COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY,APRIL 22, 2015
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 31 NO. 51
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STABBING: Cambridge man charged for Interstate Park death. P2
In effort to keep Marine teacher, parents shift focus
Wild plant medicine Part 2: Foraging with master herbalist Kelley Hagenbuch BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Eating wild food is a wonderful way to get your medicine, says chiropractor and master herbalist Kelley Hagenbuch. “The nutritional value of foraged greens is stupendous compared with grocery store leafy greens,” she says. “Wildpicked raspberries are so much better for you than something that’s been grown and fl own.” Foraged food is very fresh, of course, but also
has access to the earth’s network of mycorrhizae, or fungus growth that connects plants with their neighbors, other fungus and trees. Mycologist (mushroom expert) Paul Stamets has described it as “the earth’s Internet.” “It’s something that takes years to establish,” she says, “and is not so available for cultivated food.” In addition, Hagenbuch suspects that nutritional value is improved by the challenges wild plants face. “They have to fi ght for their nutrients,” she says. “They’re challenged.” It’s a claim that might SEE PLANTS, PAGE 5
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Marine on St. Croix residents and parents of students who attend Marine Elementary have not given up hope of keeping the school’s third grade teacher next year. While seniority-based staffi ng cuts across the Stillwater School District would lead to the loss of one teacher in Marine, area residents have identifi ed a point of potential resolution: asking legislators for a three percent increase to the general education fund in the upcoming budget. “We understand that, while our focus is Marine, we’re part of a larger district facing cuts and making difficult decisions,” said Kristina Smitten by phone April 13. Smitten is the mother of three students in the district, two at Marine Elementary. Budget shortfalls are, predictably, the source of the problem. Tasked with balancing the district’s budget, the Stillwater School Board in March directed administrators to equalize class sizes across the district. “Staffi ng is actually not something determined by the board,” wrote Carissa Keister, the district’s community engagement manager, in an email April 13. “The board sets the preliminary budget, and then administration determines staffi ng based on that budget. At this
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Kelley Hagenbuch unearths a cattail shoot. Foraging season has begun and the chiropractor and master herbalist has scheduled sessions for wild plant and mushroom identification from spring through fall.
Scandia Scout earns Eagle rank, plans future in law enforcement BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Years of focused work are coming together in exciting ways for Zachary Boesel, a senior at Forest Lake High School. Boesel was awarded Eagle Scout ranking on April 12 at the Scandia Community Center. For his Eagle Scout Service Project, he installed an LED scoreboard and landscaping at the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park on Olinda Trail in Scandia. To complete the project, Beosel raised over $8000. “The project took more than two years and much support from friends, family and the Scandia community,” said Dee Boesel, the Scout’s mother. In addition, Boesel was recently invited to attend the Law Enforcement Explorer Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. According to a release from Forest Lake High School, Boesel and 89 other students were selected from a pool of 2,600 applicants to attend the conference, based on an essay and letter of recommendation. Boesel joined the Washington County Explorer Post SEE SCANDIA SCOUT, PAGE 2
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Zachary Boesal stands with his Eagle Scout Project, which involved raising funds for and installing a scoreboard at the Wayne Erickson Memorial Ball Park in Scandia.
point staffi ng has been allocated for next year and no further decisions are expected.” Parents of Marine Elementary students appealed to the board at its April 9 meeting, but according to Keister the board is not likely to change its directive. The only thing likely to prompt change at this stage, she said, is increase in state funding. “The budget is not fi nal until later this year when we fi nd out funding levels from the legislature,” Keister wrote. “The board would have an opportunity at that time, if new funding was acquired, to make adjustments to the preliminary budget.” Minnesota legislators are currently hashin g out how to spend the state’s $1.9 billion projected surplus. Governor Mark Dayton has proposed increases in funding for early childhood education and higher education, but according to a poll by the Star Tribune, a third of Minnesotans believe K-12 spending should be the first priority. “We are in the throws of trying to encourage the legislature to support an increase in the general education fund,” Smitten wrote in an email April 16. “And, we've been in active discussion with district leaders on ways to meet the district’s budget needs and Marine's educational needs.”
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5K Run/Walk and Free Kids Run | April 25, 2015 Enjoy a 5K run and walk through the residential area of Osceola. Chip timing is available to 5K runners. Start and stop at Osceola High School. For more information, call 715-294-5736
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