The Red River in Fargo-Moorhead, and the smaller rivers that feed it, are rising faster than predicted just a few days ago and are on pace to approach the record flood levels seen last year.
The National Weather Service predicted that the Red River in the Fargo-Moorhead area would reach 38 feet by early Saturday morning, which will leave the area roughly one week to prepare once again. The new prediction came two days after the National Weather Service announced it would hit 28.2 feet by Friday, which essentially is a prediction increase an a two day span.
According to the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, the Red River in Fargo has been outpacing expectations since late last week. It hit its 18-foot flood stage early on Saturday, a day before that was supposed to happen. Then, on Sunday, it was barely 2 feet shy of its 25-foot moderate flood stage, which late last week wasn’t supposed to happen until mid-day Wednesday.
Cass County Sherrif, Paul Laney said, “People need to realize it’s here. It’s here. It’s here today. If you need to protect your home, the time is now.”
Just an hour south of Fargo lies the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area, which is also experiencing flooding throughout the area. There, the Red River is expected to reach 12 feet by Tuesday, and could reach 18 to 19 feet by the end of the
Confident of the city’s flood protection, Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth said they will protect residents to the best of their ability. But with above-average temperatures and precipitation expected within the next 8-10 days, he’s encouraging everyone to take any precautions necessary.
“I want people to know they need to protect themselves – as far as sump pumps, as far as plugs for their basement,” he said. “They need to be ready to take care of themselves. We can’t protect them from all of that.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed the Iverson Lake rest area at approximately 1 p.m. due to flooding. The Iverson Lake rest area is located south of Fergus Falls on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 94. The rest area will be closed until further notice.
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Spring truck weight restrictions begin next week in all state frost zones
Legal truck weight limits that were increased during the winter months in Minnesota will end next week. Spring weight restrictions will begin at the same time, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced.
Spring truck weight restrictions begin in the south, southeast and Twin Cities Metro frost zones at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, March 8. Spring weight restrictions in the central, north-central and north frost zones begin at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9.
No overweight truck permits are issued during the spring load restriction period.
Frost zone boundaries are:
South: Iowa border north to Highway 12 and from the Dakota County border east to the Hennepin County line, along the Carver and Scott county lines to Interstate 35, south to the Iowa border. (This zone includes Highway 19 along the Scott County border.)
Southeast: Iowa border north along I-35 (does not include I-35) to the Scott County line, east along the Dakota County line, including Highway 19 to the Wisconsin border.
Twin CitiesMetropolitan area: Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties. (This zone does not include Highway 19 along the southern border of Scott County.)
Central: Southern limit of the north-central zone (Highway 10, Highway 210, Highway 18, I-35, Highway 48) to a line following and including Highway 12 from the South Dakota border to the Hennepin County line.
North-Central: Southern limit of the north zone to a line following U.S. Highway 10 from the North Dakota border east to Motley, Highway 210 east to Brainerd, Highway 18 east to I-35, I-35 south to Highway 48 and then Highway 48 east to the Wisconsin border.
North: South from the Canadian border to a line following Highway 1, Highway 89, Highway 2 and Highway 33 and I-35 at the Carlton-St. Louis county line and then south to the Wisconsin border.
“Truck weight restrictions are used in the spring to help preserve pavements that lose strength due to partial thaw conditions and trapped water,” said Keith Shannon, director of Mn/DOT’s Office of Materials. “The ending dates for spring load restrictions are variable and dependent on weather condition changes.”
Information is also available toll-free by calling 1-800-723-6543 in the United States and Canada, or 651-366-5400 in the Twin Cities metro area. For questions about legal weight/size trucking call the Minnesota Department of Public Safety State Patrol, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement 651-405-6171 (select Option 3, Option 3). For questions about over legal weight/size “heavy haul” trucking, call the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations, Oversize/Weight Permits 651-296-6000.
Travelers in Minnesota can get up-to-date information on road conditions, construction and weather reports from Mn/DOT’s 511 traveler information service. Dial 5-1-1 or go to the Internet at www.511mn.org.
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.
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.
People who own property on Minnesota’s more than 10,000 lakes are facing higher fees to take out permits to control aquatic plants along their shorelines.
Three public hearings on proposed changes are set for later this month: Feb. 23 in Fergus Falls, Feb. 24 in Little Falls and Feb. 25 in Plymouth.
The Legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources to recover the costs of its aquatic plant management permit program through fees.
The DNR proposes to increase permit fees for aquatic plant control adjacent to privately owned lake shore from the current $35 to $90. It also proposes a new $100 fee for businesses that remove aquatic plants.
Another revision would prohibit control of lotus flowers in public waters.
A group 25 schools in southwestern Minnesota are lobbying for the state to lift a law that prevents the academic school year before Labor Day. With Labor Day falling on September 6th this year, and the 7th last year, southwestern Minnesota schools feel their students are missing out on valuable education days.
For the 2009-2010 school year, Fergus Falls schools started before Labor Day, but that was due to a major construction project. However, Fergus Falls is dismissing their students for summer vacation significantly early this year as well. In addition to Fergus Falls, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, St. James, and Milaca school districts all started early this year due to major construction projects.
For the 2010-2011 school year, Fergus Falls Public Schools will begin September 7th, the day after Labor Day. The school board approved this on January 26th, during a board meeting.
What a spicy Cajun mix for the NFC championship game.
Brett Favre, headed for the Hall of Fame someday, highlights yet another comeback by facing the team he rooted for while growing up in Mississippi.
His Minnesota Vikings — ouch, say Packers fans — were on the way to their first Super Bowl trip in 33 years, with the 40-year-old quarterback resembling the wide-eyed youngster who took Green Bay to the title in the very same Superdome in 1997. However, in over time, the Vikings barely lost to the Saints.
And those Superdome tenants, the New Orleans Saints, are hosting a conference championship for the first time. A Super Bowl would provide a massive lift for a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina’s devastation and torment more than four years ago.
A Saints victory Sunday could set off Mardi Gras a few weeks early, with the celebration carrying on right up until the Feb. 7 big game in Miami.
Along with those tasty story lines, remember that these are the NFL’s two highest-scoring teams, with offensive playmakers who can light up scoreboards and make fans’ heads spin.
But they also have such defensive standouts as Vikings All-Pro end Jared Allen, who led the NFC with 14 1/2 sacks; Saints end Will Smith, who was second to Allen with 13; and New Orleans All-Pro Darren Sharper, a ball-hawking safety who ran back three of his league-leading nine interceptions for touchdowns and, incidentally, was dumped by the Vikings last year after four seasons in Minnesota.
TV couldn’t come up with a better script for prime-time viewing.
“It’s hard to explain,” Favre said. “But as exciting and as exhilarating as the win is, the reality is I was fortunate enough to win one Super Bowl (1997 in New Orleans), the next year we lose one. And I think more about the one we lost than the one we won. I can’t explain it to you how that feeling is, so the championship game is no different. I’ve always treated every playoff game like it’s the Super Bowl.”
Few of the Saints (14-3) have been in such a position. As a long-underachieving franchise since their founding in 1966, the Saints have been to exactly one conference final, losing at Chicago three years ago. This is just their seventh time in the playoffs in a 44-year existence perhaps most renowned for their fans wearing paper bags on their heads — nope, Favre never went that far growing up — and dubbing the team Aints.
Their recent success, particularly in the 2006 season following a year as nomads because of Katrina, has been inspiring. The prospect of being host in the rebuilt Superdome — a symbol for New Orleans as important as the Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco — has locals in a frenzy. One of the great party cities in America, New Orleans might be ready for an unprecedented celebration if the Saints conquer the Vikings (13-4).
“Sometimes you have to make those tough decisions and fight through adversity in order to kind of achieve what you thought you maybe might not be able to achieve otherwise,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said.
Brees’ arrival as a free agent in 2006, along with that of coach Sean Payton, began the difficult turnaround in the Big Easy.
“I would say this city having gone through what it’s gone through, and this organization having gone through what it’s gone through over the past five or six years before Katrina and post-Katrina, has allowed us to have the opportunity that we have now. It’s hardened us, given us an edge,” he said. “But, in the end, it’s made us tougher. It’s brought us together. It’s united us. That’s all for the better.”
The Vikings never have been the better team in Super Bowls. They are 4-4 when getting this far. Then, zippo.
Of course, Favre was in elementary school the last time Minnesota won the NFC. Most of the other Vikings weren’t even born then.
The Vikings prefer to ignore their history. Those Super Bowl losses belong to another generation; yes, even Favre is not part of that generation.
Favre understands this won’t be a homecoming, either.
“I don’t think too many people down there will be compassionate that I am with the Vikings coming in,” he said. “They’ve waited a long time for it. That’s going to be a factor that we have to handle, obviously. I think it goes without saying how happy I am that we have this opportunity.”
Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Kenny Chesney will be headlining this years WE Fest country music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minn. this year.
32 Below, based out of Fargo, will kick off the event on August 5th, and Rand Houser, Gloriana, Montgomery Gentry, and Urban will follow.
On August 6th, the group Troubadour starts, and then will be followed by Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, and Kid Rock.
The final day of the country music festival, August 7th, will begin with Hitchville, who will be followed by Joe Nichols, Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley, and then Kenny Chesney.
Single-day tickets are available for $49, while they last, or three day tickets are available for $99 as well. Festival and camping tickets cost up to $1,000, but includes elevated seating with hospitality. More information about purchasing tickets, or the event in general, is available on wefest.com, or by calling (800) 493-3378.
The first WE Fest was held in 1983, and on average, over 50,000 people attend over the duration of the event. In 2007, a record attendance record was set, with over 83,000 people.
