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EMERGING ARTISTS: Continue to book more gigs PAGE 10
Plans underway for future of North Road BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
As early as 2025, motorists and pedestrians could see changes along the North Road (County Road 49) corridor. Anoka County, in coordination with the cities of Blaine, Lino Lakes and Circle Pines, is studying 1.25 miles of North Road from Lexington Avenue (CSAH
17) to Lake Drive (CSAH 23). The roadway serves local residents and provides primary access to Centennial High School, Centennial Elementary School and the district offices. The roadway sees approximately 6,000 vehicles per day, and at peak times the corridor is full of passenger vehicles, school buses, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate • traffic flow and operations along the corridor and at intersections • safety for all users • operations and access to Centennial Schools and • possible improvements to enhance safety, operations and mobility for all users.
SEE NORTH ROAD, PAGE 9
SHANNON GRANHOLM | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Residents and motorists who live along North Road continue to weigh in on changes they would like to see implemented along the corridor.
Pines School begins PRAISE initiative BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE | CONTRIBUTED
The Drug Enforcement Administration has a special exhibit, the Faces of Fentanyl, at its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, which commemorates the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning.
Faces of fentanyl: Commemorating the lives lost
Laura Cowles, Heather Johnson and Zach Zacho all belong to a club they never wanted to join. They all outlived their children, who were victims of a fentanyl overdose. “It's an empty feeling, because it isn't like they were sick or had cancer or an illness that you could kind of mentally prepare yourself for. It a sudden death,” Cowles said. “I never expected to outlive my children.” Cowles, a Circle Pines resident, lost her 30-yearold son, Castle Ahlbeck, to a fentanyl overdose Aug. 16, 2022, while he was in the Stillwater prison. He was serving his fifth year of a seven-year sentence. He leaves behind three children,
ages 12, 9 and 6. “I got a phone call from the prison saying that he had passed away. I was in shock,” she recalled. “At first, they couldn't tell me what had happened, and then about two weeks later, they finally told me that he had passed from a fentanyl overdose… How does fentanyl get in a prison?” Eventually she was told that one of her son’s visitors likely smuggled it into the prison by hiding it in a face mask. “My son being incarcerated gave me a false sense of security; he should have been safe, and especially from something like that,” Cowles said. From what she knows, her son didn’t struggle with addiction
BY THE NUMBERS • Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. • Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. • Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, increased over 22% from 2020 to 2021.
SEE FACES OF FENTANYL, PAGE 7
SEE PRAISE INITIATIVE, PAGE 8
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BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
Staff at the Pines School are finding that a little praise can go a long way. The Pines School, a part of the Centennial School District, is located on the grounds of the Anoka County Juvenile Center in Lino Lakes. Ashley Thoma, a mental health paraprofessional at Pines School, is involved with the day program. Students are referred from corrections, juvenile court, social services, Centennial School District or other local school districts. Students generally have had several violations, academic challenges or behavioral issues in a regular educational setting. “We try to create an environment for success, but issues outside of school create barriers such as homelessness and poverty,” Thoma explained. “These kids deal with hardships day in and day out, so what better way than to create a positive setting, reinforcing positive choices and give each student little wins in their life to provide hope and some momentum for continued positive behaviors?” That’s where the P.R.A.I.S.E program comes in, which stands for Positively Reinforcing Attitudes Impacting Success (for) Everyone. Thoma explained that at Pines School, staff members are constantly dealing with bad behaviors. “They don’t want to be here, and they are rebelling,” she said. “As a mom, I have learned that you don’t always have to feed into negative activity, so let’s do positive reinforcement instead.” One day, Thoma saw a student who was
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