Linda Vanderwerf
Primary tabs
I cover education issues for the West Central Tribune and have worked for the paper since 1995. I have worked in journalism since 1981.
Follow me on Twitter: @lindavanderwerf
Contact Email
History
- Member for
- 2 years 3 months
Author Content
WILLMAR -- The Willmar School District has been recognized for the sixth time in the past decade for its financial reporting. The Government Finance Officers Association has awarded the district the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. Superintendent Jerry Kjergaard announced the award at the School Board meeting this week.
WILLMAR -- Students in Willmar Public Schools will go to school for a partial day on Good Friday. The Willmar School Board voted to have school on Good Friday, with the blessing of the local Ministerial Association, to make up one of three snow days remaining from the past winter. The snow days resulted in lost class time and also in the loss of some staff developm-ent/training time. The April 22 Good Friday school day will end two hours earlier than normal for students and staff. In addition, teachers and other employees will work two extra days, on June 6 and 7, to make up for the remain
WILLMAR -- The Willmar School District is close to an agreement to sell the closed Washington school building for $300,000 to Affiliated Community Medical Centers. The Willmar School Board will consider the purchase agreement when it meets at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the board room on the first floor of the Willmar Education and Arts Center. The Washington building was closed nearly two years ago in a restructuring of the district. Two previous purchase orders have been approved by the board, but each of those sales fell through because of contingencies set by the potential buyers.
WILLMAR -- The Willmar area is known around the state for the support it shows to military families and for the way it honors fallen soldiers, Minnesota National Guard officials said Wednesday afternoon. Adjutant General Richard C. Nash, State Chaplain John Morris and other Guard officials were in Willmar to meet with local government, education and business officials as well as organizations that assist military families. They met Wednesday morning with the local group HomeFront Connections and many of its members stayed for a luncheon to hear Nash speak.
It's a quiet kind of success that has carried two Willmar Senior High Knowledge Bowl teams to the state competition next week. Both of Willmar's five-member teams will be competing at the state competition April 7 at Cragun's Resort in Brainerd. In regional competition, Willmar's teams took first and second place among 45 teams.
WILLMAR -- More compromise and less finger-pointing is what big city and small city mayors are looking for in discussions about local government aid for the state's cities. The mayors of Granite Falls, Cloquet, Minneapolis and St. Paul referred often to legislative efforts to cut LGA during a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon. The call was organized by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. The Minnesota House passed a plan this week to make drastic cuts in LGA for Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul this year.
WILLMAR -- People driving around Willmar's rougher-than-usual streets this spring are seeing a demonstration of the tremendous power of water and ice. Many have probably noticed that many manhole covers in the city seem to be sinking. That is what it looks like, but the manholes don't rise or fall with the weather, because they extend below the frost line, said Willmar Public Works Director Ron Gilbertson. Those deep holes around some manholes are actually caused by the street surface rising and falling as frost works its way out of the ground. "This year's been a huge problem with the str
The peace cranes were flying across the wall in a Roosevelt Elementary School hallway this week, but they will soon be on their way to help out a good cause. Roosevelt students have been folding do-zens of origami cranes to benefit the Crane-storm-Wishes in Flight project of the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota. The association is attempting to collect 100,000 cranes folded by volunteers during March, which is Brain Injury Awareness Month. That would be one crane for every Minnesotan affected by a brain injury. Julie Knutson, a retired teacher who works with the gifted and talented pr
WILLMAR -- For Chuck and M'Liss Switzer of St. Paul, the physical violence in their marriage started on their honeymoon 48 years ago. But after 18 years, he realized he needed to make a change. The couple sought help and ended the battering. "Their goal was to stop the violence, not the marriage," said Connie Schmoll, director of Safe Avenues in Willmar. "They are a very rare couple." Since seeking help 30 years ago, the Switzers have worked to educate law enforcement, clergy and many others about the issue of domestic abuse. "Their life has revolved around this," Schmoll said.
WILLMAR -- The latest addition to the downtown Willmar business community is Whirled Up, a nutrition club offering Herbalife shakes and other products. Whirled Up is located in the former Northern Grounds coffee shop at 333 Litchfield Ave. S.W. Proprietor Brenda Rouse opened a month ago. She calls her meal replacement shakes "fast food in a cup that tastes like dessert." People join the club one day at a time by paying a fee for which they receive a shake, hot or iced tea and a shot of aloe.