Pioneer PINE CITY
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016
VOL. 131 NO. 29 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
JOHNSON RESIGNS: Accused city official steps down as community development director. P2
MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
Pine City’s Voyageur Park had become a pond at the high-water mark on Sunday afternoon, and waters rose to just a few feet below the bottom of the Highway 61 bridge. The Snake River spread wide and rose high this past weekend peaking at 8.82 feet – the seventh highest recorded crest for the river, and the highest since it hit 9.24 feet in 2001. More on Page 8.
Eight feet high ... and stopping BY HENRY FISCHER AND MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
The Snake River swelled to 8.82 feet on the afternoon of Sunday, July 17, the seventh-highest crest ever recorded, and swamped a number of low-lying roads and properties along the shores of Cross Lake and Pokegama Lake. However, the levels were lower than the nine-foot “flood stage” mark, and city officials report little damage within
city limits. And when compared to the raging waters that overwhelmed the sewer system in Moose Lake, threatened the Willow River dam, and undermined bridges in Kanabec County, many Pine City residents were counting themselves lucky as the Snake River began to recede on Sunday night. CLOSE CALLS Pine County Chief Deputy Paul Wid-
enstrom said there were no flood-related deaths in the county but a few close calls. “I think it the very first morning after the storm when the water started coming up, west of Sturgeon Lake there was a person who tried driving through the water with their car and their car stalled out,” Widenstrom said. “They ended up having to sit on the roof of their car until they could get to him with a boat. They weren’t injured, but the water was
just that high.” Another incident happened at the very peak of the high waters on Sunday afternoon on the Snake River, as a group of reckless kayakers got in quite literally over their heads. “There were four of them,” Widenstrom said. “The call came in reporting that a kayak was stuck in the trees south of the dam, and a woman was hugging a SEE WATERS, PAGE 10
Sheriff: Lock vehicles, burglars on spree BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
Thieves stole from at least 18 unlocked vehicles in the Pine City area on the night of Monday, May 18. Pine City Jeff Nelson said that even more residents may have been victims, and urged those in the area to take basic safety precautions. “I’m trying to get information out that people need to lock their car doors,” Nelson said. Nelson said that every one of the victims’ vehicles was unlocked, and no car windows were broken or
doors forced. The thieves were simply able to open the car doors, grab everything they could, and then leave – dumping out unwanted items on the way to the next victim. Nelson also reminded residents not to leave valuable items in their vehicles. He pointed out that victim who are missing checks or credit cards should get those reported right away to the sheriff’s office and their financial institutions to reduce the chance of fraud. Nelson said the thieves were organized enough to carry out multiple thefts without alarming residents.
He said he hopes that someone did see someone or something that will lead deputies to the thieves, and asked anyone with information to come forward. “I would encourage anyone if they saw a vehicle out in the area ... if they saw them pulling out of driveways, or anything that looks odd, call us so we can look into it and figure out who was out when they shouldn’t have been,” he said. The Pine County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 320-629-8380.
PHOTO PROVIDED
A family living in the Cross Lake Preserve neighborhood found this pile of items lying on the ground in the aftermath of their vehicle being ransacked on July 18.
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