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Tennis page 8
New Look. Same Local Coverage since 1854. Saturday, April 21, 2018
Vol. 164, No. 2
11 2nd Ave. N., Unit 103, Sauk Rapids, Benton County, MN 56379
Cooking their way to nationals
Three injured at Pleasantview
SRRHS competing in culinary, management
Second-grader pulls knife at school BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS — Cooking exquisite dishes can be fun and challenging, but when you have an hour to cook three dishes – an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert – with only two butane burners and no electrical appliances in front of judges, it gets interesting. For a group of ve Sauk RapidsRice High School culinary students – De Andre Jackson, Cole Orton, Madelyn Adamski, Bailey Florek and Elisa-Marie Hartung – it will be the reality April 27-29. “It’s exciting, but stressful,” said advisor Mary Levinski. “At least they do all the work, and I get to coach them along the way to give them the best dishes possible. But there’s a big-time commitment in order to get to the level they are at.” This year marks the 12th consecutive year the management team – Adamski, Sawyer Amo, Tristan Tyson-Anderson and Olivia Krepp – is heading to nationals, but only the second time the culinary team has advanced to this level. Culinary’s last national-appearance was in 2010. “I’m really proud of this team and everything they’ve accomplished,” Levinski said. “It’s pretty exciting to take the culinary team back again.”
PHOTO BY ANNA SALDANA
Cole Orton (from left) De Andre Jackson, Bailey Florek and Madelyn Adamski stand with their completed dishes April 9 at team practice. The four are members of the culinary team, which will be competing at nationals April 27-29 for the first time since 2010. Not pictured: Elisa-Marie Hartung.
This year’s event will take place in Providence, R.I. “I’ve never been there, so we are going to experience things,” Levinski said. “One night we are eating in a ve-star restaurant that’s pretty famous out there. I just want the kids to have a great experience … .” As the team prepares for
nationals, they’ve been practicing at least three days a week after school, as well as on weekends. Practices for the culinary team involve cooking their dishes on time constraints over and over again. “They need to have good execution and keep the dishes simple,” Levinski said. “Those are some of the things that earned them points at
state, which ultimately resulted in the advancement to nationals.” The culinary team will be cooking three high-level dishes. The appetizer is a lemon seared scallop on a pea puree with a frisee salad; the entrée, an herb-crusted, French-cut pork chop with rice pilaf and a robert
Culinary page 2
Safe schools a necessity Security addressed in upcoming referendum BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles regarding the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District building referendum, which will be put to ballot May 8.
SAUK RAPIDS – Security is a top priority in today’s society, especially in schools. Parents and families want their children safe PHOTO BY ANNA SALDANA
A security buzzer unlocks door access to Sauk Rapids-Rice schools during class hours after people are vetted by camera. The district is proposing security changes as included in the May 8 referendum vote.
while attending classes. “I want my children to feel safe when they are at school throughout the day,” said Allison Ward, a parent with children in the district. “The security is extremely lacking in some of these schools. At Hillside, someone has to walk past all of the early childhood classrooms to get to the main of ce. That’s a de nite concern.” Ward feels the middle school is even worse, with the main of ce not even in sight upon entry into the school. “There is a need to improve security overall at all of our buildings,” said Bruce Watkins, interim superintendent of Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools. “We provide security with the use of cameras and of ce staff, but in many of our buildings, people entering have to walk a distance before reaching the main of ce.” It is that reason in particular that security upgrades have been included in the May 8 district referendum. The
district is projecting $600,000 for security upgrades across the district. “The big key for schools is that the of ce staff who run the building need to know who’s in their building,” said Paul Youngquist, an architect hired by the district in the past. “The new designs Sauk RapidsRice would plan to implement make sure everyone who enters the school comes through the main of ce and checks in before proceeding further into the school.” Currently in both the middle and high schools, anyone visiting passes through the lunch area before reaching the main of ce, and they have the freedom to not proceed as directed. “Our goal is to make these entrances more secure,” Watkins said. “It’s important for our students, staff and anyone else in the building on a given day.” Youngquist said the new secured
Referendum page 2
Four honored as 2018 Women in History
BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
FOLEY — The Benton County Historical Society invited community members to honor and celebrate four women April 15. Mary Chmielewski, of Foley, Theresa Duea, of Rice, Nancy Kampa, of Foley, and junior honoree Amelia Winkelman, of Foley High School, were recognized as Benton County’s 2018 Women in History. The event took place at Henry’s Event Center in Foley. After receiving nominations from the community, the BCHS board of directors select honorees based on age and involvement whether that is through volunteering, motherhood or a professional career. Junior honorees are selected by their respective school district, rotating between the Sauk Rapids-Rice and Foley public school systems. Following a luncheon and presentation slideshow of past honorees, each woman was recognized for her contributions to Benton County and presented a plaque and pottery gift. The recipients will also have their names engraved into a placard which hangs at the BCHS museum. The BCHS seeks nominations for history-making women each year and has honored nearly 110 females since the program’s inception in 1998.
SAUK RAPIDS — Three Sauk Rapids-Rice students were injured April 16 when a second-grade student brought a knife to Pleasantview Elementary School and began striking students in the early morning hour. According to the Sauk Rapids Police Department and district, an 8-year-old male student arrived at school and used a kitchen knife — used for preparing meals — to cut the 8-, 9- and 13-year-old victims in the head. The incident occurred during a ve-minute window at approximately 7:15 a.m. Bruce Watkins, interim superintendent of Independent School District No. 47, said class times begin at 7:40 a.m. and students were just beginning to arrive. “There were very few students in the building at this time, but the staff would have been in the building,” Watkins said. As staff was alerted to the incident, the aggressor was directed to go to the school’s of ce and he followed directions. The aggressor and victims were present in the of ce area when emergency services arrived. Two of the victims’ parents
Pleasantview page 3
District reducing open enrollment BY ANNA SALDANA STAFF WRITER
SAUK RAPIDS – The Sauk Rapids-Rice School Board took the rst step in reducing open enrollment at the April 16 meeting. By consensus, the board gave direction to district administration that they would like to reduce open enrollment numbers across the district by implementing policies and resolutions. “We have been holding a series of referendum informational meetings and one of the biggest concerns we are hearing is people wanting reduced open enrollment numbers,” said board chair Mark Hauck. “Knowing that concern, the board is committed
Open enrollment page 2
PUBLIC NOTICES
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Nancy Kampa (from left), Theresa Duea, Mary Chmielewski and Amelia Winkelman have been named Benton County’s 2018 Women in History. The four are amongst nearly 110 recipients that have been recognized since 1998.
Nominations for next year are due Feb. 15, 2019 and can be submitted by mail, email at bchsmus@ bentoncountryhistorical.com or calling 320-253-9614. The 2018 recipients of the BCHS
Women in History awards are: in the downtown area. She now has Mary Chmielewski (Foley) eight grandchildren. Chmielewski moved to Foley With a degree from St. Cloud with her now late husband Michael in State University, Chmielewski was a 1965. They raised three children and Women in History page 2 owned Chmielewski’s Clothing Store
• City of Sauk Rapids Advertisement for Bids - pg. 5 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Public School Notice of Testing Optical Scan Voting System - pg. 6 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Special Board Meeting Minutes, April 5 ,2018 - pg. 6 • Sauk Rapids-Rice Reg. Semi-Monthly Board Meeting, March 26, 2018 - pg. 7 • City of Foley Advertisement for Bids - pg. 7 • Benton County Ordinance No. 463 pg. 4B • Notice of Mortgage Foreclosure Lieser - pg. 4B • Notice of Mortgage Foreclosure Johnson - pg. 4B • Benton County Reg. Meeting Minutes, April 3 ,2018 - pg. 4B