Pioneer PINE CITY
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016
VOL. 131 NO. 21 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
RUNNING HARD: Girls, boys track teams named Great River Conference champs. P15
Summer starts with Art in the Park BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
A Pine City tradition returns with the free concert series that brings friends and families out to Robinson Park on Friday nights throughout the summer: Art in the Park. “Don’t cook supper, come to the park,” said Adrienne Roubinek of the Pine City Arts Council.
“Bring a chair, bring a blanket. You’re going to have a fun time.” The concert series kicks off this Friday, May 27 when the Pine City Jazz Band takes the stage for their annual showcase of student musical talent starting at 6:30 p.m. Those in the know will come early for a tasty meal of sloppy joes offered by the Pine City Music Boosters – one of their two SEE ART, PAGE 11
ATVs get OK’d for county highways BY HENRY FISCHER NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
MIKE GAINOR | THE PIONEER
Close encounter with a beast of the deep A brave fifth grade student was the first to take a chance touching a leech at the Pokegama Lake Association Freshwater Fair on May 19. The 18th annual Freshwater Fair, held at the Pine County Fairgrounds in Pine City, offered 15 learning stations for students to learn about wildlife stewardship, caring for the environment and preserving water quality. More photos on Page 9.
It’s official. ATV enthusiasts may now ride on the shoulder and far right side of Pine County highways as well as in ditches unless otherwise posted. The county’s new ATV ordinance, which takes effect this week, allows both Class 1 and Class 2 ATVs on county roads. The measure is intended to help protect the environment by preserving county road ditches, decreasing sedimentations in coun-
ty surface waters, and protecting wetlands. County Attorney Reese Frederickson pointed out that county roads going through a city are subject to county jurisdiction. Under the ordinance, ATV operators may now ride on Pine County highways through cities and towns to access businesses or make connections with area trails. ATVers must obey posted speed limits. The ordinance won unanimous SEE ATV, PAGE 11
Pine City man lauded for helping lead heroic rescue BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
– but it’s a good feeling nonetheless.”
The whirlwind around him had started to settle down, but 2012 Pine City High School graduate Sean Kehren was still feeling shook up days after saving a woman on Mother’s Day from a car crash and fire off Interstate 35. “I don’t know,” Kehren said. “It’s just really, really confusing
JUST DRIVING HOME Kehren is a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and said he was feeling good on May 8. After four years at college, serving as president of his fraternity and singing with the Gustavus Choir, he had recently been selected as a delegate to the Democratic Na-
tional Convention for the second time. He was thinking about law school, and trying to find a job to help him pay for it. And he was looking forward to coming back to Pine City to see his mom for Mother’s Day. It was a trip he had taken many times. This one he wouldn’t forget. “We were about a mile north of the Sandstone exit, and it wasn’t the car in front of me – it was the
car in front of that car,” he said. “I saw the car swerve off with the right two tires, try to correct back onto the road, but it was kind of a lost cause by then. The car ended up diving down into the ditch, and up in Sandstone the ditches are pretty wide. She was going about 60 or 65 in the ditch, and eventually ended up colliding head-on with a tree.” SEE RESCUE, PAGE 11
Sean Kehren
This is home.
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