Donald Richert, 77, died of injuries received in a farm accident.
According to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, it received a 911 call shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday to Richert’s residence in Prairieview township.
They found Richert had been working on a skidloader near a burn pit on the farm. Richert had apparently gotten off the skidloader to move something into the pit, when the skidloader moved forward, pinning his left leg and trapping Richert in the burn pit, where he received extensive burns to the majority of his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Sheriff’s Office, Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service, State Patrol and Sleepy Eye Police responded to the scene. The responders were also assisted at the scene by two Clements volunteer firefighters who had been working in the area and had discovered the incident.
From left: Molly Schwartz, Maddy Helget and Jessica Schmitz
Sleepy Eye crowned a new Miss Sleepy Eye Saturday night….drum roll, please…..Madalyn (Maddy) Helget daughter of Tammy and Terry will wear the crown for the next year. Attendants included Molly Schwartz, daughter of Judy and Joe and Jessica Schmitz daughter of Lisa and Tony.
Helget takes over duties from this past year’s queen Courtney Schneider.
Also in attendance was former Miss Sleepy Eye and Aquatennial Princess Anna Surprenant.
Mary Woitas was awarded the Commodore Award for her volunteer efforts with photography during the Miss Sleepy Eye events.
Sleepy Eye High School Graduate (1980) Bob Christensen who began one of the nation’s largest pork producing businesses died Saturday of an apparent heart attack while hunting in Missouri.
Press Release:
Christensen Farms & Feedlots, Inc. today announced the passing of Robert A. Christensen, Chief Executive Officer of Christensen Farms. Bob Christensen, a pioneer in pork production, died early Saturday morning in Kansas while hunting with family and friends. Bob passed away from an apparent heart attack. He was 51.
“This is a sad and difficult time for everyone,” said Glenn Stolt, Christensen Farms Chief Financial Officer. “Bob had a true entrepreneurial spirit and focused on excellence.”
Christensen Farms started as a small family operation in 1974. Today, it is one of the largest producers of pork in the United States with operations in six states and more than 900 employees.
“Over the past several years, Bob focused on developing a strong management team responsible for day-to-day-operations,” said Stolt. “While Bob’s passing is a tremendous loss to all of us, his legacy is a strong, innovative company committed to producing high quality food.”
Bob is survived by his wife, MaryAnn, and children, Robert, age 14, and Kellen, age 11. Visitation and funeral arrangements are pending at this time.
About Christensen Farms & Feedlots, Inc.
Founded in 1974 as a small family operation, Christensen Farms is now one of the largest producers of pork in the U.S., with operations throughout the Upper Midwest. Headquartered in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, Christensen Farms is a leading provider of quality pork products.
Randy Krzmarzick, organizer of the recent 90th anniversary celebration of the day Babe Ruth visited Sleepy Eye (http://sleepyeyeonline.com/corral/) received an interesting phone call. Brent Stevens, the great grandson of Ruth, gave Randy a call after he heard about the local event. Stevens went on to write a blog on his website www.baberuthcentral.com about Ruth’s visit to Slepey Eye.
Randy’s conversation with Ruth also included talk of Brent visiting the community for the 100th Anniversary celebration.
The Homerun story at the end of the blog has a different twist to it on the local front. Randy remembers talking with Bud Kolbe and his version had Ruth hitting the long ball.
Police scanners throughout Brown Co. will go silent Monday Oct. 15 when the county’s public service agencies switch to ARMER (Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Responders)
ARMER is a digital state-owned system that will allow for interoperability throughout the state. Because it is a digital / narrow band system, current analog scanners will no longer receive transmission.
The Brown Co. Sheriff is scheduled to make the switch at 11 a.m. while other agencies will follow suit in the next few weeks.
Public Service radio communication will continue to be available to the public through a digital scanner, computer websites and smart phone apps.
New Ulm Journal
In Randy Krzmarzick’s column, Weeds, published in the New Ulm Journal, he talks about the day Babe Ruth came to town ninety years ago (Oct. 16h)
90 Year Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s Visit
Rain or shine or snow flurries, you’re welcome to come to the Sleepy Eye Ballpark on Monday, Oct. 16.
A group of dedicated local fans will fete the Babe’s memory with a dog and a beer (or root beer) around 5 p.m.
Bring your glove!
Sleepy Eye ONLINE staff writers Doreen Tyler and Shari Hittesdorf were chosen to be guests on the Our Story Productions Split Hoof Tonight program.
Our Story Productions is a multimedia company primarily involved in the production and distribution of television programming focused on life in the Midwest. Each of our 60-minute programs is aired on cable TV stations to over 1.4 million households in 43 counties in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and South Dakota. The filming is done in Fairmont.
Watch Interview>>> (Doreen and Shari appear at approx. the 7:25 mark)
Despite the fact that the St. Mary’s baseball team was upset in the second round of the Section 2A playoffs, Mary Lou Mathiowetz will still be making a trip to the MN State Baseball Tournament.
Her son Glen is a coach while grandsons Sean Mathiowetz and Jordan Anderson are member of the Knights team that was eliminated a few weeks ago. The boys did have the experience of playing in the state football playoffs this past fall and, of course, Mary Lou was there to cheer them on. She also was at the Metrodome the same day to root for her other grandson from Bemidji, Mitch Henricks (son of Troy and Sue (Mathiowetz).
Thanks to Mitch’s baseball team, Mary Lou will have a team to cheer for at this year’s state baseball tournament as the Lumberjacks qualified for their second consecutive season in Class AAA. The Lumberjacks (23-2) plays Hill Murray/Mapleswood at 12:30 Thursday (6/14) at Midway Stadium.
Mary Lou Mathiowetz is quite experienced when it comes to state tournaments. Besides the state football tournament last fall, she has watched her son Dean win a state baseball title in 1981. She has witnesses grandson Matt (Mathiowetz) win state baseball championships in 2001, 2002 and 2004. And, her granddaughter Molly (Mathiowetz) made a trip to state in girls basketball in 2005.
The Sleepy Eye Schools received a letter from Dr. Brenda Cassellius on Monday denying the Sleepy Eye School District a Four-Day for a second time. Staff, Board Members and Administration from SE School had meet with Cassellius last week to appeal her original decision
The following is a copy of the letter from the Dept. of Education:
Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you and your team and to gain a greater
understanding of the Sleepy Eye Public Schools Flexible Learning Year district application for a four-day week. Thank you for all you do for students in your community. I am impressed by the enthusiasm of your staff and commitment of your board members in support of your school.
I appreciate hearing your concerns and learning more details about your plans for implementing the four-day week, the fiscal status of the district, and the process used for this request so that I have a better understanding of your application. I also understand the difficulty of having your community vote down an operating referendum and the impact that may cause to your district, especially after putting so much effort and time into the proposal.
After further review of the information and the details discussed in the meeting, my concerns remain and I cannot approve this application at this time.
In the meeting it was stated that the primary issue driving this request was fiscal and that by going to a four-day week the district will save $80,000. MDE records indicate that the district has a $1.6 million fund balance and that this is 31.53 % of your general fund expenditures. This compares to a statewide average of 20.91 %. The need to save $80,000 in comparison to the size of the fund balance does not create an urgent situation fiscally for the district, especially in lieu of the significant changes being proposed to your school calendar and the potential impacts upon student achievement and families.
In addition, it was unclear in our discussions how the district is accounting for the increased revenues resulting from the additional $100 formula increase, the new small school(s) revenue, integration revenues and the new funding from literacy aid that was part of last year’s legislation.
Furthermore, I have additional concerns driven, first and foremost, by needs of the students in the district. Some of these concerns were cited in my original letter and persist after our meeting.
The most pressing of these concerns are:
- Achievement goals: As discussed in the meeting, these goals need to be aligned with the state’s new accountability measures and should be more aggressive, especially in your subgroups of students.
- Student time out-of-school/fifth day: It is unclear what the expectations for learning activities and opportunities are for students, when they are not in school on that fifth day. Will teenagers be engaged in rigorous homework and other learning projects? Will there be adequate and appropriate supervision of younger students? Also, how does the district propose to handle the needs of special education students on the fifth day? I am also concerned about lost instructional time in the middle and high school schedule.
- Student nutritional needs: I expressed concerns about meeting the nutritional needs of students. With over 50% of the students in the district on free or reduced priced lunches, these students will potentially miss both breakfast and lunch one day each week. There needs to be sufficient time to eat breakfast when the students are in school for a longer day and nutritious snacks provided.
- Staff time: It is unclear how teacher time is enhanced by a four-day work week and it appears from our discussions that staff will not be expected to report on most of the days when students are off. How is this reflected in the teacher contract? Do teachers then have fewer contract days and does this new schedule increase their daily rate of pay? What is the impact on other staff? Do they have fewer days of employment and will this reduce their access to benefits?
- Evaluation. Although not discussed in the meeting, I continue to have concerns about the process proposed for feedback and evaluation. There appears to be an overreliance on stakeholder satisfaction rather than measures that clearly tell MDE the level of academic gains, the positive impact on students or the financial savings that would justify having the district continue the Four-Day Week.
Should you choose to continue pursuing this option for the 2013-14 school year, you will need to revise your current application. I would encourage you to thoroughly address the issues that have been raised. Please be aware that our staff is available as resources for you in this process.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brenda Cassellius Commissioner
Anna Ibberson, Courtney Schneider, Ellen Mathiowetz
Courtney Schneider daughter of Amy Wendinger and Kevin Schneider was crowned the 2012 Miss Sleepy Eye. Ellen Mathiowetz (Judy Mathiowetz and Dean Mathiowetz) and Anna Ibberson (Lisa and Jeff Ibberson) were attendants.
