BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 VOL. 57 NO. 10 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
WEBSTER BASKETBALL: Trevor Gustafson reaches 1,000 point milestone P13
Three snowmobile fatalities after trails open Snowmobile trails across the county were opened in late December. Since then there have already been two fatal accidents in Burnett County involving three victims. A 13-year-old girl from Woodbury, Minn., was involved in a single snowmobile accident on private property in the Town of Jackson on New Year’s Eve. The DNR reported she rolled the snowmobile over and it rolled on top of her. She was wearing a helmet and her injuries required medical attention, but she did die later at the hospital. Two days before on Dec. 29, Timothy, 57, and Kimberly, 56, O’Brien of Apple Valley Minn., were traveling on the same snowmobile. They were coming from dinner and travelling on Webb Lake when they went through a patch of SEE SNOWMOBILES, PAGE 2
JONATHAN RICHIE | SENTINEL
Sheriff Tracy Finch sworn in and begins term Tracy Finch(right) is sworn in to the office of Burnett County Sheriff by Judge Melissia Mogen at a ceremony in the Burnett County Courthouse on Monday morning. More photos from the ceremony on page 24.
Minnesota man charged with Tesora burglary A man from Vadnais Height, Minn. has been charged with burglary of a building, criminal damage to property, and attempting to flee an officer after being arrested the weekend before Christmas. Jonathon L. Laboda Laboda, 33, faces over 15 years in prison and possibly $45,000 in fines if convicted on both felony charges of burglary and attempting to flee an officer and the misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property. According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 22 around 8 a.m. the sherrif’s department was advised that there was
a man wearing a ski mask inside Tesora’s Restaurant in Siren. The man was allegedly breaking into the cash machine located inside the restaurant. The suspect drove off in what was described as a “gold colored minivan or SUV” and was headed north on Highway 35. Sheriff’s deputies then responded to the area. When they located the suspected vehicle they activated their emergency lights and “the subject accelerated rapidly.” The complaint goes on to say the suspected vehicle went through the ditch on Highway 35 and then sideways into the southbound lane of Highway 35. The department received another call from a resident on County Road D who stated that the suspected vehicle had
pulled into their driveway. Deputies followed fresh tracks that led them to an empty gold colored SUV. The K-9 officer was then called to the scene. The K9 followed the scent east. Laboda was later found in a garage on Midtown Road and taken into custody. At that point Laboda told deputies that he had swallowed a bag of heroin. Laboda allegedly had $2,930 in his pocket when he was arrested. Officers spoke with Tesora’s owner, who indicated a safe containing $2,000 had been stolen and that approximately $900 was missing from the registers. Laboda’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9 in front of Judge Melissia Mogen.
Webster middle school student pens poem An intruder drill at Webster School in December sparked inspiration in one 8th grade student. While the school was in lockdown for around 15 minutes Regan Belisle wrote about the experience in a poem she handed in to her teacher following the drill. Regan said she wrote the poem because school shootings are a big deal in our society. She explained that the intruder drill was different than other drills at the school. “It wasn’t like a fire or tornado drill at the school,” Regan said. “It felt real, like a shooting could happen at my school.” Regan was raised in
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Siren but has started school in Webster this year. Her favorite subject in school is English. She enjoys literature and learning new words. Her favorite book at the moment is “Because of Mr. Terupt.” She said she handed in the poem to her teacher following the drill because it felt like the right thing to do at the moment. She writes a lot of poems about observations she makes throughout her day, but this was different. It was about pain and loss. “Even though we discuss the drill, it occurred to me that we rarely ask the
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