Fergus Falls Forum

A head coach at Chaska High School was charged on Wednesday for stealing from Chaska High School.

Phil Link was hired by Chaska last year to turn the team around. Many believe he did his job by motivating the players. Link resigned at the end of January as an investigation into wrongdoing hovered over his head.

He was charged with theft by swindle.

The Carver County attorney saying it all stems from a summer football camp he ran in 2009 in Chaska.

During that camp, Coach Link incurred expenses that were to be reimbursed to him. But according to the complaint, he submitted billings to two different places, the school district and the Chaska touchdown club. He was allegedly double dipping.

Superintendent David Jennings says the school acted as the middle man, collecting the money for the camp from the families of the players, then turned around and reimbursed link without knowledge.

He was apparently getting the money elsewhere on top of the expenses; the complaint says Link was to use money given to him to pay his assistant coaches.

It alleges he was to dish out $4,200 instead only paying out $3,450, which means he allegedly kept $750 for himself.

Westridge Mall officials have confirmed that they have signed a lease agreement for a new anchor store that will not only fill space that has been vacant for over a decade, but will expand the building as well.

Dunham’s Sports is scheduled to open mid-2010, and will move into the space where JC Penny formerly was located. The sporting goods store will be 20-30,000 square feet.

The Westridge Mall will be undergoing a near-million-dollar renovation project in preparation for Dunham’s. Westridge Mall developers are contributing 200-thousand dollars, and the rest of the funds will come from various lenders, such as the Economic Development Commission.

Dunham’s Sports currently has seven Minnesota stores, with the nearest being in Wilmar. The company has a total of 150 stores in states such as South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, as well as a handful of others. Around 50 people are employed at every Dunham’s location.

According to the company’s website, they were founded in 1937 as Dunham’s Bait & Tackle, and are based in Michigan. Their website also stated that they offer a complete line of sporting goods, athletic equipment, active sports gear and leisure apparel.

Last week, Jamestown Area Ambulance lost two ambulances, which happens to be half of their fleet, due to crashes.

One of the vehicles crashed on Interstate 94 on February 8th while transporting a patient to a Fargo hospital, and was a total loss. Just three days later, a another ambulance was damaged in a collision at an intersection in Jamestown.

Nancy Miller, the Business Manager for Jamestown Area Ambulance, said vehicles from Ringdahl Ambulance in Fergus Falls had to be brought in due to the crashes.

Miller also said that the damaged ambulance will be in the repair shop for up to three weeks, and it may take up to four months to replace the ambulance that was totaled.

Jamestown Area Ambulance is owned by Fergus Falls-based Ringdahl Ambulance.

The fundraiser for Marcus Krebs and his family on February 15 collected enough money for the family to purchase a new van.

From 4:30 to 8:00 PM at the VFW in Fergus Falls, people poured in to show their support for Marcus and his family for an silent auction and meatball dinner. The fundraiser collected enough donations to get the 27-thousand dollar van, equipped with a wheelchair lift, that they were hoping for.

Marcus, who is 14-years-old, cannot walk or stand without help due to his cerebral palsy. As he grows older, it’s become a challenge for his parents to transport him in and out of the family’s standard vehicle.

Mark and Barb Samuelson, Marcus’ parents, say its hard to express their family’s gratitude to the community.

On Tuesday night, the Fergus Falls City Council rejected a proposed spending ordinance brought to the Council by a group of five residents.

During a 15-minute closed discussion with the Fergus Falls City Attorney, Rolf Nycklemoe, the Council came to an almost unanimous decision.

The Council voted 7 to 1 to reject the proposed ordinance, with Randy Synstelien voting in favor.

Last October, a group of five residents formed the Fergus Votes committee in which they had a petition drive, where they collected over 900 signatures, to get the proposed ordinance on the Council’s agenda. Their purpose was to draft a spending ordinance for the city of Fergus Falls, using the Initiation of Measures as outlined in Chapter Six of the City Charter   The committee delivered a certified copy of the ordinance to the City Administrator on December 2, 2009.

Even though the Council rejected the proposed ordinance, its not over yet for the Fergus Votes committee. In a blog post on Tuesday night, Daryl Synstelien, the committee leader, they’re just getting started.

As of now, there are several possibilities, all of which will end in Fergus Falls residents voting on the issue, either during a special election between March and July, or during the general election in November.

The special election would be required by the proposed ordinance, and the November general election ballot question would follow the petition for referendum which would occur when the City Council passes an ordinance approving the issuance of bonds by the Fergus Falls Port Authority – likely in August.

The national commander of The American Legion is spending five days in Minnesota where he’ll visit a dozen Legion posts around the state.

Clarence Hill starts his tour Sunday with visits to Legion posts in the Minneapolis suburbs of Wayzata and Coon Rapids. Over the following four days he’ll make stops at posts in Richfield, Red Wing, Stewartville, Blooming Prairie, Mankato, Spicer, Fergus Falls, Waite Park, and rounding out his visit in Roseville.

Legion members who want to attend should contact their local posts.

Hill is a former naval captain who served for 24 years before retiring in 1996. He commanded the guided missile Frigate USS McInerney during combat operations in Operation Desert Storm.

I-94 Speedway is racing back to Fergus Falls for the 2010 season, according to Dick & Karla Kadelbach-Johaneck, owners of the racetrack on County Road 88 in Fergus Falls. The I-94 Speedway in Sauk Centre will be temporally closed during the 2010 season, according to the company’s website.

April 30th will mark the season opener for the Fergus Falls racetrack, with races beginning at 7:30PM. Races will continue throughout the summer, until September 3rd, when the season championships will be held.

While race fans may notice many differences during the 2010 season compared to previous seasons, one difference will stick out. According to Kadelbach-Johaneck,the asphalt has been removed, and racers will run on a dirt track. The races will consist of late models, mods, street, super stock, and INEX legends.

Ticket prices will be based on age, like many other racing events throughout the area. Adult tickets are $10, juniors (ages 13 to 17) and seniors (62 years, or older) are $7, students (ages 6 to 12) are $5, and children 5, and under, get into the races for free.

More information regarding the I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls may be found on their website, http://www.i94speedways.com or by calling (800) 328-7659.

The Westridge Mall in Fergus Falls will soon be seeing a much-needed face-lift. A 900-thousand dollar renovation project is currently being planned to help secure a new department store in the old JC Penny’s location of the complex.

Gordon Hydukovich, the city’s community development director, says the deal includes city tax abatement to the developer for 15 to 20 years, a 150-thousand dollar loan from the Economic Development Commission, as well as another 150-thousand dollar loan from the Intermediate Relending Program, a 400-thousand dollar loan from the Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation, and a 200-thousand dollar contribution from the developer of the project.

On February 16th, the Fergus Falls City Council will discuss the proposed project at their regularly scheduled meeting.

The Fergus Falls Police & Fire Departments were called to the liquor store complex in downtown Fergus Falls on Monday night. At around 4:50 PM, authorities were called to the scene when a store employee noticed smoke in the building. According to the fire department, an electrical fire was to blame, and caused minimal damage. The only damage that occurred was to an electrical box within the building.

Authorities had a portion of west Washington avenue blocked off for about an hour during the incident.

Residents in Otter Tail County, on average, spend $867 per month on shopping, $436 on house and home, $559 on health and family, $430 on transportation, $350 food and drink, and $164 on travel and leisure. While at first it may seem as if Otter Tail County residents are spending a lot, the area matches up closely with Fargo and Minneapolis with their spending.

SHOPPING

With shopping being the largest category we spend our money on (beating house and home by almost double!), we thought we should break down this category even more.

On average, residents spend $696 on general shopping, $65 on clothing, shoes, and other wear, $64 on hobbies, $26 on electronics, and $16 on office supplies.

For general shopping, the most popular stores in Fergus Falls include Mills Fleet Farm, Walmart, Target, and Kmart, with the average purchase size being $122. For clothing, shoes, and other wear, you wont see many citizens buying their items in Fergus Falls, however. With an average of $65 spent on this  category, it’s all pouring out to other communities. TJ Maxx, Eddie Bauer, and DSW, are some of the places residents of the area choose to buy their clothing.

HEALTH & FAMILY

With $559, on average, being spent on our health, as well as our families, this category comes in second for residents of the area.

$249 is spent per month on insurance, $148 on health-care, and $100 on childcare.  Other subcategories include $24 per month being spent on pets, $22 being spent on personal care, and $16 being donated to charity.

HOUSE & HOME

With $436 being spent on our house and home, its obvious that residents in the area take pride in taking care of their homes. $182 is spent monthly on utilities expenses, $147 on home improvement, $80 on our monthly phone bill, and $27 on home maintenance.

GETTING AROUND

$430 of our monthly budget is spent on getting around. Residents spend, on average, $179 per month on gas, with Holiday, Casey’s General Store, and M & H, being the place residents chose to make their gasoline purchases. Residents also spend $251 on auto expenses, per month, with people in the 90th percentile spending a whopping $680 on their auto expenses!

FOOD & DRINK

Trailing behind transportation, is the food & drink category. $350 of our monthly household budget is spent on this category, on average. According to the data, more residents are choosing to dine at home, rather than dine at a restaurant. $215 is being spent on groceries per month versus $135 being spent on dining out.  If we look further into the data, our dining out purchases go to Applebee’s, McDonald’s, and Subway.

TRAVEL & LEISURE

The smallest category that residents of the area spend their money on is travel & leisure. With $116 being spent on travel, $32 spent on cabal/satellite, and $16 being spent on other entertainment, residents spend roughly $164 per month on this category.  The majority of the residents in the area prefer to take cruises according to the data, while hotel stay is toward the bottom of the list.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Is this data consistent with your average budget? Use the nifty comment feature and let us know!

Data from Bundle.com, MSN Money, Citi Group, and Morningstar Financial. Latest data available was from October 2009.