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Forest Lake Times
Wyoming hires lobbying group for public safety building funding
The Wyoming City Council has approved to spend $30,000 on hiring the Hylden Advocacy and Law lobbying group to pursue state funding for a new public safety building for the police and fire departments, the final design and construction documents of which were recently put on hold due to skyrocketing costs. “This is something that I kind of wish we would’ve done a little bit sooner, but hindsight is always 20/20. … Essentially, we’re in this position because of the cost differences from when this...
Middle schooler to compete at FFA state convention
Elsa Swenson takes passion for public speaking to state When Forest Lake Area Middle School eighth grader Elsa Swenson began thinking about the topic for the Future Farmers of America prepared public speaking regional competition, it was an easy choice to cover microfarming. “We have sheep in the back, and chickens, and then we have a garden. It’s people who have 5 acres or less of land and how they...
Columbus to eliminate animal day care, boarding as commercial business
Muddy Paws Play and Stay will continue to legally operate under its conditional use permit. A proposed ordinance in Columbus, which will be offered for final approval in April, would explicitly prohibit all small animal indoor boarding or day care facilities from operating in all commercial, mixed use and industrial zoning districts in the city. “This clearly eliminates anything other than clinics and grooming in all of your commercial districts,”...
Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball season ends in heartbreak again
The Rangers blow double-digit lead to Cambridge-Isanti A dry erase marker, a visitor sign and 3-pointers. Three things that defined the Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team’s 63-60 season-ending loss in the 7AAAA Section Quarterfinal inside Cambridge-Isanti High School on Wednesday, March 8. It marked the second straight season where the Rangers – who fell 54-52 to Coon Rapids a year ago on the same stage – were a single...
Manny Cobo ready to lead Forest Lake Rangers girls soccer program
New coach has almost 16 years of experience, excited for first head coaching role Forest Lake Area High School recently named Manny Cobo as the new girls varsity soccer coach, and the reason he said he saw the job as the right fit is similar to one of his main goals in mind: to grow excitement about girls soccer in the community. “There’s just a great potential to grow the...
Forest Lake Rangers girls basketball suffers season-ending section quarterfinal loss
The Rangers struggle against the zone The No. 7-seeded Forest Lake Rangers girls basketball team accomplished one of their top objectives in their 7AAAA Section Quarterfinal tilt with Blaine, according to head coach Dave Ostercamp, yet they still saw their season end in a 59-30 loss on the road on Wednesday, March 1. One of the main goals was to stop senior Molly Garber offensively as much as they could,...
Forest Lake's Mark Rendl wins state title, three other Rangers earn medals
Two wrestlers get their pictures on the wrestling wall Junior Mark Rendl already knew he earned his picture on the wall in the wrestling room – an honor exclusively for those who finish in the top three at state – inside Forest Lake High School after beating Plymouth’s Dominic Heim in the semifinal match of the 220 weight class in the individual championships of the Minnesota Wrestling State Tournament at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday, March 4. ...
Forest Lake's Aspen Blasko claims state title for second year in a row
Two first-year Rangers wrestlers place at state Junior Aspen Blasko said she usually doesn’t read books, but she makes an exception for “Pound the Stone” by Joshua Medcalf, which the book description says is about an “intense and inspiring story of a young man’s journey through the obstacles, defeats, and eventual victories that come while developing grit on the path to mastery.” For Blasko, it’s all about the mindset. While...
Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball loses final two regular season games ahead of sections
The Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team (6-12, 9-17) received the No. 6 seed in sections and will play No. 3 seed Cambridge-Isanti on the road in the 7AAAA Section Quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 8. The Rangers lost their final two regular season games last week against conference opponents: a 54-40 loss to Park of Cottage Grove at home on Tuesday, Feb. 28, and a 55-54 loss to Irondale on Friday, March 3. Junior Braedan Turk led the team offensively with 11 points against Park of Cottage Grove in a game where eight players scored for the Rangers. Then in the tight loss at Irondale where Forest Lake failed to preserve their 50-48 lead with about three minutes left, juniors Owen Waldoch (17 rebounds), Brennan Sauvageau and Reid Olson scored 25, 14 and nine points, respectively.
Forest Lake's Jamison Livermore competes at state
Freshman diver Jamison Livermore was the lone Ranger to represent at the Class AA State Championship that took place at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on Saturday, March 4. Livermore fell short of advancing to the semifinals after a 23rd-place finish with a score of 138.25 in the 1-meter diving preliminaries. “Jamie is only in ninth grade and making it to state is a huge success in itself,” Forest Lake diving coach Deb Welch said. “...He’s going to be one to watch in the coming years.”
Giving up the stigma
Seth Perry isn’t your stereotypical pastor – sporting tatoos, a jean jacket and a baseball cap, the pastor of Elim Lutheran Church in Scandia is comfortable with telling people the story of overcoming addiction. But there’s an important part of his life he hasn’t yet been willing to publicly share: his bipolar disorder diagnosis. “I think the one thing that has made me feel uncomfortable being a pastor is dancing around the subject that I have a mental health condition that I successfully treat with...
Hopkins Schoolhouse organization receives green light
The Hopkins Schoolhouse and Heritage Center got the green light by the Hugo City Council during its Monday, Feb. 6, meeting to refurbish the one-room schoolhouse for the communities of Forest Lake and Hugo. “You can see the passion, and I guess I’m really impressed by the work the whole committee has put into this, so nothing but support from my viewpoint,” Hugo council member Dave Strub said. “Initially I...
Fourth generation Lewis takes helm of FL’s oldest chiropractic clinic
By all family accounts, little is known about the early years of Ward M. Lewis. Family members know he was born in Kansas in 1894, ran away from a broken home at age 15, served in Europe with the U.S. Army during World War I and went on to earn a diploma from a chiropractic college in Iowa in 1918. How Lewis spent the second decade of the 1900s prior to the war is lost in time, says his grandson David Lewis of Forest Lake....
Malachi McKinnon shoots for East Coast hockey opportunity
Forest Lake’s young hockey standout hones his skills on the ice with Tier 1 team It was an unexpected gift Forest Lake sophomore and hockey player Malachi McKinnon received just before Christmas: an opportunity to move across the country to play hockey for a Tier 1 team. “December 23, it’s a day I’m not ever going to forget,” Corey McKinnon, Malachi’s dad, said. ...
Linwood history group bringing to life stories of old
It all started with the township’s anniversary. Now, a year and a half later, Linwood’s new history group is thriving. Linwood Township celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2021 during its annual Family Fun Day. It opened up its historical building, the Crescent Grange Hall – one of the few grange halls left in the state – and filled it with a timeline of historical artifacts and photos to celebrate the town’s history. ...
Forest Lake Rangers boys swim and dive earns ‘amazing’ third-place finish at sections, but misses state
The Rangers move up four spots from last year, Livermore heads to state The Forest Lake Rangers boys swim and dive team received many compliments about their performance from opposing coaches at the 7AA Section Championship at Northdale Middle School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, head coach Dominick Mancini said. The Rangers, who finished seventh last season, placed third this year. The team completed sections with 262 points, finishing below Duluth East (513) and Centennial (310) in first and second, respectively. ...
Sports Briefs: Forest Lake sends five wrestlers to state, Sami Ernst places third at state & more
After falling to Anoka in the 7AAA Section Championship, the Forest Lake Rangers boys wrestling team saw five wrestlers punch their ticket to the state tournament that will be held at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5. Senior Jake Aho (120), sophomore Grant Marr (126) and juniors Parker Lyden (132) and Mark Rendl (220) won their respective classes in the individual 7AAA Section Tournament to earn an appearance at state. Freshman Dayton Dale’s (138) second-place finish was also enough to qualify. The...
Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball responds to six-game skid with two straight wins
The Rangers, expected to be No. 6 seed in sections, are confident ahead of sections The Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team (6-10, 9-15) remained silent for three minutes in the locker room after winning 52-49 over conference rival Roseville (7-8, 13-10) on the road on Saturday, Feb. 25, for their second straight win. No cheers or shouts of joy were heard because they were waiting on junior Nolan Dumonceaux, who was discussing the game with The Times. ...
Forest Lake Rangers boys hockey loses to Grand Rapids in section quarterfinal
Forest Lake was outshot in season-ending loss, finishes season with two wins on the road The No. 6 Forest Lake Rangers boys hockey team’s pattern of getting outshot all season continued in their 4-1 loss to No. 3 Grand Rapids on the road in the 7AA Section Quarterfinal on Tuesday, Feb. 21, that came down to a penalty-induced second period. Forest Lake, who finished with a 8-16-1 regular season record,...
Forest Lake Rangers girls Nordic ski team’s fifth-place finish highlights state appearance
Rangers had four skiers place in the top 75, boys team finished last The Forest Lake Rangers girls Nordic ski team’s three seniors — Jordan Parent, Evelyn Hudrlik and Maria Stockinger — skied in their final race of their high school career at the 2023 Nordic Ski State Championship at Giants Ridge Resort in Biwabik, Minnesota, on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 15-16. After helping the team earn another state appearance with a second-place finish behind Stillwater in sections, the senior trio led the Rangers to...
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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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