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VOL. 17 NO. 19 www.readthecitizen.com $1.00
BACK TO SCHOOL: Start date pushed back PAGE 3
Hugo residents work toward hate-free community BY SHANNON GRANHOLM LEAD EDITOR
HUGO — After the social media posts and comments started to spin out of control following the Aug. 15 Black Lives Matter protest in town, many Hugonians found themselves “disappointed” and “disheartened” and wanted their community to do better. Hugo resident Becky Magnuson recently
established a Facebook group called, “Hugo Friendly Hangout: A Hate-Free Community Forum.” “I wanted to create a space for the people in our community who don’t want to argue all the time and who don’t continue to fuel the fi re and spread hateful messages. It is not necessarily an antiracist group; it is a group for people to conquer the divide, where we can still come together but in a way that is
kind and nice to one another,” Magnuson explained. “I felt like the other (Facebook) groups had gotten to a point where people would go on there just to attack other people. They would go on there for sport just to bring people down, and I couldn’t be a part of that anymore.” That’s when Hugo resident Amanda Carter decided to see if anyone else in the new
SUBMITTED
Community members have started a new Facebook group as a place for respectful discussion.
SEE ‘HATE-FREE’ HUGO, PAGE 10
Centerville man sentenced in connection with dog’s death BY SHANNON GRANHOLM LEAD EDITOR
LEANN MICHAEL | SUBMITTED
Autumn elegance Area photographer LeAnn Michael captured this shot, and many others, of a great blue heron near her Lino Lakes home last week. Lino Lakes is home to one of Minnesota’s largest great blue heron rookeries.
Larry Allen Hanson, 61, of Centerville was sentenced Sept. 2 for an incident that happened in December 2019. According to the criminal complaint, a Centennial Lakes Police Department (CLPD) officer was dispatched to an animal cruelty report just after 12:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at a residence on Clear Ridge in Centerville. Buddy, a 3 1/2-year-old dachshund, had severe injuries. Otter Lake Animal Hospital confi rmed that Buddy’s injuries were not caused by another animal, but rather from a pellet gun. A pellet gun projectile was lodged in Buddy’s brain and he died from his injuries. Hanson was charged with one count of cruelty to animals. The felony carries a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 to $1,500. On July 23, Hanson pleaded guilty to the charge. On Sept. 2, Buddy’s owner, Danielle Rajewsky, and her 15-year-old daughter Lillian read victim impact statements to Hanson and the judge. “I am what many would consider not only Buddy’s owner, but his mother. Although some may just see Buddy as a dog, he was a part of my family, one of my children. After all I had been through, Buddy was SEE DOG’S DEATH, PAGE 7
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