COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 33 NO. 20 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
2016 MARINE ART FAIR: Featured artists. PAGE 7
Scandia considers shooting restrictions BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
"Swedestones" celebrate Taco Daze Rhianna Dittbenner and Kendall Clontz, both sixth graders at Chisago Lakes Middle School, dressed for the year's "Swedestone" theme and tossed candy with the Security State Bank of Marine team at the Taco Daze parade.
Should the City of Scandia have more restrictions on guns? After hearing complaints from city residents recently, the Scandia City Council debated drafting a set of restrictions on the safe discharge of firearms within city limits. “I’ve got a real safety concern for my family and friends,” said Bob Lushanko, a Scandia resident who spoke during the council’s Sept. 7 meeting. Though he told the council he is a gun owner and a Second Amendment supporter, Lushanko isn’t so concerned with the occasional use of firearms by hunters or for pest control. Rather, he is concerned about a neighbor who he said turns a field near his home into a shooting gallery two to three times per week using high powered rifles. Lushanko said his granddaughter was afraid to leave his home one recent weekend because of the volume and proximity of the shooting. “Tactical guns should stay on a gun range,” Lushanko said. Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Yetter said most of the complaints fielded in Scandia have been about people shooting trap (clay pigeons and shotguns). The biggest concerns are how often people are shooting, what direction they’re shooting, and how close they are to someone’s home. Most of the incidents have been safe enough, with only a few legitimate safety concerns raised among all the complaints, he said. The city currently only has rules against the use of firearms near city parks. The council reviewed and discussed several rules from neighboring communities, including those of nearby
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
In America, the word “immigrant” is often fraught with controversy — perhaps more pronounced in an election year with candidates calling for walls on the
NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 2
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
nation’s southern border, mass deportation and more rigorous refugee screenings. But at the Gammelgården Museum, a place built on stories of the Swedish immigrants who founded Scandia, leaders are reaching out to immigrants of every nationality. “Immigration is bedrock to America,” said the museum’s director, Lynne Blomstrand Moratzka. “We all need to be
SEE GAMMELGÅRDEN, PAGE 5
Veterans Memorial
The planned Scandia Veterans Memorial may be growing in size. When the memorial was first approved last March for a site within Scandia’s Lilleskogen Park it was to be 120 square feet. Since then, the Veterans Memorial Committee has taken in enough funding through the sale of engraved paver bricks to build a monument nearly four times as large. The committee asked the city to allow the expansion last week. The council, though, agreed to wait
Messenger to launch advice column
‘We honor all immigrants’ Gammelgården balances heritage with broader message
City of Grant, and Stillwater and May townships. In May, for example, shooters must be a minimum of 500 feet from any neighboring building when shooting, unless they have obtained written permission. Yetter called the 500 foot restriction a “good rule to follow.” The council also discussed possible restrictions on shooting hours, frequency, the use of alcohol, and the use of backstops. The council tasked City Administrator Neil Soltis with assembling some options for further discussion at the Sept. 20 council meeting. There was hardly a consensus on the matter, though. Council members Bob Hegland and Jim Schneider both expressed some reluctance with creating such rules. “[Having neighbors shooting] is going to happen once in a while,” Schneider said. “You live out in the country.” Mayor Randall Simonson said whatever ordinance is chosen, it has to be clear and enforceable. “We don’t want to send [Yetter] out there with something that is lukewarm, wishy-washy or gray,” Simonson said.
FILE PHOTO | COUNTRY MESSENGER
The Country Messenger is preparing to launch an advice column, penned by an anonymous local to answer the questions of other locals, anonymously. The column is intended to be both entertaining and useful for readers. Staff at the Messenger have been working clandestinely with a writer for more than a month to work out the details of the column, pick out a name and prepare. The team settled on “Ask Ingrid,” a tribute to the area’s Scandinavian heritage that didn’t ring with too much cliché. (Amusingly, “Ask Lena” — though it might seem over the top — had been claimed by Lena Dunham, the creator of the provocative TV series “Girls,” for a rather
Lynne Blomstrand Moratzka, director of the Gammelgården Museum, at the door to the museum’s Valkommen Hus.
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SEE ADVICE COLUMN, PAGE 11
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