PINE CITY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 VOL. 130 NO. 49 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
CAMO-UP VS. CANCER: Dragon hockey program steps up for a good cause. P19
PTCC students charged after protest shootings BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
smell of simmering chili as the Chamber Chili Cookoff brings the heat. Nicoll’s Café, Scotty’s Parkside Café, Chubby’s Sports Bar & Grill and More Than Sprouts will be competing to see who makes the best chili in town. Chili fans will be asked to make a free will offering for the chance to sample chili and vote for their favorite. “They’ll get a ballot and there’ll be a ‘People’s Choice’ award for best chili,” Schueller explained. As the sun sets, the time for the magical Christmas Carol parade begins. Starting at 5 p.m., the parade, with the Pine City High School Choir in the lead, will take off at 8th Avenue at Chubby’s and proceed down Main Street before ending in Robinson Park. Pine City’s own “Santa Bob” will take the seat of honor at the culmination of the parade,
Two Pine Technical and Community College (PTCC) students – Daniel Macey, 26, of Pine City and Nathan Gustavsson, 21, of Hermantown – have been charged with felony Second Degree Riot - Armed with a Dangerous Weapon, for their alleged role in a shooting incident at the Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis on Nov. 23. Two other men have also been charged: Joseph Backman, 27, of Minneapolis with felony Second Degree Riot, and Allen Scarsella, 23, of Lakeville, who received five felony Second Degree Assault charges, for allegedly shooting five men on Nov. 23. According to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court, at 10:40 p.m. on Nov. 23 Minneapolis police determined that eight shots had been fired near the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct building, where the Black Lives Matter protests were taking place. They found that five male protesters, ages ranging from 19 to 43 years old, had been shot in the incident. The victims had Joe Mulford wounds to the abdomen, knee, PRESIDENT, PINE TECHNICAL thigh and foot, and leg and back, AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE and were hospitalized for treatment of their injuries. Authorities believe that Macey, Gustavsson, Backman and Scarsella support white supremacist positions, and had visited the protest to make an internet video of the crowd reaction to their appearance, masked, armed and in camouflage. Gustavsson, Backman and Scarsella are white, while Macey is Asian. The majority of the protesters at the Fourth Precinct building were black. Precinct video showed there were four masked men interacting with the protesters in the moments before the shooting. Through the video, authorities were able to identify Gustavsson after his mask slipped. Acting on a tip, authorities arrested Scarsella at a residence in Bloomington on Nov. 24. Numerous firearms
SEE MADNESS, PAGE 19
SEE SHOOTINGS, PAGE 19
‘Our values include respecting the dignity and worth of each individual... We condemn any behaviors that are not consistent with these values.’
DEE ANN SIBLEY | THE PIONEER
Pine City’s Ambassadors rock out at the Cambridge Snowflake Parade on Nov. 21 – just a warm-up for this Saturday’s all-day Holiday Madness event and Christmas Carol Parade in Pine City.
Holiday Madness hits Pine City this Saturday BY MIKE GAINOR EDITOR@PINECITYMN.COM
Pine City’s annual winter celebration has moved to a new day this year, and organizers hope that new events will bring more excitement than ever before. Holiday Madness, put on by the Pine City Chamber of Commerce, is now an all-day occasion that will take place this Saturday, Dec. 5. “As a committee we really wanted to expand the events that were offered,” said Pine City Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Becky Schueller. “So we are trying a Saturday event this year to try the Chili Cookoff and the Ugly Sweater Run, and those types of things.” The madness begins at 8 a.m. with sales and specials offered by local businesses, and with a visit from Santa Claus to Cabin Coffee’s at 620 8th Ave. SW. Santa
will be available from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. for photos - call 320-6295982 for reservations. Shopping opportunities will abound all day, with sales at Pine City churches, boutiques at the American Legion, Pine Center for the Arts and more, and PHASE Furnishings north of Pine City will offer one-day discounts. At 11:30 a.m., joggers and walkers will converge at the Pine City High School Parking lot for check-in before the Ugly Sweater Run debuts at noon. “It’s just a fun 5k event that Anytime Fitness is hosting for us,” Schueller said. “In the past couple of years we’ve seen a lot more physical fitness events popping up. They’ve become very popular. Here in Pine City we didn’t have a winter-based event, so we are adding that in.” From 3-5 p.m., Robinson Park will be filled with the delicious
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