125 YEARS AGO: 1896
Within the past 10 days, 23 new subscribers have joined the Leader family. Yet they tell us there is no sentiment for reform politics and silver in McLeod County.
If you must smoke, burn Hutchinson cigars: Klee and Peseva are good citizens of this town. They pay taxes and are putting honest goods on the market. Try their "Firemen's delight" for 5 cents.
100 YEARS AGO: 1921
The death by drowning in Lake Ripley of Vernon Fraker took place Tuesday afternoon but the body was not found until Thursday morning. Volunteers worked from the time of the drowning on through the night and the next day without result. During Wednesday, it was decided to call John Jeremy of Stillwater, son of Indian John, now dead, who was well known for his skill in finding bodies of drowned people. He was given the approximate location when he arrived but did not start the search until early the next morning. He would have no assistants and allowed no one to watch him. He is thought to have a fine net of considerable length with which he combed the bottom. He struck the body about 7:30 that morning after about three hours work.
75 YEARS AGO: 1946
Another Abby Hutchinson, a namesake and direct descendent of the famous Hutchinson family, arrived here from Jamestown, New York, accompanied by her husband and daughter. They made the long trip from the east purposely to fulfill her lifelong ambition to see the Minnesota town founded by her ancestors. The 9-year-old daughter, possessed of a marvelous voice, sang Sunday at the Congregational Church and again Wednesday evening at the band concert. It occurred to Mrs. McKenzie that she might say in introducing herself, "Before my marriage, I was Abby Hutchinson." Those words proved to be the "open sesame." She is the fourth of that family to appear in the city founded by her family.
50 YEARS AGO: 1971
After 25 years of what she considers a "hazardous job," Mrs. Ralph Bergstrom (Marian McNelly) has retired. "I've been bitten and kicked, had my wrist watch ripped off, my clothes torn and wrist and neck broken," says the teacher of kindergartners in Hutchinson Public School. "But I'm going to miss it," she said. There's a proverb, which applies, she says: "You have not lived in vain, if you have dug a well, planted a tree or taught a child."
25 YEARS AGO: 1996
People's Platform: This $13,000 to be used for a police substation at the trailer park, they should have used the money to keep the K-9 dog program and let the dog take care of the troublemakers in the park.
Law enforcement officials say juveniles are committing more crimes and their crimes are becoming more serious and violent. "For the past 25-30 years, law enforcement has been reactive, not proactive. That's why the system has failed, not because people aren't doing their jobs. It's failed because the sheer numbers have caused the system to overload," said Hutchinson Police Chief Steve Madson.
Fewer Hutchinson students are getting a kick out of being involved in dangerous acts. That was the finding of a state survey that showed a 10% difference between responses in 1995 and 1992. Hutchinson seniors, freshmen and sixth-graders shared their practices, perceptions and reasons for high-risk behaviors in the most recent Minnesota Student Survey.
With the buildup of frustration showing in his nearly cracking voice, Paul Lepinski poured out to the Hutchinson City Council just what it has been like living near a neighbor who he claims has let his property decay and become a haven for rats. Lepinski was one of about eight people living near 626 Harmony Lane who were at the council meeting to ask that the city order the owners to clean up their property and exterminate the rats neighbors claim originate from their home. The owners have denied that rats are living either in their home or their garage and said last week they are working through the city building official to clean up the property inside and out. But neighbors questioned the owners' intensions, saying that a filled dumpster has sat in the yard since last week and only serves as another haven for rats. "I've seen rats the last two days," Lepinski said. "They go across the backyard from that place. Neighbors won't open up their doors because of the stench." The council voted to direct City Attorney G. Barry Anderson to seek a court order for the right to enter the home for the purpose of exterminating the alleged rat problem. He was also directed to seek a notice of order giving the owners 20 days to clean up the property. The council also voted to spend up to $1,000 for the extermination and to protect neighboring property during the process.
