BRAINERD ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING

Brainerd Police have arrested two men aged 20 and 22, suspected of kidnapping and robbing two other young men in South Brainerd. Officers said a 17-year old Aitkin man had escaped from the house around 10:30am this morning where he'd been assaulted, tied up and robbed. Police discovered a second victim who had been held at knife-point. Brainerd Police are looking for more suspects in the case and the investigation continues. Neither of the captured men required medical attention.

PB Trail Improvements

2008 should be a big year for the popular Paul Bunyan Trail, according to Lowell Jaeger, DNR Trails and Waterways Specialist. He tells KLKS, federal money ought to free-up for construction of the bridge over Excelsior Road in Baxter, a busy intersection. Jaeger says federal money comes with many requirements that can slow the project. He also expects the missing mile south of the bridge to be installed, as well, that will keep trail users off streets. Jaeger says he is doing a walk-through at the Crow Wing State Park today, the next link for the popular trail

SERTOMA WINTER WONDERLAND OPENS

Checking out Christmas lights has never been easier. Or warmer. Brainerd/Baxter Noon Sertoma's Winter Wonderland opens Thursday, Thanksgiving night at the Northland Arboretum in Baxter. Committee co-chair Steve Mau said looking at the 40-foot wide, 30-40 foot high displays against the woodsy backdrop of Northland Arboretum puts even the crankiest Scrooge in the Christmas mood. Drive through the Winter Wonderland from 6-9pm Wednesday through Sunday nights from Thanksgiving until New Years Eve. Cost will be between $5 and $8 per vehicle. Proceeds from the fundraiser go to the charities Sertoma supports, from hearing and vision to scholarships and disease research.

LITTLE FALLS HIRES CITY ADMINISTRATOR

The Little Falls city council has hired Garrison Hale to the position of city administrator. Hale had been the city adminstrator/treasurer for Chisholm. Little Falls will pay him just over $80, 000 a year and will review his performance in six months. He starts on December 17th.

HIGHWAY 10 STAPLES EXPANSION OPEN

The new four-lane highway through Staples was to open today. The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the highway expansion was built one block south of old Highway ten and replaced Main Street. Part of Highway ten will still be two-lane west of Staples until next year. Crews will remove the temporary roads and connections, complete landscaping and install a concrete boulevard in the spring.

NISSWA CHARTER SCHOOL?

About a hundred people met at Grand View Lodge last night to talk about ways to keep Nisswa Elementary school open. The Brainerd School Board has to cut nearly $6-Million dollars from its budget by next June and school officials say closing Nisswa Elementary would save $150,000 a year in transportation costs. Nisswa resident Mark Moran owns Reichert Bus Service and told the Brainerd Dispatch he doesn't believe the school district would save that much money. Grand View Lodge CEO Mark Ronnei said if the district does close the school, that's not necessarily the end. He said Nisswa needs a school and if it means joining the Pequot Lakes District or starting a charter school, so be it.

PEQUOT LAKES CLOSES OPEN ENROLLMENT

The Pequot Lakes School Board voted yesterday to close open enrollment. Superintendent Rick Linnell said he's received 18 calls since November 7th, the day voters in Crosby-Ironton and Brainerd School Districts said no to levy referendums. Linnell said more students at this time of the year may mean hiring more instructors and increasing average class size, things the board didn't want to do right now. Linnell said the board will probably look at re-authorizing open enrollment later next spring. And Linnell said the rumors that the Pequot Lakes School Board is considering a levy referendum of its own are not true

LIQUOR STORE 'TOO PINK'

The Brainerd City Council decided Monday that the color of a business in northeast Brainerd was too pink. Essers Warehouse Liquor and Northern Lakes Wine and Spirits, once known as Baxter's 'pink liquor store' joined forces last year. Essers owner Gary Bethke told the Brainerd Dispatch the pink color was used to rejuvenate business and it seemed to be working. The city's exterior design standards dictate that bright or garish colors can't make up more than five percent of a wall. The council said the building must be repainted right away.

MAPLEWOOD MAN SENTENCED FOR HUNTING DEATH

46-year old Steven John Ferguson was sentenced to a year in jail yesterday for the shooting death of 14-year old Brandon Lanie of Buffalo. A jury convicted the Maplewood man of second-degree manslaughter in October. The two had been hunting on land north of Lake Mille Lacs last November. Ferguson testified he fired twice at what he thought was a deer. District Judge John R. Solien also placed Ferguson on supervised probation for ten years, ordered he drink no alcohol, enter no liquor establishments and have no contact with Brandon's family. Ferguson has thirty days to report to the Ramsey County Jail.

NATURAL CAUSES KILLED HORSE

The Todd County Sheriff's Department has concluded its investigation into the death and alleged mutilation of a horse earlier this month. Officials decided the horse died of natural causes and was scavenged by predators. Eleven-year old Katie Symalla found her Palomino pony Savannah in a field on November third. At first, some believed the horse had been mistaken for a deer and shot but a veterinarian's examination ruled that out. And there was no evidence at the scene that someone had mutilated the animal. A woman from Worthington gave Katie an eight-month-old horse to replace Savannah.

PINE RIVER MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY

The 19-year old Pine River man accused of killing a 15-year old girl in Backus in August remains in custody in the Cass County Jail. Matthew Michael Martin pleaded not guilty to killing Molly Jean Rice earlier this month. A grand jury indicted him on five first degree murder charges as well as second-degree murder, burglary and criminal sexual conduct. Cass County Judge John P. Smith set his next hearing date for December 10th. Court documents charge Martin stabbed and shot Rice after a party near Pine Mountain Lake Road in Backus on August Fourth.

KEEP NISSWA SCHOOL OPEN

About a hunderd Nisswa-area citizens met Monday night at Grand View Lodge to talk about why Nisswa Elementary should be kept open. Last Wednesday's Brainerd School Board meeting featured ways to trim next year's budget and one of them was to close Nisswa Elementary. Closing the school could save the district $150,000 in transportation costs every year plus the cost of operating the school, roughly $1.2-Million. "Keep Nisswa School Open" spokeswoman Amy Gitchell said the school has a modernized air system, updated playground equipment and room for more students and shouldn't be closed. Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth will finalize his recommendations to the board a week from Thursday on November 29th. The Brainerd school board has to trim nearly $6-Million dollars from its budget by next June. The group will hold a second meeting at Grand View Lodge Tuesday night at 7:30pm. Gitchell said Nisswa residents have nine days to convince school officials to keep the elementary school open.

CUSHING MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER

27-year old Erik Wojciechowski pleaded guilty in Morrison County District Court Thursday to killing his parents. The young man shot 64-year old Roger and 57-year old Jeanne Wojciechowski in their Cushing home last January. Morrison County prosecutors agreed to drop additional murder charges. The accused faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Wojciechowski will remain in the Morrison County Jail until his sentencing on December 18th.