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Forest Lake Times
Mary Poppins pops into Forest Lake
Children’s Performing Arts will premiere “Mary Poppins Jr.” in Forest Lake the first two weekends in February, allowing area youth the opportunity to dip their toes into the classic story. “I think people will just be delighted to see the level of performance that some of these young little thespians are able to produce [through] the energy that they’re bringing, the passion that they’re bringing,” said Carrie Carlson, director of the shooting stars production. ...
Forest Lake updates zoning code to allow more affordable single-family homes
A change in zoning code recently approved by the Forest Lake City Council will now allow developers to create close-density developments, thus creating the opportunity for more affordable homes in the area. The city updated its zoning code for its MXr1 single-family residential zone to lower its minimum lot size, allowing for developers to build smaller homes on smaller properties. The suggested units per acre for the low-to-medium density for residential use is three to six units per acre. Community Development Director Abbi Wittman said...
Forest Lake Rangers girls hockey falls to Raiders in Hockey Day Minnesota weekend
Premier event distracts Rangers from tight loss The Forest Lake Rangers girls hockey team’s 4-1 loss to Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday, Jan. 26, will likely go down as every player’s most memorable loss that they’ll suffer in their high school hockey career. After all, the team played in the opening game of the 2023 Hockey Day Minnesota weekend, something most Rangers past and present never had. “It was the coolest...
Forest Lake dance preps for sections after competing in last invitational
The team is off for almost two weeks The Forest Lake Rangers dance team didn’t earn the result they were hoping for in jazz at the Blaine invitational on Saturday, Jan. 28, according to head coach Rachel Kilpela. The Rangers placed fourth in high kick and sixth in jazz out of 11 schools. “We felt it was a great performance, but sometimes scores don’t match how you feel, so our...
Forest Lake Alpine ski teams show potential
Both teams see success this season The Forest Lake Rangers boys and girls Alpine ski teams placed third and fourth, respectively, in a conference meet at Wild Mountain on Tuesday, Jan. 24. While Forest Lake coach Trevor Pinewski said the meet went well, there’s still room for both teams to grow ahead. Although, Pinewski also said he’s seen growth as the season’s moved along. In last week’s race, the boys...
Sports Briefs: Forest Lake gymnastics beats Woodbury, boys basketball goes 2-1 and more
The Forest Lake Rangers gymnastics team won 137.125 to 121.100 in a meet against Woodbury on Thursday, Jan. 26. Junior Sami Ernst (35.700) and senior Mackenzie Nenn (32.550) were the top two competitors at the meet. Part of the team then competed at the Bluejacket All-Around Invite on Saturday, Jan. 28, at Cambridge-Isanti High School, which was exclusively for gymnasts who participate in all four events. The top four all-around performers for the Rangers were sophomore Ellyana Stamp (32.6), Nenn (32.2), junior Rylie Halbur (31.45)...
Forest Lake man gets no prison after crash that killed woman
Downward sentence requires work release, community service, and seven-year probation A Forest Lake man who crashed a vehicle while drunk, killing one of his passengers, was sentenced to one year of a work release program and seven years probation – during which he must abstain from alcohol and drugs – on Jan. 20, significantly less than sentencing guidelines and the amount the state argued for. Trent Jeans, 23, plead guilty last fall to charges of criminal vehicular homicide after the Oct. 10, 2021 crash, which...
Wyoming tables new public safety building
Project estimated $2 million over budget The Wyoming City Council decided to table its current public safety building project after Wold Architects projected the project cost had increased to $15.5 million. A special meeting of the council was held on Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss the increase and determine next possible steps. Jonathan Loose, a contractor for Wold Architects, explained what he determined to be three critical areas that led...
Meadows on Fairview named as top rated facility in the country
Community involvement remains a priority For the second year in a row, Meadows on Fairview earned the title as one of the best nursing homes for short-term rehabilitation by the U.S. News and World Report. Kayla Luraas, the campus administrator, wasn’t surprised to receive the designation again because she observes the dedication of nurses and administrators to residents and patients every day. ...
Sports Briefs: Forest Lake basketball moves up in the SEC standings
The Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team (3-5, 6-8) beat Woodbury and Park of Cottage Grove last week for their first two conference wins of the season. The Rangers beat Irondale 48-40 on Wednesday, Jan. 25, to extend the winning streak to three games. The Rangers passed Irondale and Roseville in the Suburban East Conference standings and are suddenly just one win away from Mounds View and two wins away from Cretin-Derham Hall. While the Rangers only had a two-point advantage in a much closer...
Forest Lake boys hockey wins two of past three, ‘restructuring’ since personnel loss
The Rangers lose their leading goal scorer The Forest Lake Rangers boys hockey team will play the rest of the season without their leading goal scorer in sophomore Malachi McKinnon, who left Forest Lake to go play with the Long Island Gulls 16U AAA hockey team in East Meadow, New York, according to EliteProspects. McKinnon scored eight goals and 18 points in eight games this season. He averaged two points...
Forest Lake Rangers boys wrestling wins eight straight matches
The Rangers hope to be No. 1 seed in sections after strong week The Forest Lake boys wrestling team is on an eight-match winning streak after coming out on top in the Chisago Lakes Tri on Thursday, Jan. 19, the Forest Lake Tri on Friday, Jan. 20, and the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejacket Duals on Saturday, Jan. 21. The Rangers won 51-18 against Chisago Lakes and 45-25 over Big Lake on Thursday before 76-3 and 65-3 home wins over Cretin-Derham Hall and White Bear Lake, respectively, on...
Forest Lake Rangers girls hockey heating up down the stretch
A new forechecking system, secondary scoring helps Rangers in latest run The Forest Lake Rangers girls hockey team is 5-2-1 in their past eight games, improving to 8-12-1 on the season as the team sits exactly in the middle in Suburban East Conference play. Despite losing JennaRae Bateman and Hannah Melander to graduation, two of the top three scorers from last season, the Rangers are only two wins shy of tying their seven conference wins from last season. ...
World Snow Sculpting Championship returns to Stillwater
The World Snow Sculpting Championship will return to Stillwater for its second year from Jan. 18-21 at Lowell Park. The event came to Stillwater after the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce signed a contract with Winter Fun, LLC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The championship is sanctioned by the Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace based in Finland. Chamber President Robin Anthony says that event was a great success for...
Snow days causes students to swivel to e-learning
2019-made policy put into effect after pandemic-fueled online learning Snow days, as many remember them, are not entirely a thing of the past in the Forest Lake Area School District. But they are a thing of the past for at least this school year. In 2019, the district passed an e-learning policy in place of snow days. That policy allows for up to two days canceled due to poor weather,...
Forest Lake concerned marijuana bill strips control from city
Enforcement and cost among top worries by city officials After the legalization of certain THC products last summer, members of the DFL-controlled Legislature are aiming to fully legalize marijuana. But some of Forest Lake’s city staff have concerns about the proposed bills, and how that might impact the city in terms of enforcement or other avenues of local control. “I think it’s really clear that the bill was drafted with...
MDE survey shows teen vaping down, alcohol use declining
A Minnesota Department of Education survey recently released showed that Forest Lake students are using less tobacco and e-cigarettes, while alcohol consumption remains steady. The survey is given to students in grades eight, nine and 11, and is given every three years over the last decade. Earlier this school year, the anonymous student survey was taken by 368 eighth graders, 372 ninth graders and 317 11th graders. Teen tobacco, vape use is down ...
Forest Lake’s Evelyn Hudrlik qualifies for IBU Youth World Championships
The senior is headed to Kazakhstan after finishing third at trials Forest Lake Area High School senior Evelyn Hudrlik is among four athletes who recently qualified to represent Team USA at the IBU Youth World Championships held in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan, on March 4-12. Hudrlik came up short last year when she finished sixth at the biathlon trials at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah. This time around, she placed...
Forest Lake gymnastics team wins triangular meet
The team is still making lineup adjustments The Forest Lake Rangers gymnastics team won a triangular meet against Cretin-Derham Hall and Mounds View/Irondale at home on Friday, Jan. 13. The Rangers finished with 134.075 points – ahead of Mounds View/Irondale (128.450) and Cretin-Derham Hall (124.375). It wasn’t originally scheduled to be a triangular meet, but due to weather that forced the cancellation of an earlier meet was made up for through the triangular. ...
Sports Briefs: Forest Lake wrestling and alpine ski top the highlights
After starting the season 0-5 and then going on a three-game win streak, the Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team is winless in their past three games where they’ve been outscored by 41 points. That includes two conference losses last week: a 63-51 loss to Cretin-Derham Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 11, and a close 69-66 loss against Roseville on Friday, Jan. 13. Junior Braedan Turk (20 points) was the only player to score more than 10 points in the Rangers’ loss to Cretin-Derham Hall, where...
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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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