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TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016

VOL. 34 NO. 14 www.presspubs.com $1.00

SWAN: Succumbs to lead poisoning . PAGE 2

Lino Lakes council has two new faces BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER

LINO LAKES — Two new City Council members were sworn in at a meeting Jan. 11. Melissa Maher and Michael Manthey received 29.2 and 23.8 percent of Lino Lakes' votes in November, respectively. Melissa Maher Maher is looking forward to working on the cable committee and hopefully influencing new residential developments. She volunteered to fill an empty spot on the city's North Metro Telecommunications Committee. She wants to make sure the city's transition to offering CenturyLink cable television, approved at a Dec. 28 meeting, goes smoothly. She was dissatisfied herself with Comcast last spring and went through CenturyLink to get DirectTV programming until CenturyLink would be offered in the area. She's hoping she is now able to easily

SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS

Police Officer Dennis Spreng displays some of the stuffed animals he keeps stashed in his trunk for children at the scene of an accident or other tragedies.

Cop shares a day – or 13,800 days – in his life BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER

CIRCLE PINES — Two things cops do you probably never knew: Keep a stash of stuffed animals for kids in their trunk and check on your house every day you are gone on vacation. “Every squad car has stuffed animals for kids,” said Dennis Spreng, an officer with the Centennial Lakes Police Department, as he pulled out various Beanie Babies stored in plastic bags in his trunk. Spreng gives them to children at the scene of an accident or other tragedies, “just to hang onto and help them be more comfortable.” And the comfort object for adults? A daily house check for vacationers and snowbirds.

“If you go south for the winter, we will keep an eye on your residence,” said Spreng, as he waited to take a right turn onto Lake Drive at the beginning of his shift Jan. 12. “Our goal is to check every residence once per shift.” With three shifts, that would be three times a day. Residents only need to give the police station a call to be on the list for house checks. Spreng cites several reasons for loving what he does: helping people, the variety of the job and camaraderie amongst officers. “It is a very rewarding career,” he said. “It is a very challenging career as well.” Spreng said he has seen the worst and the best of people as a cop. The worst? Child abuse, car accidents, death, murder, suicides. The

best? Helping little kids, the elderly, or people afraid or unable to help themselves. “I've helped babies be born into the world as well,” he said. “It's a dangerous job,” said Spreng as he drove into the sunset while patrolling a Circle Pines neighborhood. “There aren't many occupations where people want to kill you at times.” Spreng has attended a number of police officer funerals, to which officers flock in support of each other. “You see officers from all over the country who come to the funerals,” he said. He hasn't personally known anyone killed in the line of duty, but a sheriff he worked with in Mankato suffered a heart attack and died after arresting someone.

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SEE LINO LAKES COUNCIL, PAGE 12

Circle Pines council has one new face

“It is tough,” he said. “The last guy I had to rustle with and put in handcuffs was 18.” Spreng said officers work odd hours, weekends and holidays. “It is challenging for your family as well,” he said. Spreng works the second shift at Centennial Lakes, which he said is a common shift — 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. He works six days on and three days off, which gives him about one full weekend a month off, and one or two partial weekends. Looking at his schedule on his smartphone, he noted his grandson's birthday on a Saturday in February this year is also when he is scheduled to work. “We'll probably celebrate

CIRCLE PINES — Mike Schweigert was sworn in as a new council member at a meeting Jan. 12. He received 32.3 percent of the votes for two open spots on the City Council in November elections. Incumbent Matt Percy received 41.3 percent of the votes. Schweigert looks forward to serving on the City Council as another way to help his community.

SEE 13,800 DAYS, PAGE 3

SEE CIRCLE PINES COUNCIL, PAGE 12

BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER

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