Larson to be sentenced

Twenty-year-old Ashton Michelle Larson is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Freeborn County District Court for charges tied to elder abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea during the first half of 2008.

Larson was initially charged with more than a dozen counts tied to the abuse but in October pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver.

Each count acknowledged a different victim. Defendent Brianna Broitzman in October received a staggered jail sentence that amounted to 180 days.

Winter break begins

Schools in the Albert Lea area start winter break Wednesday and return to school Jan. 3. Today at 5 p.m. the Albert Lea school board will approve the hire of the interim principal at Lakeview Elementary School, who will help the school transition to kindergarten through fifth grade until a permanent principal is hired later in the year.

Census numbers come out

The U.S. Census Bureau releases its official population counts for the states this week, which will determine if Minnesota keeps its eight seats in Congress.

Because the total number of seats will stay constant in the U.S. House, states that gain population tend to pick up seats at the expense of states that are losing people or holding steady.

Minnesota is among a dozen states on the bubble. In a September report, reapportionment expert Kimball Brace predicted that Minnesota would keep its eighth seat by about 15,000 residents.

Minnesota State Demographer Tom Gillaspy says he thinks Minnesota will hang on to its eight seats, but it’s going to be very close.

The figures will be released at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The official counts cannot be appealed to the Census Bureau.

Rivalry takes the ice

During a relatively quiet week for local sports, the Albert Lea boys’ hockey team looks to move to 7-1 this season with a matchup against rival Austin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Arena.

The Packers are hardly a threat to the Tigers Big Nine title hopes after taking a 13-0 drilling against Rochester Century last week, but it is a rivalry game. The Tigers likely won’t hold back.

The Tigers’ hot start this season is even better than anticipated and they should challenge Rochester Lourdes for the No. 1 seed in Section 1A. Fans will have a better idea of how far the Tigers can go this postseason after they host Lourdes on Jan. 4.

Santa Claus is coming

Children and their parents can track the Christmas Eve flight of Santa Claus and his nine reindeer by going to AlbertLeaTribune.com and clicking on the link beneath the nameplate. The link reads “Track Santa on radar.”

The link goes to NORAD, which is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint organization of Canada and the United States. The Santa-tracking tradition started in 1955 when a Sears & Roebuck ad in Colorado Springs misprinted the telephone number for the store. The ad told kids to call the number to speak with Santa. Children called it and instead reached air-defense command wondering the whereabouts of Santa. Instead of hanging up on the kids, Col. Harry Shoup had his operators report Santa’s location. The tradition stuck, and it grew even bigger with the advent of the Internet.

Now media worldwide rely on NORAD as the authoritive tracker of the jolly, old elf.