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CENTER FOR THE ARTS: Celebrating golden year in 2018 PAGE 9A
Looking back at 2017: Year in review
RAMSEY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE | SUBMITTED
White Bear Mitsubishi General Manager Richard Herod III, of White Bear Lake, gives Neveia Montgomery a hug after donating her family of eight children a used van.
Sheriff's office, car dealership gift family a lift BY SARA MARIE MOORE VADNAIS HEIGHTS EDITOR
The wealth of community news and feature stories on the pages of the White Bear Press in 2017 really hit home when perusing 52 weeks of papers for our annual look back. It was impossible to include all the pertinent coverage of cops and courts, schools, sports and government news, but highlights have been gleaned as is tradition in this retrospective. Noteworthy are stories of community support for people like White Bear’s former mayor, stricken with a rare disease; three brothers who are beneficiaries of the Tour de Bar; civic endeavors like the successful capital campaign for a new performing arts center; and the church group working to help victims of human trafficking. Lake level and the lawsuit it spawned continued to consume space. Five years after legal papers were filed, the case went to trial in March. The judge decided on the side of the plaintiff, and the case against the DNR now awaits appeal. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 26, 2018. The popular dog beach at Matoska Park on White Bear Lake garnered public attention, packing council chambers. So did a request from the owners of Tally’s Dockside to extend a conditional use permit that allowed extra seating on summer music nights.
A grocer’s announcement that it planned to build next to the water tower on Centerville Road piqued intense interest. The new HyVee was the top website story for the White Bear Press. Headquarters later withdrew the proposal and Lunds & Byerlys stepped in. Plans to renovate the Sports Center received a fair amount of ink, as did the new Lake Links Association and its work to get a multiuse trail around White Bear Lake. There were success stories when it came to sports and business, and sad stories about drug addiction and loss. Personal favorites were about people, like the 80-year-old rink rat still playing hockey; Kayla Jones, the strong young woman who emerged from a brain injury; and Renee Tessier, who battled cancer and became an advocate. The year drew to a close quietly with the last issue promoting the importance of heart screenings and a group called BonafideU promoting acts of kindness. As we start the new year, we hope 2018 is filled with good health, good cheer and good newspaper copy. Keep the story tips coming. Debra Neutkens
A van breaking down on the side of the road in Arden Hills ended up being a blessing in disguise for a Minneapolis family just before Christmas. Keichaun Greer and Neveia Montgomery's van broke down Dec. 15 near the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office gas pumps in Arden Hills. Civil Deputy Marcey Wacker saw the couple while going to fill up on gas and brought them to the station; she asked records clerk Jim Moody, a mechanically-inclined fellow, to take a look at their van to see what might be wrong with it. Moody jumped the van and brought it to the station, but let the family know it wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. He offered to give them a ride to their home in North Minneapolis. “We had a great conversation,” Moody remembered, “talking about everything and anything.” Moody said he was struck by the couple's positive attitude in the midst of the trial. The couple is caring for eight children — five of their own and three of a relative facing medical issues. “They were in a homeless shelter not long ago,” he noted. “They got a home Dec. 1.” Moody thought his fellow sheriff's office employees might like to gather some donations in the office for the family for Christmas. As the gifts started flying in — which came to a total of 10 bags of toys, $400 in gift cards and $300 in cash — a new correctional officer, Maria Hutchinson, offered to ask her former employer, White Bear Mitsubishi, about getting the van fixed. She offered to pay for half the cost to fix the van,
SEE YEAR IN REVIEW, PAGE 3A
SEE CHRISTMAS GIFT, PAGE 9A
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