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CAEF GALA: Record year for CAEF Gala PAGE 3
Congressman Tom Emmer visits Centennial geography class BY SHANNON GRANHOLM STAFF WRITER
SHANNON GRANHOLM | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Congressman Tom Emmer chats with Centennial High School freshmen Griffen Aguirre and Eliana Marciano in the Campus Learning geography class.
CIRCLE PINES — Freshmen at Centennial Lakes High School got a surprise visit from U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer during a geography class April 5. Emmer represents Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. The congressman stopped by to observe the class and learn about how Infinite Campus' Campus Learning software has
been implemented into the structure of the course. During the visit, he was able to converse with the students and ask questions about the technology. The Centennial School District has formally been using the software for three years in both the ninth- grade geography and English courses. “It allows a teacher to take on the role of SEE CONGRESSMAN TOM EMMER, PAGE 9
Crafter sews pillows for soldier patients BY SARA MARIE MOORE EDITOR
SHOREVIEW — When Mary Lou Anderson moved to Minnesota several years ago, she didn’t know what would become of her patriotic pillow production she had been doing for VA hospitals in Illinois. When she arrived, she found out the VA hospitals in Minnesota didn’t take them. But she had a plethora of pillows remaining that had been donated to her which fit her cot-size patriotic pillowcase design perfectly. “Just about that time I read an article in the paper, in the Quad Press, about the quilting group (in Circle Pines),” said Anderson. A group of about 10 crafters in Circle Pines had been making patriotic quilts to send to a military hospital in Germany and were actually going to branch into making pillows as well. Anderson joined the group. Darlene Sandbakken,
one of the quilters, had a niece who volunteered at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and saw the need for pillows on medic flights between Afghanistan and the hospital. Medics were rolling up towels to use as pillows on medical flights because they couldn’t take pillows from the hospitals in Afghanistan. When she told her aunt, the quilting group decided to make pillows to send to Germany, which would be taken back to Afghanistan by the medics. The first set of about 60 pillows made by the group got to Germany with some military chaplains who were flying there. But the process was a bit complicated. Crafters began sending the pillows through Soldier’s Angels, an organization dedicated to supporting military members and veterans. The group now also makes handmade pillows to go in the handmade pillowcases. They are used in field hospitals
in Afghanistan and in medical helicopters taking soldiers to the hospital in Germany or home to the U.S. Sandbakken said that the pillows have even been given to soldiers to go in their packs to sleep on while on duty. “Instead of (sleeping on) a helmet,” said Anderson. The group has received touching letters from medics in Afghanistan thanking them for the pillows. “We get beautiful thank you letters,” said Anderson. “Some of them bring you to tears. They always say it means so much to our GIs to know we care.” Anderson was also given an American flag which flew over the military field hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The group of quilters pays for the pillow expenses out of their own pockets, but in March the Hugo Yellow Ribbon Network offered to pay for their shipping costs to send two boxes
of pillows per month. Anderson’s daughter had been volunteering with the group, a community SEE PATRIOTIC PILLOWS, PAGE 12
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Mary Lou Anderson of Shoreview designs and makes patriotic pillows to send to injured GIs for their helicopter ride home.
“0% ng ci Finanable” Avail
Officers think on their feet BY SHANNON GRANHOLM STAFF WRITER
Imagine you are driving down the highway on your way to work and you see three police cars zoom past going well over 80 mph. Many motorists may wonder what is going on or who the police are after. “It's so easy to critique and criticize when you're not doing the job. They (the public) see cars that are going 80, 90, 100 mph plus and just see fast cars and say, 'Why are you chasing that guy?'” said Sgt. Kris Carlson of the Centennial Lakes Police Department (CLPD). Every day police officers must make important decisions that affect not only their lives, but also the lives of others. Many of these decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds and are often highly scrutinized by the media and public. “We look at pursuits as high-risk, low-frequency events. We are going to have relatively few pursuits over the course of the year, and every pursuit brings with it a number of factors that are extremely significant,” said CLPD Lt. Russell Blanck. In 2015, the CLPD completed five pursuits. So far this year, there have been three pursuits, all of which happened in March. In fact, last month in the Twin Cities, Karlson said, there were at least 10 pursuits over a few days in the metro area. “It was absolutely out of this world. Totally out of the ordinary.” Karlson, who has been with the department nearly 12 years, estimates he has been involved in four pursuits during his career. In two recent pursuits, he assumed the roles of the supervisor and lead patrol officer. In the first pursuit this year, a CLPD officer located a suspicious vehicle in Lexington Memorial Park in the early morning hours of March 28. When the officer tried to approach the vehicle, the suspect fled and the pursuit began. The chase rapidly went into Blaine, and Blaine officers assisted. Due to many factors, the pursuit was terminated. The second pursuit was based on a chase that had already occurred a short time earlier with the St. Paul Park Police Department, Washington County and State Patrol on March 29. The suspect, driving a reported stolen vehicle, evaded law enforcement. Karlson, who regularly SEE POLICE PURSUITS, PAGE 9
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