Always
Press Publications 4779 Bloom Avenue White Bear Lake, MN 55110
welcoming new pets!
Book your visit today. pawspethospital.com
820957 829727
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 9 CIRCLE PINES, MN
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025 VOL. 22 NO. 7 www.readthecitizen.com $1.00
3 LITTLE BURDES: How 1 company pioneers horse-human healing sessions PAGE 13
Changes likely coming to street parking
Scam victim, detective share tips to protect others
Imagine getting a phone call from your child in tears who tells you their bank account is empty. That’s exactly what happened to Hugo resident Lisa Hippe. But it wasn’t just her daughter Jasmine’s account. The accounts that belonged to her and her husband Ted were also drained — to the tune of over $40,000. “The reality of ‘Oh my God. What did I just do?’” hit,” Hippe said. “I hate this. It’s never going to leave me.” Hippe received a text message asking her if she had recently charged something. She responded “no” to that text and was subsequently contacted by someone claiming to be a part of
a Huntington Bank fraud alert investigation team, working with the FBI. The person told her that they were investigating bank employees at local branches for transferring money out of customers’ accounts. “He told me that my accounts had been compromised,” Hippe explained. He told her that he could see wire transfers were set up to transfer her money out of her accounts. To protect her money, she was advised to withdraw all of the money from her account and to put it on a “safe” Chase card that the scammer loaded onto her phone. The scammer told her that there was a $20,000 withdrawal limit, so Hippe headed to Maplewood and subsequently White Bear Lake. “I was in front of the bank, and
Attempted fraud numbers are low — most of the time if there is no actual loss, an incident report is not filed; it is simply taken for informational purposes only.
S TO P BY LEBENS FO R SPRING A R R I VA L S
HUGO — The City Council will consider changing its parking ordinance April 7. The Planning Commission is recommending the council amend its “prohibited parking” section of the city code. “Over the past several years, the city has received a few complaints detailing trailers, more specifically boats, being stored on city streets for the longer term,” said Associate Planner Max Gort. “The ordinance language does cover a lot of that, but it is not super explicit in preventing long-term storage of items on the street, so the city has had some difficulty enforcing that part of the ordinance.” City code currently restricts the time that vehicles and trailers may be parked on any city street to 72 hours (outside of the winter parking restrictions). Gort explained that when the city has sent a
I was freaking out, but he told me there was an undercover cop inside the bank, so I was safe,”
“He was playing on my fear. That’s what got me going first was the fear that somebody was going to take all of my money,” Lisa Hippe Hugo Resident
SEE PARKING ORDINANCE, PAGE 2
Solar farm ordinance updates head to City Council BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
she recalled. “He made me feel comfortable … I was not thinking about a scam. It was not even in my realm.” Hippe said she was convinced it was legit because the person knew all her account numbers. “He was playing on my fear. That’s what got me going first was the fear that somebody was going to take all of my money,” she said. She said another convincing factor was that he was able to load the “safe” card onto her phone. She realized it was a scam when Jasmine called her and called the sheriff’s office right away. “I told them this is what hap-
HUGO — The City Council may approve amendments to the city’s solar farm ordinance next week. Since last September, the Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) has been working on possible text amendments to the city’s solar farm ordinance. “As far as the ordinance itself (goes), I think we need to put this to bed,” said Planning Commission Member Phil Klein. “Let’s try this, see how it goes. We can always change this if we have to in the future.” The ORC is recommending several revisions to the ordinance to address the impact of solar farms on neighboring properties. Revisions include: • Increasing the minimum lot size for solar farms from 10 acres to 20 acres.
SEE SCAM, PAGE 7
SEE SOLAR ORDINANCE, PAGE 8
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1923 2024
WINNER SCAN FOR SPRING BLOOMS
CIRCULATION 651-407-1234 ppcirc@presspubs.com
FLORAL & GARDEN CENTER
NEWS 651-407-1230 citizen@presspubs.com
Best of the Press The Citizen
16155 Forest Blvd, Hugo (Highway 61) Visit us On • 651-488-6707 ADVERTISING 651-407-1200 marketing@presspubs.com
CLASSIFIED 651-407-1250 classified@presspubs.com
829276
BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
PRODUCTION 651-407-1239 art@presspubs.com