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PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS: Assault, mail thefts, laser strikes PAGE 9
County Road D Project will see new improvements
Longtime librarian retires after decades in industry BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
New improvements are coming for the ongoing County Road D project. The project is focused on improvements between Greenbrier Street and Highway 61 in Vadnais Heights, Maplewood and Little Canada. As part of the project, a multiuse trail is planned on the north side of the roadway. Additionally, Vadnais Heights has requested utility improvements to be included in the project. County Road D will be reconstructed into an urban section with a barrier concrete curb and gutter. This proposed section will be 36 feet from face of curb to face of curb to accommodate two 11-foot travel lanes and 7-foot shoulders that include 2-foot gutter pans. According to the most recent feasibility report, this section complies with county standards. Because most properties with access off County Road D are multifamily apartment buildings and businesses (including three single-family residences), a frontfoot assessment is proposed for these buildings. This assessment places an improved value on each foot of frontage along County Road D East. Property owners will pay that cost per frontage foot. All existing driveway connections will be replaced with concrete aprons and new materials consistent with their existing surface type (concrete for concrete, bituminous for bituminous, gravel for gravel). The width of each driveway will match the existing width with a maximum of 24 feet across. As per county policy, redundant residential driveway connections will not be replaced. One of the most significant proposed additions is a porous bituminous trail for pedestrians. The trail will be 8 feet wide and extended from the north boulevard
PAUL DOLS| PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Barb Hinrichs goes for a walk at Tamarack Nature Center.
Quadruple amputee part of Tillges family BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
Barb Hinrichs, 69, of White Bear Lake, may not have her hands and feet, but there is so much she is still able to do like snorkeling, hiking, water skiing, driving and more.
SEE COUNTY ROAD D, PAGE 21
SEE TILLGES, PAGE 16
After four decades, Therese Sonnek is putting the final book on the shelf. The longtime White Bear Lake Library manager is retiring after 23 years in White Bear Lake and 32 years in Ramsey County, for a total of 41 years in libraries. Sonnek, who grew up in North Saint Paul, worked as a “shelver” while in high school and was inspired by the high school librarian, Barb Nelson, to pursue it as a career. “She made me realize I could do it,” she said. Right out of high school, she attended Lakewood Community College (now Century College). While there, she worked at the school’s library as part of a work-study to help pay for her tuition. She ultimately graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota. “That was a good thing to do to get all of that extra knowledge of literature,” she explained. She then traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to earn her master’s degree in library an information studies. She landed her first official library job as a “library page” (library assistant) at the White Bear Lake Library in 1984. She then headed up north for a job in Duluth in 1988 before she was hired by Ramsey County in 1993. In the early days of her career in Ramsey County, she spent most of her time at the North Saint Paul Library but also worked at the Roseville and Maplewood libraries. Sonnek was the manager of the Mounds View branch from 1998 until 2002, when she became the manager of the White Bear Lake Library. She has remained
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PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Therese Sonnek enjoys some sweets at her retirement party.
in White Bear Lake since then, except for a brief six months in 2024 when she filled in for the branch manager in Shoreview. Sonnek says she enjoyed working with people and helping them. “I help people in their journey of lifelong learning, but I learn along with them because I help them find information I don’t know, and so I learned it too,” she explained. “I continuously learn every day when I help people.” One major milestone Sonnek enjoyed being a part of was when the new library building opened in 2015. April 11 will be the 10th anniversary of the reopening. “The library was under construction in 2014, which was the 100-year anniversary of when the Carnegie was built at this same location. There was a time capsule behind the cornerstone in 2014. There was a time capsule behind the cornerstone in 1974. Each time they tore down SEE LONGTIME LIBRARIAN, PAGE 13
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