Cirrus Aircraft, the aviation company that is based in Duluth and owned by the Chinese, has named Patrick Waddick its new president, reports Candace Renalls of the Duluth News-Tribune. The company has had no president since September 2011, when former CEO/President Brent Wouters left the company; Dale Klapmeier succeeded him as CEO. Waddick was formerly the company’s COO. Waddick, 47, was Cirrus’ first engineering intern and later led the team that created the SR-20 and SR-22 planes with their signature airframe parachute systems. The company is emerging from a difficult five years: The growth the company experienced between 2000 to 2007 came to a halt when deliveries of Cirrus’ four-seat propeller planes dropped from 710 in 2007 to 268 in 2009. In response, Cirrus cut its staff from 1,300 employees to about 500. The company’s fortunes have changed thanks to greater employee efficiency, opening new markets and the 2011 sale of the company to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., which has invested $100 million to get the Cirrus’ light jet development program back on track. Cirrus now has 565 employees, with more than 100 in the jet development program.
Sauk Rapids Mayor Brad Gunderson was arrested Feb. 17 after driving a car into a yard. His blood alcohol level was 0.26, or more than four times the state’s legal limit. On Monday, the Sauk Rapids City Council voted to disapprove of Gunderson’s actions, writes Stephanie Dickrell of the St. Cloud Daily Times. The resolution was approved 4-0. Gunderson did not vote. The resolution states that the council holds its members to a “higher personal standard than ordinary citizens. It states Gunderson’s personal conduct is unbecoming of an elected official and is below the high standard,” Dickrell wrote. The DUI case will go to Benton County Attorney Robert Raupp to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Raupp will determine whether charges will be filed against Gunderson, who is on unpaid leave from his job as a Metro Bus driver. Gunderson was convicted of drinking-and-driving offenses twice more than 20 years ago.
Not content to simply reflect on 30 years of success, the Lyon County Pheasants Forever 30th anniversary celebration Saturday at the Caboose in Tracy also looked to keep the tradition alive for the next generations, reports Jenny Kirk of the Marshall Independent. Conservation and hunting go hand-in-hand, LCPF President Nick Simonson said, so it’s important the older generation encourage youth to become involved in conservation. The number of children at the banquet encouraged Simonson, as did their enthusiasm at winning one of the 42 guns or bows offered. Southwest Minnesota is known for having some of the best pheasant hunting habitat in Minnesota, so preserving large tracts of land and maintaining a partnership with landowners is very important, Simonson said. “We realize that farmers have to feed the world and fuel the world, but that’s not the end-all. We need clean air, clean water and clean land, so we have to preserve habitat, too, to maintain it for future generations.” In 30 years, LCPF has converted more than 3,000 acres to public land.
New Ulm is prepping for St. Patrick’s Day as only New Ulm can, writes Kevin Sweeney of the New Ulm Journal. The 48th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade next Sunday, March 17, will start “promptly” at 5 p.m. It will form at 3rd St. S. and Minnesota St., and march the wrong way up Minnesota Street … . It’s at this point in the story that Sweeney advises readers that everything else in the story should be taken with a grain of salt. … Other events reportedly include the 5K Irish Jig, the Rope Pushing Contest in Irish Park (German Park has been renamed for the day), and the Sauerkraut Burying Contest in Irish Park. At Pat & Mike’s Book Shop (Sven & Ole’s is changing its name for the day), Irish romance novelist Bridget O’Houlihan will sign her racy bestseller, “50 Shades of Green.”
It is the nice, new headstone for Civil War veteran James Mead that is spurring vet services organizers to spiff up or replace all the shabby Civil War headstones in Faribault County, writes Brian Ojanpa of the Mankato Free Press. Mead survived the Confederacy’s notorious Andersonville prison and didn’t receive a veteran’s headstone when he was buried in 1916 in Blue Earth’s Riverside Cemetery. That matter was rectified in 2011, but his pristine headstone makes the weathered, illegible and sometimes grown-over markers of his Union comrades look bad. David Hanson, the county’s Veteran Services officer, says they deserve better, and is leading the effort to replace all of the headstones for the county’s 416 Union veterans. He is working with the Veterans Affairs department to get the free replacement headstones, an effort that requires copious documentation. Legibility is the standard for headstone replacement, and most of the weather-beaten Civil War vet markers meet the criteria.
Austin author Amanda Hocking’s “Trylle Trilogy” of books could become a movie by the end of the year, reports the Austin Daily Herald. Veteran screenwriter Terri Tatchell was quoted Friday saying production on the first of the “Trylle Trilogy” movies could start as soon as this fall and could have a budget of as much as $35 million to $40 million. Tatchell bought the screen rights to the series in 2012. Hocking said she doesn’t know much about the project. According to the report, Tatchell and Media Rights Capital movie studio are searching for a director for the movie.
