Pioneer PINE CITY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 , 2019
VOL. 134 NO. 4 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
THREEPEAT: Dragons set new unofficial record for 3-point shots in a game. P9
Lourey wins DFL primary BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
LANCE FURBER | THE PIONEER
Head over heels for hockey
Stu Lourey was the winner of the Jan. 22 DFL primary, setting the stage for a three-candidate race in the District 11 state senator special election on Feb. 5. Michelle Lee received 1,698 votes (47 percent) to Lourey’s 1,933 votes (53 percent) across the district in the DFL primary. Republican candidate Jason Rarick ran unopposed in the primary and received 689 votes. Also running unopposed was John “Sparky” Birrenbach with the Legal Marijuana Now party, who received 69 votes in the primary. Birrenbach, Lourey and Rarick will now face off in the Tuesday, Feb. 5 special election. SEE PRIMARY, PAGE 15
Things occasionally got a little topsy-turvy at the annual Beau Berglund outdoor hockey tournament, but players and fans braved the subzero temperatures to enjoy a weekend of good fun for a great cause. More photos on Page 12.
Hero Marine receives national award STAFF REPORT NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
A Pine City native was one of five members in the entire United States military honored in with the George Van Cleave USO Military Leadership Award in 2018. United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Belko graduated from Pine City High School in 2004, and joined the Marine Corps in 2007. On Sept. 19, 2018, Belko was on duty at the Marine barracks building in Washington D.C. when he received word that a fire had broken out at a nearby public housing complex for senior citizens. He rushed to the scene, and while firefighters battled the blaze he went inside the building, knocking on doors, helping elderly residents out of their beds and carrying them down four flights of stairs. Fire alarms and sprinklers failed to work adding to the chaos in the building – and
Pine City firefighters and Pine County deputies responded to the report of a crash on I-35 on Jan. 10.
Crashes on I-35 reported BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
PHOTO PROVIDED
United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Belko celebrated receiving the George Van Cleve USO Leadership Award with his wife, Samantha, and parents Steve and Carol Belko.
A woman was injured in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 35 at Hillside Avenue on Friday, Jan. 11. The Minnesota State Patrol reports that a Toyota Tundra driven by Ashley Brooke Zanella, 31, of Hurley, Wisconsin, was heading northbound on I-35 on Jan. 11.
SEE HERO, PAGE 15
SEE CRASHES, PAGE 15
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