LOOKING BACK: 2022
Before we start making resolutions for the new year, we’d like to wrap up 2022.
The Steele County Times staff – like many news outlets – is revisiting the work we’ve done over the past 12 months. Sometimes, it’s nice to look back at a story and see what’s transpired since it hit the front page.
Other times, it’s a reminder to embrace the good, because life is just too short.
We’ve chosen our top news stories of 2022: All of them are local because that’s who we are.
It was difficult. Over the last 52 weeks, we’ve written and published more than 1,000 stories about the people and places of Steele County. That doesn’t include the local columns, local editorials, local news briefs or local sports – Sports Editor Johnnie Phillips has his own list.
We think our top 10 stories represent what we try to do every week: Provide our readers with a blend of economic growth, public safety, community development and human-interest stories, with a dash of politics thrown in for good measure.
We look forward to providing you more quality stories and in-depth coverage in 2023.
No. 1: MEDFORD MURDER-SUICIDE
The deaths of two teenagers in Medford were consistent with a murder-suicide, despite both victims having multiple gunshots.
Chandra Lanae Pelch, 18, and Jerome Charles Caldwell, 19, were found dead the evening of June 3 inside Pelch’s apartment at 217 First Street NW.
Law enforcement officers responded that evening to a report of a suspicious incident. Inside the home, they found Pelch and Caldwell, as well as a small caliber handgun. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was brought in to assist. Based on results of the scene investigation, as well as the outside autopsy results, the deaths were confirmed to be murder-suicide.
According to the Steele County Sheriff’s Office: “Chandra was shot multiple times – four from the back and two from the front – and died from her injuries. Jerome then turned the gun on himself. His initial shot was non-fatal, but his second was fatal.”
No. 2: COMMUNITY PATHWAYS EXPANSION
It’s an unfortunate example of “if you build it, they will come.”
Community Pathways of Steele County, a nonprofit designed to provide the essentials – including a market-style food shelf, free clothing, and other resources, as well as services for emergency needs – held its grand opening in October.
It was perfect timing: The new facility, which is double the size of the original building, is following the statewide trend of record food shelf use – in this case, more than doubling last year’s usage.
In 2021, Community Pathways served 1,200 families at least once during the year. In 2022, the number jumped to 1,800 families – with 56 new families just in November, according to Dom Korbel, director.
Helping on the local level comes down to three things: donations of dollars, food, and time.
“Food drives are awesome; we never turn down a food drive,” Korbel said, adding that they are always looking for more volunteers to complement a paid staff of eight.
Community Pathways is located at 155 Oakdale St., Owatonna.
No. 3: MID-TERM ELECTION
While it’s nowhere near as interesting as a presidential election year, it’s every bit as important.
The general election on Nov. 8 brought the state a leadership trifecta, with the DFL Party controlling the Minnesota Legislature and the governor’s office.
Closer to home, every House and Senate incumbent in Steele County retained their seat, including Sen. Gene Dornink.
Dornink faced not only two challengers, but a legal challenge as well, when he was accused of not living in the district he would represent. The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed the petition against Dornink, and he won by 21 percentage points.
School board elections throughout the county drew the most attention; in Owatonna, 11 candidates filed for just four open seats. Three of the four incumbents held on, while newcomer Elizabeth Hedlund edged out incumbent Nikki Gieseke.
An incumbent was also ousted in the NRHEG School District, which also had four seats open.
Rich Mueller lost his bid, while three newcomers joined incumbent Richard Schultz on the board.
In Blooming Prairie, three of the four incumbents filed for re-election; Pam Hameister chose not to run again, opening a seat. Crystal Studer defeated Bob Arett for the fourth spot on the board.
The city of Medford elected two new city council members. Craig Helgeson easily won the first of two open seats with 31% of the votes, Nick Sorensen squeaked past Jason Winter, 227 votes to 224 votes.
Coincidentally, there were three write-in votes.
No. 4: ASCEND ANNOUNCEMENT
A downtown Owatonna riverfront project seven years in the making is expected to break ground next spring.
Partners in Ascend, the city’s first mixed use complex, include Redline Development Group, Mineral Springs Brewery, and West Bank. They revealed plans for the $27 million project in November.
The project area is bounded by North Oak Avenue, West Vine Street, and the Straight River, including a city-owned parking lot and the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (OACCT) building on Ted Ringhofer Drive, which will make way for a new West Bank building.
Mineral Springs Brewery will occupy space on the river side of Ascend’s main floor. The plan also includes 70 luxury apartments.
No. 5: LAURA IHRKE RETIRES
After 42 years with Steele County, Auditor Laura Ihrke announced her retirement in December.
Ihrke applied in 1980 for an opening in the Auditor’s office. When John Hallenberger retired 10 years later, he encouraged her to run.
“In that first election, I wasn’t sure if I’d get it or not, there were three other people running,” she said. “I just thought, here’s an opportunity, let’s see where I go with it.”
Ihrke ran unopposed in every subsequent election. Her last day was December 30.
Until a new official is named, Chief Deputy Auditor Brenda Blood will serve as the department administrator.
No. 6: LIVES LOST
Steele County lost two unlikely entrepreneurs and a resilient newspaper editor in 2022.
Donnavon Eaker, of Ellendale, died on March 3. She was the co-founder – and marketer extraordinaire – of Steve’s Meat Market, a legendary business on Ellendale’s Main Street. Donnavon and Steve bought the business in 1973 and built their lives and their family around it. After Steve’s death in 2006, Donnavon brought their daughter, Rachael, on board to keep the business alive and running. She died less than a month after learning Steve had been inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame, the most prestigious of the thousands of awards they had won through the years. She was 72.
The Steele County Times lost its beloved editor, Deb Flemming, on March 14. She’d learned less than two weeks earlier that she had cancer, and true to form, she refused to let anyone make a fuss. Deb’s passion, after her family and friends, was journalism. She worked as a reporter, copy editor and editor, but her biggest joy was being a mentor to young journalists. She was a passionate believer in the First Amendment and the public’s right to know what elected officials were doing. After traveling the U.S. for newspaper work, Deb returned to southeast Minnesota in 2019 to become a consultant for the 761 Foundation in Owatonna, then became our editor. She was 67.
Using an idea borne of an incident with a garbage can, Delmond ‘Dick’ Kruckeberg, of Blooming Prairie, created a better truck fender, using resilient plastic. First called Spray Control, Inc., the company later became Minimizer – and went on to become a multi-million-dollar operation. It became the top brand in heavy-duty after-market accessories for trucks, sending its product around the world. In addition to that success, Dick was a strong civic promoter of Blooming Prairie. He and his wife Lorraine spent many hours volunteering in the community, and he remained humble. Dick was 87.
No. 7: OWATONNA POLICE CHIEFS
It was the passing of the torch that came together exactly as planned.
Owatonna Police Chief Keith Hiller retired on June 30 after serving 12 years as the top cop in his hometown.
He spent much of his time building a department “that is well positioned to transition and adapt as needed in the future,” using succession planning. His legacy, then, is “super easy to answer: talent acquisition, the culmination of professional staff in a very difficult recruiting environment.”
Part of that talent was his successor, Capt. Jeff Mundale, now Chief Jeff Mundale.
Hiller promoted him to captain not long after taking over as chief in 2010; Mundale has been with the OPD since 1995.
“I think Chief Mundale will take the department to the next level,” Hiller said. “He’s a very special man, and he loves this community. He’s got the buy-in of all the staff, and he’s going to do wonders.”
No. 8: LEO AUGUSTA OPENS
The Leo Augusta Children’s Academy in Blooming Prairie, which opened in June, was designed to provide a much-needed children’s development and care facility in the heart of “the underserved southeastern Minnesota rural area.”
In June 2021, there were 104 children in the immediate area that needed childcare, and about 880 children within 20 miles, according to LACA Board Chair Amy Hinzmann.
The non-profit was established with a gift of buildings, land, and money from Craig and Robyn Kruckeberg and their families. The name is a nod to Craig’s parents, Delmond Leo and Lorraine Augusta.
The academy serves children six weeks to 12 years old, with a maximum of 144 students.
Director Doug Anderson spent 36 years in education, including 11 as the principal of NRHEG Elementary School in Ellendale.
He said, based on financial modeling and planning, LACA will be at full capacity in less than three years.
No. 9: CHURCH IN TURMOIL
Sean Masopust, 33, a former youth pastor at Northridge Church in Owatonna, will be sentenced this week after pleading guilty to felony fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor who was part of his youth group.
According to the criminal complaint, Masopust initiated a sexual relationship with a girl who worked at the daycare in the Northridge Church basement – and was also a student youth leader under the direction of Masopust and his wife, who was listed as a “staff member” on the church’s website, overseeing the youth ministry.
His mother-in-law was the director of the daycare; his father-in-law was the senior pastor at Northridge.
In October 2021, three years after the abuse ended, a former church member sent an anonymous letter to the state board that oversees the church, revealing the abuse and asking for an investigation.
The abuse wasn’t reported to police until December 2021, despite multiple adults and church leaders knowing about it, church members said. No other people have been charged.
Masopust, his wife, and his in-laws all left the church within a week of the allegations coming to light.
No. 10: GRAIN BIN DEATH
A 36-year-old Pemberton man was killed in June after becoming trapped in a grain bin at Crystal Valley Cooperative in Hope.
Officials at the co-op said Frantum, a grain elevator operator at the site, “became fully engulfed … while loading a train.”
The 911 call came in about 9:20 p.m.; personnel with multiple rescue agencies, including every fire department in Steele County, worked until about 4:30 a.m., when Frantum’s body was recovered.
The bin reportedly contained about 250,000 bushels of soybeans at the time of the incident.
It remains under investigation by OSHA.