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BOLD BURGLAR: Man enters occupied house PAGE 7A
For sale: Five A boats BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
New marina docks begin to take shape Above: Jason Brown pilots the trusty S.S. Minnow as he, Mike Igo and Ken Johnson carefully guide the first segment of the new marina docks across White Bear Lake Friday, April 7. At right: White Bear Lake Public Works Director/City Engineer Mark Burch helps oversee the process of attaching the first segment of dock slips near the shoreline. Weather permitting, the rest of the dock segments will be installed later this week. The new dock system was purchased from MINNCOR Industries of Bayport, which uses prison inmates for its labor force.
The man responsible for bringing the iconic A boats back to White Bear Lake has decided to sell his fleet. Parting with his beloved sailboats was a tough decision for Fletcher Driscoll, but one he felt he had to make after some friendly persuasion from his doctor, who happens to be his son. In correspondence to the A-boat crews, Driscoll explained that his son Colin, who is chair of the Ear, Nose and Throat Department at Mayo Clinic, advised him to take his health more seriously. Driscoll's wife Beverley also encouraged him to sell the five boats, noting that after all these years, perhaps it's time for other people to
take ownership. “And she is a forceful lady,” admitted Driscoll, who is 84. The Dellwood sailor wants the fleet to remain on the lake he's lived on for 90 percent of his life, so he's offering the scows at a reduced price to hometown sailors. They're a good deal. New, an A scow with trailer and one suit of sails costs about $175,000, according to Driscoll. Melges Boat Works of Zenda, Wisconsin, bought the original molds in 1998 from Johnson Boat Works and is the only company that still builds the majestic 38foot A scow. The boats owned by Driscoll include a 1963 Johnson wood scow named Gryphon ($5,000) and the SEE A BOATS, PAGE 9A
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Steve Johnson, with the drill, and Bernie Kruse were part of the volunteer team that worked on the Gryphon’s wooden hull over the winter. The ’63 scow should be under sail by May 20.
It's a wrap; trial concludes for lake level lawsuit BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
ST. PAUL — A decision is expected midsummer from the judge hearing the lake level lawsuit case. The nearly four-week trial wrapped up March 29 with both sides presenting closing arguments before District Judge Margaret Marrinan. Attorneys for the plaintiff, the White Bear Lake Restoration Association, summed up evidence pointing to conclusions by the Metropolitan Council and U.S. Geo-
logical Survey: White Bear Lake is closely connected to the aquifer below due to its geology and the lake is still not at its long-term average despite record rainfall. Attorney Heather McElroy, with Ciresi Conlin LLP, closed for the plaintiff, avowing that the state of Minnesota has allowed the draining of White Bear Lake. From day one, the restoration association has charged that permitted pumping from high-capacity municipal wells are withdrawing too much water from the Prairie du Chien aquifer, causing the lake to drop. McElroy's clients are seeking a 30 percent reduc-
tion in groundwater pumping by banning lawn sprinkling. The plaintiff contends that USGS studies support the premise that a reduction or cessation of summer pumping for irrigation would approximate 30 percent of residential water use and could cause as much as a 1 foot increase in lake level. The defendant, the Department of Natural Resources, maintained that the lake has rebounded to nearly 923 feet amid heavy rainfall and that fluctuations in SEE LAKE LAWSUIT, PAGE 9A
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