Local News

A teacher at ACGC is one of the finalists for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Thomas Rosengren is one of the 30 finalists for the award which is given annually by Education Minnesota.

Rosengren teaches 6th grade earth science, a section of Minnesota history and also works in reading and math intervention. He’s been teaching in the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District for 5 years. He’s also the theater director and a 7th and 8th grade baseball coach.

Rosengren grew up in Belgrade, attended Concordia College in Moorhead, and first worked as an elementary teacher in Houston, Texas. He then returned to Minnesota and worked in other fields, then joined ACGC in 2016 as theater director and served as a long-term substitute before being hired full time in 2021.

An independent panel will narrow the list of 30 finalists for Teacher of the Year by mid-March. The same panel narrowed the list of 128 nominees to 30. The Teacher of the Year will be announced during a banquet on May 3rd in St. Paul.

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More details have been released about a shooting in Belgrade over the weekend.  44-year-old James Basore of Belgrade made his first appearance in Stearns County District Court Tuesday on charges of Attempted 2nd Degree Murder and 2nd Degree Assault.  

According to the criminal complaint, shortly before 12 noon Saturday a male and a juvenile female drove up to Basore’s home on School Street, just east of Belgrade, and the male went to the door of the home and knocked on the door to ask for a cigarette.   There was no answer, and the male then went back to the vehicle and was talking with the female when Basore appeared and knocked on the passenger side window, then started shooting at the male.

The victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the right shoulder, his right arm, finger, and nose.  The complaint says the bullet that hit his nose went into the back of the victim’s throat, and he may have swallowed it.  Basore’s mother called the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department to report the shooting, and later Basore himself called 911 and surrendered without incident.

A 22 caliber weapon was found on the kitchen table.  Police say traces of methamphetamine were found on Basore, and family members told police he had “issues with meth.” and Basore thought people were “messing with his house.”  Basore told police he thought the shooting victim had “been raping his daughter,” who was not at the scene of the shooting.  

In court Tuesday, bail was set at 1 million dollars unconditional and 750 thousand dollars conditional.  Basore’s next court date is an omnibus hearing March 20th 

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This week is National FFA Week. It’s a national observance and each individual chapter finds its own ways to celebrate.

The FFA students at Litchfield High School had a trivia event for Middle School students on Monday, wrote thank you notes to their sponsors yesterday, are wearing their FFA shirts today, will host a breakfast for staff at their school tomorrow, and will have a cook-out for their chapter members on Friday.

Litchfield High School Junior Emmett VanDerBill, who is the LHS FFA Chapter President, says he’s on the crops team and they are practicing to compete at the state convention in April. He says he lives in town, but his family operates a farm west of Litchfield, and he’s planning to learn the electrician trade after finishing high school – at Ridgewater College.

VanDerBill says members of the Litchfield FFA Chapter help at the Moo Booth at the Meeker County Fair each summer. Litchfield FFA Vice President Bianca Forsberg says working at the booth helps to raise funds for the Peanut Butter & Milk Festival Committee of which many of the FFA students are involved. The Litchfield High School Junior says she’s planning to become an ag teacher after high school, and she’s getting some practice as she and Des Polzin have been teaming up on a project to teach ag education.

Forsberg says she lives in Darwin, not on a farm, but FFA teaches more than ag-related topics such as leadership and life skills.

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From February 21st to the 22nd, the Central MN Human Trafficking Task Force, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, conducted an enforcement detail in the Central Minnesota area. The enforcement detail resulted in five arrests.

Four individuals were arrested for gross misdemeanor crimes related to attempting to purchase sex and one individual was arrested for felony level solicitation of a person under 18. All five individuals will be charged via complaint by the Stearns County Attorney’s Office and are pending court appearances.

There are also several active and ongoing electronic solicitation of a child investigations resulting from the detail. Additional arrests are anticipated. As these investigations remain ongoing, no further details are available. The Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force consists of officers from the St. Cloud Police Department, Stearns County Sheriff’s Office and the Sartell Police Department. All three agencies provided additional officers to assist with the operation.

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