COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016 VOL. 33 NO. 33 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
MARINE AREA COMMUNITY SCHOOL: New name, logo. PAGE 9
How many is too many to steer comprehensive plan update?
Homegrown biathlete recovering from injury BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
November 20, two days before Leif Nordgren was to leave for Sweden for his first race of the season, a routine training session led to an unexpected injury. The Olympic-level biathlete, who was raised in Marine and went to school in Forest Lake, was rollerskiing on a giant treadmill at Lake Placid (“They’re made for horses but we use them for rollerskiing.”) and got off to take a lactate sample. The treadmill, which had been on an incline, returned suddenly to its flat state, pinning Nordgren’s toe to the floor. “It happened really fast,” he said. “Then the machine conveniently turned itself off. It took about 30 seconds to get it back on and inclined enough to get my toe out.” After consulting with the training center’s sports medicine specialist, who said a couple days rest should do the
trick, the athlete traveled to Sweden for the World Cup Biathlon. “I had taken about four days off before I skied with the team,” he explained, “but my toe was still painful and really swollen.” Still, he didn’t give up. “I skied for about three days and did one race,” Nordgren said. “After that, it had been over a week and hadn’t gotten any better.” His coach brought him to the emergency room for an x-ray, which revealed a broken bone. Above it was a deep cut in his skin. If the cut went down to the bone — an unknown at that point — the fracture could get infected, bringing risk of amputation. Nordgren opted to return to the U.S. for surgery. “I flew back to New York the next day, and had surgery last Friday [Dec. 2],” he recalled. “They cleaned out the wound and took cultures SEE NORDGREN, PAGE 2
BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUBMITTED
Nordgren cross-country skiing in a biathlon. The Marine-raised, Forest-Lake-educated athlete is recovering from a training injury but still says it shouldn’t affect his performance next season, an Olympic year.
Local shops have procrastinators covered BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Last-minute gifts don't have to seem like an afterthought, nor do they require a drive to the cities for an afternoon of frenzied spending. Local entrepreneurs have stocked their shelves with tasteful, practical gifts —and high-quality necessities are often a procrastinator’s best bet, according to Jan Lynn, owner of Garden Gate at Crabtree’s. Although Lynn’s shop is known for its bird feeders and garden supplies, she says last-minute shoppers often come to the checkout counter armed with scarves, slippers, a jar of fine jam or a local Bloody Mary mix and Door County pickles. “A lot of people go for SEE GIFTS, PAGE 7
The Scandia City Council has begun recruiting volunteers to serve on a Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. How large that committee will be and how it will be organized, though, is still in question. The city council debated that question last week after Bolton & Menk, the city’s planning firm, recommended that the city establish a 10-12 person committee comprised of city staffers, elected and appointed officials, and community volunteers. Councilman Bob Hegland argued a committee of that size would become long-winded and ultimately inefficient. “Ten to 12 (people) is an assurance that nothing will get done,” Hegland said. “These committees are like herding cats.” Hegland recommended the city appoint seven people: the city administrator, one council member, one from each of the city’s Planning Commission, Parks & Recreation and Wastewater Advisory committees, and two other city residents. Speaking from the audience, Mayor-elect Christine Maefsky disagreed with Hegland that the committee should be smaller and urged the council to wait to determine its make-up until after she and council member-elect Steve Kronmiller are sworn in come January. Maefsky favored a larger committee with representatives from various backgrounds and from several different geographic areas—a lakeshore resident, an agribusiness owner, a member of a younger family, and someone with an environmental background, she suggested. “Getting widespread input from the community is a good thing,” Maefsky said. “Two community members I don’t think is enough.” Councilman Jim Schneider worried that a handpicked committee comprised of people with rigid ideologies could indeed hinder the committee’s progress. “I look back to those [Zavoral] gravel committee meetings that went long into the evenings,” Schneider said. City Administrator Neil Soltis said the three committee meetings Bolton & Menk has planned will be focused on specific topics and likely would be structured enough to prevent them from straying off topic. “These are really specific tasks at a high level,” Soltis said. “That’s the process in the proposal that you approved.” Councilman Chris Ness noted that the city has struggled to get volunteers for some committees in the past. A similar lack of participation might make the size of the committee a moot argument. The council agreed to begin soliciting for volunteers and to discuss the committee make-up at a later date. During budget talks earlier this year, the council opted to spend $52,500 on a full revision of the comprehensive plan over two years, rather than spending SEE PLAN, PAGE 2
Early deadlines SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
At Prairie Restorations, botanical salves, naturally scented candles and ceramic serving dishes vie for shoppers’ attention.
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Due to the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, the Country Messenger will have early deadlines. The deadline to submit ads or news releases for the Dec. 28 edition will be noon, Dec. 21. The deadline for the Jan. 3 edition will be noon, Dec. 28. Our office will be closed Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. SUBSCRIPTIONS 651-433-3845 office@osceolasun.com
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