Columbus
Forest Lake Times
Students drive the return of Ranger marching band
Renewed interest sparks community-focused band “I’d like to see the marching band be kind of that heart of the community again, like it once was,” said Jake Matheson, a music teacher for the Forest Lake Area School District. He and Katie Hartman, another music teacher with the district, teamed up to reinvent the Forest Lake Ranger marching band for students in grades 7-12. ...
Forest Lake’s downtown vision coming into focus
More directives based on community engagement sessions for the Forest Lake downtown plan are helping decision makers shape the future of downtown. The Forest Lake Downtown Committee and Economic Development Authority met on Monday, Feb. 28, to discuss feedback given at the sessions. Some of the general feedback from the community suggested a need for more restaurants — including a request for a brewery — and a desire for better parking and pedestrian walkways and signage. Residents who responded to the survey also opposed more...
Camaraderie and community found on Iditarod
Forest Lake brothers complete trip along Alaskan trail via snowmobile Not many siblings plan to ride the Iditarod trail via snowmobile as the seasons shift from winter to spring for a vacation, but Forest Lake natives Doug, Ken and Mike Anderson knew it would suit them. “We were talking about this off and on for the last couple years, and then kind of like a year ago, we decided to...
Legislative session heats up as sticking points between parties bubble to surface
Local lawmakers drill down on funds for public safety, tax reform With Minnesota’s legislative session underway, local lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that discussions about the state’s projected budget surplus, public safety and infrastructure will take up much of their time. Getting them to agree on how to address those issues will prove more difficult. The legislative session began Monday, Jan. 31, and even though it’s not...
Wyoming greenlights two new developments
City also splits into two precincts following 2020 census The Wyoming City Council heard from the owners of the Sunrise Riverbank development by Richard Morris of Northern Tier Development. The new development is slated to go near the juncture East Viking Boulevard and Kettle River Boulevard. The final plat review of the development shows the 222-acre property that once was Greenwood Golf Course will be turned into three lots: rural residential, agricultural, and residential/commercial. The sketch plan, which was presented to the council, shows the...
State legislative districts shake up local political landscape
Forest Lake area council, board members announce candidacies Last month, a Minnesota panel of five judges released a new state legislative district map that is shaking up the political makeup across the state. All 201 seats in the state Legislature will be up for re-election in November. The five-judge panel took on the job of redistricting after the state Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz could not come to an agreement...
Student with Airsoft gun causes "hold" at high school
Forest Lake Area High School placed a "hold" on students and faculty following a student who brought an Airsoft gun to school on Friday, March. 18. A student reported to a school resource officer that another student allegedly had brought a weapon to school just before 8 a.m., according to Superintendent Steve Massey. Holds, which are not as restrictive as a lockdown and are issued to reduce movement through the school, prohibited anyone from entering the building and required everyone to get into a classroom,...
Rise, Inc. looks to community to ‘Lyft’ residents with disabilities
Area nonprofit aims to fill the transportation gap for residents with disabilities Nancy Bryant has worked at Walmart for more than two years as a cashier or the greeter at the front door when customers come in. “I try to make them happy,” she said. But what many people don’t realize is the effort it...
Columbus will reopen senior center in phases
COVID-19 protocols lifted from public buildings The Columbus City Council discussed how it would want to pursue a phased reopening approach of its senior and community center during its workshop on Tuesday, March 8. The senior center will reopen allowing seniors to return during their designated times, and later allow the Lions Club to return. City council, commission groups and city staff will be given priority use of the space....
Masquers to perform first show since pandemic
‘Steel Magnolias’ cast and crew share thoughts on the reemergence of local theater It was December 2019, and the Masquers Theatre cast was making audiences howl with laughter in its production of “Church Basement Ladies: Away in the Basement.” Denise Meyer and Dan Brabec — both former Masquers board members — fed off the audience as they acted out their parts on stage. Unbeknownst to them, it would be the...
Inflation hits city projects, causing cuts
Significant cutback expected on street improvements, but other expenditures move forward Inflation may be hitting citizens at the pump and in the grocery store, but it’s also hitting the city, too. At the Monday, Feb. 28 Forest Lake City Council meeting, city administrator Patrick Casey laid out projected cost increases in four planned expenditures, one of which will mean a reduction in street improvement projects this year. According to Casey,...
‘This is not just a country, this is people we know’
Willowbrook’s partnership with Ukranian pastor helps support the country during war (Editor's Note: A previous version of the story said the town Chyhyryn, Ukraine was near the Cherkasky Oblast river. Chyhyryn is in the Cherkasky Oblast territory near the Dnieper River. The Times regrets this error.) Months ago, when tanks and Russian troops were assembling along the Ukrainian shared border, Willowbrook Community Church’s pastor Brad Reis spoke with his dear...
School board suspends elementary-level mask protocols
During its meeting on Thursday, March 3, the Forest Lake Area School Board approved the suspension of the COVID-19 mitigation protocol that has been in place at elementary schools since the start of the year. The mitigation matrix placed a mask mandate on a classroom if there was one confirmed COVID-19 case, or required students and faculty to wear masks, throughout the entire school, when COVID-19 cases reached 5% or more of the school’s population. ...
Precincts redrawn in Forest Lake after census, new legislative districts
New boundaries have been set for Forest Lake’s Precincts following the 2020 census. The Forest Lake City Council approved the new boundaries at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 28. An initial proposal of redistricting lines, which are mapped by the county in coordination with the city, was made due to a concern over expected population growth in precinct 5 as developments take place in the southwest portion of the city. “What the county would like to see is less than 4,000 voters at each location,”...
Hugo re-energizes old Forest Lake schoolhouse restoration project
Project faces hurdles of minimal funding, old restrictions It’s difficult to discredit the Hopkins Schoolhouse, the official name for the old building which sits in Hugo near the Forest Lake border, as a building beyond redemption as it remains standing, despite being untouched and unused for more than 40 years. The one-room schoolhouse was previously teeming with life as a school for Forest Lake, then a town hall and youth center, prior to being boarded up as it sits today. It could soon be demolished,...
Middle schoolers of color connect through newly-formed BIPOC group
Experiences shared at Black History Month event Eighth-grader Blessing Kagni planned to sing “Black Like Me,” by Mickey Guyton at the Black History Month event on Friday, Feb. 18, which she was nervous to perform despite her singing at an event before. “This is my second time singing at one,” she said. After the performance,...
Washington County engineer Don Theisen retires
A quick start led to long career for the Forest Lake resident At the age of 26, Don Theisen received an unexpected promotion six months into his job as the assistant engineer in Chisago County. A friend had told him Chisago county was looking for an assistant county engineer. He applied, and got the job. But he didn’t apply under the assumption that the county engineer who hired him would transfer to a different county, leaving Theisen to manage the county’s engineering department. ...
Sexual misconduct victim sues North Lakes Academy, former coach
Lawsuit alleges negligent practices A former student of North Lakes Academy is suing the school and former NLA volleyball coach Mark Kosloski, who pled guilty in September to criminal sexual misconduct, for $50,000 over emotional distress and negligence. The former student, who was one of two former NLA students involved in the case against Kosloski, claims the school was lax in its policies and procedures in background checks of its employees, as well as failing in its policies to prevent sexual harassment and abuse. ...
Remaining ARPA funds allocated
The Columbus public works director outlined the two projects he would like to spend the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding on during the city council meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 9. “That’s the money that we’re using for the broadband project, and Elizabeth [Mursko, city administrator] and I wanted to snag some of that money for a couple projects that we had,” public works director Jim Windingstad said. Windingstad wasn’t...
Forest Lake Times
869+
Posts
835K+
Views
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
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.