PINE CITY
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017 VOL. 132 NO. 7 www.pinecitymn.com $1.00
ONE TOUGH DOE : Deer survives, raises two fawns with plastic cooler lid stuck around her neck. P16
Gypsy moth invasion hits Pine County BY AILENE CROUP NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
The gypsy moth is here, in Pine County. Minnesota, renowned for its lakes and forests, is arming itself to fight back against the
tiny predator poised to destroy the state’s forests. Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture (MDA) has a plan of attack. Kimberly Cremers, Pest Mitigation and Biocontrol Unit Supervisor for the MDA, pre-
sented information about the infested area and laid out the plan for Pine County Commissioners at their regular meeting in Askov last week. For the past three years, the MDA has been placing traps in the county to monitor the
gypsy moth population. Last year 18,000 traps were set in the state, Cremers told the board. The number of trapped moths in Pine County showed a marked increased. SEE MOTHS, PAGE 11 PHOTO COURTESY MINNESOTA DNR
Driver sought for questioning STAFF REPORT NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
PHOTO PROVIDED
Sunday schoolers come through for food shelf
The youth of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church collected over 100 items for the food shelf in the month of January.
The Pine County Sheriff’s Office is seeking assistance from the public to help find a suspicious person and vehicle. On Feb. 13 at about 4:30 p.m. the Pine County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a suspicious truck in Pine City. A juvenile female told her parents that a man in a pickup had stopped and asked her to get in the vehicle with him. The girl reported she was walking in the area of 2nd Avenue SE and 7th St. SE (near the Voyageur
Bottle Shop) when the man approached her in his vehicle. The juvenile ran off and told her parents what had occurred. The truck is described as a black Chevrolet, fourdoor cab with white-colored flying duck stickers in the back window. The driver was described as a white male in his 40s with dark colored hair and a red/orange colored beard and mustache. The Pine County Sheriff’s Office would like to speak with the driver of the vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to call 320-629-8380.
Simonson starts anew at ‘3rd & Main’ BY CJ GUSTAFSON NEWS@PINECITYMN.COM
Twelve years ago, when Cyndy Simonson’s father asked her to come back to Pine City and help him run the Pump N Munch convenience store, she didn’t hesitate to agree, even though she already had a high-paying job as an executive assistant in Indianapolis. Little did she know that the years that followed would take her on a challenging road to exactly where she is supposed to be. It was at a family Christmas gathering that Simonson’s father told her he needed someone
he could trust to take on some of the workload at the Pump N Munch store. “I think he wanted me back home. He was worried about me,” she reflected, thinking back on that time. “I also think he was at a point in his life where he wanted the freedom to enjoy himself a little. It was my dad. I didn’t think twice,” she stated matter-of-factly. She was settled in Pine City and hard at work just one week later. It was a sharp learning curve for Simonson, but she said that her father made it easy and enjoyable. “He was understanding and patient, outspoken but honest, and very business smart.
He was my best friend, and I learned so much from him.” Working side by side, their relationship grew and flourished, even as the business began to struggle in a challenging economy with rising gas prices and increased competition. Then in 2012, Simonson’s father, a diabetic, began having trouble walking, due to loss of feeling in his feet and legs. Thinking it was neuropathy related to his diabetes, he saw a neurologist. Unfortunately, the diagnosis came back cancer. Since her mother suffers from CJ GUSTAFSON | THE PIONEER
SEE SIMONSON, PAGE 5
Simonson keeps a photo of her father at her new Pine City shop.
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