number for verification only.) Letters must be 350 words or less. We reserve the right to edit for space.
Opinion
Is anybody anywhere as irritated as I am by pop-up ads? If so, please write me and share your annoyance, your outrage. Maybe, together, we can do something about them. They are reproducing worse than Tribbles in that classic Star Trek episode. Let’s unite, join forces and banish from the universe that dastardly pop-up practice once and for all. First, I must emphasize I’m not against advertisements. Obviously not. I have worked on newspapers for almost four decades and am well aware ad revenue pays the lion’s share for the production of newspapers. I actually enjoy advertisements, except for the increasingly obnoxious TV ads, which I loathe more than words can express – at least polite words. However, in newspapers, magazines and online, I scan ads often, learning what’s going on, looking for good deals, clipping coupons. Ads – good ones – can be a form of news. Very informative and often cost-saving. What I don’t like, what irritates me to no end, what wants to make me pull out my hair (what’s left of it) are the pop-up ads. They are like rude slaps in the face. You open a newspaper or magazine website, then you click on a story’s headline and – Blam! Pow! Punch! – you are slapped
Dennis Dalman Editor in the face with a pop-up ad. While cursing (well, maybe you don’t, but I do), you have to put your cursor on the little “X” on the upper right of the sickeningly jolly colorful ad pitch and click on the “X” to get rid of the slam-bang intruder. However, sometimes, if you don’t click dead center on the “X,” the ad pitch opens, and you have to try to get out of the ad’s gushy visual-textual promises and return to the news story you wanted to read in the first place. I guess this relentless ad intrusion, these constant slaps in the face, could be rationalized away, excused by newspapers and online magazines because they might claim they so badly need the revenue and that some advertisers insist their ads be popup ones. OK, fair enough. But where, oh where, is the courtesy and consideration for subscribers, like you and me, who pay hardearned bucks to access the news online? For years, I have paid sometimes in excess of $100 per year to several newspapers and
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
magazines to access their online stories. This year, I have dropped three of them because of their onslaught of pop-up ads, which are the equivalent of blood-sucking mosquitoes on an otherwise pleasant day. You have to keep swatting them to kill them or make them go away. And sometimes swatting, these days, doesn’t even work. Recently, go figure, some newspaper and magazine digital geniuses (I use the term loosely) have figured out that mere swatting won’t kill or even deter the pests (the in-your-face intrusive ads). Now, on some newsy websites, you can put your cursor on the upper-right “X” and nothing happens. The mosquito keeps buzzing, humming, threatening to bite, to suck your blood. So you have to scroll down to the story you wanted to read to begin with. I know, I know – this all sounds to some readers so mundane, trivial, such a petty complaint. But believe me, it’s not petty, and it’s not just my pet peeve. I have talked with scores of people in just the past few months who are just as hopping mad about these pop-up ads as I am. Please write me, share your opinions, and maybe together we can start a Ban PopUp Ads Revolution. Our rallying cry will be “Down, down, down with pop-up ads!”
Letters to the editor:
Council member clarifies her viewpoints
Amy Braig-Lindstrom, St. Joseph
First, I want to thank the Newsleaders for, week after week, providing Sartell with a free, local newspaper. I would also like to specifically thank Dennis Dalman for his time and efforts in covering a wide variety of topics. However, a clarification is necessary. Here is what I actually said at the recent GRRL board meeting. I began by making note of Sartell’s rich history working together with private residents and businesses to bring many different communi-
ty-building amenities to our town. I recognized the future library locker system as another example of this, with a few exceptions. • No one from the Sartell Friends of the Library was invited to the table to hash out the details. • No one was informed the ban on talking about the library had been lifted and that the library issue would return to the agenda. • I stated the fact the council meeting, typically available to view online the following day, would not be available to
be viewed by the public for 10 days, two days after that evening’s GRRL meeting. I referred to that as “nefarious at best.” What I didn’t do was make any mention (by name) of my council colleagues. I believe Dalman did a fine job characterizing my overall feelings but his writing did not reflect all the words I said at the GRRL meeting. My resignation from the city council, due to the residency requirement, has been submitted and accepted. Thank you, City of Sartell, for the opportunity. With gratitude.
Thank you, Sartell, for preserving city’s beauty Amy Bergeron, Sartell This is a letter of gratitude. I want to say thanks to whoever considered sparing the life of a beautiful old oak
tree when they laid the new south sidewalk on Second Street near Seventh Avenue S. I am a bicycle commuter. I feel lifted up each time I pass by the cut-out in the sidewalk that allows a magnificent tree to keep on growing
and me a safe path off a busy street. I am very grateful to the city of Sartell and the persons who cared enough about the safety of people and nature. It makes a difference.
Community memorial service for Jacob was ‘incredible event’ Mayor Rick Schultz, St. Joseph The Jacob Wetterling Memorial Service was simply spectacular from beginning to
end. Please accept my gratitude for everyone who helped pull off this incredible event. I cannot possibly thank everyone in this note. Nevertheless, I will highlight the incredible
work of President Mary Dana Hinton, the College of St. Benedict and the St. Joseph Police Department. The service was a visible sign of what we can do as a community.
‘Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life?’ There it was again, that song. It always happens this time of year, the anniversary of my brother’s untimely demise. It’s inevitable that that song dances through my ears. It was playing on the music machine at a local gin joint. Brother Don was an early genius and late bloomer in his personal life. He joined the Catholic Order of Christian Brothers when he was 14 years old. Understand, the Christian Brothers do more than make booze. They are a teaching body, accepting the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Don excelled in learning and teaching. His doctorate was advanced calculus. After 30 years of rave reviews for his teaching activities, Don was offered a job by a major oil company at a ridiculously high salary. Goodbye poverty, hello outside world. Don left the Christian Brothers. He bought a house
Paul Ritzenthaler Guest Writer overlooking the top ski resort near Buffalo, N.Y. and became an avid skier. One of his skiing ventures took him to Colorado, where he met an attorney from Florida. They hit it off big-time. Goodbye chastity, hello Wendy. It was a delightful wedding and country club reception near Tampa. Throughout the next six years, we kept in touch (perhaps not enough). Then came the call. Don had a form of bone cancer and was given two years to live with no chance of a cure. My other brother and I offered to provide bone marrow, but the doctors said it
was too late. Cancer can happen to a non-smoker, non-drinker and physical fitness exemplar. Don defied the two-year sentence and six years later he was still on this earth and determined to grab all the gusto of life he could. He and Wendy were invited and came to one of my daughters’ wedding and reception. It was apparent when he arrived in Minnesota he was much weaker and frailer. He came to the wedding and left immediately afterward to go lie down. He showed up for picture-taking and light lunch and again left for their motel room. Finally, he and Wendy showed up for the reception dinner followed by music provided by a DJ. It was not too far into the reception that he had to, again, withdraw from the activities. Not too long after they left we got a
Dance • back page
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
Work from page 3 residents had to find places to live elsewhere with some help from the companies that owned them or other sources. Walker said many people in mobile-home parks live there because they are economically disadvantaged in one way or another. Others are older people, some in wheelchairs and others even amputees, who just do not have the wherewithal to move elsewhere. The people living in most mobile-home parks have no direct voice in any decision-making that happens, Walker noted, and what often happens is the infrastructures in those parks, such as water and sewer lines deteriorate, corporate owners are less inclined to make major improvements and so resort to temporary fixes. There were 11 breaks in water lines at Sartell Mobile Home Park, for instance, Walker noted. Lot rents increase year by year, to the point some park residents have trouble paying them and yet have no say over park policies or what the money is spent for. That can leave residents helpless, unable to sell their homes or unable to move, “over a barrel,” as Walker put it, leaving residents at a chronic risk of displacement.
Success stories
Northcountry has helped eight mobile-home parks’ residents purchase and own their parks – seven in Minnesota, one in Wisconsin. The process of mobile-home residents buying and owning their own parks is quite common in New Hampshire. There are one in five mobile-home
Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com parks in New Hampshire that are resident-owned, about 120 of them, Walker noted. What happens is the residents collectively form a nonprofit association, then they seek a loan lender with all sorts of provisions and guarantees, including a thorough examination of infrastructure and other factors. Typically, the residents agree to increase their lot rents, which become loan repayments. In the case of Sartell Mobile Home Park, residents agreed to raise their lot rents from $365 to $410 and then later to $425 in order to make the process work. The good news, Walker said, is once residents take ownership of their parks, lot rents (loan payments) almost always increase by less than 1 percent a year, and, as in most co-op associations, residents often receive annual rebates.
Sartell Park
In the case of the Sartell Mobile Home Park, about 75 percent of its water mains need to be replaced, as well as about 20 percent of its sewer lines. That would total about $1.5 million to do. The purchase price for the Park is $5.15 million, with total
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Several residents of Sartell Mobile Home Park, all of them board members of their new association, spoke to the council. Among them was Melanie Slattery, chair of the Eagle’s View Board, who has lived in that mobile-home park ever since she was born. Her father, who was also at the council meeting, has lived in the park for more than 40 years. Slattery has been raising her own children there for 14
CITY OF SARTELL PUBLIC HEARING CEMETERY, POLICE AND ALARM CITY CODE ORDINANCES NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: website at www.sartellmn.com. That the City of Sartell will hold a public hearing on Monday, Oct. All interested persons are invited 24, 2016, at 6 p.m., or as soon to attend to voice their opinion. thereafter as the matter may be Written comments will be acheard, at the Sartell City Hall, for cepted until the date of the hearing. the purpose of updating the City Code of Ordinances regarding po- Mary Degiovanni lice regulations, alarms and ceme- City Administrator tery. Copies of the proposed ordinances are available for review at Publish: Sept. 30, 2016 the city clerk’s office or on the city Weekly!! Mailing Brochures From Home. Helping home workers since 2001. No Experience Required. Start Immediately! www.centralmailing.net (VOID IN SD, WI) (MCN)
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costs of everything combined about $7.34 million. At the Oct. 10 Sartell City Council meeting, a homeowners’ petition will be presented to the council to form a Housing Improvement District. The organizers are hoping Sartell can use its full faith and credit to help obtain a low-interest loan so the infrastructure improvements can be made and a loan secured via a non-profit loan agency. Grants and other forms of state and federal aid could also lessen the overall costs, Walker noted. More detailed information will be provided to the council later. Walker said the park residents hope to close on the sale deal, if all goes well, by Nov. 3.
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years. “It’s all about affordability,” Slattery said. “My children want to stay there.” She thanked the council and said she hopes its members can help families who live in the mobile-home park remain “intact.” Other speakers said they are
worried about the fate of older members of the park, about how there has always been a sense of friendly community at the park and how everybody involved wants to work hard together to ensure their neighborhood remains a safe, clean, healthy and secure place to live.
LEGAL NOTICES CITY OF ST. STEPHEN ORDINANCE 47 OPTING-OUT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 462.3593 WHEREAS, on May 12, 2016, granted by Minnesota Statutes, Governor Mark Dayton signed into Section 462.3593, subdivision 9, law the creation and regulation the City of St. Stephen opts-out of temporary family health-care of the requirements of Minn. Stat. dwellings, codified at Minn. Stat. §462.3593, which defines and reg§462.3593, which permit and reg- ulates Temporary Family Healthulate temporary family health-care Care Dwellings.” dwellings; 2. This Ordinance shall be effecWHEREAS, subdivision 9 of tive immediately upon its passage Minn. Stat. §462.3593 allows cities and publication. to “opt out” of those regulations; This Amendment was approved by NOW, THEREFORE, THE the majority of the City Council of CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY St. Stephen on this 7th day of SepOF ST. STEPHEN, ORDAINS as tember, 2016. follows: /s/ Cindy VanderWeyst 1. That Ordinance 47 is hereby Mayor adopted which shall read as follows: /s/ Cris M Drais City Clerk “OPT-OUT OF MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 462.3593: Dated: Sept. 26, 2016 Subd. 1: Pursuant to authority
Publish: Sept. 30, 2016
CITY OF SARTELL NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARIN––GS PLANNED-UNIT-DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT OF SANDSTONE VILLAGE 2 AND SANDSTONE VILLAGE 3 PLAT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: requested by PEI Properties, as That the Sartell City Council will applicant. The site is located just hold a public hearing in the coun- north and east of County Road 4, cil chambers of the Sartell City west of 19th Avenue and formally Hall on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, at known as Sandstone Village. 6 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to consider Mary Degiovanni an amendment to the Planned-Unit Administrator Developments of Sandstone Village 2 Plat and Sandstone Village Publish: Sept. 30, 2016 3 Plat. The public hearing has been ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control. FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1-800640-8195 (MCN) A PLACE FOR MOM. The nation’s largest senior living referral service. Contact our trusted, local experts today! Our service is FREE/no obligation. CALL 1-800-442-5148 (MCN) Switch to DIRECTV and get a $100 Gift Card. FREE Whole-Home Genie HD/ DVR upgrade. Starting at $19.99/mo. New Customers Only. Don’t settle for cable. Call Now 1-800-203-4378 (MCN) 19.99/mo. for DIRECTV - HD Channels + Genie HD DVR + 3 months FREE HBO, SHOW, MAX & STARZ + FREE NFL Sunday Ticket! Call Now 1-888-5527314 (MCN) ADT Security protects your home & family from “what if” scenarios. Fire, flood, burglary or carbon monoxide, ADT provides 24/7 security. Don’t wait! Call Now! 1-888-607-9294 (MCN) GET HELP NOW! One Button Senior Medical Alert. Falls, Fires & Emergencies happen. 24/7 Protection. Only $14.99/ mo. Call NOW 1-888-840-7541 (MCN) Life Alert. 24/7. One press of a button sends help FAST! Medical, Fire, Burglar. Even if you can’t reach a phone! FREE Brochure. CALL 800-306-1404 (MCN) DISH Network -NEW FLEX PACK- Se-
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Dance from page 6 call at the reception venue (an Eagles Club). They were missing a rather expensive camera. We found it, and I offered to have my son run it out to them. They didn’t want to take anyone away from the gathering, and decided to return and retrieve the camera. It was apparent when they showed up Don was extremely
Sartell-St. Stephen Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com fatigued. But, by happenstance, just as they were heading toward the door, the DJ played Don and Wendy’s wedding song. Camera in hand, they clasped each other and hugged and danced their way down the hallway and out the door to that wedding song. It is (and remains) one of the greatest memories of my brother and what true love is all about. The following day, they headed to the airport, and the next time we met — a short few months later — I delivered
his eulogy. Did I mention the name of their wedding song? “Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life?” Paul Ritzenthaler has spent most of his life working in broadcasting before retiring but still keeps himself busy by announcing baseball games at the Municipal Athletic Center in St. Cloud, golfing and trying to keep up with his two dogs Dani, a Sheltie, and Tucker, a Shi-Tzu, at his home in Sauk Rapids.
Friday, Sept. 30, 2016