Morris in 2011: What happened around here? Part II

July 2011

• The beginning of July brought a number of personnel changes to businesses and offices in the area: Stevens County Chief Deputy Auditor-Treasurer Kieth Solvie retired after 42 years with the office; Paul Hendricks was named interim director of the Morris Area Chamber of Commerce; Bart Finzel was named interim vice chancellor of for academic affairs and dean at the University of Minnesota, Morris; Mark Ekren was named the Morris Area School District's activities director; and Tom Larson, editor of the Morris Sun Tribune, was named sports editor of the West Central Tribune.

• Six Tiger athletes were named to the West Central Tribune All-Area Teams: Dani Schultz and Mackenzie Weatherly were named to the softball team, and Ryan Beyer, Tyler Hansen, Eric Riley and Alex Erickson were named to the baseball team.

• The remains of 49-year-old Tamara Lee Mason of Alberta, who had been missing since December, were found buried on the property where she lived. Mason's 17-year-old son, Jacob Seth Cobb, was charged with second-degree intentional murder and second-degree murder while committing third-degree assault. Her other two sons, 18-year-old Andrew Quinton Cobb and 25-year-old Dylan Clemens were charged as accessories after the fact in the homicide.

• Aaron Jordan was appointed the new Stevens County and City of Morris attorney, to replace long-time attorney Charles Glasrud, who was appointed as an 8th Judicial District Judge. Jordan came to Stevens County in August after serving as the Assistant County Attorney in Cass County. Jordan was chosen over the other finalist, State Rep. Torrey Westrom, in part because of his extensive prosecutorial experience. Jordan was officially sworn into office in August.

August 2011

• Willie's SuperValu celebrated 60 years of service in Morris with their annual Parking Lot Party at East Side Park. Willie's served roast beef and pork sandwiches, beans, cake and pop with free-will donations for the Stevens County Food Shelf.

• Natalie Johnston, the daughter of Lee and Jean Johnston, was the second runner-up in the Minnesota Pork Ambassador competition.

• Kim Ukura was named editor of the Morris Sun Tribune. Ukura graduated from UMM in 2008 with a degree in English and an area of concentration in journalism. While at UMM, she worked for both the University Register and The Counterweight, as well as with the Center for Small Towns. Ukura was also an intern with the Sun Tribune while she was a UMM student.

• After a successful season with a record of 17-4, the Morris VFW baseball team ended their season in the first round of the state tournament.

• UMM's head softball coach, Heather Pennie, was inducted into the Minnesota Fastpitch Hall of Fame. Pennie had just finished a record-setting season with the women's softball team and been named to the Minnesota High School Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

• New University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler made a stop at UMM where he emphasized the campus' unique combination of a strong liberal arts core and emphasis on renewable energy and sustainability. Kaler's visit to UMM was his first stop at a coordinate campus since he took office on July 1.

• A fault in a high voltage power line on the first day of classes at UMM forced the campus to evacuate the science building and cancel late afternoon classes.

• The Morris Area and Chokio-Alberta football teams joined forces for the first time this season – the last of the high school sports teams to combine. Long-time Spartan head coach Neal Hofland joined the team as an assistant coach.

September 2011

• The Alberta Post Office found itself on a list of 3,700 post offices across the United States at risk of closing after the volume of work at the retail counter fell too low. At a community meeting with residents, representatives from the U.S. Postal Service told residents that the cost to keep the post office open is more than $38,900 per year, but that the office only brings in about $12,370 at the retail window each year.

• Hancock Police Chief Don Heikkinen died in a boating accident on Long Lake over Labor Day weekend. Heikkinen was reported missing on Sunday afternoon after a boat carrying six people capsized and only five made it back to shore.

• A tip from a local pharmacy led the Morris Police Department to three arrests related to a methamphetamine ring operating in the Morris Area. According to police reports, Matthew Hart, 24, of Morris; Thomas Bauer, 24, of Graceville; and Drew Stephen Middlebrook, 23, of Rochester, were all arrested and charged in connection to a burglary at West Central Implement in Morris and purchasing supplies to manufacture methamphetamine at pharmacies in Morris and Alexandria.

• Enrollment at UMM reached its highest level in more than 10 years, with 1,822 degree-seeking students enrolled on campus. When combined with non-degree-seeking students, enrollment reached 1,934.

• Department of Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman visited the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris and the biomass facility at UMM as part of a state-wide tour of Minnesota's clean energy marketplace and infrastructure.

• A public hearing on a new zoning map for the city prompted a debate about the role of industry in Morris. Residents who attended the Planning Commission's hearing disagreed with the plan to re-zone all railroad property northwest of the Denco II plant from heavy industrial to light industrial. Business owners said the change would threaten the value of their property

• A natural gas line three miles west of Cyrus was accidentally cut by a farmer laying tile, leaving 3,600 CenterPoint Energy customers in Morris, Hancock and Benson without service for an entire weekend. More than 100 CenterPoint Energy employees converged on the area after the outage, turning off all natural gas service before they could begin lighting pilot lights again.

October 2011

• Four students from the Morris Area Business Professionals of America – Sydney Beyer, Kaylee Brandt, Laura Kuhn and Paige Loew – represented Minnesota at the National Organizations for Youth Safety Teen Distracted Driving Summit. In the upcoming year, the four students will put on two local version of the summit in Minnesota.

• Two Morris Area FFA teams competed at the national tournament. The Ag Issues team – Brooke Wente, Eric Wulf, Rachel Moser, Brady Wulf, Martha Koehl and Tony Domnick – presented their debate, “Corn: Food verus Fuel.” The Marketing Plan team – Xochil Mendez, Steph Hennen and Beth Holland – presented a plan for marketing manure solids for fertilizer.

• A trail camera video and an attentive gas station attendant let to the capture and arrest of two men accused of committing a series of hunting equipment thefts in Stevens and Grant Counties. According to police reports, Jason Lashinski, 20, and Jordan Skroch, 18, both of Holdingford, were charged in the incidents.

• U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar stopped at the WCROC as part of a rural economic tour of nine counties in western Minnesota. While at the WCROC, Klobuchar toured the renewable hydrogen and ammonia pilot plant and learned about the building's solar heating and cooling systems.

• A study completed by Emergency Services Consulting International found that there are not major issues that would prohibit the volunteer fire departments in Morris, Hancock, Chokio and Donnelly from combining into a single, unified department – if that's what those involved wanted to do. All four area fire chiefs said they are in support of increasing cooperation between the departments and looking into the possibility of shared services.

• Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta runners Aaron Goulet and MaKenzie Smith eared spots at the state cross county meet after big wins at the Section 6A Cross Country Meet. At the state meet in November, Goulet finished in the middle third of his race. Smith placed 45th of 156 runners in her race.

• The end of the season for the Morris Area/Chokio Alberta Tiger football team came to and end with a 30-14 loss to Benson in the section 5AA quarterfinals. The Tigers earned the No. 4 seed in the playoff with four straight wins at the end of the season.

November 2011

• A community forum organized by three recent graduates of the Blandin Community Leadership Program – Holly Witt, Don Reicosky and Allan Saugstad – brought together local residents and government officials to discuss how governments get money and how they plan to use it through local and state funding.

• The Occupy Wall Street movement came to Morris with two marches down Main Street in Morris organized by “Occupy Morris.”

• Two area men – Robert King of Morris and Jeffrey Demo of Hoffman – face felony-level drug charges for narcotics, marijuana and methamphetamine after a tip to the the Stevens County Sheriff's Department indicated one of the men possessed a “significant amount” of marijuana and unprescribed narcotics, a complained filed in district court charged.

• The Cougar men's soccer team beat rival St. Scholastic to with the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament. For the first time in the program's history, the team headed to the NCAA Tournament.

December 2011

• Dynamic speed signs, which were paid for using leftover funds from a Safe Routes to School grant, were installed on Columbia Avenue between South Street and Green River Road, to help address concerns that distracted drivers in the area drive too fast near the elementary and high schools.

• MAHS Choir Director John Kleinwolterink was named Morris' 2011 Teacher of the Year by his colleagues. Mary Walker, who works in the district office, was named Support Staff Member of the Year.

• A fish house on Pomme de Terre Lake caught fire, injuring three people. Morris Fire Chief Doug Storck said the fire was likely caused by a gas leak that ignited the spray foam insulation in the house.

• John DeRung of Morris competed in a national Texas Hold'Em Tournament in Las Vegas after qualifying for the event through his participation with the Free Poker Network at two local bars.

• Gene and Darlene Pasche received the Thomas B. McRoberts Human Rights Award from the Morris Human Rights Commission. The Pasche's were honored, in part, because of their work with Orphan Grain Train, a Christian volunteer network that gather donations for those in need around the world.

Tags: news, morris