Northern House member passes

By Rep. Paul Anderson

Attended a memorial service last Saturday at International Falls for longtime state representative David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake). Rep. Dill was an outstanding legislator who represented his sprawling northern Minnesota district very well. A strong gun-rights supporter, Dill led the way in recent years to secure state funding for the expansion of trap shooting ranges in Minnesota. Calling it the “fastest growing sport in the country,” he was proven right by the recent sponsorship of shooting teams by the state high school league, which introduced many more young people to the sport.

Speakers at the service on the hot and humid afternoon (92 degrees) near the Canadian border included Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, Senate DFL leader Tom Bakk, and International Falls Mayor Bob Anderson. Bakk did a wonderful job, recounting stories of how he and Dill worked together over the years to introduce and pass legislation important to the Iron Range.

Also an astute businessman, Dill started his own air shipping business at the age of 20. Years later when he sold the operation, it had grown to over 400 employees. First elected to the Minnesota House in 2002, Dill was in his 15^th year of service to his district and to the state. It was a pleasure and an honor to have served with him.

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The Rural Finance Authority holds one meeting a year in out-state Minnesota. This year it was held at Freeport and hosted by the Freeport State Bank. During the morning portion of the meeting last Thursday, we toured three ag-related operations in the area, including the Stoney Creek Dairy southwest of Greenwald. Owned and operated by Grant Schoenberg and his family, the dairy utilizes milk produced right there on the seventh-generation family farm and processes it into milk and butter sold at retail. It’s a great example of value-added businesses doing well right here in central Minnesota. We also toured two other outstanding dairy operations, one at the Fred Arnzen farm and the other at Tom Moening’s. One is near St. Rosa and the other is northeast of there, near the Todd County line.

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It doesn’t look as if a special legislative session will be called any time soon to deal with the closing of the walleye season on Mille Lacs Lake. The working group assembled to look into the matter adjourned its latest meeting last week with no agreement on a solution. I had also contacted the governor’s office to make them aware of the financial implications to resort owners on Lake Minnewaska due to the recent amoeba scare involving the young Alexandria teen-ager who died after swimming in the lake. Test results released at a meeting in Glenwood last week showed that he did not die from the very rare disease caused by amoeba in the lake, but rather from another, more common streptococcus bacteria.

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