Click here to read 11-20 of the top news stories of 2014 

1. Austin remembers community ‘backbone’; Dr. Richard ‘Dick’ Schindler, 1942-2014 (52 percent of the vote)

The Austin community was shocked and saddened when Dr. Richard “Dick” Schindler passed away Oct. 18, 2014, following a bicycle accident when on his way to meet a friend to help clean bike trails near Riverland Community College.

Family members remembered Schindler as an active family man, teaching the grandchildren how to drive a manual transmission or hiding under the children’s beds and jumping out after they were tucked in, which they called the “bedbug.” They remember his big bear hugs and the many medical students he mentored.

Schindler joined what is now Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin in 1972 — where he delivered more than 4,000 babies — and he was also based at the Adams clinic for many years.

“He had this unique ability to make whoever he was talking to feel special, he would give you his undivided attention, and he was inherently interested in who you were as an individual,” Operations Administrator Tammy Kritzer said.

Though Schindler retired from Mayo Clinic Health System on Dec. 31, 2011, he wasn’t a stranger to the clinic, taking open shifts or helping train staff.

Schindler served the community in numerous ways. To name a few, he chaired the YMCA board of directors, participated in the city of Austin’s Police Civil Service Commission, and served on Vision 2020’s Community Recreation Center Committee, among other things.

He was an avid biker and helped with the Austin mountain biking team. He also loved the outdoors and was a runner for many years, used to roller blade, was a cross-country skier, and even had summer skis, along with many other activities — even knitting.

2. City announces plans for Hy-Vee to buy Oak Park Mall as site of new grocery story (43 percent of the vote)

The city of Austin made a shocking announcement during its Oct. 6 meeting: The city and the Austin Port Authority would buy the Oak Park Mall site for $3.2 million in funds granted by the Hormel Foundation.

What’s more, the announced purchase agreement would mean a $3 million demolition project to make way for a new 60,000- to 90,000-square-foot Hy-Vee store.

In 2013, Hy-Vee announced a $7-$10 million expansion that would start in July 2014, but the expansion never got off the ground. The city and Hy-Vee would later work out the tentative deal with the mall owners.

Austin doesn’t own the mall yet, however. City officials must work out a purchase agreement to buy the property with the mall’s current landlords, as well as with Shopko, Younkers and Cinemagic 7 representatives who all have agreements with the landlords as well. City officials hope to reach an agreement within weeks.

The city’s purchase agreement includes acquisition of the entire mall facility located at 1301 18th Ave. NW — except Shopko, which is owned by the retailer — and an additional out lot located along 18th Avenue Northwest. That includes the mall property, Younkers and CineMagic 7.

Most mall businesses closed on Dec. 31, however. All businesses except Younkers, Cinemagic 7, Shopko and Anytime Fitness are expected to clear out. Mall business owners became frustrated in November after the owners sent out eviction notices stating businesses would have to leave by Nov. 30, but the city negotiated an extension to the end of 2014.

Still, most tenants have had to secure new locations, and several business owners wondered why the city didn’t do more to help smaller businesses relocate.

 

3. Target announces plans to close Austin Target, inciting wave of response (40 percent of the vote)

Target Corp. didn’t have a very good holiday surprise for Austin residents.

Target representatives announced in November its Austin store is one of 11 stores set to close on Feb. 1, 2015. The Austin location is closing due to financial performance and longterm profitability, according to Target spokesman Evan Lapiska. The Austin location has also shown several years of declining earnings.

The decision prompted a large reaction from the community, including a Facebook group to save the Austin store from closing and a community meeting at The 1910 where more than 200 people extolled the virtues of having a Target and planned to continue asking the company to keep the store open.

“Target should be growing rather than leaving,” former Austin mayor Bonnie Rietz told the crowd at the Nov. 13 community meeting.

Various government officials, including Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm and State Sen. Dan Sparks, wrote letters to Target highlighting Austin’s positive growth over the past few years as well as its Vision 2020 community improvement initiative.

Area residents have also tried to schedule a meeting with Target representatives and start a viral video campaign to get Target’s attention.

Target officials say they appreciate the community’s support but the Austin location is still scheduled to close.

4. Molly Kate Kestner finds fame after song goes viral (30 percent of the vote)

Molly Kate Kestner flirted with fame as an Austin High School senior last spring after the video for her song “His Daughter” went viral.

The YouTube video was viewed more than 850,000 times in the first two weeks and more than 11.4 million times since it was posted on April 20, 2014.

The song is a gospel-like tune with a haunting story and captured attention from across the globe since Kestner shared it on her Youtube page.

“Some people want to make music to be famous, and that’s totally OK,” Kestner said. “I just want to help people with my music. I want to lift them up and make them feel better about things.”

Kestner made her national television debut when she appeared on ABC’s “World News With Diane Sawyer” and “Good Morning America.” She later recorded “His Daughter” and released it on iTunes, where it reached to top 50 on the iTunes charts.

Kestner is still posting music online, adding a few original songs in the past few months — “How” has been viewed more than 138,000 times and “Be Mine” has been viewed more than 100,900 times.

Despite her 2014 fame, Kestner stuck to her original plans and is currently enrolled in classes at North Central University. She hopes to be a motivational speaker who uses music to help others.

5. Hormel announces Spam Museum will move downtown (20 percent of the vote)

Last May, Hormel Foods Corp. and the city of Austin announced a plan to transform the face of downtown Austin by building a new Spam Museum on North Main Street between Second and Fourth Avenues near the downtown fire site.

Work is already underway at making the new museum a reality. In late September, the Spam Museum closed its 1101 N. Main St. location, which will likely be converted to additional office space for Hormel’s corporate south office. In November, crews demolished the Plaza Bar/Ciola’s building and the former Med City Mobility to prepare the site for work to start on the new museum this year.

The plan is for the museum to be ready for a grand opening in conjunction with Hormel’s 125th anniversary in summer of 2016.

The museum plan has had ripple effects around town. The city and county swapped parking spaces to provide more spaces for buses and recreational vehicles by the museum. Then on Dec. 17, 2014, community leaders and Vision 2020’s Destination Downtown committee started regular meetings to plan for the Spam Museum’s move downtown and how businesses will be able to profit and make the most of the changes.

6. Dome, turf announced for Wescott complex (17 percent of the vote)

Austin will have a lot more versatility when it comes to sports and recreation by the time next 2016 rolls around.

Austin Public Schools and Vision 2020 will install a dome in the winter months over Art Hass Stadium, which will provide chances for indoor walking, indoor softball, indoor baseball and indoor soccer. The dome could be used for everything from practices to games to leagues.

Along with the seasonal dome, Art Hass Stadium and Larry Gilbertson Track and Field will be converted to artificial turf, which will keep the playing field solid and provide an upgrade for all Packer teams that compete at Wescott.

The $4.5 million dollar project, which is part of Vision 2020, is expected to be completed by fall.

7. Residents divided over ‘talent packed’ Austin logo, which council votes down (15 percent of the vote)

Austin City Council business sometimes riles up area residents, but few expected a simple blue logo design would spark so much debate.

The Austin City Council and Vision 2020 came under fire in March for a logo created by a Vision 2020 subcommittee that worked on a branding campaign for the city.

The logo, which featured a blue can reminiscent of Hormel Foods Corp.’s Spam can with the phrase “talent packed” immediately came under fire after Council Members Judy Enright and Janet Anderson unveiled the new logo during a presentation on March 17.

Enright and Anderson were part of a six-person team that spent months working on the logo. The subcommittee held a public meeting and hired Minneapolis-based Haberman Consulting, Inc. to do market research and design a new logo. Residents took umbrage to an outside firm designing the logo and criticized Vision 2020 for spending $58,000 on the issue.

Though the branding committee did look at Austin-based graphic designers, Vision 2020’s Director of Vision Creation Laura Helle said at the time the committee chose Haberman because of the firm’s expertise and staff dedicated to community branding efforts.

An online Herald poll showed an overwhelming negative response to the logo and council members say almost all of the logo feedback they received was negative.

The council unanimously voted the logo down based on that feedback during an April 7, 2014, meeting. Though council members said they would revisit the city’s branding in the months after their vote, no further action took place in 2014.

 8. Emails reveal Pacelli teacher’s relationship with 17-year-old student; administrators fired (14 percent of the vote)

A former Pacelli High School teacher is awaiting her sentence after she pleaded guilty in December to having sex with a 17-year-old student.

Mary Gilles, 28, was arrested on Oct. 6 and eventually charged with six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after Pacelli administrators found she had slept with one of her students.

According to a court complaint, a Pacelli staffer saw Gilles and the victim alone in the school auditorium late one Friday. A Pacelli administrator told police she had a “gut feeling” about the two and searched the victim’s school email account. She found a password for the student’s personal email, where staff discovered “numerous emails containing sexual relationship content.”

Detectives reviewed the emails between the victim and Gilles, some of which revealed Gilles could have been pregnant by the student.

The victim and Gilles told police they had slept together four or five times between February and June, and continued to have sex in September, according to the complaint.

Gilles was arrested at her home on Oct. 6 and was suspended from teaching. She was fired on Oct. 7. She had taught high school math.

Pacelli President Jim Hamburge and Principal Mary Holtorf were placed on leave Oct. 6, due to an internal administrative issue and fired a week later. School and Diocese of Winona officials said it was not related to Gilles.

9. Business changes: Staples, KFC, Quiznos close; Runnings, Hibbett Sports, Total fitness open (12 percent of the vote)

Austin’s business community underwent a transformative year in 2014, with the community losing several businesses while gaining several others — many of them on 18th Avenue Northwest.

The announcements that Austin’s Target would close Feb. 1, 2015, and of the prospective deal for Hy-Vee to buy Oak Park Mall were only the tip of the iceberg.

Staples closed in May. Norm and Marlene Blaser closed Quiznos to retire in November after being unable to find a buyer. Then KFC closed in October.

There was plenty of good news too. Runnings opened in the former Kmart, which had long been vacant, at 1400 18th Ave. NW. The farm store sells clothing, animal feed, sporting goods, firearms, hunting and archery supplies, and much more.

Many changes happened to the property on the south side of Walmart, where Hibbett Sports opened in the the 1004 18th Ave. NW strip mall. Sun Tan City also opened at in the strip mall, and Muy! Pizza Minnesota started work to build a new Pizza Hut in the strip.

Games People Play also remodeled to add new store fronts and opened a new Spam Store. Scott Lewis moved his physical therapy business downtown to 130 Third Ave. NW — the former office for attorneys Dan Donnelly and Paul Spyhalski — where Lewis and Tom Keyser re-opened what used to be Excel Fitness as Lewis Physical Therapy & Fitness Center. In May, Donnelly and Spyhalski moved their shared office space a few blocks away to 211 Second St. NW — the old home of Belita’s Commercial & Residential Interiors.

Jennifer Jenkins opened Total Fitness Gym at 803 18th Ave. NW, a gym featuring kickboxing, dance, CrossFit and TRX.

10. Hormel acquires Muscle Milk; finishes another record year (12 percent of the vote)

Hormel Foods Corp. muscled its way to another big year.

After acquiring Skippy in 2013, the company didn’t sit on its laurels in 2014. In June, Austin’s largest company acquired CytoSport Holdings Inc., the maker of Muscle Milk products. As a leading provider of premium protein products in the sports nutrition category, CytoSport’s brands aligned with the company’s focus on protein while further diversifying the Hormel Foods portfolio.

The company set another record in 2014 with $9.3 billion in sales — up 6 percent from 2013 — and 2014 net earnings reached a record $602.7 million, up 15 percent from $526.2 million last year. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Hormel’s $2.5 billion in sales and $171.3 million in fourth-quarter net earnings — up 9 percent from $157.3 million last year. However, that fell short of some analyst’s projections.

The year proved to be CEO and President Jeffrey Ettinger’s biggest for the company, at least in terms of salary. Ettinger made more than $13 million — his largest compensation package ever — in Hormel’s fiscal 2014, which ended in October. The increase was largely due to take-home compensating increases and stock gains. He earned about $9.2 million in 2013.

Click here to read 11-20 of the top news stories of 2014