Kare11
Five sisters reopen store for one week in Arlington, MN
The Hartmann sisters bring back an Arlington, Minnesota tradition to honor their parents.
ARLINGTON, Minn. — One by one, the Hartmann sisters glanced at the building across the street. Too many memories lie beyond the thick brick walls to ignore it.
“We all started out washing those windows over there,” Cathy Hansen says.
From window washing in their early teens, the five Hartmann sisters graduated to mopping floors and, eventually, waiting on customers and working the cash register at their parents’ department store.
“That’s the way we grew up,” Jean Stevens says.
The Hartmann sisters — Jean, Cathy, Julie, Sue, and Patty — grew up as daughters of the owners of the only department store in Arlington, Minnesota.
Farm overalls, interview suits, kitchen utensils and back to school clothes, Hartmann’s had everything a town of 2,000 needed.
Until Arlington didn’t.
As the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis creeped closer, fewer people stopped at Hartmann’s for their shoes, shirts and skirts.
“We just couldn’t complete with the larger department stores – Targets,” Julie Rachel says.
In 1987, Hartmann’s closed its doors.
“It was tough for the town and tough for the family,” Julie continues.
Their department store may be gone, but Gary and Lila Hartmann planted seeds in their five daughters, now blossoming in a small storefront across the street.
On the weekend of Arli-Dazzle – Arlington’s annual celebration of Christmas – a version of Hartmann’s has reappeared.
The Christmas pop-up will be open for just two days.
But for one December Friday and Saturday, all five Hartmann sisters are again welcoming customers and selling goods on Arlington’s main street.
“Back at Hartmann’s, yep,” customer Theresa Wroge says gleefully. “Back at Hartmann’s.”
Four of the five sisters moved away from Arlington, but all have made the trip back to work in space they’ve rented for the weekend in a former jewelry store.
The small store is crammed with shoppers, browsing for clothing, furniture, Christmas decorations and other merchandise made or repurposed by the Hartmann sisters.
“They just keep coming in the door,” Sue Schultz, the oldest of the Hartmann sisters, says with a mix of delight and amazement.
Hugs are exchanged between the sisters and customers; some they haven’t seen since they worked in their parents’ store decades ago.
“It’s like a reunion, all class reunion,” Patty Geister, another of the Hartmann sisters, says.
Though busy, the store runs efficiently. Each sister knows her role. As Sue and Julie work the checkout, Jean and Patty welcome customers. Nearby, Cathy passes out spritz, sandbakkels and krumkake, the same cookies their mother used to leave out for customers at Hartmann’s.
“Happy, sad,” Cathy says, before glancing away to compose herself.
She believes her parents would be proud.
“They’re smiling, they’re smiling up in heaven,” she says.
In a few hours, fireworks will light the sky, signaling the start of the Arli-Dazzle parade that will cast a holiday glow over thousands of people who’ll come to watch in the cool evening air.
It is Arlington’s brightest tradition.
That distinction belongs to five sisters with love in store.
Watch the latest videos from the Land of 10,000 Stories in our YouTube playlist and subscribe to the Land of 10,000 Stories Complete Collection on YouTube.
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
John Sawchak faces four felony charges after officials said he shot his neighbor on Grand Avenue South while trimming a tree on their shared property line.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering in the hospital after being shot outside his home in a dispute with a neighbor on Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis on Oct. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hospital for a report of a gunshot victim on Wednesday night. The injured man had been transported from his home on Grand Avenue South for an unknown medical condition that caused him to collapse. The man was found in the fetal position by his wife when she got home from work that evening.
Officials later identified the victim as Davis Maturi.
At the hospital, providers found a small puncture wound in the back of Maturi’s neck that led to the discovery of a bullet lodged near his spine. When he arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t recall what led up to him being shot, according to the criminal complaint.
Maturi’s wife told officials that he had been outside earlier in the day pruning a tree near their property line with a chainsaw. She said their neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, 54, had “almost certainly” shot her husband.
In the previous week, Maturi’s wife said Sawchak told her husband “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.”
The criminal complaint goes on to detail numerous complaints of harassment the Maturi’s experienced since purchasing their house in September 2023.
Oct. 11, 2023: Maturi approached Sawchak to discuss the tree on their property line. Sawchak became irate, according to the criminal complaint, yelling at Maturi and using “racially charged language.” Sawchak told Maturi if he “touched” the tree, Sawchak would “take care of” him.
March 1, 2024: Sawchak approached Maturi while he was working outside his house on a ladder. While verbally harassing him, officials said Sawchak told Maturi that he would put him in the hospital.
April 5, 2024: Sawchak threw household items at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window.
May 28, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi, calling him “a Black bastard,” and telling him “I’m going to kill you if you call the police again. All you people do is lie and commit crimes.”
Aug. 7, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi from his 2nd story window. Maturi saw Sawchak holding up a large knife in the window while threatening to kill Maturi and his wife.
Oct. 8, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened and screamed racial slurs at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window. Sawchak also, once again, brandished a knife from his window while threatening to kill Maturi.
Oct. 14, 2024: Maturi saw Sawchak outside Maturi’s home with a firearm. Sawchak pointed the firearm at Maturi through the window.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Maturi’s wife went home to pack some things and leave for the night, officials said. Sawchak verbally harassed her and shone a stone light on her as she left her home, the criminal complaint read. The next day, Maturi and his wife were able to access home security footage from their home cameras. The video shows Maturi working outside near the tree at the property line with his back to Sawchak’s home. A faint “crack” or “pop” can be heard, then Maturi collapsed to the ground.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion. He talked to KARE 11 from his hospital bed and said he feels the police failed to protect his family by not arresting Sawchak during one of the various other incidents.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Maturi said. “You have this body armor, you have professional training… when I call for assistance, when I called for having a knife pointed at me, I had to wait hours and hours and hours.”
As of Sunday morning, Sawchak is not in police custody. According to the criminal complaint, Sawchak has at least three active warrants associated with prior threats or acts of violence against Matsuri and other neighbors. Sawchak has “actively evaded” police during their prior attempts to contact or arrest him.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey showed anger and blame directed at the Minneapolis police department for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Watch Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s response below:
Police are investigating after three men were shot early on Saturday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating after three men were shot in the Ventura Village neighborhood early Saturday morning.
According to Minneapolis police, officers were called to the area around East 21st Street and South 15th Avenue around 5 a.m. Saturday.
Officers found three men had been shot. One of the men died and the two others were taken to the hospital with what police described as life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the shooting happened at a small homeless encampment.
Police have not announced any arrests as of Saturday morning.
KARE 11 will update this story as more information is made available.
This Halloween the chocolate shop is getting very festive.
MARINE ON SAINT CROIX, Minn. — A small sweet shop in a Minnesota river town has won some BIG awards for its chocolates.
St. Croix Chocolate Company in Marine on St. Croix has won national and international awards including Best of Show in this year’s America’s Division of the International Chocolate Awards.
Their chocolates are available at the St. Croix Chocolate Company kitchen or online.
This Halloween they are selling a Halloween Countdown Calendar that features 14 prize-winning recipes made into ghosts, bats, skulls and other spooky configurations. They also have a Boo Bag-handled tote that comes with their “best of” Halloween assortment.
Owner and Chocolatier, Robyn Dochterman, joined KARE 11 Saturday to share what St. Croix Chocolate Company has to offer.
Timothée Chalamet surprises crowd at NYC look-alike contest, as police break up event
11-year-old stuns pharmacist at shuttering Massachusetts Walgreens with $6,000 gift
Harris tells Philadelphia church election will “decide the fate of our nation for generations to come”
Timothée Chalamet surprises crowd at NYC look-alike contest, as police break up event
11-year-old stuns pharmacist at shuttering Massachusetts Walgreens with $6,000 gift