Katja is not your typical canine companion.

The 4-year-old pure bred German Shepherd is owned by handler Rhonda Meath of Linwood. Together, they’ve been training at Total Recall School for Dogs in Forest Lake so Katja can serve a greater purpose than being a household pet.

Rhonda Meath with Katja (left), Onca and Hans, three of her four German Shepherd Dogs. 

Kristi Ahlberg went off to college intent on enhancing her skills as a talented cellist. A music degree later, she proved her point.

The fine notes that Ahlberg can make on the cello, however, is not her driving force today. As 2nd Lt. Kristi Ahlberg, she is about to embark on a career as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Kristi Ahlberg loves playing the cello and  flying planes for the U.S. Air Force. The Forest Lake High School graduate is now a pilot instructor at Columbus Air Force Base.

(Photo Submitted) 

As fire chiefs, Bruce Peterson of the Chisago City force and Gary Sigfrinius of the Forest Lake department, have seen their share of horrifying vehicle accidents.

More than their share after last Friday night’s fiery crash on US-8 just east of James Avenue in Chisago City that claimed two lives.

The charred remains of a semi car transport truck is backdropped by the two vehicles that the trucker was haulting Friday night. The truck driver from Arizona and an 18-year-old from Shafer were killed in the crash on US-8.

(Photo By Cliff Buchan) 

The development of Marketplace was given the green light by the Forest Lake City Council.

The council unanimously approved the final plans for changes to Northland Mall during its regular meeting on Monday.

Officials in Wyoming Township, the city of Stacy and the city of Wyoming have agreed in principle to a compromise annexation agreement that will allow acreage from the township to be annexed to Stacy. The city councils in Wyoming and Stacy agreed to the compromise earlier this week and the Wyoming Town Board is expected to finalize the formal agreement next Tuesday.

Town Board Chair Roger Elmore said the agreement will release a little more than half of the 780 acres that Stacy was attempting to annex from the township through the current hostile annexation plan that is in the hands of an administrative law judge. Elmore said the land that will be released to Stacy extends south along the CR-30 (old Highway 61) corridor from the current city limits in Stacy to the section line south of CR-36 and extends west to the Anoka County line. Elmore said the town board was in agreement that the move would assist the ALJ in his determination of the Stacy and Chisago City annexation bids and would be the best way to allow the property in question to develop as its owners see fit.

The move does impact one town board supervisor. Under the agreement, the residence of Supervisor Mark Utecht would change to Stacy. Land owned by Chisago County Commissioner Ben Montzka would also become part of Stacy.

The numbers don’t lie and the results are not being ignored, Forest Lake High School Principal Steve Massey says.

The most recent data from the Minnesota State College System and the University of Minnesota tells the story in black and white. A large number of students who enter the state college system need remedial courses in math and reading.

Sean Garry tests reaction time to determine how quickly steel wool will burn and how it reacts to flame. He is a junior who is taking Chemestry B this semester at Forest Lake High School.

(Photo By Cliff Buchan)