Press Publications 4779 Bloom Avenue White Bear Lake, MN 55110
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 9 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED CIRCLE PINES, MN
7111 21st Avenue N • Centerville, MN
651.762.9440 Equal Housing Lender
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019
MidWestOne.com
VOL. 37 NO. 46 www.quadcommunitypress.com $1.00
NEW AMBASSADORS: Ready to represent Lino Lakes PAGE 11
Area bus companies always in need of drivers BY SHANNON GRANHOLM EDITOR
Historically, summertime has been crunch time for bus companies to fi nd — and retain — as many drivers as they can to fi ll routes for the upcoming school year. September is right on our doorstep. Even though Rehbein Transit Inc. and American Student Transportation could both use additional drivers, they are both in better shape than they have been in previous years. Steve LaTour has been the general manager of Rehbein for just over a year, but he has been with Rehbein's parent company, Minnesota Coaches, since 1989. Rehbein primarily serves the Centennial School District but also serves a small portion of White Bear Lake. For the past four years or so, LaTour said Rehbein has dealt with a driver shortage. “It just keeps getting worse every year,” he said. “Historically in our industry, whenever the unemployment rate is low, our industry really struggles to get people. When the … unemployment rate gets higher, then we seem to strive and find people.”
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Preschool playtime Parents and children who will be attending Centerville Elementary School as kindergarten students swing on playground equipment at Northpointe Development Park during a get acquainted party before the start of the school year. See more photos on page 20.
SEE SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS, PAGE 12
Blaine toddler needs $2 million therapy BY SHANNON GRANHOLM EDITOR
BLAINE — A soon-to-be 2-yearold is running out of time. Before her second birthday on Sept. 6, Maddy needs a lifesaving treatment called Zolgensma, a gene therapy that costs $2.2 million. It might just be the most expensive drug in the world. Maddy's mother, Blaine resident Angie Bruce, found out Maddy had spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) about halfway through her pregnancy. “I remember when I got the phone call from the doctors confi rming that she had it ... I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just started crying and I had to hang
up the phone and wait to call them back until I calmed down,” she said. Bruce and her family had never heard of SMA and said they were not made aware that both she and Maddy's father, Mike Smith, were genetic carriers of SMA when they were pregnant with Maddy's brother Michael, who just turned 4. According to CureSMA, SMA is a disease that robs people of physical strength by affecting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat or breathe. SMA is caused by a mutation in the survival motor neuron gene 1 (SMN1). In a healthy person, this gene produces a protein that
is critical to the function of the nerves that control our muscles. Without it, those nerve cells cannot properly function and eventually die, leading to debilitating and sometimes fatal muscle weakness. SMA affects approximately one in 11,000 births, and about one in every 50 Americans is a genetic carrier. It is the number one genetic cause of death for infants. Maddy was born five weeks early. At just the age of 2 days old she was given Spinraza, a drug that was approved by the FDA 10 months before she was born. The drug is injected into her spinal cord and keeps Maddy from having many SEE MIRACLE FOR MADDY, PAGE 9
BENEFITS • QUALITY ASE Certified Technicians
AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSMISSION
• WARRANTY 36 months/36,000 mile • CONVENIENCE Free customer shuttle
Randy Notto | Owner, Sara Kvale | Service Manager
• 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
We want to guarantee your satisfaction • WORK DONE RIGHT The first time, on time • SAME DAY SERVICE On most repairs • NO SURPRISES All repairs approved by you
SUBMITTED
Maddy, a soon-to-be 2-year-old from Blaine, has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and is in need of a lifesaving gene therapy called Zolgensma that costs $2.2 million.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL SPECIAL $25.00 OFF REPAIRS
SEASONAL SPECIAL FULL SERVICE SYNTHETIC BLEND
OIL CHANGE $24.95
Of $250 or MORE
includes seasonal check up Most cars, 5W20, 5W30. Up to 5qts motor oil
Expires: 9/30/19
$50.00 OFF REPAIRS Of $300 or MORE Expires: 9/30/19
WWW.LENFERAUTO.COM | 651-784-6328
8121 Lake Drive, Lino Lakes. MN 55014 | Mon- Thurs 8am- 6pm | Fri 8am-5:30pm NEWS 651-407-1227 quadnews@presspubs.com
ADVERTISING 651-407-1200 marketing@presspubs.com
CIRCULATION 651-407-1234 circ@presspubs.com
CLASSIFIED 651-407-1250 classified@presspubs.com
PRODUCTION 651-407-1239 artmanager@presspubs.com