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Forest Lake Times
Sports Preview: Young ski teams look to continue success
The teams have a mix of young and old The Forest Lake Rangers boys Alpine ski team hopes to pursue a state appearance as a team and build off of last season after the team finished eighth in the section race last season. Senior Mathias Longsdorf was the only Ranger to make an appearance at state last year, so Forest Lake coach Trevor Pinewski said “the expectation is for him to continue to ski at that level.” ...
Sports Preview: Gymnastics team hopes to show improvement, stay healthy
The Rangers head into the season with experience The Forest Lake Rangers gymnastics team hopes to improve this year after finishing fourth at sections a year ago, a team that was composed mostly of junior varsity members, according to Forest Lake coach Lindsey Pierron. “We’re actually hoping it’s going to be a pretty good year,” Pierron said. “We have a lot of girls who were out for various injuries for...
Sports Preview: Boys wrestling has high aspirations, girls participation grows
Rangers hire first woman coach The Forest Lake Rangers boys wrestling team hopes to make an appearance at state as a team after falling one match short last year when they lost 41-30 to Anoka in the Class 3A Section 7 championship game. Forest Lake coach Joe Kunshier said he expects the team to compete against Anoka again this year in the section championship where they’ll look to reverse last...
Sports Preview: Boys swim and dive isn’t letting youth change expectations
The Rangers are focused on success and growth After sections last year, the Forest Lake Rangers boys swim and dive team received compliments from a few other coaches on the scene about how the team looked good even though they’re young, Forest Lake coach Dominick Mancini said. This happened despite the team’s seventh-place finish out of eight teams. The boys heard it and told Mancini that they have work to...
Major reconstruction of US-8 from FL to Chisago City coming
Over the years, US-8 has been tagged with some less than flattering nicknames: The Highway of Death and Bloody 8 are two examples. Safety has long been a concern for Chisago County officials for this federal highway that extends from Forest Lake to the Wisconsin border in Taylors Falls. Changes are coming to a section of the highway as a major reconstruction effort is being planned for eight miles of the heavily traveled road from Forest Lake to Chisago City ...
Sports Preview: Girls basketball hopes to take next step
The Rangers have several holes to fill heading into the new season The Forest Lake Rangers girls basketball team is going to have one major question on their mind heading into this upcoming season after finishing seventh in the Suburban East Conference with a 6-12 record in conference play and 8-19 record overall last season. How does the team neutralize the loss of Greta Krieger – to graduation – who...
Sports Preview: Boys hockey’s ‘desperate need’ for scoring critical to season’s success
The Rangers need players to step up after losing last season’s leading goal scorer The Forest Lake Rangers boys hockey team is heading into the upcoming season with uncertainty because of their roster changes, according to Forest Lake coach Jon Loo, after finishing seventh in the Suburban East Conference last season with a 5-9 record in conference play and 13-13-1 record overall. “We don’t know what to expect,” Loo said....
Sports Preview: Boys basketball hopes to surprise people this season
The team needs players to step up after the loss of last season’s leading point scorer The Forest Lake Rangers boys basketball team hopes to improve on their 3-15 record in Suburban East Conference play and 6-22 record overall from last season. Forest Lake coach Kyle McDonald said the expectations are high with three returning starters, a handful of players who played major minutes off the bench last season and...
Sports Preview: Girls hockey looks to overcome slow start
The Rangers dropped the opening four games of the season The Forest Lake Rangers girls hockey team is off to a rough start, sitting last in the Suburban East Conference after losing their first four games of the season. That includes all three last week — against East Ridge (7-4), Centennial/Spring Lake Park (4-1) and, most recently, Roseville/Mahtomedi (4-1) on Saturday, Nov. 19 — after falling in the season opener 7-1 against Stillwater on the road. ...
Sports Preview: Dance team aims for state with more difficult routines
Rangers are trying new things this season The Forest Lake Rangers dance team is bringing back a lot of their returning members with experience after dancing at sections last year. The team is looking to reclaim their conference titles from last year in both jazz and kick. They’ve been successful over the past six years with a conference title in either jazz or kick every year. “This year, I think...
Wyoming man arrested for Isanti Township burglary
The Isanti County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Wyoming man suspected on burglary on Monday, Nov. 21. According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, shortly after 10 a.m. that morning telecommunicators from the department received a 911 call reporting a suspicious male wearing all camouflage walking around the exterior of a building located in the 3100 block of 305th Avenue NE in Isanti Township. The report states that deputies arrived...
Wise, Johnson, Reinert elected to Anoka County positions
Chisago and Washington county races all unopposed incumbents Anoka County saw two major contended races this year. In what was one of the most heated races across Anoka County, Coon Rapids Police Chief Brad Wise defeated Anoka County Sheriff’s Office Division Commander Paul Lenzmeier in the race for Anoka County sheriff. Wise received a total of 67,546 votes and Lenzmeier ended at 63,766. ...
Democrats take control of state Legislature, but Republicans win most area races
Newly formed District 33B sole area race to flip blue In the battle for the Minnesota Legislature, Democrats seized power in both the House and Senate after the 2022 election. It’s the first time since 2012 that one party will control the Legislature and the governor’s office – that was also under DFL control. The House remained the same as the 2020 election, with a 70-65 split, but the Senate was flipped, with Democrats squeezing out a 34-33 majority. ...
Hagglund, Christenson, Rebelein Jr. elected to school board
Elections bring new, familiar faces to local offices The Forest Lake Area School Board’s three available seats are set for Luke Hagglund, Jill Christenson and Curt Rebelein Jr. to claim at the start of the 2023 term as they earned the most votes out of the seven candidates in the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Throughout the election, there were two running blocs of three people each vying for all...
Opposing coaches, Ranger seniors weigh in on Forest Lake football’s success
Several items drove the Rangers success this season Six regular season wins. A second place finish in the Metro-Maroon North conference. A playoff victory against Eagan. A section championship and Class 6A Second Round appearance against Maple Grove, one of the state’s top teams and the best team in the metro, according to the Star Tribune’s rankings on Tuesday, Oct. 25. The Forest Lake Rangers football team is coming off...
Girls swim and dive sees success, places third at sections
Rangers finish two spots higher than last year The Forest Lake Rangers girls swim and dive team came out of the 2022 Section 7AA Championship held from Thursday, Nov. 10, through Saturday, Nov. 12, at Coon Rapids High School, with a lot of accomplishments, but the team ultimately fell short of state – ending their season. The Rangers (346.5 points), who finished fifth last year, finished third as a team...
Westin Hoyt selected for all-star game
Senior Westin Hoyt was recently selected to play in the 2022 Minnesota High School All-Star football game that will be played on Saturday, Dec. 10, at U.S. Bank Stadium. Hoyt said he didn’t know a lot about it before finding out from Forest Lake coach Brad Beeskow that he was nominated. Hoyt finished the season with nine touchdowns and more than 800 combined rushing and receiving yards. “It’s super cool,”...
10 acres burn near Carlos Avery in Columbus
Area fire departments battle other blazes Dry and windy conditions fueled a woodland fire that burned roughly 10 acres near Carlos Avery Wildlife Sanctuary last Wednesday, Nov. 2. Crews were called to the blaze on 167th Ave NE in Columbus at 3:05 p.m., and battled the fire for nearly five hours to get it under control. While the fire was mostly knocked down by the overnight hours, the fire picked up again on Thursday morning, but was brought under control shortly after. Crews continued to...
Police tradition of hiring FL graduates continues to grow
Jim Trudeau must have been on to something. When he signed on as a Forest Lake police officer in 1965, he was breaking ground for a host of future officers who were Forest Lake High School graduates that had deep roots in the community. For sure, Trudeau was not the first Forest Lake man to wear the badge here. Locals such as Joe Fladland, Willy Roberts, Mel Picotte, Louis Columbo, Frank Daninger, Nels Berglin and Franklin Peterson served Forest Lake as marshals or constables during...
Victim of sexual abuse by Carter suing school district, LC4YF
Lawsuit also alleges district had prior knowledge of Carter’s behavior A victim of sexual abuse by former Forest Lake Area Middle School industrial tech teacher James Carter is suing Carter, the Forest Lake Area School District, and Lakes Center for Youth and Family, and one of the lawyers on the case is nationally known for lawsuits for victims of sexual abuse. Los Angeles-based lawyer Paul Mones was one of the...
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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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