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ART & CULTURE: Meet the emerging artist PAGE 16
Polar Plunge: ‘Bucket list’ item for many BY ERIK SUCHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
As Minnesota winter rears its frigid head around the corner, so do those who are no less deterred for some good old lake-jumping fun in the form of the Polar Plunge. “We always joke in the office we’re the only group that hopes for colder weather,” laughs Emma Fiedler. “Jumping into a frozen lake is such a unique experience because it’s a bucket list item for so many.” Before becoming the head organizer of the White Bear Polar Plunge, for which she is in her third season, Fiedler worked for two years as an
event manager with Special Olympics Minnesota. The Plunge is one of the organization’s biggest fundraisers. It helps to provide year-round training, assistance and equipment to intellectually disabled athletes across the state. As such, Fiedler’s aim to see the Plunge stay as a favored event for Minnesotans comes not only from its fundraising but also from witnessing a community of both new and seasoned plungers grow. “We love to see teams that start small grow year after year,” she says. “Many start at one or two people in the first year and steadily grow into almost 14 (plunges) because they just love participating!”
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The White Bear Lake Polar Plunge is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27.
SEE POLAR PLUNGE, PAGE 6
Some counties, cities struggle to find election judges BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
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Snow day at Wargo The Wargo Nature Center will host its annual Snow Day from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27. Participants of all ages will have a chance to partake in a variety of winter activities, including: snow shoeing, ice fishing, kick-sledding, fat tire biking, winter crafts, temporary tattoos and a live animal presentation.
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On Election Day, there can be as many as 30,000 election judges temporarily employed at polling places across Minnesota. Finding qualified applicants has become a bit of a challenge for many counties and cities. Election judges are temporary, paid employees of local election officials trained to handle all aspects of voting at the polling place. The opportunity allows judges to learn about elections while serving their communities. In Lino Lakes, the number of election judges seems to be down from past major election years, but there isn’t a huge cause for concern just yet. City Clerk Jolleen Chaika says that so far, the city has received around 61 applications. She said she has the number of judges she needs to staff the polling locations in the city for the presidential nominating primary on March 5 and the state primary on Aug. 13, due to historically lower voter turnout than on election day in November. “I would like to see additional election judges for the primaries; life happens, and sometimes folks need to step down at the last minute,” she explained. “I will certainly need many more for the November election. I would like to see at least double what I have now for Nov. 5.”