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WHAT’S HAPPENING: Honor heroes at a Memorial Day event PAGE 5
Local sailor’s remains to receive long-anticipated burial BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
After 80 years, the search is over. On September 23, 2021, members of the Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency were able to identify remains found in the wreckage of the USS Oklahoma. Those remains were identified as belonging to William F. Gusie, a 1939 White Bear Lake Area High School graduate. Gusie had worked on the ship as a 3rd Class Navy Fire Controllman. During the onslaught of World War II, Gusie was killed during the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor. Now, Gusie’s remains have returned to Minnesota, which will receive a special burial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on June 12. Gusie was one of 429 crewmen killed during the attack. At the time, Gusie was one of only 13 crew members identified as missing by the Department of Defense. The department was in charge of locating American soldiers who were declared prisoners of war or missing in action. Between December 1941 and June 1944, the department collected the remains of several
different crew members from the USS Oklahoma. They were brought to the Halawa and Nu’uanu cemeteries in Oahu, Hawaii, for burial. In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service took the remains from both cemeteries in an attempt to identify the individuals killed. However, the service could only determine the names of 35 of the men. At the time, Gusie was not among them. However, that all changed during the summer of 2015. The accounting agency decided to take another shot at determining the deceased sailors’ identities. By then, new
technological developments had been made in DNA, dental and anthropological analysis. The remains were then exhumed from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, where they had been reburied following the 1947 identification attempt. By 2021, Gusie’s remains received proper identification. However, attempts to give him a proper burial were frequently delayed. According to Gene Hughes, public affairs officer with Navy Personnel Command, this was due to a backlog during SEE GUSIE, PAGE 9
Judge releases findings regarding appropriation permits
High school wrestler meets toughest opponent yet
BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANGING EDITOR
into urgent care.” On April 8, Kessel was admitted to Regions Hospital’s NeuroSurgical Intensive Care Unit in St. Paul. After two weeks of emergency surgery and tests, doctors confirmed the tumor’s presence. “The doctors said he potentially only had months to live,” said Gabe’s father, Joe.
After months of waiting, a judge has weighed in on the appeals made by several cities in the north metro regarding the White Bear Lake level lawsuit. Administrative Law Judge Eric Lipman issued his Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order regarding the amendments made several years ago by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to some area water appropriation permits. Seventeen permit holders — including 10 municipalities, three country clubs, several businesses and St. Paul Regional Water Services — formally contested changes to their permits. In 2018, the DNR amended the cities’ water appropriation permits to require those cities to: 1. Plan on converting water supplies from groundwater to surface water sources 2. Prohibit lawn irrigation on residential properties whenever the elevation of White Bear Lake falls below 923.5 feet 3. Plan to phase down the average amount of water used in the community 4. Report on efforts to collaborate with neighboring communities on reducing water usage. Each city challenged the lawfulness of one or more of the amended conditions, which resulted in the contested case hearing before Judge
SEE GABE KESSEL, PAGE 10
SEE APPEAL, PAGE 14
BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
Gabe Kessel, a wrestler and junior at White Bear Lake Area High School, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Kessel has had a lifelong passion for wrestling. His coaches describe him as a funny and respectful team member.
Gabe Kessel may be down, but he is far from giving up. Kessel is a junior at White Bear Lake Area High School and a star wrestler on the school’s team. Although Kessel’s wrestling career seemed poised for success, it was cut short on April 22 when devastating news arrived. On that day, Kessel was diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma, a rare cancerous brain
CONTRIBUTED
The remains of William F. Gusie, a sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, will be buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery next month.
tumor. Despite this, Kessel and his family are determined to fight it through thick and thin. According to wrestling coach Jeff Isaac, Kessel had been experiencing worsening headaches a month before his diagnosis. “We thought he was just dehydrated at first,” said Isaac. “But after one tournament, it got bad enough to where his dad had to bring him
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