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Forest Lake Times
Rangers take down Trojans in first playoff game
Injured quarterback Cole Gerrell’s status for Lakeville North game uncertain The Forest Lake football team kept its season alive in the first round of the Class 6A Section tournament in a dominant 31-7 win over Wayzata on Friday, Oct. 27. The win marked the third consecutive victory for the Rangers, tying their longest winning streak of the year. In what’s been a common theme throughout this season, the Ranger defense...
Forest Lake volleyball advances to section title game
Forest Lake will face off against No. 1-seed Anoka on Thursday The Rangers volleyball team is headed to the section finals after hammering Centennial and beating Duluth East in the first two rounds of section play. The second-seeded Rangers first needed a win over Duluth East in the Section 7AAAA quarterfinal match. They got it with a 3-1 victory over the seventh-seeded Greyhounds on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The Rangers claimed...
Forest Lake man enters ‘Norgaard’ guilty plea in sexual contact case
A 39-year-old Forest Lake man pleaded guilty to one of two second-degree felony counts of criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. According to the criminal complaint, Neil Lundgren inappropriately touched the underage victim – between the ages of 5 and 10 – at least three times. In one incident, the criminal complaint states that Lundgren drank a shot of vodka followed by Mountain Dew before inappropriately touching the victim. Lundgren was charged on Dec. 2, 2022, with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. ...
Current Columbus residential zone business owners’ permits auto extend once more
City’s new home occupation definition resembles original It has almost been two years since the Columbus Council embarked on redefining what residential zone businesses look like and how they operate in residential neighborhoods. After the planning commission meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 18, the new home occupation residential use may reach the finish line, as it was set to be discussed at the Wednesday, Oct. 25, council meeting, ahead of this...
St. Croix chocolatier has found what works
Robyn Dochterman wins two awards at international chocolate competition, prepares for worlds Robyn Dochterman gently slides the scraper against the mold as she applies the cookie crumble layer, made of macadamia nut paste, shortbread macadamia nut cookies, and chocolate, to bottom the filling and lets it set. She’s already added and set the macadamia caramel layer, made with macadamia nut blossom honey from Hawaii, and painted and set the chocolate outer shells with blue and white swirls made of cocoa butter. ...
Sports Briefs - Oct. 26, 2023
The Forest Lake Rangers cross country team ran in the Suburban East Conference championship meet on Tuesday, Oct. 17. For boys, sophomore Sam McCafferty placed 33rd in 16:48, the highest among Ranger boys runners. At 48th was freshman James McCardle, finishing in 17:35. Coming in at the 62nd and 63rd spots were sophomore Blake Tembreull at 18:01 and junior Caleb Saari at 18:03. On the girls side, junior Norah Hushagen claimed first place among 79 total girls runners. Sophomore Anna VanAcker placed fourth at 18:28, followed by freshman Molly McCarthy in 10th place at 19:08. Overall, the boys claimed eighth...
Rangers shutout Roseville in final regular season game
Playoffs begin on home turf against Wayzata The Forest Lake football team won their second consecutive game to finish the regular season at a 5-3 record by defeating the Roseville Raiders at home on Thursday, Oct. 19. The squad pulled out a dominant 36-0 victory as the Rangers defense was the talk of the town yet again, pitching the shutout and forcing four total turnovers. “The defense played amazing,” head...
Girls swim and dive sees success despite home loss against CDH
The Forest Lake girls swim and dive team competed in a home conference matchup versus Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The girls came into the event with lots of momentum after posting 35 personal bests from the True Team meet on Saturday, Oct. 14. Being in a daunting Suburban East conference, head coach Rochelle McKenzie knew a win wouldn’t come easy against this Raiders squad. “We knew it was...
Emmer drops out of race hours after being nominated by GOP for House speaker
*UPDATE: 4:30 P.M.: Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer abruptly abandoned his bid to become House speaker, withdrawing hours after winning the internal party nomination once it became clear he would not have enough support from GOP colleagues for the gavel. Emmer reversed course after Donald Trump objected to his nomination and hardliners in the House denied the Minnesota Republican the votes he would need for the gavel. That's according to Republican...
Republicans pick Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker as they try for a third time
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans picked Rep. Tom Emmer as their nominee for House speaker on Tuesday Oct. 24, as they try for a third time to fill the top leadership position and get Congress back to work. Emmer represents Minnesota Congressional District Six, which includes Anoka County without the cities of Coon Rapids and Anoka. Emmer, the GOP Whip and senior-most candidate, jumped out front in private balloting as the...
Emmer makes a run for House Speaker
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R- Delano) confirmed on X (formerly twitter) that he is running for speaker of the House of Representatives releasing an official announcement on Saturday, Oct. 21. Emmer, who represents Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District which includes Columbus and Linwood, is one of nine Republicans vying for the position.On Friday, Oct. 20 Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, the Associated Press reported. The speakership opening was created after hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of October.“Reflecting on the last 10 months of our House Republican majority, our conference has...
Sports Briefs - Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023
The Ranger boys soccer team lost its opening first round section playoff game to Blaine in a final score of 4-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Forest Lake’s 2023 season came to an end with a 1-13-2 record. Cross Country The Forest Lake cross country team participated in the Princeton Tiger Invitational meet on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Leading the boys was sophomore Sam McCafferty coming in 18th of 161 total runners...
Rangers take bounce-back win over Eagan
Forest Lake awaits final regular-season game against Roseville The Forest Lake Rangers football team got themselves a decisive 35-13 win over Eagan on the road Friday, Oct. 13. The running game racked up 269 total rush yards, an aspect of the offense that struggled in the previous two weeks that resulted in losses to Stillwater and Woodbury, respectively. Eagan drew first blood late in the first quarter, and Forest Lake...
Rangers volleyball concludes regular season with 6-1 week
Wins over White Bear, Mounds View, Woodbury cap regular season The Rangers volleyball team moved to .500 with a convincing win over White Bear Lake on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Forest Lake owned a lead as high as seven points in the first set, with senior Katie Brandl leading the charge. “Overall, our passing was a little bit up and down. But when we were on we really were able to...
Columbus city administrator to resign after more than 20 years
Council begins replacement process After working at the city of Columbus for more than 20 years, City Administrator Elizabeth Mursko submitted her resignation. “It’s bittersweet,” said Mursko, who will stay through the end of the year in her role, at the Wednesday, Oct. 11, meeting. However, Mursko will remain a remote employee until March 31, 2024, and work on administrative projects that will help streamline city processes. ...
Forest Lake Elementary principal steps into national role
Forest Lake Elementary Principal Kenny Newby has a new title to add to his role as principal: Zone 7 director of the National Association for Elementary School Principals. When the director vacancy opened up in the association, Newby was encouraged to throw his hat in the ring. Newby was elected to serve as the Zone 7 director, serving and representing Minnesota, Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming at the national level. “Geographically, it kind of reminded me of Forest Lake as...
Chisago man arrested at Forest Lake football game at Stillwater
Repeat offender charged for showing nude photos to teens A 53-year-old Chisago City man was arrested and charged with a felony after allegedly showing teenage girls photos of his genitals at the Forest Lake and Stillwater football game at Oak Park Heights. The complaint states that the incident happened close to halftime, when David Lowell Holmgren sat in front of four teen girls in the visitor’s section at the game....
Forest Lake council prepares for upping of code enforcement
The Forest Lake council grappled with updates to the city’s nuisance ordinance as it aims to help deal with complaints and bring more issue properties into compliance during the council’s workshop on Monday, Oct. 16. City Attorney Amanda Johnson walked the council and city staff through proposed updates, as well as sought opinions on issues, ranging from when the city should take certain actions like issuing a compliance letter to a nuisance property, or what delineates a nuisance in certain zoning districts. The endeavor to...
Ranger girls soccer falls on senior night, faces Centennial in section play
The Forest Lake girls soccer team aimed to finish off the year in strong fashion against Stillwater on Thursday, Oct. 5, as sections play approached for the young squad. The Rangers came out the gate with intensity, but that couldn’t help overcome the Ponies, who reached state semifinals last season and came in as the fifth-overall ranked team in the state. Ball movement would be a key factor for both teams throughout the course of the game as the Rangers embedded themselves into multiple scoring...
Sports Briefs - Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023
Boys soccer The Rangers boys soccer team lost its final two matches of the regular season against Woodbury and Stillwater on Tuesday, Oct. 3, and Thursday, Sept. 5, respectively, both by scores of 3-0. The pair of losses brings the overall season record to 1-12-2 on the year. Forest Lake was given the seventh seed coming into section play as it went on the road to face second-seeded Blaine for a first round matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 10, in a contest that was not completed...
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Forest Lake Times has been serving Forest Lake, MN since 1902. Published Thursdays by APG of East Central Minnesota with 24/7 local coverage found online at forestlaketimes.com
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