Press Publications 4779 Bloom Avenue White Bear Lake, MN 55110 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 9 CIRCLE PINES, MN
8121 LinoLakes Lakes 8121 Lake Lake Drive, Drive, Lino Mon-Thur 8-5:30 Mon - Thurs 8am - 6pm FriFriday 8am - 8-5:00 5:30pm
____________ Name____________________________ __________________ Address____________________ ______________________ City, State, Zip___________
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2024
808007
LENFERAUTO.COM LENFERAUTO.COM (651) (651) 369-7771 784-6328
VOL. 42 NO. 50 www.quadcommunitypress.com $1.00
PLACE STAMP HERE
LINO LAKES: Council censures 1 of its members. PAGE 7
4779 Bloom Ave. White Bear Lake, MN 55110-2764
Look for your subscription envelope inside!
Lawsuit filed against 2 Lino Lakes council members BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
CONTRIBUTED
Renstrom Dental Studio was voted ‘Best Place to Work’ in the Quad Press ‘Best of’ competition. See all the winners and finalists in the special pullout section inside.
Lino Lakes dental studio voted ‘the best’ place to work BY MADELINE DOLBY SHOREVIEW PRESS EDITOR
Each year, Press Publications hosts the Reader’s Choice Best of the Press Contest, asking locals to vote for their favorites, ranging from the best cup of coffee to the best boat landing and everything in between. Rising to the top of the ‘Best Place to Work’ category in the Quad area is Renstrom Dental Studio, owned by Randi and Scott James. Renstrom Dental Studio Inc. was established in 1966 by Robert (Bob) Renstrom and his father-in-
law, Albert Anderson. Bob, a World War II vet, was trained as a dental technician and was interested in trade, but was not interested in running a business, so he asked Albert to take care of that aspect. Together, they opened the first Renstrom Dental Studio on Front Street in St. Paul. Randi and Scott have owned the business since 2019. Previously, the business was located in Vadnais Heights. Renstrom Dental Studio moved to Lino Lakes, taking over the old Fairview clinic, in May 2023.
LINO LAKES — The city and two of its council members, Michael Ruhland and Christopher Lyden, have been named as defendants in a federal lawsuit that claims a residential development moratorium is discriminatory. Plantiffs Jameel Ahmed and Faraaz Mohammed (also known as Yussuf), of Zikar Holdings LLC claim the Madinah Lakes project was discriminated against because Lino Lakes “does not want Muslims in their city.” The suit was filed just after the council voted 3-1 to censure Lyden for an email response. (See story in this week’s issue for more information.) “This is not the path we wanted to go down,” said spokesman for Zikar Holdings Jon Austin, of J Austin & Associates. “We wanted to work cooperatively with the city. We still would like to do that, but we feel the situation has reached a point where this was the necessary next step.” The lawsuit alleges that City Council members have made a “series of discriminatory statements and official decisions in furtherance of that unlawful and unconstitutional purpose.” Instead of fairly considering the merits of the development application for Madinah Lakes, the plaintiffs say the council adopted a “pretextual” moratorium prohibiting the proposed development in the northwest quadrant of the city. The lawsuit also mentions the email response that Lyden was censured for. It describes the moratorium as “discriminatory, unlawful and unconstitutional.” SEE LAWSUIT, PAGE 11
SEE BEST OF, PAGE 8
Local food shelves face difficulties in financial and food donations BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
A growing concern is building among the White Bear Lake, Hugo and Centennial food shelves. Financial donations aren’t keeping up with demand, which creates a challenge as they strive to meet the needs of those in the community who are experiencing
food insecurity. Now, they are looking to their communities to help turn things around. At the White Bear Area Food Shelf, Executive Director Perry Petersen said the most significant challenges they faced have risen due to the increased need that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our donations have kept pretty steady for
us,” said Petersen. “However, the growth of donations and support has not been able to fill the gap due to the big increase in need. It’s a considerable amount between where we were as an organization to where we’re at now.” SEE DONATIONS, PAGE 9
CONTRIBUTED
Local food shelves are helping more residents who are experiencing food insecurity, but donations aren’t keeping pace.
Fall Booya
by The Sons of the American Legion (S.A.L)
Meat Raffle Starts at 2:00pm CG #00002
CIRCULATION 651-407-1234 circ@presspubs.com
NEWS 651-407-1227 quadnews@presspubs.com
ADVERTISING 651-407-1200 marketing@presspubs.com
CLASSIFIED 651-407-1250 classified@presspubs.com
815837
October 12, 12:00 - 1:00 stew bowl only 1:00 till gone (all bowls, quarts, 1/2 gal. & gal.) Lino Lakes American Legion Post 566 Charitable Gambling: Pull tabs and E-tabs! PRODUCTION 651-407-1220 art@presspubs.com