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VOL. 49 NO. 16 www.vadnaisheightspress.com $1.00
ARTS & CULTURE: It’s the time of year to attend a play PAGE 11
‘She Kills Monsters’ poised to slay competition important because it helps us bring these more authentic stories to the world.” Lydia Jersak, a junior who plays this production’s Tilly, has appreciated that authenticity. Remarked Jersak, “I relate a lot with Tilly—not even the fact that she’s a lesbian and I am too… There’s just this feeling of isolation. And so, I think that I can really embody Tilly with that, understand it and can get into the character while still being happy and upbeat like Tilly is.” One area with which the cast
but was scared to come out to her family. Only in fantasy did she feel she could be herself. While past White Bear Lake shows have featured LGBTQ+ characters, “She Kills Monsters” will be the first show that is explicitly about a character’s experience navigating sexual orientation. “I think when you set out to do the One Act, you’re committing to some harder work…” said Ben McMillen, whose character Chuck runs the campaign and narrates some of the fantasy action. “I think not straying away from that sensitive material is really
BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“I’ve had people say, ‘You should choose a different show, or we’re not going to support you…’” stated White Bear Lake Area High School competitive winter One-Act Director Braylon Lane. This year’s show, “She Kills Monsters,” is about Agnes, who, in an attempt to be closer to her recently deceased sister, Tilly, plays a fantasy roleplaying campaign that Tilly designed before her passing. While playing the campaign, Agnes discovers that Tilly identified as a lesbian,
SEE ONE ACT, PAGE 9
WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SCHOOLS | CONTRIBUTED
The cast of “She Kills Monsters,” White Bear Lake Area High School’s 2025 entry for the competitive one-act play. From left to right, Sora Graham, Conner MacDonald, Kaya Burback, Ben McMillen, Lydia Jersak, Calleigh Berman and Audrey Gallagher.
City Council approves new street improvement project BY ERIK SUCHY, STAFF WRITER
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The BEAR’ly Open is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 1 at Ramsey County Beach. See more details on page 9.
‘Iconic event’ returns to the ice The ice is back. The 18th annual BEAR’ly Open will return to White Bear
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The Vadnais Heights City Council will move forward with a street improvement project for 2025. The streets that will see these improvements are Garceau Lane from Arcade Street to Greenbrier Street, Greenbrier Street from Garceau Lane to Hiawatha Avenue and Valento Circle. Since 2000, each street has undergone routine maintenance to seal cracks and re-pavement at different years (the most recent for all being in 2020). “It’s getting to the point (that we need) to do something more robust,” said SEH Senior Engineer/City Engineer Scott Haupt, noting that throughout the streets’ 25-year existence, their distresses have grown and are ripe for remodeling. Haupt also pointed to the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) ratings given to the streets the previous year as a reason for reconstruction. While Greenbrier Street and Valento Circle were rated 66 and 64 out of 100, respectively, Garceau Lane, from Greenbrier Street to 1,265 linear feet east of Greenbrier Street, as well as Garceau Lane from 1,265 linear feet east of Greenbrier Street to Arcade, were rated 33 and 48. According to the PCI, roads that are given a rating of below 50 indicate that they need repairs. Despite the higher ratings for Greenbrier and Valento, Haupt noted that they would still undergo repairs regardless. Based on public recommendations from an open house on the project, one of the proposed
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