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Forest Lake Times
Breanna Gaffy takes over Forest Lake girls hockey
Breanna Gaffy is no stranger to Forest Lake as she coached the Rangers girls junior varsity hockey team during the 2016-17 season. That year also happens to be the last time the Forest Lake girls varsity team clinched a berth to the state tournament, something she vividly remembers. Gaffy has coached youth hockey in Forest Lake at Lakes Elite for two years and also coached for the Minnesota Blades in the past. Her husband, Christian Gaffy, a Forest Lake alumni, is an assistant coach on...
Board approves A&I Plan despite another walk out
Despite another walk out from school board members Curt Rebelein Jr. and Luke Hagglund at the Thursday, April 13 special meeting, the Achievement & Integration Plan was approved. Prior to discussions and approval of the plan, Rebelein and Hagglund opposed accepting the plan due to their concerns over the legality of approving it past the Wednesday, March 15 deadline stated in a Minnesota Statute. “My primary concern with participation in...
Chisago County raises liquor fees
The Chisago County Board of Commissioners raised its fees for liquor licenses, but decided against taking on a greater role in alcohol licensing regulation as part of its meeting held Wednesday, April 5. Bridgitte Konrad, the county’s auditor-treasurer, brought forward two items, the first being an increase in the fees for licenses. “As we set our fees, we need to consider the costs of issuance, enforcement and checks on liquor...
Scandia celebrates first year of sister city synergy
Scandia didn’t know that when a Swedish woman visited a cemetery to look for familiar names tied to her town in Sweden, it would take them on the path to connect with a community across the world. “She went to the cemetery there because so many of the founding families of Scandia are from Mellerud,” said Patti Ray, co-chair of the Scandia Sister City Committee, and former council member. Ray...
Bus drivers demand higher pay in filing for strike
The Forest Lake Area School District bus drivers and aid union formally filed its intent to strike with the state on Thursday, April 20 as it pushes for higher wages in contract negotiations. They hope that higher wages will lead to better employee moral, as longer routes and too few employees have lead to burnout and frustration for those who stay while others leave for better wages and benefits. “If we have a more competitive wage, we’ll be able to fill the 13 to 14...
School district bus driver union to file a strike
UPDATE on Thursday, April 20: If the strike commences on Tuesday, May 2, the Forest Lake Area School District said it "will continue to keep schools open and continue providing educational services to students. School and district staff are working hard to create plans for operations if bus services are not available," according to a press release. Superintendent Steve Massey will hold a press conference at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 20 at the Forest Lake Area School District Office. ...
School district bus driver union authorizes a strike
UPDATE on Wednesday, April 19, 11 a.m.: In a press release, Teamsters Local 320 announced it will formally file the Forest Lake Area School bus driver and aid's intent to strike with the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services on Thursday, April 20. Friday, April 21 is the official start date of the 10-day "cooling off" period before the strike will commence. The story below will appear in the April 20,...
Forest Lake Rangers girls golf’s mix of talent and depth key for goal of winning conference
The Rangers return most of their lineup The Forest Lake Rangers girls golf team enters this new season with an important combination of strong talent, depth and flexibility. Rangers’ coach Andrea Brischke said the goal is to win the conference title and make it to state, and they hope these ingredients will help them achieve it. The Rangers have a similar lineup this spring with the exception of Greta Krieger,...
Forest Lake girls lacrosse enters new season with young team to fill roles
The Rangers lost their top three goal scorers and starting goalie The Forest Lake Rangers girls lacrosse team that went 13-2 last season and 8-1 in Suburban East Conference play with 16 points – which tied Stillwater for first – saw six seniors depart last summer. That included all three of their top goal scorers in Erin Brown, Samantha Hayek and Broke Glumack, as well as starting goaltender Hannah Melander. ...
Forest Lake Rangers boys lacrosse aims to improve this spring with more offensive possession
Rangers see early success in scrimmages The Forest Lake Rangers boys lacrosse team lost all nine Suburban East Conference games last season and went 1-13 overall, so the goal for this season is simple. “We want to win more games,” Forest Lake coach Bryan Rogers said. Rogers said he anticipates the team being more competitive...
Forest Lake Rangers boys golf enters new season with lineup uncertainty
The Rangers lost their top golfer from last season Head coach Matt Schugel said he expects the Forest Lake Rangers boys golf team to be in “a similar boat” this season and finish around seventh place in the Suburban East Conference standings, where the Rangers ended up last season. Forest Lake’s top player last season, Ryan Eischen, graduated last summer in addition to two others. Eischen’s departure leaves a hole...
Forest Lake clay target hopes to defend conference title amid program growth
The Rangers lost a lot of senior talent The Forest Lake Rangers clay target team not only hopes to win their conference for a second straight season, but also make another appearance at state. The Rangers placed 17th out of 40 teams last June at the 2022 State Championship held in Prior Lake after claiming their conference. “We want to defend our conference title,” Forest Lake coach Dave Madison said. ...
Scandia Council extends negotiation period with waste hauler
The Scandia City Council extended its negotiation period with Waste Management, intending to potentially finalize a contract with the hauler but needing time to iron out the finer details. “There’s quite a large list of things that we have compiled, and we’ve really kind of only got the surface on the basic parameters,” said interim City Administrator Anne Hurlburt. The City Council deemed that these early negotiations could yield an...
Wetland banks causing FL council uncertainty
Council seeks public input The Forest Lake City Council is struggling to determine whether or not to put a ban on wetland banks within the city after it put a yearlong moratorium on the practice. The council is seeking input before voting on the topic, which went into effect in June 2022. The moratorium was put in place last summer because there had been interest in prime developable land in...
School board members walk out of meeting
Remaining agenda items scheduled for special meeting April 13 School board members Curt Rebelein Jr. and Luke Hagglund stepped out of the board meeting, unannounced, when the Achievement & Integration Plan for 2024-26 was on the table for approval on Thursday, April 6. The board could not continue conducting business without a majority of its members present and adjourned early without approving this plan or hearing two new business items....
Sports Preview: Forest Lake Rangers girls track and field ‘rebuilding’ this spring
Rangers focused on gaining experience, displaying growth The Forest Lake Rangers girls track and field team features a young squad aiming to gain more experience this season. In fact, the goal is for growth as the Rangers are rebuilding this spring after the program lost a number of seniors a year ago, according to Forest Lake coach Shane Swanberg. “This will be a little bit of a rebuilding season,” Swanberg...
Sports Preview: Forest Lake Rangers baseball looks to improve despite roster turnover, pitching uncertainty
Rangers’ strength is returning cast The Forest Lake Rangers baseball team saw all but five players on last year’s squad depart to graduation, which included the team’s top three pitchers. Forest Lake coach Kale Henry said the team’s dominant question mark heading into the spring is their pitching group for that reason. There’s seven or eight players who can pitch on the roster, four of whom will become starters, with...
Sports Preview: Forest Lake Rangers boys tennis returns with similar roster, continues to build program
Rangers focused on growth more than records Forest Lake coach Ron Ingalls isn’t as worried about wins and losses compared to the tennis program’s continued growth. The results will follow with the growth, he said, as it did last season where the Forest Lake Rangers boys tennis team went 14-5, a significant improvement from their 8-15 record in 2021. “It’s more just trying to build a program,” Ingalls said. “I...
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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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