COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 33 NO. 35 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
SCANDIA CITY COUNCIL: Outgoing mayor, councilman honored. PAGE 2
Year in Review Country Messenger's top stories of 2016
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School district votes to close Marine, Withrow and Oak Park
Marine makes headway on charter school In March, the Stillwater school district voted to close Marine, Withrow and Oak Park elementary schools through a consolidation plan dubbed BOLD (Building Opportunities to Learn and Discover). Parents throughout the district fought the decision, bringing three lawsuits to challenge various aspects
partment of Natural Resources’ plan to stock Big Marine Lake with muskellunge in 2016, they set out to stop it. Good fishing was at stake. “Muskies are a predator fish,” said Jeff Dahlberg, who has lived on the shores of Big Marine for more than 30 years. “They eat smaller pan fish – sunfish and crappies.” The DNR’s plan, adopted in 2008, aimed to stock muskies in eight new waters by 2020. They had already stocked three, and hoped to stock four more in 2016: Big Marine, the Fairmont and Gull chains, and one of three candidate lakes in Otter Tail County. Local groups including the Big Marine Lake Association, the Disabled
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Santa Sighting Emergency responder Gayle Knutson led Santa to his lost reindeer last Friday morning. Santa was found searching for his reindeer in the school forest at Marine Elementary. He took the opportunity to give gifts to kindergarteners, who had been in feeding the birds with their sixth grade buddies.
New Public Works Director hopes to make Scandia proud BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Whatever the Minnesota winter equivalent of “a trial by fire” is, Adam Hawkinson just went through it. Slated to start as Scandia’s new Public Works Director on Dec. 12, a Monday, the winter storms on Dec. 1011 pressed Hawkinson into service plowing city streets a day early, learning the snow plow routes on the fly. “That’s how it goes. The snow dictates how and when you work,” Hawkinson said. Since getting thrown
Hawkinson
into Scandia’s wintry mix, Hawkinson has been learning the nuances of the job and the NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
background and history of the city’s way of doing things from his fellow city staffers. “It’s been going well,” Hawkinson said. “It’s been a warm welcome.” Hawkinson brings a robust resume of job skills and experiences to the post. Most recently Hawkinson spent 10 months working as a grounds supervisor for the Ecumen Parmly assisted living facility in Chisago City. Prior to that, he worked for Hobart Corp., as a service technician repairing SEE HAWKINSON, PAGE 2
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SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Marine Elementary’s Jill Reedy helped third graders study the effects of water and filtration in February.
of the school board’s decision-making process and outcome. In Marine, the focus turned to plans for a tuition-free, public charter school, which a group of parents and concerned residents had begun planning in 2015. 2016 was a big year for the Marine Area Community School (MACS), which gained approval from the Minnesota Department of Education as a kindergarten through sixth grade charter school (district 4254), began accepting enrollment applications for fall 2017, and chose a name: Grove. Discussions about the school’s location are ongoing. One possible site, the current elementary school, cannot be negotiated on until all lawsuits are resolved for the school district. Those are currently set to wrap up in late January. The MACS board is also considering the former Concordia Language Village facilities in May Township’s Wilder Forest and Christ Lutheran Church in Marine as potential school sites.
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Locals keep Big Marine muskie free
When locals caught wind of the DePUBLIC NOTICES 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
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Veterans Rest Camp, City of Scandia and Town of May formally opposed the proposal to stock Big Marine, based in part on evidence that the lake does not contain preferred forage for muskellunge. The trophy fish – largely viewed as inedible – would have no choice but to feed on the pan fish popular with local anglers. Area residents also worked with
US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
After pursuing plans to stock Big Marine Lake with muskie this year, the DNR announced in July that the public input process and local discussions had prompted the agency to skip Big Marine.
state legislators to ban stocking at least temporarily, but the legislative session ended before the measure was put to a vote. After that, the DNR said SEE TOP STORIES, PAGE 6
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