Commissioners split on wine bar CU

In a split vote last week, the Sherburne County Board modified a number of conditions for a conditional use permit (CUP) for a wine bar in Santiago Twp.The issue last came before the board in December. At that t...

2025: A Year In Review

It’s that time of the year again when the Patriot re-visits some of the top stories we featured in the 2025 calendar year.General NewsBodie Moore, a 2021 Becker graduate was promoted to Lance Corporal in the Mar...

Productive year for Sherburne County

2025 was a busy year for the Sherburne County Commissioners.The board started the year by electing Commissioner Gary Gray as Board Chair and Commissioner Raeanne Danielowski as Vice-Chair. They also served in th...

Northstar Line receives a fond farewell

There were no brass bands or speeches given by local officials, no pomp or circumstance to mark the passing of the Minnesota Northstar line on Sunday, January 4, 2026.  Instead, only devotees and rail enthusiast...

NBC earns “outstanding” rating from OCC

National Bank of Commerce (NBC) is proud to announce that it has received an “outstanding” rating in its most recent Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluation conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the ...

Walz quits

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz suddenly put an end to his bid for a third term on Monday, amid the pressures of a growing fraud scandal in which allegedly billions of taxpayer dollars were swindled on his watch.Walz, a...

Olson named Acting Chief

After the surprise resignation of Big Lake Police Chief John Kaczmarek was announced on the BLPD Facebook page on Dec. 18, 2025, Captain Sam Olson was selected to become the Acting Police Chief.  City Administra...

County board begins the new year’s business

The Sherburne County Board this week held it first meeting of the New Year, and it’s first order of business was electing the 2026 officers.The board voted for Commissioner Raeanne Danielowski as Chair and Commi...

Ganz spears massive Northern on Briggs

Doering receives public service award

Community member Mark Doering was presented a public service award by Clearwater Mayor Andrea Lawrence in December. Doering received the award for assisting law enforcement in 2025. ...