By Rin PorterAfter months of talks, the

Todd County Negotiations Teampresented the county board withsix labor agreements approvedby six county bargaining unitsrepresented by the Teamstersand by AFSCME: TeamstersPublic and Law Enforcement

Employees’ Union Local 320Courthouse Employees,Teamsters Public and LawEnforcement Employees’ UnionLocal 320 Sheriff ’s Supervisors,Teamsters Public and LawEnforcement Employees’ UnionLocal 320 Jailer/Dispatchers,AFSCME Local 3525 PublicWorks, AFSCME Local 3168Social Services, and AFSCMELocal 3525 Public Health.

The Teamsters Public andLaw Enforcement Employees’Union Local 320 Sheriff ’sDeputies unit has not reachedagreement with the county.This group and the county willproceed to state mediation to tryto resolve their differences.

The new labor agreementsare for 2014 only. The changesthey contain include a reductionin the amount of compensatorytime off that an employee cansave up and be paid for when heor she retires, Affordable CareAct language added requiringparties to negotiate if the countyfaces any penalties or finesunder the ACA for being a“Cadillac Plan,” a cap in the pay-ment of health insurance premi-ums for retirees hired before2007, a 2% Cost of Living

Tue. April 22

Partly Cloudy

60°/42°

Wed. April 23

Rain/Wind

50°/40°

Thur. April 24

Showers

48°/36°

Fri. April 25

Showers

43°/25°

Sat. April 26

Partly Cloudy

45°/29°

Sun. April 27

Showers

42°/31°

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Thursday, April 124, 2014Volume 98; Number 42

www.bladepublishing.netstaff@bladepublishing.net

Todd County Deputy Sheriff,Steve Och has announced hiscandidacy to run for the positionof Todd County Sheriff.

Och is a 1989 graduate ofCriminal Justice program atAlexandria Community College.He has been a licensed PeaceOfficer in the state of Minnesotafor 25 years; 24 years withinTodd County. Twelve years onthe city of Long Prairie PoliceDepartment and 15 years withthe Todd County Sheriff ’s Office.

Steve has been married to his wife, Jackie, for 15 years. Steveand Jackie along with their daughters; Mackenzie, 13, andMegan,11, live in Round Prairie Township.

“I will exhibit strong leadership and make certain the Sheriff ’sOffice remains aggressive with all drug enforcement efforts and befiscally responsible while providing the most effective services forthe tax payers of Todd County,” stated Och.

Meth use is increasing in Central Minnesota

Clarissa Holdings LLC begins sawmill conctruction

By Rin PorterA recent series of high-profile

arrests for methamphetamine pos-session in Todd and WadenaCounties has brought this drugback to the attention of residents.

Use of meth dropped signifi-cantly in 2007 and 2008 after lawslimiting the availability of a coldmedicine – pseudoephedrine –went into effect. Pseudoephedrinewas being purchased in largequantities as a meth ingredient bypeople who were manufacturingmeth in homemade labs in Todd,Wadena, and Morrison Counties.

But in 2009 and 2010, meth useincreased again, but not because ofmeth labs. Instead, meth wasbeing brought into Minnesota from

northern Mexico andCalifornia by drugsmugglers. Lawenforcement officersdiscovered this whenroutine traffic stopsbegan to reveal largequantities of metham-phetamine in vehi-cles.

According to theDrug and ViolentCrime Task Forces2012 Annual Report,“Despite thestatewide reductionin the manufacture ofmethamphetamine, itcontinues to be thegreatest concern formany of the task forceregions in the state.Increasingly, largequantities of highgrade methampheta-mine are being traf-

ficked into the area from the south-west U.S. and Mexico.” (MinnesotaDept of Public Safety)

In 2011, 39.6% of the drugseizures in the state involvedmethamphetamine, according tothe same report.

Jane Maxwell, a senior researchscientists at the University ofTexas at Austin (UT), said in a UTpublication, “We need to keepfocused on methamphetamine as adrug that demands and needs seri-ous treatment.” She also said shewas not surprised to see meth userebounding, because that is thecyclical pattern she and other sci-entists have seen during thedecades that meth has been used.

(www.utexas.edu/news/2012/01/24/m e t h a m p h e t a m i n e<http://www.utexas.edu/news/2012/01/24/methamphetamine>)

In its monthly newsletter, theTodd County Sheriff ’s Departmentreported in February 2014 thatdrug arrests (for all drugs) fellfrom 70 in 2012 to 63 in 2013.

However, according to informa-tion supplied by Sheriff ’sDepartment Records SupervisorRich Pommier on April 14, therehas already been 29 arrests forpossession or sale of meth in 2014– an enormous increase.

These figures include seven peo-ple arrested by the CentralMinnesota Violent Offender TaskForce (CMV)TF) and the WestCentral Minnesota Drug TaskForce and Todd County Sheriff ’sDeputies in Hewitt on March 3;and two people arrested early inthe morning of March 4 byCMVOTF, Staples Police, and ToddCounty Sheriff ’s Deputies at theStaples Train Depot. On April 8,agents of CMVOTF and theMinnesota Bureau of CriminalApprehension (BCA) arrested aLong Prairie man for sale of 56grams of meth in Coborn’s parkinglot in Long Prairie. The man hadpreviously sold 185 grams of methto undercover agents during a longinvestigation.

In addition to these arrests, theWest Central Narcotics TaskForce, the BCA, and Alexandriapolice arrested five people inDouglas County after undercoveragents bought 140.7 grams of meth

Continued on page 12.

Continued on page 12.

Clarissa Holdings LLC, owner Michael Frey, applied for a CUP to operate a sawmill from the sight of the old Todd CountyGarage located just north of Browerville on US 71, including construction of a 80 x 160 ft building with attached 24 x 48 addi-tion for offices and a 50 x 60 foot concrete slab for a loading area.

Deputy Ochannounces

candidcy forSheriff

Todd County DeputySheriff, Steve Och.

in 2009 and 2010, meth use increasedagain, but not because of meth labs.Instead, meth was being brought intoMinnesota from northern Mexico andCalifornia by drug smugglers.

Todd Board approves one-yearlabor agreements with six of its seven bargaining units