BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016 VOL. 54 NO. 35 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
CAREERS IN YOUR HOMETOWN: Luke Thoreson shares 10-year success plan. P2
Dollar General coming to Grantsburg BY STEVE BRIGGS SENTINEL
TODD BECKMANN | SENTINEL
Austin Drury (left) and Robyn Gorkiewicz make up the band “Gypsy Wagyn” and were in concert recently at Dreamer’s in Grantsburg.
‘Gypsy Wagyn’: Playing a gig near you BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
GR ANTSBURG —American Idol’s loss is Burnett County’s gain. “I auditioned for both American Idol and America’s Got Talent and didn’t make either,” Robyn
Gorkiewicz, the female half of the Gypsy Wagyn duet, explained. “I think it was good. It broke the ice for me — gave me the confidence I needed to nail some auditions.” From there, she got into Cross Point, a band in the Twin Cities for about eight years. Then she scrounged together
a Janis Joplin-tribute band from Craigslist while in Las Vegas before making her way home and starting the Robyn Lynnea Band. That’s when she met Austin Drury.
GRANTSBURG—The Grantsburg Village Board Monday approved a conditional use permit for a property along State Road 70 in Grantsburg as the site for construction of a Dollar General Store, with 30 adjacent parking stalls. All developments along the highway require a conditional use permit and review by the village board’s planning committee. The planning committee met prior to the board meeting, reviewed development plans, and recommended approval to the full board. The property was already zoned B2 for commercial development. It will include a “bio-retention area,” (drainage pond) behind the store to help control storm water runoff. The building site is between 400 and 500 feet east of the Grantsburg stoplight at State Road 70 and Pine Street, along the south side of the highway, on a parcel owned by Karl and Becky Anderson of Grantsburg. The Andersons will sell the land to Dollar General but will not be involved in the store operation. The store is to be located on the western part of the Anderson property, with space for two more development-sized parcels remaining, one along the highway to the east and the other behind, along the south edge of the property. All three would share the same driveway with access to and from Highway 70. The village board approved the measure on a 6-1 vote, with Village President Glenn Rolloff and Trustees Diane Barton, Greg Peer, Larry Ebersold, John Dickinsen, and Scott DeRocker in favor. Trustee Rod Kleiss opposed. Kleiss and three or four citizens in the audience voiced objections to allowing a second “dollar store” business a quarter mile or so from Family Dollar, and concern that the plan did not appear to provide space for a sidewalk
SEE GYPSY, PAGE 6
SEE BUSINESS, PAGE 9
Growing green thumbs Grantsburg High School adds greenhouse to teaching curriculum BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
GRANTSBURG—Providing produce for the high school kitchen, growing enough produce for kids to work with in cooking class, learning gardening — a life-long skill, and maybe even ultimately providing fresh produce for the food shelf, are the goals of bringing a greenhouse into the high school curriculum. “We started with two raised garden beds last
TODD BECKMANN | SENTINEL
Michelle Taylor in front of the high school’s greenhouse
year,” Family and Consumer Education Teacher Michelle Taylor explained. “It was amazing how much produce we ended up with — it was a ton of veggies.” Some of it, like the lettuce, actually made its way into the summer school kitchen where it was added to meals. “I did a lot of processing, both blanching and freezing, as well as drying,” Taylor continued. “When the kids came back in the fall, we were able to make 45 pints of salsa.” But, she sees it more than just learning how to
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