by Dennis Dalman by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com In November, Brady Andel lost his bid for election to the Sartell City Council, but as of Jan. 14 he will take a place on the council, anyway. That’s because at a special Jan. 7 city-council meeting, members agreed to appoint Andel to fill a vacancy on the council rather than conduct another
ConneX bus curbside pick-up service to start Jan. 2
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com A bus ride will soon be just a phone call away in Sartell. The new Metro Bus on-demand service pilot program called ConneX will start in the city Wednesday, Jan. 2. The pilot program is expected to last until June 30, 2019, at which time it will be evaluated for efficiency and success and possibly extended
Vaping devices aren’t harmless; ban them
These disgusting e-cigarettes remind me of the “candy cigarettes” we kids bought at Hackert’s Grocery Store some years before we turned on to the real thing – tobacco cigarettes. I sometimes wonder if those candy cigarettes were a “gateway” device that led me later to the real ones. The candy smokes looked like thin chalk sticks with red tips that
Council passes final budget/tax levy
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com At a Dec. 10 public hearing, the Sartell City Council unanimously approved a city budget and tax levy for 2019 – one with a property tax that is about the same as last year’s. No members of the audience spoke at the public hearing. The salient points of the budget/levy were presented to the council by
Bids approved for safety facility
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com Bob Strack, construction manager for the Public Safety Facilities project in Sartell, brought what he called “very good news” to the City Council at its Dec. 10 meeting. Strack is the head of Strack Construction Co. Inc., the company what will build the facility to house the police department and fire department in Sartell. The good
Three on council give farewells
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com There was a bittersweet, end-of-an-era feeling in the air Dec. 10 as three of the five Sartell City Council members bid farewell at their last meeting of 2018. The three are council members Pat Lynch and David Peterson and mayor, Sarah Jane Nicoll. They served up bouquets of praise and a flurry of thanks in saying
Chief honors officers for top-notch work
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com Two police officers were honored with awards at the Dec. 10 Sartell City Council meeting, one of them for his quick expertise at the site of a house fire, the other for spearheading so many training programs for officers. Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes read the citations of praise and presented the awards. On Sept. 12
Author of new book caddied for O.J.
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com When he was a kid playing with buddies on a farm near Milaca, little did Mitchell Mesko know that he would one day, years later, meet a football hero who figured in one of his rough-and-tumble kids’ games. The hero was O.J. Simpson, and so many years later Mesko, much to his astonishment, served as his