After 10 years of cajoling and threats, the Minnesota Vikings finally got its way. The team will get a stadium at a cost of $1 billion, with slightly over half of that cost coming from various forms of public funds. Purple Pride exploded when the stadium deal finally passed the legislature. Even many who were opposed to the public-private deal
Garden Club needs volunteers
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com Volunteers are badly needed for the Sartell Volunteer Garden Club. At the first Garden Club meeting recently, only seven people attended. Most of the garden beds in the city’s 40 parks have not been “adopted” yet by volunteers. As a result, those beds – featuring mainly perennials such as shrubs and perennial flowers – are looking
Take time to notice kids’ goodness
That song, “Kids,” from the musical comedy “Bye Bye Birdie” keeps popping up in my mind. “Kids, I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today. Kids, who can understand anything they say? Kids, they are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy loafers . . . That song is wrong. It says more about jaded adults than it does
Spring products abound at ‘Market Monday’
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com “Market Monday,” which opened the growing season in Sartell May 14, offered an abundance of springtime produce and many hand-crafted items. Market Monday debuted in Sartell last spring and, like last year, the hours are from 3-6:30 p.m. every Monday, including Memorial Day and Labor Day. May 14 was warm and sunny as visitors to the
Memorial Day ceremony slated
Sartell will once again hold a Memorial Day ceremony starting at 9 a.m. Monday, May 28 at Veterans Park. There will be a contingent of veterans present, the presentation of the colors and a 21-gun salute. A medley of patriotic songs will be performed by the Sartell Community Band and singers. Refreshments will follow in the gazebo. Everyone is encouraged
City gets double-whammy of bad news
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com It was definitely not a “good news night” for the Sartell City Council at its May 14 meeting. At the end of the meeting, Sartell City Administrator Patti Gartland, like a reluctant bearer of bad tidings, shared the news she had received earlier that afternoon. Sartell, she said, will get only a drop in the bucket
High school honored with excellence award
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com Sartell High School is one of three schools in outstate Minnesota that earned ratings of “excellence” among nearly 22,000 public schools in the nation. St. Cloud Tech garnered a silver medal, one of 42 Minnesota schools who merited silver. Sartell High School and Rocori High School, Cold Spring, each were honored with bronze medals. They were
Henneses combat mental-illness stigmas through teaching
by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com The father of Steve Hennes of Sartell committed suicide in 1970 when Steve was only 19, just before Steve enlisted in the U.S. Army, partly to get away from his Little Falls home. Steve was the third of four sons in the family. He left behind his mother and a younger brother, 14. It was a