Blog Post #4 - My Obituary

     Nicole A. Dahlstrom, an author with a passion for fiction, died of age this Thursday at her home in Seattle. She was 100 years old.

     She died by the side of her husband of 76 years, Jacob, who said, “she passed with a smile on her face. She lived a full life as a vivacious person with an appetite for humor. Her warm, open personality made her loved by many and she will be missed.”

     Dahlstrom moved to Seattle at age 23 with her husband to pursue an education in Journalism at the University of Washington. She is survived by her husband, Jacob, and her son and daughter, Paul and Grace, all of Seattle.

     The family will receive visitors from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Mercy Funeral Home, 4367 Hummingbird Lane. Burial will follow immediately at the Lake View cemetery. 

Blog Post #3 (Story #2)

County Commissioners Vote Against Sheriff’s Request

Sheriff Gus DiCesari of Anoka County had a heated discussion with the county commissioners on Thursday over equipment and personnel. The sheriff told commissioners that he needs money to purchase eight new police cruisers to replace old cruisers with over 150,000 miles on them. He said, “it is getting too costly to maintain older vehicles and they spend too much time in the repair shop. You commissioners eliminated the equipment budgets for my department this year and now I can’t buy anything. This is the first time in my 27 years as sheriff that the county hasn’t allocated money to the sheriff’s department to buy equipment. My deputies can’t keep driving these old vehicles. Something bad is going to happen.” He also mentioned that he wants to hire five new deputies.

The cars and salaries of five new deputies for a year total $580,000; Commission President Anne Chenn told DiCesari that he’ll have to make do without the money this year. DiCesari said, “you’re putting the lives of the people of this county in jeopardy.” Chenn suggested that deputies not drive their cruisers home each day as they do now to preserve mileage and to make more cars available at the station.

Commissioners estimate that there are 5,000 migrant families now in the county. Two of the county commissioners agreed with the sheriff, with the belief that they should spend more money on the sheriff’s department and law enforcement than programs for migrant workers who come to the county for work. Chenn disagreed and said that the county ran short of money this year because of health care for employees and higher fuel costs. The county also spent $30 million to build a new prison to alleviate overcrowding, taking from the total county budget of $127 million. After the debate, the commissioners voted 5-2 against the sheriff’s request for a budget to allow for new cruisers and more deputies.

Blog Post #2: Story #1

Two killed, 20 Injured in Car Accident

     Two people were killed today and 20 were injured in a multiple vehicle accident on Interstate 790 at 6:45 a.m. Four of the injured have life threatening wounds. The accident began when two tractor-trailers collided, and ended with four tractor-trailers and 14 cars, reports Sgt. Albert Wei of the police department. “One of the tractor-trailers was a tanker hauling diesel fuel; it was very lucky that it didn’t roll over and dump any fuel or catch fire,” Wei said.

     All five fire department ambulances responded to the accident, as well as ambulances from four neighboring fire departments. The Memorial Hospital Life Flight helicopter flew two of most injured people to the trauma center in Statesville, 50 miles away. The fire chief, Tony Sullivan, said his firefighters cut the roofs off 3 cars to free the people inside. The scene looked like a war zone, said Sullivan, with bodies in the road, people covered in blood, and emergency workers scurrying to help the injured as sirens wailed in the distance.

     Wei states that the police department is continuing the investigation into the accident; the police officers on the scene were having trouble figuring out who drove which vehicles, and who were the passengers. The accident closed the entire highway, causing major traffic for three hours during rush hour on Interstate 690. No reports of when I-790 will open have been given at this time.