Brandon man dies after fall at construction
site near Kensington
A 21-year-old Brandon man has died after he was injured in a construction accident on Friday, March 7, 2008.
Shane M. Buse died Saturday at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
After receiving a 911 call Friday afternoon, Douglas County sheriff’s deputies, North Ambulance and the Kensington Fire Department rushed to the scene of a fall at 16975 Highway 27 West. They found Buse on the ground with a massive head injury, according to the sheriff’s office. Kensington resident and owner of the property Marilyn Larkin was first on the scene and performed CPR until help arrived.
Workers were building a large storage shed at a private residence. It appeared that Buse was working on a lift platform when the machine began tipping over, according to authorities. Buse fell off the platform, striking his head.
He was transported to the Douglas County Hospital and air lifted by North Air Care to Hennepin County Medical Center. A funeral was held on Thursday, March 13 at 1 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Brandon.
John Kleinsasser - Harvest Festival Parade Grand Marshall
This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Harvest Festival and it is very fitting that the Harvest Festival committee has chosen John Kleinsasser to be parade Grand Marshall.
Kleinsasser has given many years of his life and experience to our area as Superintendent of schools from the Fall of 1959 to 1982 when he retired.
Kleinsasser moved from Lake Norden, South Dakota to Hoffman, where he began his 23 year term as Superintendent. John was noted for being “a True Educator” and keeping the conditions of the school and grounds in tip top condition. He was truly respected by all of his staff and students.
WCA Secondary School has three “new” faces on teaching staff
Students attending WCA Secondary School this fall will see three “new” faces among the teaching staff, but two of these new teachers have experience with the WCA School District and even English teacher Desiree Frie is not completely new to the area.
Desiree Frie, a Frazee Minnesota native, graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in English and has taught in Graceville, Edgerton, and last year, Fergus Falls. At WCA Secondary School she will teach College Writing, and Sophomore English the first semester and Poetry and Literature the second. Frie was married just a month ago and she and her husband live in Fergus Falls where he works for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Melissa Bergman returns to WCA after several years’ absence. She taught English at WCA Secondary School from 2000 to 2002. Bergman is from Sacred Heart and got her degree in English from the University of Minnesota, Morris. She taught in Aitkin for one year before coming to WCA, and for the last several years has taught in Morris, Hancock, and Herman. Bergman and her husband and their two children live on Hoffman where her husband works for the elevator. Bergman’s daughter will be attending first grade at WCA South and is happy to report that both mother and daughter will be Knights this year.
Bergman will be teaching 9th grade English and 11th grade English as well as TV Production. She will also be the head speech coach.
Luke Erickson is also not new to WCA, but after teaching phy ed at WCA South for two years, he is new as the 9-12 grade phy ed and health teacher in the Secondary School.
Erickson is from Thief River Falls and graduated from Moorhead State University. His first teaching job was at WCA South where he taught for two years. Erickson and his wife Jenny live in Alexandria and Jenny teaches kindergarten in Parkers Prairie.
Grant County Researching Options
in Radio Study
Submitted by Tina Lindquist, Grant County Emergency Management
On Wednesday August 27, the Grant County Fire Chiefs, EMS, Law Enforcement, Mayors, and Commissioner’s were invited to meet to discuss the findings of the Radio Study that was conducted by the consulting firm GEO COMM.
Grant County is part of the Central MN Regional Radio Board which includes 19 counties in the Central MN Region and the city of St. Cloud. Every county in this committee has either completed or is in the process of doing a Radio Study.
In each case an inventory was taken of all radio communications equipment from fire, EMS, public works, schools, and law enforcement. The intent was to discover what equipment would be compliant with the 2013 FCC narrowband mandate.
The 2013 FCC mandate requires all radio communication to go from wide-band to narrow-band communications. The study looked at the inventory and informed the county what equipment would need to be upgraded and what the cost would be to do so.
Grant County’s Radio Study is in the final stage of revision and once finished will go to the Grant County Board of Commissioner’s for approval. Throughout this process members of the Board of Commissioner’s, Sheriff’s Office, and fire and EMS volunteers have been attending educational meetings with our surrounding neighbors to learn more about the new mandated communications.
With that in mind it was decided at this meeting there should be a local county committee that meets to discuss all the information regarding this upgrade and 2013 mandate. It is the hope that this local committee will then be able share and discuss the learned information with others in Grant County.
The four options that were found from the Radio Study vary in cost. It is important to know that the 2013 FCC mandate is not the only mandate forcing everyone to go narrow-band. There is also a 2018 mandate which will also affect the decision we make now regarding what upgrade Grant County will choose.
Option 1: Called Narrowband VHF will allow Grant County to meet the new FCC mandate of 2013 but would not allow the county to meet the 2018 mandate. It is a short-term fix which will require additional work and money in five to eight years. The cost for this option is $553,000.00.
Option 2: Called Expand Analog Coverage will again meet the 2013 FCC narrowband mandate but will not meet the 2018 mandate. Again, it is a short-term fix that will cost the county more money and work in five to eight years. This option would help improve the portable radio coverage countywide for Law Enforcement but would not help the fire and EMS. The cost for this option is $642,000.00.
Option 3: Called Enhanced Digital VHF System will meet the 2013 FCC narrowband mandate and will also meet the 2018 mandate. If this option is chosen, all radios in Grant County will need to be replaced. Also a major factor for this consideration is that no grant money that has already been applied for or could be applied for in the future will be able to be used for this option. The cost is $1,302,000.00.
Option 4: Called the ARMER System will meet the 2013 FCC narrowband mandate and also the 2018 FCC mandate. Some of the radios and pagers that are currently used in Grant County will also work with this system. It provides improved coverage countywide and improved coverage in building penetration. All grant money that has been applied for currently can be used to help off-set the cost of this option. In the future if more grant money becomes available it may be applied for and used towards this option. The cost of this option is $1,733,000.00.
To further explain the ARMER System, it is a state built system that is currently used in the some counties in our region. Because it is a state system, the state is building tower sites needed to meet the 2013 FCC narrowband mandate.
Currently there are two state tower sites covering part of Grant County. One is located by Hoffman and the other by Herman. The state has proposed to build another tower site, at their cost, between Erdahl and Elbow Lake. Also benefiting Grant County is a state tower site proposed to be located by Naushua. The only area in Grant County that we may have coverage concern is the north eastern portion of the county.
A proposed county-owned tower site by Ashby is included in the total cost for Option 4. After more investigating we hope to conclude there is no need for the county-owned site near Ashby. Research is being done to see how coverage will be without one. If this is the case, it would reduce the cost of Option 4 by approximately $500,000.
When discussing the options with all those present at the meeting August 27th it was recommended by the fire, EMS, and cities available to choose Option 4, the ARMER System. Although expensive now, it will meet both the 2013 and the 2018 narrowband mandates saving the county from having to spend another large amount of money to upgrade and meet the 2018 mandate at a later date.
Also important to note is that the Regional Fire Act Grant for $464,000.00 that has been applied for can be used to help off-set the cost of Option 4. Option 4 will also give all agencies in Grant County the most interoperability in a radio system with other local, state, and federal agencies.
As it stands now we are in the process of finalizing the Grant County Radio Study and will then bring the study to the Board of Commissioners for final approval. In the meantime we are forming the local county user committee to make sure all information is being shared and everyone is as informed as possible.
It is our goal to have monthly informational articles in the county newspapers so all tax-payers are aware of the process and know what is being discussed.
