More Sirens as Tornado Season Approaches

According to The Citizen, Hugo will receive eight additional tornado warning sirens.  Read about it here.

Tornado sirens are designed to be heard while outside.  Unfortunately, they're sometimes difficult to hear inside the house.  Consider buying a NOAA Weather Alert Radio with S.A.M.E. technology.  A few years ago, our weather radio alerted our family to Hugo's tornado just prior to hearing the tornado warning sirens.  These radios work. Tornado season will be coming soon. Be prepared.

Large Trees in Arbre Park are Dying and will be Removed

The health of old trees in Arbre Park have been declining over the last several years. Cottonwoods are especially vulnerable to root disturbance. Unfortunately, road building around the park and other nearby construction likely started to affect their health years ago. Last Spring, a few of the old cottonwood trees died and had to be removed. It's llikely that all the remaining large cottonwoods will suffer the same fate.

Arbre Park's Cottonwood Trees

The dying trees have caused concern for public saftey. When a large branch recently fell down to the snow this winter, luckily no one was nearby. The City of Hugo and its Public Works Department are aware of these problems. Since Arbre Park is a City-owned park, the City will probably remove all the remaining old trees. This may happen sooner than later.

Once the old trees are removed, the question of replacement arises. The City of Hugo's parks budget is limited. Although there may be some City money available to purchase a few new trees, this may be an opportunity to create a partnership between residents and the City of Hugo

Attempted Stranger Abduction Leaves Hugo Residents Wary - as reported by the Citizen Newspaper

The following article was in this week's edition of The Citizen

By Carrie Reed
Contributing Writer, The Citizen

HUGO - Water’s Edge residents have been keeping a close eye on their children since a child on her way to school was approached by a stranger at the intersection of 149th St. N. and Farnham Ave. N. last week.

Staff  at the neighborhood’s Community Center staff  sent out e-mails to area residents and posted flyers throughout the area last Thursday. “BEWARE Attempted Abduction,” the e-mails were headlined. According to the flyer, a middle-school student was approached on her way to the bus stop by a man driving a “red-and-white Bronco-style” vehicle at approximately 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Despite the neighborhood alert earlier in the week, details of the incident were not reported to the Washing- ton County Sheriff ’s Department until the student notified a Central Middle School counselor on Friday. 

The suspect, described as a tall and unshaven man, was reportedly driving a red “long- style” jeep according to police reports. Th e suspect had a young puppy in the car with him and asked the student if she was doing okay. She proceeded to the bus stop and the man followed her, but when another parent approached to drop off  their child, he drove away, police reports stated.
No license plate information was obtained. 

“Why no one from the community called us until Friday, I can’t answer that,” Sgt. Wayne Johnson, who is assigned to Hugo, told The Citizen on Monday. “I just met with Investigations today, and they continue to work on this.” 

Johnson said the type of vehicle is still unclear, and he urged anyone having additional information to contact the WCSO at its 24-hour non emergency number, 651-439-9381. “It could have been a Blazer, or an Explorer,” he said. Police records state that the counselor was aware of a man matching the description and known to have had previous run-ins with minors in the area. Deputies contacted the suspect, who denied being in Hugo at any time during the week. 

White Bear Area School District Director of Communications Marissa Vette said that the school contacted authorities last Friday as soon as the student came forward. A notice was e-mailed to parents suggesting they review safety protocols with their children.

—Deb Barnes
contributed to this story.

Volunteers Needed for Social Committee!

We are looking for volunteers to serve on the Victor Gardens Social Committee this year. Help plan a Movie Night, our first annual Easter egg hunt, National Night Out or a fun adults only event. We'd love to see some new faces (and old ones too!) this year.

Please plan to meet at Dunn Brothers (next to Festival Foods) on Thursday, March 10th at 7P. We will be talking about the Easter Egg Hunt first and then can discuss the remainder of the year.

Please consider volunteering this year. It's a minimal time commitment with a big payoff. These community wide events are a great way to keep our neighborhood a great place to live!

Any questions, please contact Julie Bixby at eventsbyjulie@gmail.com. If you can't make the meeting but would still like to be on the committee, just let me know.

Thanks!

Julie Bixby