KANABEC COUNTY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 VOL. 133 NO. 43 www.moraminn.com $1.00
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Turkey serves as mother to unusual brood BY MELONIE SHIPMAN NEWS@MORAMINN.COM
A lonely turkey found herself the unlikely mother of four young chickens this spring at home on Quamba Lake. Jenny has black and white layers, a copper fan tail, a blue head and a pink wattle. Her adopted offspring, two pullets and two cockerels, cackle when they lay eggs and crow when the sun comes up. Jenny’s owners, Leah and George Shetka, said when Jenny’s partner died last autumn she seemed depressed. She laid a clutch of seven eggs, but without a Tom, Jenny’s eggs would produce no turkey
poults. “We wanted to give her a purpose in life,” said Leah. On May 20, Jenny’s unfertile eggs were replaced with fertile chicken eggs from Community Foods LLC, an Amish distributor of local eggs. Jenny was undisturbed when Leah reached under her and gently switched out five of her turkey eggs for five chicken eggs. She went on incubating them as if they were her own. Lena later removed the remaining two turkey eggs. On June 10, four of the five chicken eggs hatched. The chicks would sit on Jenny’s back when she looked out a screen in the coop. On their first outing, Jenny led
them through the yard. As her brood crossed a small muddy strip, Jenny stepped on her black chick. “The head went into the mud. Only the little legs were visible kicking at the air,” said Leah. Leah ran to help the chick. Suddenly it popped free on its own. The black chick is now known as “Toughie.” The first turkeys the Shetkas raised were LB (short for Little Baby) and EB. George found the eggs on E-Bay. EB was a “mean turkey.” He went to live on a turkey farm. Leah carried LB in her pocket to help him stay warm. Each afternoon they would watch “Mr. Ed” SEE MOTHER JENNY, PAGE 6
MELONIE SHIPMAN | TIMES
This fall, Jenny’s adopted chicks are quite grown up. The cockerels have gotten quizzical looks from mom when they started to crow.
One dead after semi and Corvette collide near Grandy BY BILL STICKELS III EDITOR@COUNTYSTAR.COM
KIRSTEN FAURIE | TIMES
Bob Schroeder, owner of Almost Yours Gun N’ Pawn in Mora, doesn’t lack for customers, particularly when issues of gun violence appear in the news.
Mass violence spikes demand for local firearm carry classes, permits BY KIRSTEN FAURIE EDITOR@MORAMINN.COM
Incidents of mass violence and talks of gun control create an increased interest in firearms which has local gun shops and law enforcement busy keeping up with the demand for permits and safety classes. Business has been good, reported Bob Schroeder, owner of Almost Yours Gun N’ Pawn in Mora.
Like many gun shops across the country, Schroeder said he sees interest in handguns and carry permit classes spike after reports of mass shootings or other violence in the news. Schroeder said the stabbing at the Crossroads Center Mall in St. Cloud in September made a lot of people nervous. “It’s so close to home,” said Schroeder. “Every one of us has been in that mall.” Kanabec County Sheriff Brian Smith said that kind of unNEWS 320-679-2661 editor@moraminn.com
ease results in his office being flooded with new permit to carry applications. “After about every other mass shooting that we have had there has been a surge of new permit applications,” said Smith. In Minnesota, it is legal for people to openly carry a gun but persons must have a permit to carry a pistol. These permits must be
‘... allowing good, upstanding citizens the ability to carry to protect themselves is not a bad thing and it is not a dangerous thing.’ Brian Smith Kanabec County Sheriff
SEE GUNS, PAGE 6
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The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a fatal accident that occurred on Highway 65 just south of Grandy on Friday, Oct. 21, around 9:30 a.m. According to the State Patrol’s incident report, a 1998 Chevy Corvette, driven by 57-year-old Blake Hinton, of Ham Lake, was northbound on Highway 65 near 361st Avenue NE when it apparently drifted into the southbound lane and collided with a 2007 International 7000 semi truck driven by 37-year-old John Graham, of Braham. Hinton was declared dead at the scene by the State Patrol. Graham was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Highway 65 in both directions was closed for six hours while the accident was cleaned up. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol. BREAKING NEWS, UPDATES Whenever, wherever you are! Scan me with your smartphone