With temperatures in the 30′s this past week, Fergus Falls residents surely have enjoyed the weather. However, reality will kick back in this weekend after we welcome winter back from its short vacation.
According to the National Weather Service of Grand Forks, a major snow and freezing rain storm will makes its way into the area late Friday night, and early Saturday morning. The storm will move from the southern Red River Valley into Minnesota, and will mainly effect west central/north west Minnesota.
The immediate Fergus Falls area is expected to get anywhere between 6 to 12 inches of snow. When the snow is over with, blowing and drifting snow will also several impact any travel Sunday night and well into the day on Monday.
While it’s too early to determine exact measurements, due to fluctuating temperature forecasts, Fergus Falls could get up to a half-inch layer of ice as well.
As always you can trust Fergus Forum to have the latest weather information, as well as up-to-the-minute weather-related delays and cancellations.
U.S. Steel, the world’s tenth largest steel producer, has agreed to sell its 3,000-acre of land adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Superior National Forest to the State of Minnesota.
U.S. Steel has agreed to sell the land to Minnesota for $18 million in cash. The $2.3 million which U.S. Steel paid to appraise the land, would be treated as a donation to the state.
Lake Vermilion state park would be Minnesota’s first new state park in over 30 years.
In 2008, when there was previous discussion with the state of Minnesota and U.S. Steel, there was a dispute over the value of the land — which many thought would end the plan for a new state park. The state was limited by the Legislature on how much cash it could offer, which was limited to $20 million.
Just last year, Minnesota offered U.S. Steel a mere $14.7 million for the land, which was far below the value of $26 million U.S. Steel had the land appraised for.
With the numerous ridges of bedrock overlooking the lake, it is thought to be some of the most beautiful land in the state.
The new park would abut Soudan Underground Mine State Park, and together the two parks would provide more than 10 miles of recreational shoreline on a lake that includes 365 islands spread over 40,000 acres of water.
Former Fergus Falls teacher and coach, Phil Link, has resigned a position in Chaska after allegations of financial wrong-doing.
According to a search warrant filed by Chaska Police in Carver County Court, the district alleges that between June 14 and Dec. 15, 2009, Link, head football coach and administrative dean, “made claims for reimbursement to the school district for costs he did not incur and were eventually paid for by another party that did not know he already had received compensation for those costs.”
The financial scope of the allegations is currently unclear. According to details in the search warrant, alleged financial improprieties appear to pertain to a summer football program.
According to the Jan. 14 school board packet, Link is resigning his position as head football coach and administrative dean effective Jan. 29. Link did not return two calls from the Herald for comment.
Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight said he could not comment on the case, but would “confirm we have an open investigation.” No charges have yet been filed against Link. At this time, the Carver County Attorney’s Office has no comment.
Nancy Kracke, director of communications and staff relations for District 112, acknowledged that the district had received Link’s resignation. “There were concerns brought to our attention about Coach Link,” she said.
Kracke noted that Link was put on paid administrative leave while the district conducted an investigation, though she could not say when that occurred. “Our investigation is over,” she said. “And he has resigned.”
Kracke said that until the school board takes action, the details of the investigation are “still a personnel issue” that she was not able to comment further on.
Although no charges have been filed yet against Link, a search warrant executed on Dec. 23 resulted in the confiscation of Link’s bank account records at Community Bank Chaska.
The search warrant indicates that on Dec. 3, James O’Connell, director of Administrative Services, told police he believed Link made claims for reimbursement through District 112 Community Education for expenses he did not pay for, and that had already been billed to the Chaska Touchdown Club football booster organization.
Reimbursement claims centered on expenses submitted for a summer football camp coached by Link. The search warrant alleges that Link requested reimbursement from both Community Education and the Chaska Touchdown Club.
The warrant also implies that Link did not pay assistant coaches their full salaries for the camp, stating that Link insisted on receiving the coaches’ salaries for the camp and distributing them himself. In one example, the search warrant stated that Link told Community Education Coordinator Susan Harberts that he planned to pay assistant coach Rodney Melton $1,000. Melton later said he was paid only $800.
Other coaches allegedly reported the same thing. According to the search warrant, $4,200 was given to Link for coaches’ salaries, but only $3,450 was paid out.
The warrant stated that Link allegedly believed the Touchdown Club would cover his expenses and he would keep the money given to him by Community Education as “assistance while he transitioned to his new job as football coach and dean.”
Link said he “needed the money because the school district had not paid him until September,” but according to the warrant, school district records show that Link received his first paycheck on July 15.
Link was hired as head football coach for the high school in May after stints at Fergus Falls High School and in North Branch. He was a two-time finalist for Teacher of the Year in Fergus Falls and was named the Nike Football Coach of the year in 2002.
Under Link, the Hawk football team posted a 3-6 record in 2009, finishing with a 28-14 loss to Minnetonka in the Section 6-5A quarterfinals.
At the time of his hiring, Chaska High School Athletic Director Troy Stein said, “Phil completely impressed and inspired us with his enthusiasm and passion for coaching football. Phil comes with a strong football background and will serve as an outstanding leader of our football program.
“Phil exemplifies the leadership, knowledge and dedication we strive for in our football program, Chaska High School and the community of Chaska,” he said.
Link has patrolled the sidelines as a high school football coach for more than 20 seasons, since completing an All-American football playing career at Olivet University in Illinois.
He began as an assistant football coach at Kankakee High School in Kankakee, Ill., and was the head football coach at Underwood High School from 1989-98.
In 1999, Link was hired as the head football coach at Fergus Falls High School, and also served an assistant for the Minnesota State Community and Technical College football team in Fergus Falls.
Link was hired to coach the North Branch High School team in June, 2008 and led the Vikings to a 1-8 season.
School budget constraints cut Link’s physical education teaching position at the school in April, 2009.
North Branch football players, parents and fans took a liking to Link. An online petition was created to lobby the North Branch school board to keep Link on as coach, and consider him for the then-vacant athletic director position. More than 700 signatures were attached to the effort.
North Dakota’s attorney general said he expects the state to sue Minnesota over a plan there to tax carbon created by electrical generation.
After discussing the issue with the state Industrial Commission in a closed session this month, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said “It is very likely that we will be suing the state of Minnesota.”
At issue is a measure by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission to add a fee of between $4 and $34 per ton of carbon dioxide to the cost of electrical generation starting in 2012. The majority of electricity in North Dakota is generated by coal-fired power plants, which emit a large amount of carbon relative to other fuels sources. North Dakota officials argue that the move would place an unfair tax on electricity from the state and discourage its use by Minnesota utilities.
Stenehjem said possible legal action would relate to constitutional protections against restrictions on commerce between states.
The North Dakota Legislature in 2007 allocated $500,000 for litigation on the carbon tax proposal, and the Industrial Commission has protested the plan more than once since then. Stenehjem said that he and other officials have met with the Minnesota governor and attorney general and North Dakota officials have exhausted other means of resolving the dispute. He said that a venue or a timeframe has not been chosen for litigation.
Besides their argument that Minnesota’s move is an illegal attempt to regulate utilities outside of that state, Stenehjem said the plan does not take into account technology here to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants by capturing carbon dioxide or converting coal to cleaner burner forms.
“What they’re failing to recognize is that we’re doing much more than Minnesota” in terms of clean coal research, Stenehjem said. “We don’t need Minnesota to come in and say that they love the environment more than we do.”
He said that state officials have invited Minnesota regulators to visit carbon capture projects here, but no one has accepted the offer.
Carbon dioxide produced by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels has been blamed for global warming.
Minnesota would just barely miss keeping its eight Congressional seats, based on an analysis of new state population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Congressional reapportionment forecast by State Demographer Tom Gillaspy projects Missouri would receive the last seat apportioned, with Minnesota just missing by about 1,100 people – a difference of less than one month’s population change for Minnesota. The difference between California, Texas, Missouri and Minnesota for the last three seats is about 2,200 people, which is well within the potential estimating error.
“Basically, this is a dead heat,” said Gillaspy. “Remember, these are just estimates by the Census Bureau, and our chances of retaining eight seats are improving every day. What will decide the issue is getting everyone in Minnesota counted in the 2010 Census.” Every household in the state will receive the 10-question Census form in mid-March 2010, which should then be returned to the Census Bureau by April 1.
The Census Bureau estimates the population of Minnesota at 5,266,214 in July 2009, up by 35,647, or 0.68 percent, over 2008. This is similar to the growth experienced by Minnesota the previous year. North Dakota increased by 0.85 percent, a remarkable turnaround for a state that was declining in population at the beginning of the decade. South Dakota increased by 0.98 percent, Wisconsin by 0.48 percent and Iowa by 0.46 percent.
Apportionment – resetting the number of U.S. House of Representative seats allocated to each state as required by the Constitution – is based on the populations counted in the Census taken every 10 years. States projected to lose seats are Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which is expected to lose two. States projected to gain seats are Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Texas, which is expected to gain four seats.
A cross country storm will play the part of Scrooge on Christmas, bringing a blizzard to the Fergus Falls area Thursday night. Up to a foot and a half to two feet of snow may fall upon the Fergus Falls area, along with high winds.
According to Fergus Forum’s weather partner, AccuWeather, between December 22nd and December 26th, the direct Fergus Falls area can expect 16.5 inches of fresh snow. The majority of the snow will fall late Christmas eve, however it will continue on into Christmas day when high winds blow in.
The National Weather Service has listed Fergus Falls in a winter storm warning, but it is expect to be upgraded to a blizzard watch, or blizzard warning, on Christmas Eve. Stay tuned to Fergus Forum for the latest weather updates, as well as area business closings or delays.
Some of the big-screen TVs that were en route to Minnesota veterans homes have been damaged. The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs is reporting that eight of the 14 TVs it received were damaged when they arrived. The State did insure the FedEx shipments, however, and have filed proper claim paperwork. Each individual television is estimated to be worth just over $1,500. While veteran homes in Silver Bay and Hastings may be out of luck for the television sets for a while, Fergus Falls and Minneapolis did receive the televisions they were scheduled to receive.
Just over two months ago, Governor Tim Pawlenty ordered the big-screen TVs out of the State’s sex offender program, and directed that they be installed at the veteran homes statewide.
Six illegal aliens were discovered living and working in Perham on Wednesday. They are currently in the custody of the United States Border Patrol, located in Grand Forks, and are waiting deportation back to Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The six illegal aliens were discovered after a wage dispute, which caused someone to notify the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s office. The employer in Perham has yet to be named. All six of the illegal aliens were men aged 20 to 33-years old.
In an effort to protect visitors from anticipated flooding this year, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has built a dike around the parking areas at the Lake Iverson rest area on Interstate 94 eastbound in Otter Tail County.
“We expect rain or snow followed by warm weather or freezing that may cause unsafe conditions,” said Lee Berget, District 4 Transportation Engineer. “Although there is no immediate danger to motorists we are preparing to take quick action if necessary yet this fall or next spring.”
Motorists’ safety is Mn/DOT’s first priority. The Lake Iverson rest area will remain open, unless it is no longer safe for visitors to fully access it. If conditions make closing the rest area necessary, the facility will likely be closed with little or no notice. Once the rest area closes, it will remain closed until flood waters recede and the facility is completely safe and fully functional.
Mn/DOT continues to explore all options to keep the rest area open as long as possible, and appreciates the public’s understanding of the current situation at the Lake Iverson rest area.
For information about road closures and current road conditions call 5-1-1 or log onto www.511mn.org.
Starting next year, inmates at the Wadena County Jail will be charged $20 for every day they’re housed in the jail. They’ll also be responsible for any medical expenses they incur. Wadena County Sheriff Mike Carr says the goal is to deter people who periodically land themselves in jail so they can take advantage of free services. He says there are some people who never go to a doctor or dentist, but as soon as they get to jail they get a toothache. The jail program is called “Pay to Stay.” It starts in January. It will rely on a collection agency to bill the inmates. Carr says the message is, if you “can’t pay for the time, don’t do the crime.”
