Choose your location
Forest Lake Times
Sports Briefs - Feb. 01, 2024
The Forest Lake girls hockey team defeated Park of Cottage Grove for the second time in just a span of five days, as the Rangers won 4-1 on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Goals were scored by senior Sami Pool in the second period, along with junior Rylen Kissell, freshman Lexi Thompson and eighth grader Camryn Jenni off the power play. Two days later on Thursday, Jan. 25, the Rangers defeated a red-hot Northern Tier squad by a final score of 6-3. Pool and...
Ernst clinches title at all-around event
Four other gymnasts honored at Cambridge-Isanti invitational Forest Lake gymnast Sami Ernst clinched the all-around title with a score of 37.75 at the annual all-around invitational hosted at Cambridge-Isanti. In the top twenty who were honored, Forest Lake’s gymnasts took home four other placements. Anna Philipson clinched fifth with a 36.70 score, Brielle Berube took 12th (34.70), Hailey Henry ended at 16th (33.80), and Ali Thordson placed 18th (33.50). Pierron said the unique event, which featured only all-arounders competing on all four apparati, was a...
Girls Nordic team places first, boys earn third
The Forest Lake Nordic ski team competed in a conference invitational meet held at Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood on Thursday, Jan. 25. The Rangers were originally scheduled to ski at Ravine Regional Park in Cottage Grove later in the day, but with the recent weather, the squad found a location with ample enough snow for the teams to compete in the early hours of Thursday morning. The Rangers squared off against conference rivals White Bear Lake, Irondale, Stillwater, Mounds View and Roseville in...
Ice rinks open late in season
Forest Lake, Scandia and Wyoming opened their ice rinks for the 2023-2024 winter season on Friday, Jan. 19; Tuesday, Jan. 16; and Thursday, Jan. 18, respectively. Forest Lake’s Tower Park and Beltz Park rinks are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; Scandia’s Wojtowicz Skating Park is open until 9 p.m. on week nights and open until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and Wyoming’s Swenson Park rink is open until 10 p.m. daily. ...
Washington County probation officers vote to strike over Juneteenth holiday
The majority of Washington County probation officers authorized a strike on Wednesday, Jan. 17, in a 39-1 vote and rejected the county’s final offer based on paid holiday leave. That vote triggered a cooling off period that allows both parties to meet and potentially renegotiate to avert a union from filing its intent to strike. However, the earliest that both parties could meet to renegotiate the contract disagreement is Tuesday,...
K9 to assist in Washington County courts for first time
Meet Washington County K9 Rookie, Detective Matt O’Hara’s partner in… helping others. For the first time in Washington County courts, this therapy dog will be assisting a victim with a stressful testimony. Unlike the other K9s with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Rookie is a yellow lab and performs services as a therapy dog. O’Hara...
Patrick Casey fired from administrator role
Former Scandia administrator named as interim Patrick Casey is out as Forest Lake’s city administrator after the Forest Lake City Council unanimously approved his immediate removal on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at a special meeting held in place of the council’s typical workshop, a day later than the usual Monday meeting due to the holiday. Casey’s removal follows two closed sessions, held during the council’s Monday, Jan. 8, meeting and at...
Virtual meeting option to stay after virtual attendee’s rant
Forest Lake’s typical security measures weren’t taken on Jan. 8 The council will be keeping its virtual attendance option for meeting attendees via Zoom after a virtual attendee took control over the livestream on Jan. 8, spewing racial epithets while displaying an antisemitic image through the screen sharing feature. Typically, the standard process is preregistration for the meeting, and city staff would then allow each attendee speaking abilities at the...
FL Rangers wrestling posts successful weekend
The Forest Lake boys wrestling team took home a first-place overall finish in the Bluejacket quadrangular invitational meet on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Cambridge-Isanti High School. The Rangers competed against multiple schools in Cambridge-Isanti, Andover and St. Cloud Tech. The squad would steamroll their competition, defeating all three schools en route to the top spot in the meet for the sixth consecutive year. “I think the team as a whole...
Rangers girls hockey tabs back-to-back wins
FL wins 3-1 on senior night, defeats MV/Irondale in OT classic Following a tough 5-0 road loss to White Bear Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the Forest Lake girls hockey team regrouped and orchestrated a pair of impressive home wins against Park of Cottage Grove and the co-op unit of Mounds View/Irondale on Thursday, Jan. 18, and Saturday, Jan. 20, respectively. As the squad aimed to get back into the...
Sports Briefs - Jan. 25, 2024
The Forest Lake dance team took part in a varsity invitational meet versus multiple schools at St. Michael-Albertville High School on Saturday, Jan. 20. In the jazz category, the Rangers ultimately placed eighth overall as a team off a ranking point total of 25, just one rank point ahead of Two Rivers and 4.5 rank points behind Waconia at the seventh spot. Forest Lake earned 337 points out of a possible 500. In the kick format, the Rangers took a seventh-place finish with a 22.5....
Washington County probation officers authorize a strike
The majority of Washington County probation officers authorized a strike on Wednesday, Jan. 17 in a 39-1 vote and rejected the county’s final offer based on paid holiday leave. The probation officers rejected the proposed contract since it didn’t offer Juneteenth as a paid holiday without losing a different paid holiday like Christmas Eve. “Washington County is using Juneteenth as a bargaining chip and trying to force us to forfeit...
Matt Wallner: A kid with a dream
Forest Lake’s baseball star reflects on his major league career, shares off-season life Given the fast pace of the baseball season, Matt Wallner enjoys the slower pace in the offseason at his home in Mississippi, near the University of Southern Mississippi where Wallner played college ball. “The season’s so long, and your body’s tired, so I don’t like to do too much crazy stuff,” he said. ...
Scandia City Council considers code enforcement fine increases
The Scandia City Council is looking at amending code violation fines and utilizing its internal hearing process if residents want to contend a violation they receive. The current ordinance hasn’t been fully enforced in the past, so City Attorney Eric Larson and City Administrator Kyle Morell combed through it to offer the council ideas of how to enforce the city’s ordinances more easily and quickly. During the Dec. 19 council meeting, Larson proposed increasing fines across the board and potentially changing the hearing official to...
Columbus administrator leaves behind a legacy of progress
As Columbus City Administrator Elizabeth Mursko’s almost 25-year career with Columbus comes to a close and the city searches for her replacement, her tenure with the city is being celebrated by the council and city staff. “She’s certainly done everything she could to do the best for the city, and hats off to her. I can’t imagine the day I walk in and she’s not there,” Mayor Jesse Preiner said. ...
Rangers rout Knights, earn SEC win
Seniors Waldoch and Sauvageau each score 18 points The Forest Lake boys basketball team picked up a Suburban East Conference win over Irondale on Friday, Jan. 12, by a final score of 68-54. The Rangers used a 41-20 first-half advantage to ultimately stay in the driver’s seat throughout the remainder of the game and to improve to a record of 7-4 on the year. Forest Lake got rolling early as...
Rangers boys hockey beats Roseville 5-3
Forest Lake ties Mounds View 1-1 The Forest Lake boys hockey team clashed with the Mounds View Mustangs in a Suburban East Conference showdown on Thursday, Jan. 11. The contest would ultimately end in a 1-1 tie, as an eventual 0-0 game late in the third period led to a tie game heading into overtime, but neither team was able to record a goal in the extra period. Following scoreless...
Sports Briefs - Thursday, Jan. 18
The Forest Lake girls hockey team lost an SEC matchup to Cretin-Derham Hall 4-2 on Tuesday, Jan. 9, on the road. Sophomore forward Sam Scott got the Rangers on the board early with a 1-0 lead, before Cretin-Derham Hall scored the next three goals of the game. Freshman Lexi Thompson would tally the final goal for Forest Lake on the night. The same week, on Friday, Jan. 12, the Rangers lost 6-2 to a co-op team of Grand Rapids/Greenway. Junior Rylen Kissell found her groove...
Patrick Casey out as city administrator
Patrick Casey is out as Forest Lake's city administrator after the Forest Lake council unanimously approved his immediate removal on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The removal follows the city's annual performance review of Casey. Since assistant city administrator Dan Undem left the position in Forest Lake for a position in Lindstrom, that leaves an administrator role open. The council appointed Kristina Handt, a former city administrator for Lake Elmo and Scandia, as interim city administrator and will assist in the city's next administrator search. More information will be updated online and in the Times' upcoming issue.
Chisago County board sets new open forum times
The Chisago County Board of Commissioners set the parameters for the coming year in an organizational meeting held Tuesday, Jan. 2. The commissioners selected Marlys Dunne, commissioner representing District 3, as the board chair, and Dan Dahlberg, commissioner representing District 5, as the vice chair. Both were selected in a unanimous vote. The board did not change its meeting schedule or timing, but it did make a change to the...
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.