sun thisweek burnsville and eagan

Burnsville | Eaganwww.SunThisweek.com

August 24, 2012 | Volume 33 | Number 26

General Information 952-894-1111

Distribution 952-846-2070Display Advertising

952-846-2011Classified Advertising

952-846-2000

IndexOpinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A

Public Notices . . . . . . . . 6A

Announcements . . . . . . 7A

Thisweekend . . . . . . . . 16A

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . 18A

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22A

MaTure LIfeSTyLeS

OpInIOn

Woman raises healthy familyColumnist writes about a Dakota County woman who encountered a host of challenges and is back on the right track with the help of Dakota Healthy Families .

Page 4A

Lakeville man back to schoolLakeville man who suffered a life-changing injury didnt let it stop him from going back to school .

Page 12A

farewell, dolphin friendsThe Minnesota Zoo is inviting the public to come and say goodbye to its Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, which are on exhibit through Sept . 9 .

Page 16A

football team ready to riseIn the second year of its head coachs tenure, the Burnsville football team hopes to build off last seasons successes .

Page 22A

ThISWeekend

SpOrTS

by John GessnerSuN THISweek

Country Village Apart-ments, which was shut down in March after the owners repeatedly missed deadlines for fixing numerous code vi-olations, is back in business . Burnsville City Council members, at wits end over squalid living conditions discovered more than a year ago and the missed dead-lines that followed, voted 3-1 Aug . 21 to grant owner Lindahl Properties a provi-sional rental license to reoc-cupy one of the complexs six buildings . under a staggered ar-rangement, licenses could soon be granted for two more buildings, and the entire west Burnsville com-plex could be temporarily relicensed by the end of the year . Failure to meet a Dec . 31 repair deadline for the last three buildings will bring fines of $100 per building

per day . Lindahl represen-tatives were ordered to re-appear before the council until then to give progress reports . The city revoked the 138-

unit complexs rental license in January, and residents were given until March 1 to leave . with the buildings emp-ty, work on fixing hundreds

of building, fire and prop-erty maintenance code vio-lations began in earnest . Lindahl applied for pro-visional license for three buildings 3805 Sibley,

3809 Sibley and 3848 Ham-ilton and an Aug . 7 city inspection found them to be in compliance .

by Jessica HarperSuN THISweek

eagan officials are con-sidering a 3 .3 percent in-crease in its payable 2013 property tax levy a move that would enable the city to meet inflation and pay for a 1 .5 percent pay increase for all city em-ployees .

This would bring the total tax levy to $28 .3 million, which is nearly $900,000 more than in 2012 . The City Council weighed in on the pro-posed preliminary tax levy during its special meeting Aug . 15 . I think this is exactly

where we want to be to maintain the services our residents expect and still be in keeping with the conser-vative financial principles we value, Council Mem-ber Paul Bakken said . Despite the proposed increase, most homeown-ers can expect to pay less in the citys portion of prop-

erty taxes in 2013 . This decline is largely due to falling home prices and the states new market value exclusion program, said Gene VanOverbeke, eagans administrative ser-vices director . The average home

by Aaron M. VehlingSuN THISweek

A rollover crash on Buck Hill Road near I-35 and County Road 46 caused the deaths of two teens and in-jured three others Tuesday afternoon . The Minnesota State Pa-trol identified Alesha Roehl, 17, of Northfield, Minn ., and Frederick Alexander, 16, of Burnsville, as the teens who died in the crash . All five pas-sengers were teenagers, ac-cording to media reports . At about 2:30 p .m ., a 1992 Toyota Camry, driven by a 17-year-old Lakeville boy, was speeding along Buck Hill Road when it went out of control, rolled down the em-bankment and landed on the southbound lanes of I-35, ac-cording to the State Patrol . Alexander died at the scene and Roehl was transported to Hennepin County Medi-cal Center with serious inju-ries, where she was later pro-nounced dead in the evening . The driver sustained mi-nor injuries and was treated at Fairview Ridges in Burns-ville . Two other passengers received minor injuries and were treated at HCMC . No alcohol was involved in the crash, but both Roehl and Alexander were not wear-ing their seat belts when they were ejected from the Camry, according to the State Patrol . Crews closed the south-bound lanes of I-35 for hours Tuesday evening, which caused significant backups on both I-35w and I-35e during rush hour . The State Patrol is still in-vestigating the cause of the accident .

Aaron M. Vehling can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

by Jessica HarperSuN THISweek

In 2007 the eagan and Lakeville Resource Centers joined the food revolution by offering fresh produce, dairy and meats at the two food shelves . Now, the eagan nonprofit is taking the food revolution to the streets by bringing the pan-try to those in need . when looking at our clients greatest need, we found that a big part is transportation many dont have reliable modes, said Sarah Schmidt, fresh food coordinator for the Resource Centers . So we decided to take it to them . The nonprofit recently

Council grants one provisional license, seeks guarantees

Most homeowners can expect to pay less inthe citys portion of property taxes in 2013

Car spun outof control,

rolled onto I-35

Mobile Pantry to stop at Apple Valley church on Sept. 10

Country Village is back in business

eagan council weighs tax levy increase rollover crash in Burnsville kills two teens

area food shelf becomes mobile

Photo submitted

Eagan and Lakeville Resource Centers leaders Nancy Wester, community relations manager, John Jaeger, operations manager, Sarah Schmidt, fresh foods coordinator, Mary Freeman, program manager and Kris Albright, office manager, show off the nonprofits new Mobile Pantry. The Mobile Pantry will be deployed for the first time on Sept. 10 at Restoration Covenant Church in Apple Valley.

Photo by John Gessner

The Super Pilots, including keyboard player Dave Mackay and drummer JP Bouvet, were the warm-up act for headliner Randy Brecker during the ninth annual Burnsville Art and All That Jazz Festival Saturday, Aug. 18, at Burnsvilles Nicollet Commons Park. The jazz-rock fusion quartet includes Bouvet, of Lakeville, guitarist Mike Linden of Apple Valley, and two of their classmates at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mackay and Jason Weiss. Acts at the daylong festival also included the Dakota Combo, Hot Swing Combo and Charanga Tropical.

hot jazz, local flavor

City of Burnsville

Right: This is a picture taken last year of a moldy bathroom at Country Village Apartments.Below: This is a refurbished bathroom in one of the three buildings that have passed inspection at Country Village.

See fOOd, 24A

See TaxeS, 8A

See aparTMenTS, 18A

2A August 24, 2012 Sun ThiSweek - Burnsville - eagan

by John GessnerSun ThiSweek

Burnsville police officer Dan Anselment has another life as Officer Dan. Dan the cop patrols the streets and investi-gates crime scenes as part of Burnsvilles specially trained evidence team. Officer Dan gives foren-sics demonstrations to kids and is soon to become a character in an illustrated childrens book Anselment is working on with his wife, Amy. Dan the cop hopes Offi-cer Dan helps build bridges between children and the police. The Anselments first book, Officer Dan Looks for Clues with kids, will be self-published late this year or early next year, Dan said. he hopes to build an en-tire book series around Of-ficer Dan. As a police officer, we interact with children quite frequently, said Anselment, 31, a nine-year Burnsville police veteran. every once in a while you go to those calls where a kid is terrified of police officers or the kid maybe was taught we are people they should fear and be disrespectful to. My thought and hope is, if i can create this char-acter, Officer Dan which is really any officer out of the street a kid will be able to connect with this character, and hopefully through that, hell be able to recognize police officers are some-body he can trust.

Anselment, who grew up in Burnsville and Lakev-ille and now lives in new Prague, comes from a police family. his father, Steve, is a re-tired eagan sergeant. Older brother Shaun is a Burns-ville cop who joined the force a few years before Dan did. Shauns wife, Danielle, is an officer in eagan. Dan had stints as youth worship director at ho-sanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville and as a member of the Johnny holm Band before being hired as a Burnsville cop. Anselment is one of about a dozen members of Burnsvilles crime-scene evi-dence team and second vice president of the Minnesota chapter of the international Association for identifica-tion, the worlds largest fo-rensic organization. hes an instructor for Burnsvilles evidence team, which of-fers a 40-hour crime-scene school to cops from around Minnesota. TV is not reality when it comes to cops seeking clues, Anselment said. it definitely makes the job harder, he said of the CSi effect. People just assume that evidence can be found at everything. Thats not always the case. Some-times people want you to fingerprint things you just might not be able to get anything from. TV kind of gives a false sense of what we can do. TV also has amazing technology i wish we had.

when he speaks to chil-drens groups Anselment fo-cuses on the basics hes em-phasizing in his first book, which his wife is illustrating with full-color paintings. Photos of real evidence will be blended into the illustra-tions. Children are intro-duced, unfortunately, to all they see on TV, which are the CSi shows, which is the violence and the blood, Anselment said. The whole purpose of this book is to remove that from the picture and teach them fo-rensic science is something they can be excited about. its about fingerprints, shoe tracks, hair samples, tire tracks, fibers. Anselment said his re-search of childrens lit-erature turned up nothing about forensic science. he said his first book will fol-low Officer Dan as he pro-cesses a burglary scene, but not a home burglary. well probably end up using a business or some-thing like that, something not as vulnerable. we dont want to scare (readers), said Anselment, who has three children of his own, ages 2, 5 and 7. More information is at www.kickstarter.com/proj-ects/anselment/officer-dan-looks-for-clues-childrens-book\. Donations to help fund the book project are taken there.

John Gessner can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

Burnsville cop plans childrens book on forensicsOfficer Dan delivers the clues

Submitted photo and illustration

Burnsville police officer Dan Anselment (left) is Officer Dan

(right) in a childrens book hes working on with his wife, Amy, who is doing the illustrations.

Sun ThiSweek - Burnsville - eagan August 24, 2012 3A

by Jessica HarperSun ThiSweek

For the fourth consecu-tive time, eagan has been named among the Top 20 small cities in America by Money Magazine. This is a real feather in the cap, said City Admin-istrator Tom hedges. it takes real effort for eagan to be named among the top 20. every two years, the magazine ranks cities with populations of more than 50,000 on a variety of fac-tors to establish its Best Places to Live list. eagan is the only Minnesota city to be ranked among the top 20 four consecutive times. eagan came in 14th this year after previously com-ing in at 17th, 15th and 12th in the nation. when making its deci-sion, Money Magazine con-siders a variety of factors, including job growth, home affordability, safety, school quality, health care, arts and leisure, diversity, fiscal strength of local govern-ments, and happiness. The magazine examined eagans job growth between

2000 and 2011, which shows a 1 percent drop. however, hedges points out that the magazines research would have shown an uptick in jobs had it included 2012. During that time, several major corporations such as Prime Therapeutic, Stream Global and ecolab announced plans to bring hundreds of jobs to eagan. when looking at safety, the magazine found that eagan has a relatively low incident of property crimes, with 25 per 1,000 people. eagan was also com-mended for its affordable housing, with the median value at $237,696, and fis-cally sound city govern-ment. The city has a history of keeping a tight rein on its spending compared with

similar-sized communities. in 2012, eagan spent $726 million per capita, which is considerably lower than many similarly sized cities in Minnesota. in 2012, eagan spent $716 per capita, while near-by Burnsville spent $899, according to the latest state auditors report. education is often con-sidered to be a primary factor when determining whether a city is among the best. The Rosemount-Apple Valley-eagan School District has historically out-performed the state average on standardized tests and graduation rates. when looking for arts and recreation in the city, residents can find a boun-ty of parks including the Caponi Art Park and sev-eral county parks. For those seeking a more active space, the city has numer-ous ice skating rinks, base-ball fields, and a community center all aspects noted by Money Magazine. Although the suburb isnt known for its diversity, the city of 64,765 people has become increasingly di-

verse. According to the 2010 census, minorities made up 20.8 percent of the citys population in 2010, which is a significant increase from 2000 when minorities made up 11.97 percent. eagan is one of five Min-nesota cities to be named among Money Magazines top 25. Lakeville was ranked no. 19, eden Prairie was named no. 3, woodbury no. 11 and Maple Grove no. 22.

Jessica Harper is at [email protected] or face-book.com/sunthisweek.

Money Magazine has listed the city in its top 20 for four consecutive yearsEagan among Top 20 places to live

Area residents, busi-ness owners and commut-ers are invited to an open house to learn more about roadway improvement op-tions for the Pilot knob Road corridor in eagan. The open house will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. wednesday, Sept. 5, at the eagan Community Center Oasis Room, 1501 Central Parkway, eagan. Dakota County, in partnership with the city of eagan, initiated a study to consider transportation improvements to Pilot knob Road (CSAh 31)

between Yankee Doodle Road and Central Park-way/northwood Parkway. Community input is sought on the different improvement options be-ing considered, including driveway and intersection modifications and/or clo-sures, new local street con-nections, additional traffic lanes, median installation, and intersection control changes such as a round-about. For more information about the open house, call (952) 891-7100.

Open house set forPilot Knob corridor study


Survey says: Dishonest and slimyTo the editor: Many Eagan-Burnsville voters have recently been so-licited by phone to engage in a survey about the upcom-ing election. They are told it is a non-partisan survey de-signed to gather opinions on the election and candidates. Sounds fair enough, so citi-zens agree to participate in the survey. The interviewer begins by asking a few questions about opinions related to certain local candidates. While ask-ing the questions, they men-tion a few of the positive things Republican candi-dates in the area have done, coming from a distorted view of reality. They then ask your opin-ion of Democratic candi-dates, telling you of the negative things they have done and supported, again from a twisted view of real-ity. When you ask who is sponsoring the survey, they say they dont know it is just a random, unbiased, survey of voters. As the dia-logue continues, it becomes very evident that this inter-viewer is trying to sway you to believe the Republican candidates are the better people to support. This is not a survey, but rather a slimy way to try to contact voters and convince them to vote for Republican candidates. There is little doubt about it as when you say something that is against the interviewers belief, he/she tries to convince you that the Republican candidate is the superior person to sup-

port. Using the guise of a sur-vey, these Republicans are engaging in push polling, where the interviewer tries to push the respondent to think positively about the Republican candidate and negatively about the Demo-crats. The practice is dis-honest and unethical and is a blatant ruse. Legitimate candidates and parties dont engage in this kind of subtle smearing of the opposition. It is time to renounce Republican practices of unethical voter practices. They want to suppress voter turnout with the constitu-tional amendment that will alienate many young, lower-income and minority voters and they want to persuade potential voters of their virtues through heavy-handed means. It is time to turn sur-veys into ballots, and make voting Democratic a prior-ity. Unethical behavior has no place in legitimate demo-cratic elections.

SHERRY DILLEYEagan

Kautz works hard for Burnsville To the editor: Congratulations to Eliza-beth Kautz for her primary win in the Burnsville mayor-al contest. I want to declare that I will enthusiastically support Kautz for mayor in this falls general election. I am supporting Kautz because she has shown an unbelievable passion for doing the right things for Burnsville. She has recog-nized that Burnsville is an

aging city and has been a great visionary in leading the redevelopment of aging portions of the city. This vision has helped create the wonderful Heart of the City which has cre-ated at least a $1 million increase in tax revenues and provided new housing and retail along with the fantas-tic Nicollet Commons Park. Her leadership has led to the redevelopment of Valley Ridge shopping center. In the last four years, the city has invested in street improvement infrastructure in many parts of the city. She led the city in finding a way to fund the Performing Arts Center, which is grow-ing in success and popularity every year. That success has helped our hotels and res-taurants increase their busi-ness. She has a vision to lead Burnsville in the future Min-nesota River Quadrant Re-development. All of these things have been done while holding our city tax rate steady. Kautz works harder at her part-time job than any person ever has as mayor of Burnsville. She understands government policy extreme-ly well, something that her opponent would take years, if ever, to learn. Her great leadership has also been recognized at the national level where she is still on the board for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That position has helped bring new businesses and national awareness to Burnsville. Her opponent, who has run and been rejected by the voters multiple times, says he should be elected because it is time for a change, but I dont agree with his ideas

of what he would do for the city. For all of these reasons, she is the clear choice in the general election over Jerry Willenburg. Please join me in voting for Elizabeth Kautz for mayor.

DOUG DANIELBurnsville

Appreciates support To the editor: I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the 304 friends and neighbors who saw fit to vote for me in the recent Burnsville City Coun-cil primary. I will continue to be a voice for business devel-opment in Burnsville, and I apologize for not being more assertive with this message.

JAMES CAMMARATOBurnsville

Anderson has kept promises To the editor: How is state Rep. Diane Anderson doing? Did she follow through on what she promised to do? I want to focus on an important as-pect of Andersons first term improving the states economy. I believe that she has kept her promises and helped to improve Minne-sotas economic climate. An-derson did hold the line on taxes and spending and promoted a much friendlier business climate. In November 2010, the DFL-led Legislature left a projected $6.2 billion deficit and an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent for the Repub-lican Legislature to solve. Gov. Mark Dayton and the Democrats proposed a large increase in state spending and tax increases. Ander-son and the legislature voted against the tax increase and held the spending down. She felt that taxpayers can not afford any added burdens and wanted to avoid a bud-get crisis such as the ones in California and Illinois. In her endeavor to fos-ter a more business friendly climate, Anderson authored several bills to help ease some government regula-tions. She authored a bill that added clarity to cur-rent statute for state char-tered banks and authored another bill streamlining the electronics insurance process and requirements. The gov-ernor signed both of these bills into law. As of this February, Min-nesota has seen a $7.4 bil-lion budget turnaround to a $1.2 billion surplus and a 1.5 percent decrease in state un-employment to 5.6 percent. I believe the Republicans did a great job with our state

budget. Dayton vetoed tax relief for job creators, families, property owners, renters, companies that hire vet-erans, and tax breaks for new capital and investment. Dayton also vetoed a bill to pay back the schools. In this session Anderson voted for the bill to use $430 million of the surplus money to pay back the schools. She feels this is the best use of the sur-plus money. Much progress has been made but more needs to be done. If this state is to con-tinue on its road to recovery, I feel Anderson has consis-tently followed a successful way to keep Minnesota on this path.

CHARLES E. STANEKEagan

Maintaining precious investments To the editor: Recent mention of the states $2 billion debt to pub-lic schools is worth a look. The state Legislature cast around for a place to borrow money to be able to bal-ance Minnesotas budget. Its like the raids Congress has organized on the Social Security fund, except this money is part of the treasure of hard-pressed school dis-tricts. We hear from budget hawks that schools are not being accountable, that they harbor waste. Yet the University of Minnesotas investment research chief, Art Rolnick, a self-described conservative, says we are under-investing in educa-tion. Its said extreme caution about spending state mon-ey created an atmosphere where engineers didnt have the courage to propose nec-essary, expensive repairs to U-shaped gussets that were only half the strength they needed to be, on the I-35W bridge in 2007. The result was a loss of 13 lives and hundreds of millions of dol-lars. The state education bud-get has parallels. It wasnt long ago that Minnesota was an education leader. Class sizes of 30 students were considered too large for effective learning. We

have since passed the 40-stu-dent mark in many places, and the number is climbing. School fees have shot up and property taxes, which most hurt people on fixed incomes, have increased dra-matically. People who say thats in-teresting but they have no children in public schools are missing the point. Our economy did well when we invested money in our pub-lic education system. Good schools are a catalyst in re-viving our states financial activities and a way to en-sure the ability of Minne-sotans to compete on an in-creasingly competitive world stage. LARRY KOENCKEagan

Push polling is unethical To the editor: It is unfortunate that the GOP in Senate District 51 served by Sen. Ted Daley and Reps. Doug Wardlow and Diane Anderson has resorted to push polling of prospective voters. Push polling, of course, starts out asking the phone recipient if they would par-ticipate in a poll, then degen-erates into loaded questions distorting, or outright lying, about the positions of their opponents. People should be aware that the DFL will not stoop to such unethical tactics, and understand that the ques-tions in the push polls are skewed, distorted and false. One would have hoped that the campaign could have been conducted on a higher level by the GOP. If you want the truth, check the voting records of these incumbents or call a DFL candidate, and they will be happy to discuss same with you. I might add, that as the longtime host of Access to Democracy on local cable, I have invited the GOP can-didates to come on the show and truthfully discuss their records in office, but they havent even had the cour-tesy to answer numerous re-quests.

ALAN MILLEREagan

OpinionOpening doors with 360 Communities Dakota Healthy Families

by Molly PerrySPECIAL TO SUN THISWEEK

Amanda wants to be good mother to her son Kyle. However, she has struggled with a history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and her own mother is an alcoholic. She has self-esteem issues and, as a teen-ager, she was diagnosed with ADHD and mental illness. Without a solid role model in her life, developing good parenting skills has been elusive. During Amandas pregnancy, the father of her child was imprisoned. When she gave birth to Kyle, a hospital parent visitor determined she was eligible for 360 Com-munities Dakota Healthy Families and re-ferred her to the program. Amanda agreed to participate out of fear her child would be taken away. In many ways, Amandas story is why programs like Healthy Families are criti-cal. Healthy Families has done essential work to promote safe, healthy and nurtur-ing homes for children and prepare them for kindergarten. Healthy Families home visitors use an early intervention and pre-vention-focused approach to teach parents how to provide early learning, to help build social and emotional intelligence in their children, to keep the children current on immunizations, and to help prepare them for a successful preschool screening. A 2006 University of Minnesota study found that Healthy Families nearly pays for itself by avoiding cases of child neglect and abuse. The study also noted that long-term cost-avoidance is much greater, as

early intervention programs like (Healthy Families) often head off long-term depen-dency on government programs such as welfare, special education and the criminal justice system. Art Rolnick, a senior fellow with the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a former di-rector of research with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says early childhood development programs have an annual re-turn on investment of up to 16 percent, beating stock portfolios and other forms of economic development. The return of in-vestment in early childhood development is extraordinary, resulting in better-working public schools, more educated workers, and less crime, Rolnick has said. Amandas involvement with Healthy Families home visitor Sarah was only sporadic during the first few months. Her history of abuse made it difficult for her to trust people. She started drug and alco-hol use at a young age and never finished school. Consequently, her self-esteem was low. Since Kyle was born, Amanda had been told by her mom, Kyles father, the po-lice and even perfect strangers she was not

a good mother. This criticism prompted her to act out of fear, and attempt to make changes like giving up drugs and starting anti-anxiety medication. However, none of the changes would stick. Healthy Familiess curriculum is set up to affect sustainable change with clients and their children. It includes activities that focus on identifying and cultivating family values. Sarah worked with Amanda to lay out and examine her core values. Amanda wanted to be a good mother, stop using drugs and finish school. It was clear Aman-da tried hard to achieve these things, but with little support and few life skills to draw from, she had so far been unsuccessful. Sarah spent four years building a bond

of trust with Amanda and working with her through the Healthy Families curricu-lum. And the program has paid huge divi-dends for both Amanda and Kyle. The supportive and consistent nature of our program and our strength-based ap-proach has helped Amanda no longer act completely out of fear, but from the goals and values that she has for her family, says Sarah, Amanda looks to me for support and I have been able to have some pretty honest and difficult discussions with her. According to Sarah, Amanda is now connected to Early Childhood Special Education and is more aware of other re-sources in the community. She is now mar-ried and belongs to a church community. In addition, she no longer uses drugs, alco-hol and tobacco. She would like to go to therapy for her-self in the future and knows that she can do it when she is ready, says Sarah, I am excited because she feels hope. She actu-ally believes me when I praise her and she believes she can live out her values for her family. Amanda graduated from the Healthy Families program in July with an open door of possibilities for herself and her son Kyle.

Molly Perry is 360 Communities Dakota Healthy Families supervisor. Names in the column have been changed to protect confi-dentiality. Columns reflect the opinion of the author.

Letters

GuestColumnistMolly Perry

Letters to the editor policySun Thisweek welcomes letters to the editor. Submitted letters must be no more than 350 words. All letters must have the authors phone number and address for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be accepted. Letters reflect the opinion of the author only. Sun Thisweek reserves the right to edit all letters. Submission of a letter does not guarantee publication.

Publisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julian.AndersenPresident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marge.WinkelmanGeneral ManaGer. . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey.Coolmanburnsville/district 191 editor . . . . John.GessnereaGan/district 196 editor. . . . . . . Jessica.Harperthisweekend editor. . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew.Miller

Photo editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick.OrndorfsPorts editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy.Rogers .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..Mike.Shaughnessysales ManaGer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mike.Jetchickoffice ManaGer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellen.Reierson

John.Gessner..|..burnsville news..|..952-846-2031..|..john .gessner@ecm-inc .comJessica.Harper..|..eaGan news..|..952-846-2028..|..jessica .harper@ecm-inc .com

Andy.Rogers..|..sPorts..|..952-846-2027..|..andy .rogers@ecm-inc .comMike.Shaughnessy..|..sPorts..|..952-846-2030..|..mike .shaughnessy@ecm-inc .com

Mike.Jetchick..|..ad sales..|..952-846-2019..|..mike .jetchick@ecm-inc .comKeith.Anderson..|..director of news..|..952-392-6847..|..keith .anderson@ecm-inc .com

ManaGinG editors..|..Tad.Johnson..|..John.Gessner

15322 Galaxie ave., suite 219, aPPle valley, Mn 55124952-894-1111 fax: 952-846-2010

www .SunThisweek .com..|..Office.Hours:.9.a .m ..-.5.p .m ..Monday-Thursday,.9.a .m ..-.3.p .m ..Friday

In Brief Dakota Healthy Families is one of the360 Communities school success programsthathelpbreakthecycleofpovertybyen-gaging parents in their childrens develop-mentandgivingfamiliesavestedinterestintheirfutureandthefutureoftheirchildren. More information aboutHealthy Fami-lies is at (952) 985-5300 or the website360Communities.org. HealthyFamiliescurrentlyhasSpanish-speaking home visitors available to assistLatinoclients. If youorsomeoneyouknowwouldliketoinquireabout thiskindof support, contact360Communitiesat(952)985-5300.


by John GessnerSun ThiSweek

improving communica-tion among teachers and in-creasing parent involvement must be part of improving english as a second language instruction in School District 191, officials say. The Burnsville-eagan-Savage School Board held a workshop on the eSL pro-gram Aug. 16 after a June report showed shortcomings. They included falling graduate rates for the dis-tricts eSL students, from 78 percent in 2007 to 43 percent in 2011. Proficiency on MCA-ii reading tests improved only about 5 percent from 2007 to 2011, stuck at below 50 per-cent of students, similar to comparable districts, some of which had shown greater im-provement. Shortcomings included unclear and inconsistent cri-teria for identifying eSL stu-dents, as well as incontinent procedures for exiting stu-dents from the program.

The district must also im-prove communications with parents of eSL students, ac-cording to findings of a Min-nesota Department of edu-cation review and an internal review. About two dozen tasks are underway to address the problems, kathy Funston, di-rector of curriculum, told the board Aug. 16. we have some of the best teachers in the state, she said, calling for more consis-tent practices across the dis-trict. we dont need to work on that. The quickest way to move eSL students into main-stream classes is to provide robust eSL instruction when theyre young, Funston said. Thats where youll see a difference this year more services to our youngest and neediest students, she said. Better communication be-tween eSL teachers and their students classroom teach-ers is needed, Funston said. This year, eSL teachers will meet with their grade-level

classroom colleagues on their three professional days, a first for the district, Funston said. The district will solicit eSL parent involvement on the Student Achievement and Systems improvement Advisory Council, Funston said. The Parent institute for Quality education pro-gram to be launched this year should also improve partici-pation, she said. More consistent processes for keeping parents informed and for administering the home Language Question-naire are also planned. The district is seeking other ways to better inform parents, in-cluding improved communi-cations in multiple languages on its website. i, for one, feel reassured, with a comprehensive ap-proach, we are going to ad-dress the needs of the eSL student, Board Member Paula Teiken said. John Gessner can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

District 191 eyes ESL improvements

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BY THEMINNESOTA AGRICULTURAL AND

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD ONTHE ALLOCATION OF PROCEEDS OF

REVENUE BONDS PREVIOUSLY ISSUEDON BEHALF OF FAIRVIEW HEALTHSERVICES UNDER MINNESOTASTATUTES, CHAPTER 41A AND

SECTIONS 469.152 THROUGH 469.165,AS AMENDED, TO CERTAIN PROJECTSNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Min-

nesota Agricultural and Economic Devel-opment Board (the "Board") or its desig-na ted rep re sen ta t i ve w i l l mee t onSeptember 6, 2012, at 9:00 o'clock a.m. oras soon thereafter as reasonably possible,at 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E200, in St.Paul, Minnesota for the purpose of con-ducting a public hearing on (i) a proposalthat the Board approve the allocation byFairview Health Services, a Minnesota non-profit corporation, and its affiliates (the"Corporation") of certain proceeds of theBoard 's Hea lth Care System RevenueBonds, Series 2000A (Fairview Health Ser-vices) (the "Bonds") in an amount not toexceed $937,745.45, which Bonds wereissued on behalf of the Corporation, toremaining costs of the University of Minne-sota Amplatz Children's Hospital ownedand operated by the Corporation located at2450 Riverside Avenue in the City of Min-neapolis (the "City") and (ii) the allocationby the Corporation of certain proceeds ofthe City's Health Care System RevenueBonds, Series 2008 (Fairview Health Ser-v ices ) i n an amoun t no t to exceed$53,168,591.20 to (a) expansion and reno-vation of Fairview Southdale Hospital, anacute ca re hospi ta l and o the r hea l thcare-related facilities owned by the Corpo-ration and located at 6401 and 6400 FranceAvenue South, Edina, Minnesota, includingaddition of a lower level shell foundation,three floors above grade (to be used for theemergency department as well as futureexpansion) and a helipad; (b) the additionand renovation of Fairview Ridges Hospital,an acute care hospital and other healthcare-related facilities owned by the Corpo-rat ion and located at 201 East N icolletBoulevard, Burnsville, Minnesota, includingconstruction of a 16-bed observation unit;clinical laboratory relocation / expansion; anew public entry space, access and sky-way link and (c) construction of a new pri-ma r y ca re c l i n ic ad jacen t to and inreplacement of the Corporation's existingclinic located at 11725 Stinson Avenue,Chisago City, Minnesota.All persons interested may appear and be

heard at the time and place set forth above,or may ma i l wr i t ten commen ts to theExecutive Director at the address set forthabove prior to the date of the hearing setforth above.3124227 8/24/12

District 194School BoardProceedingsThis is a summary of the Independent

School D istr ict No.194 Regu lar SchoolBoard Meeting on Tues, July 10, 2012 withfull text available for public inspection ont h e d i s t r i c t w e b s i t e a twww.isd194.k12.mn.us or District Office at8670 210th Street W., Lakeville, MN 55044The meeting was called to order at 7:02

p.m. followed by pledge of allegiance. Allboard members and administrators werepresent except Bob Erickson.Public Comment: Randy Pronschinske,

9885 Upper 173rd Ct, spoke regardingdigital learning programs.Consent agenda items approved: min-

utes of the meeting on June 26; employ-ment recommendations, leave requests andresignations; 2012-13 collective bargainingagreement with LASA as presented; pay-ment of bills and claims subject to annualaudit; authorization to release checks; newalt facilities projects at OHE and EVE aspresented; non-public school transporta-tion contract as presented; and donations.Reports presented: Summary of the

Superintendent's evaluation that was heldon June 26 was shared.Recommended actions approved: Annual

memberships in MSHSL, Lakeville AreaChamber of Commerce, and MSBA; andthe Health & Safety budget.Adjournment at 7:24 p.m.

___________________________________This is a summary of the Independent

School District No. 194 Special Board ofEducation Meeting on Tuesday, July 31,2012 w ith fu l l text ava i lab le for pub l icinspec t ion on the distr ic t webs i te a twww.isd194.k12.mn.us or 8670 210thStreet W., Lakeville, MN 55044The meeting was called to order at 5:04

p.m. All board members, SuperintendentSnyder, Mr. Massaros, Ms. Knudsen andMr. Klett were present.Public comment: The Lions Club pre-

sented their donation of backpacks andschool supplies for families in need.Discussion: R e v i ew summ a r y o f

district-wide survey data; review commu-n i ty engagemen t survey da ta ; boa rdself-evaluation; and cabinet salaries/ben-efits 2012-13.Recommended actions approved: LSHS

Girls' Tennis fieldtrip to Spooner, Wi fromAug 17-19; elementary handbook revision.Meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

___________________________________This is a summary of the Independent

School District No. 194 Special Board ofEducation Meeting on Wednesday, August8, 2012 with full text available for publicinspec t ion on the distr ic t webs i te a twww.isd194.k12.mn.us or 8670 210thStreet W., Lakeville, MN 55044The meeting was called to order at 8:01

a.m. All board members except Jim Skellyand Roz Peterson were present. Superin-tendent Snyder, Mr. Massaros, and Ms.Ouillette were present.Recommended Action: Employment rec-

ommendation of Chris Endicott as CMSprincipal was approved unanimously.Meeting adjourned at 8:10 a.m.

3122732 8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICECITY OF BURNSVILLEPUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a PublicHearing will be held on September 4,2012, or as soon thereafter as possible,by the Burnsville City Council at theBurnsville City Hall, 100 Civic CenterPa rkway , o n the app l ica t i o n o fWal-Mart Stores, Inc. d.b.a. Walmart#5977 for a 3.2 Percent Off-Sale LiquorLicense at 12200 River Ridge Blvd.All persons desiring to be heard on

this item will be heard at this time.Tina ZinkCity of Burnsville

3126348 8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF THE CITY OF EAGANPOLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATIONON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY

The City of Eagan is committed to thepolicy that all persons have equal access toits programs, services, activities, facilitiesand employment without regard to race,color, creed, religion, national origin, sex,disability, age, sexual orientation, maritalstatus or status w ith regard to pub l icassistance.Auxiliary aids for persons with disabilities

will be provided upon advance notice of atleast 96 hours. If a notice of less than 96hours is received, the City of Eagan willattempt to provide such aid. Telephone:(651) 675-5000; TDD: (651) 454-8535.3113409 8/17-8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICEPUBLIC HEARING

A Pub l ic Hear ing w i l l be held onSeptember 4, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. or assoon thereafter as poss ib le by theBurnsville City Council, 100 Civic Cen-ter Parkway, in the Council Chambersto consider the application of Parkcreston Nicollet LLC for a Preliminary andFinal plat of a Registered Land Surveyfor the ex ist ing bu i lding located at12501 Nicollet Avenue.All persons desiring to be heard on

this item are encouraged to attend. Formore information, please contact theCity of Burnsville at (952) 895-4490.

Macheal Brooks, City ClerkCity of Burnsville, MN

3126447 8/24-8/31/12


A Pub l ic Hear ing w i l l be held onAugust 27, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. or assoon thereafter as poss ib le by theBurnsville Planning Commission, 100Civic Center Parkway, in the CouncilChambers on the application of SoccerBlast Properties MN Inc., for a PlannedUnit Development amendment for anInterim Use for a fabric dome located at3601 West 145th Street.The application will be scheduled for

the next appropr ia te C i ty Counc i lmeeting following the Planning Com-mission meeting.All persons desiring to speak on this

application are encouraged to attend.For more information concerning thisrequest, please contact Planner ChrisSlania (952) 895-4451 at the City ofBurnsville.

Chris SlaniaOn Behalf of the Chair of theBurnsville Planning Commission

3113293 8/17-8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICENotice of Public Sale:

SS MNRI, LLC doing business as SimplySelf Storage intends to enforce its lien oncertain personal property belonging to thefollowing, at the facility. The sale will takeplace (unless otherw ise w ithdrawn) onWednesday September12, 2012 on or after9:30am at the Simply Self Storage locationat 4025 O ld S ib ley Memor ia l H ighway,Eagan, MN 55122 Phone 651-894-5550.This public sale will result in the goodsbeing sold to the highest bidder. Certainterms and conditions apply.

P. Pitchford #188-189Weight Equipment, Sofa, Leather Jacket

M. Robinson #521Gas Grill, Television, Furniture

E. Stately #167Refrigerator, Fish Tank, Motorcycle Helmet

L. Debreto #528Household Items

L. Debreto #530ATelevision, Artwork, Plastic Totes

E. Morganti #510CClothes, Boxes, Household Items

N. Gode #240JBL Speakers, Turntables, Childrens Toys

V. Sandelin #148Luggage, Childrens Toys, Boxes

B. Harris #356Popcorn Machine, Furniture, Humidifier

T. Kaaz #534AHousehold Items

3108542 8/24-8/31/12


A Pub l ic Hear ing w i l l be held onAugust 27, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. or assoon thereafter as poss ib le by theBurnsville Planning Commission, 100Civic Center Parkway, in the CouncilChambers on the application of AuroraInvestment LLC for a P lanned UnitDevelopment amendment for exteriorsign deviations for a Best Buy Mobilestore located at 1451 County Road 42.The application will be scheduled for




3113114 8/17-8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

PROPOSED VACATION OF DRAINAGE &UTILITY EASEMENTCITY OF EAGAN

DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTANOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE

City Council of the City of Eagan, DakotaCounty, Minnesota, will meet at the CityHall, 3830 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan, Minne-sota 55122, on Tuesday, September 4,2012, at 6:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter aspossible. The purpose of the meeting willbe to hold a public hearing on the vacationof drainage and utility easements lying over,under and across the following describedproperty in the C ity of Eagan, DakotaCounty, Minnesota:

Outlot A, Boulder Lakes,according to the recorded plat thereof.

Dated: August 6, 2012./s/ Christina M. ScipioniChristina M. Scipioni, Eagan City ClerkDakota County, Minnesota

3113319 8/17-8/24/12


A Pub l ic Hear ing w i l l be held onAugust 27, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. or assoon thereafter as poss ib le by theBurnsville Planning Commission, 100Civic Center Parkway, in the CouncilChambers on the application of FentonSub Parcel C, LLC and Bowles SubParcel C, LLC for a Conditional UsePermit for batting cages and an indoortraining facility located at 1353 LarcIndustrial Boulevard.The application will be scheduled for




3113275 8/17-8/24/12

PUBLIC NOTICECITY OF BURNSVILLEPUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a PublicHearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. onSeptember 4, 2012 or as soon thereaf-ter as possible, by the Burnsville CityCouncil at the Burnsville City Hall, 100Civic Center Parkway, on the applica-tion of Torgerson and Torgerson LLCd.b.a. Hurricane Grill and Wings Burns-ville, for an On-Sale/Sunday On-SaleLiquor License at 12950 Aldrich Ave. S.All persons desiring to be heard on

this item will be heard at this time.Tina ZinkCity of Burnsville

3126280 8/24/12


Congratulations Sister Ann Dominic, O.P, (nee

Karen Mahowald), daughter ofGeorge and Maureen Mahowaldof Lakeville, made her first pro-fession of vows at the Cathedralof the Incarnation, Nashville, TNon July 28, 2012.S i s t e r i s a memb e r o f the

Dominican Sisters of St. Ceciliacongregat ion. She graduatedfrom Lakeville High School in2004 and the Catholic Universityof America in 2008, with a doublemajor in Secondary Educationand French. Prior to entering theconvent she taught high school atPope John Paul the Great HighSchool in Dumfries, VA. Friendsare welcome to send greetings to:Sister Ann Dominic, O.P., 801Dominican Drive, Nashville, TN37228.

Walter DeanWorcesterBorn 1/22/1925, went to heaven

at 87 of Farmington, MN. Pre-ceded in death by sister JuliaOlive, brother Lewis and par-ents Henry & Mary. He was apopular figure in the Lakevilleand Farmington areas, at the Sr.Center and the many areas hevisited. He had a unique style andwas loved by all who knew him.He always had a handful of freshcut flowers for the ladies and ajoking style with the men. Deanrepresented many qualities of anera gone by, yet brought thosewithout concern into the presentday. Dean will be sadly missed byall who loved him.Dean had many special friends

who cared for him; John Emory,Jim Kempainen, Ray & LorraineSwedeen, Kenny Schonning, JanGilmer, Marv & Rosy Luedke,Vern Peterson, Judy Christensen,Lee Slavicek, Joe Harris, andmany o thers no t coun ted. AChristian Service will be held atthe United Methodist Church,278th St.W., Castle Rock,MN at11:00AM on Saturday, August25, 2012, with visitation 1 hourprior to service

White Funeral HomeLakeville (952) 469-2723

www.whitefuneralhomes.com

Kari ElizabethGoddard

(April 8, 1996 - August 18, 2012)Age 16 of Lakev i l le, passed

away August 18, 2012. Precededin death by her grandmother,Terecita Kostner and grandfa-ther , Douglas Goddard. Sur-v ived by her mother , Renee`Kostner Osberg (Rick Osberg)and father, Del (Michele) God-dard ; s ister , Kat ie Goddard ;Grandparents: Ray (Mary) Kost-n e r and A l l e no r Godda rd ;step-siblings: Katy Coyle, JacobOsberg, and Martin Osberg. Sheis also survived by many lovingaunts, uncles, cousins, and otherrelatives and many friends. Shewill be dearly missed by all whoknew and loved her. Funeral ser-vice, was 11am Thursday, August23, 2012 atWhite Funeral HomeChapel (20134 Kenwood Tr)Lakeville. Visitation was heldfrom 4-8pm Wednesday, August22, 2012 at White Funeral Home.White Funeral Home ChapelLakeville (952) 469-2723

www.whitefuneralhomes.com

Doris DorcasUlviOf Farmington passed away

unexpectedly August 18, 2012.Preceded in Death by parents,James and Anne Tuite; sister:Annamarie. Survived by her lov-i n g Hu sb and o f 6 0 Y e a r s :Edward; son: James (Lorrie),daughters, Pam, Debbie (Ed),Mary (Fred), Mar la , JoLynn(Randy), MaryHelen (Jim); fif-teen grandchildren, seventeengreat grandchildren; brothers:Joe, Pat and James; sister; Mar-garet, and many other relativesand friends. She will be misseddearly. We love you (Gone butNever Forgotten) Doris was wellknown at the Farmington Bak-ery where she worked for 34years. A luncheon was held at St.M ichaels Catholic Church inFarmington on August 21, 2012at noon for family and c losefriends. Online condolences atwww.whitefuneralhomes.com

White Funeral HomeFarmington, 651 463 7374

Laurie Burchett(Orndorff)Age 47 of Argyle, IA (formerly

of New Market) died peacefullyAugust 12, 2012, from a shortbattle with cancer. She was pre-ceded in death by her father ,Allan Orndorff; Grandparents,Chester and Viola (Kroll) Orn-dorff, and Joseph and Rose (Wel-te r ) De G ro s s ; Surv ived byMother, Rose Orndorff, husband,Ron; siblings, Suzanne (Dan)S later , Patty Orndorff , KurtOrndorff, Jess Orndorff, Lyn-nette (Tom)Walentiny, and Lynn(Pat) Magalis. Also many nieces,nephews, aunts, uncles and cous-ins and in-laws.L a u r i e g r a d u a t e d f r om

Lakeville High School. She wasemployed for many years a tBCBS until moving to Iowa. Lau-rie loved to spend time with fam-ily, friends, with her pets, andgardening.Though she was taken from us

too soon, she will be forever lovedand greatly missed. So will herlaughter and compassion.Laurie was cremated shortly

after passing, per her request. ABenefit/remembrance was heldAug. 25 at the NoWhere Bar inFt.Madison, IA. 319-376-5904.Laurie, your star will forever

shine bright.

To submit anannouncement

Forms for birth, en-gagement, wedding, anniversary and obituaries announce-ments are available at our office and online at www.thisweeklive.com (click on An-nouncements and then Send Announce-ment). Com pleted forms may be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to Sun Thisweek, 15322 Galaxie Ave., Suite 219, Apple Valley, MN 55124. If you are sub-mitting a photograph along with your an-nouncement, please only submit photo-graphs for which you have the right to permit Sun Thisweek to use and publish. Deadline for announcements is 4 p.m. Tuesday. A fee of $50 will be charged for the first 5 inches and $10 per inch thereafter. They will run in all edi-tions of Sun Thisweek. Photos may be picked up at the office within 60 days or returned by mail if a self-addressed, stamped envelope is provided.


by Tad JohnsonSuN ThISweek

The city of Rosemount will have a new police chief on the job about three and a half months after its last one left the post. At Tuesdays meeting, the City Council appointed eric werner, who has been a captain for the Burnsville Police Department for the past eight years and was previously announced as its selection. werner will take on his new role Sept. 14 at an an-nual salary of $105,000. he replaces Gary kalsta-bakken, who retired in May and had been the citys chief of police since 1998. The council selected wer-ner from a group of what it considered a strong field of applicants, according to a release from the city. he was one of three finalists for the post. eric has a strong re-sume with a strong cus-tomer service and public service focus, said Mayor Bill Droste. he lives in Rosemount and knows the

community. Droste said werner also has budget and technology experience that fit his new role. werner has worked in law enforcement for 24 years, the last 13 of them in Burnsville. he has a mas-ters degree in police lead-ership and administration from the university of St. Thomas and has received additional training at the FBI National Academy and at Northwestern univer-sitys School of Police Staff and Command.

Tad Johnson can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

Eric Werners appointmentis official in Rosemount

City has new police chief

Eric Werner

Dawn (kepler) Scouton of the Burnsville women of Today was recently in-stalled as internal program-ming vice president, one of the highest positions in the Minnesota women of To-day. As internal program-ming vice president for all 75 Minnesota women of Today chapters and over 1,400 members, Scouton will supervise and train the

five internal programming state program managers, serve on the state staff and be a member of the finance and marketing committees. Scouton has been a member of the Burnsville women of Today for seven years and has held many leadership positions, includ-ing chapter president, dis-trict director, state womens wellness program manager and state parliamentarian.

Scouton elected to state Women of Today post


value is expected to fall from $237,696 in 2012 to $220,252 in 2013. Under this scenario, the owner of an average valued home can expect to pay about $11 less in the citys portion of prop-erty taxes in 2013. This es-timate is prior to the states market value exclusion, which offers homeowners an exclusion that lowers their taxable market value. Property taxes in Eagan have historically been lower than those in many neigh-boring cities. In 2012, for instance, the owner of a $237,696 Burnsville property paid $183 more toward the citys portion of property taxes in Burnsville than a similarly valued property in Eagan, according to a 2012 state auditors report. Although city officials are looking to raise wages this year, most city employ-ees have experienced pay freezes in the past several years with the exception of several union groups that had previously negotiated

pay raises. Since 2009, the city has reduced staff positions by about 5 percent from 243 full-time equivalent posi-tions to 232.3 in 2012, said Tom Pepper, Eagans chief financial officer. The city may further re-duce its number of employ-ees in 2013 by cutting an ad-ministrative and a finance position through attrition, he said. Under the proposed bud-get, the citys general fund expenditures are expected to rise from $28 million in 2012 to $28.85 million in 2013. Of those expenditures, 38.8 percent goes toward the Eagan Police Depart-ment, while the citys Parks and Recreation and Pub-lic Works departments will take 16.1 percent and 12.4 percent of the 2013 spend-ing, respectively. Several department leaders have asked for ad-ditional employees in 2013, which if, approved, could cost $256,000, city officials say. If their proposals are granted, the number of city

employees would increase in 2013, but the cost for those positions wouldnt be paid with property tax revenue, Pepper said. Although city officials are considering an increase in the levy, Eagan has a his-tory of keeping a tight rein on its spending compared with similar-sized commu-nities. In 2012, Eagan spent $716 per capita, while near-by Burnsville spent $899, according to the latest state auditors report. The council must certify a preliminary levy by Sept. 15 and submit it to the Da-kota County treasurer-audi-tor. This is just a starting point. A truth and taxation hearing will be held in De-cember prior to the certi-fication of a final payable 2013 property tax levy. The final levy can be lower than the preliminary but not higher.

Jessica Harper is at [email protected] or face-book.com/sunthisweek.

Taxes, from 1A


Photo by John Gessner

Nine-year-old Joey Johnson heard a thing or two about good nutrition Tuesday from top U.S. Department of Agriculture official Audrey Rowe. The USDAs Food and Nutrition Service administrator visited Sky Oaks Elementary School in Burnsville to highlight the agencys new school meal standards, which were approved by Congress as part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The standards include requirements that students be offered fruits and vegetables daily and calorie limits based on the age of students being served. Most of the new standards begin this school year. Rowe also discussed the USDAs Summer Food Service Program. Sky Oaks is a summer food site. Rowe lunched with students who attend School District 191s Project KIDS at Sky Oaks. Rowes Minnesota trip included appearances at the Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis and at the Minnesota Food Access Summit in Duluth.

Power lunch


Submitted photo

Northern Tool + Equipment held a chain-cutting at its Burnsville store Saturday, Aug. 18, to mark the stores reopening after it was remodeled. Northern, which was founded and is headquartered in Burnsville, has 76 stores in 15 states. The stores new layout simplifies the shopping experience by making 80 percent of the store visible from 20 feet inside the store, the company says. Sales at its remodeled stores outperform those at stores with its old design by an annual average of 9 percent. Co-owner Wade Kotula and Mayor Elizabeth Kautz did the chain-cutting. Onlookers included company founder Don Kotula, City Council Member Mary Sherry and ex-Minnesota Vikings Chuck Foreman and Ted Brown. After launching as a mail-order business, Northern Tool + Equipment opened its first store in 1981 in rented space in Burnsville. Its current store is at 12205 River Ridge Blvd.

Northern Tool retools


Photo submitted

Sixteen-year-old Vince Gennarelli of Eagan stands with the ASK-21 glider he flew in his first solo flight on Aug. 12 at Stanton Airfield near Northfield. Gennarelli began taking flying lessons in gliders in 2011 and completed all the requirements for solo flight in about 35 flights. He will now practice flying alone to prepare for taking a flight test with the Federation Aviation Administration next year, according to his instructor, Tom Rent. Gennarelli is a member of the Minnesota Soaring Club, which provides free instruction to its members.

Photo submitted

Eastview High School football players got a history lesson Saturday at Fleming Field in South St. Paul where they visited the Commemorative Air Force hangar and toured Miss Mitchell, a restored B-25 bomber. The theme for the Lightning football team this season is Unbroken, which is the title of a book by Laura Hillenbrand which the coaching staff had players read. The book tells the story of Louis Zamperini, whose plane crashed in the Pacific during World War II; he survived for weeks on a life raft, only to be imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp. His is a story of courage, strength, commitment and resiliency, traits we hope the Eastview football team will learn, said assistant coach Eric VandeBerg. The teams visit to Fleming Field was a day for players to learn more than football and Xs and Os, VandeBerg added. It was a day to learn about history and life.

Eagan 16-year-old soarsHistory lesson aboard B-25 bomber

Your local Home Instead Senior Care office can help.

Home Instead CAREGiversSM provide the highest quality of in-home care, changing the way people live with Alzheimers or other dementias. Contact us to learn more about our person centered approach to Alzheimers care and family caregiver education classes.

homeinstead.com/505

952.882.93001600 E. Cliff Rd. Burnsville, MN 55337

Moms getting more confused. She forgot to eat again.

What if she wanders off? That would be horrible.

We need to keep her safe at home. We need more help.

If youre struggling to care for a loved one with Alzheimers or other challenges with aging, we can help. Changing Aging Through Research and Education

Each Home Instead Senior Care franchise is independently owned and operated. Home Instead, Inc. 2011


by Emily HedgesSpecial to Sun thiSweek

kevin Sweeney, 51, of lakeville doesnt think of himself as much different than the average person. everyone has obstacles to overcome in life, and he is no exception. But most people would agree that his obstacles are anything but average. while volunteering at the Jay-cees dunk tank during the 1996 pan-o-prog festival in lakeville, Sweeney fell off the back and was paralyzed from the neck down. Suddenly, the auto me-chanic, part-time VFw bartender, and avid softball player had to invent a whole new life. with an obstacle you have to go over, around or through it, he said. You have to adapt to what you have to do and do it. the first thing he put his mind to was regaining as much movement as pos-sible. they say that what feel-ings and movements youve got after one year is what youll have, but i disagree completely, he said. Sweeney began to watch

people around him that could do things he wanted to do. i studied babies and kids, how they learned to get up off the ground, he said. i observed others in their everyday activities they take for granted. now i can move my hands and i have started walking with a walker some. i refused to let things stop me. Sweeney is limited in his hand usage, but he has adaptive equipment that helps him hold a telephone and drive his van. he says that when hes in his chair, he doesnt feel disabled be-cause he can go where he wants to. i just always look on the high side of things. what other people are doing, to an extent, thats what i want to do. ive been parasailing. i mow my own lawn. i do weed whipping and drive an adapted motorcycle. i never look back. i just keep look-ing forward. the next challenge Swee-ney took on was how to make a living. But the active people-person wasnt inter-ested in just busy work. i wanted to find a posi-

tion in todays society where i could fit in, he said. Sit-ting around stuffing enve-lopes isnt my cup of tea. although Sweeney al-ready held a bachelors degree in science from the university of wisconsin-Stout, he felt he lacked the appropriate education and experience to land the one thing he now required a desk job. he started to look around the area for educa-tional possibilities. when he saw that Dakota county technical college offered two-year degrees with eve-ning and online courses, he knew it was just the pro-gram he was looking for. this made it easy for someone like myself. i could do much of it online, he said. Sweeney graduated with honors in May. he earned a management for techni-cal professionals degree. he also earned an accounting clerk diploma and a quality improvement certificate. he estimates that he devoted 20 hours per week studying, spending about 80 percent of his time in the classroom

Lakeville man refuses to let paralysis keep him from living

photo submitted

Kevin Sweeney credits instructors like Harold Torrence (left) and Scott Gunderson for much of his success at Dakota County Technical College.

Mature Lifestyles

See Sweeney, 15A


by Laura AdelmannSun ThiSweek

Dakota County Attor-ney Jim Backstroms office refused in May to make plea bargains in cases where de-fendants requested their full files from the St. Paul Police Department Crime Lab, ac-cording to court documents. in the case of a 33-year-old St. Paul man charged with possession of meth-amphetamine and misde-meanor theft, Assistant Dakota County Attorney Vance Chip Grannis iii told Judge karen Asphaug in May his office decided to make those refusals to expe-dite cases. Court records quote Grannis: And your honor, hes not being punished; its the rules regarding plea bargaining say one of the things to take into con-sideration in making plea bargains is efficiency, and its our offices position that if the St. Paul crime lab and our office need to gather all that additional information,that isnt effe-cient. And therefore, if we put in that extra time gath-

ering all that information, were not going to make plea bargains in those cas-es. Phil Prokopowicz, chief deputy Dakota County at-torney, wrote a six-page request Monday to Judge kathryn Messerich ask-ing to halt the evidentiary Frye-Mack hearing brought by public defender Lauri Traub and Christine Funk of the States Trial Team that has uncovered multiple inadequacies of drug evi-dence testing procedures, a lack of written policies and little personnel training in seven cases. Those revelations have led to questions of whether drug evidence tested at the St. Paul crime lab is at all re-liable in multiple drug cases. The Dakota County Drug Task Force has used the St. Paul crime lab for testing for the past decade,

according to Backstrom. Traub successfully ar-gued on wednesday that hearing each case multiple times would be less efficient than hearing all seven of the cases at once. She also said if the court ends the Frye-Mack hear-ing, the public defenders office would be depleted of funds to bring in experts to testify, and they would have to go to the county taxpay-ers to continue funding the case. Messerich expressed concern that her eventual ruling in the hearing could bind future judges to it in other cases. She decided to continue the hearing, but focused the remainder of the testimony on whether evidence tested by the St. Paul crime lab has remained uncontaminated enough to be retested by the Bureau of Criminal Appre-

hensions crime lab. Prokopowicz said he has received one test back from the retesting at the BCA that verified the St. Paul crime labs original finding of heroin. he said the coun-ty has not received the re-sults of any other evidence to be retested. Roberta DeCrans, a criminalist at the St. Paul crime lab, testified wednes-day regarding procedures she employed to test drug evidence against John Thomas Peters, 21, one of the seven cases included for review in the hearing pro-cess. her testimony is sched-uled to continue Friday. watch the Sun Thisweek website, www.sunthisweek.com for updates.

Laura Adelmann is at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

Defendants werent shown results from St. Paul crime labCounty refuses to plea bargain

by Laura AdelmannSun ThiSweek

witnesses were to testi-fy this week that drug evi-dence handling at the St. Paul Police Department Crime Lab was so poor that retesting cannot recti-fy damage done, according to public defenders Lauri Traub and Christine Funk in an Aug. 16 summary of witness testimony they ex-pected to present. wednesdays hear-ing was to continue three days of testimony that began last month and re-vealed multiple problems at the lab including lax standards, improper test-ing procedures, failures to maintain equipment and an under-trained work-force. Phil Prokopowicz, Da-kota County Attorneys

Office chief deputy, asked a judge on Tuesday for an immediate end to the court hearing that has raised questions about the reli-ability of evidence tested in the countys drug cas-es. Referring to the process as a fishing expedition by Traub and Funk, Pro-kopowicz told Judge kath-ryn Davis Messerich the hearing is a waste of time and resources. A week after that hearing started, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom and prosecu-tors in Ramsey and wash-ington counties began sending drug evidence first tested at the crime lab to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for retest-

Lawyers debate if drug evidence ruined for retesting

See EvidEnCE, 14A


ing in an effort to continue prosecutions. To allow the pretrial evidentiary hearing to pro-ceed in its current form is to allow defense counsel to en-gage in nothing more than a fishing expedition with the potential for voluminous ir-relevant information to be presented that has no bear-ing on the issues related to tampering or contami-nation of evidence in this case, Prokopowicz wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to the judge. Testimony in the hearing has prompted numerous changes at the highest levels of the crime lab and vows from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Police Chief Tom Smith that improve-ments and changes were coming. Since the hearing, Sgt. Shay Shackle has been re-placed as head of the lab, all drug testing has ended there and Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties are retesting drug evidence at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions certified crime lab. St. Paul Police an-nounced Monday it would hire two independent ex-perts to review lab opera-tions and drug evidence handling. Backstrom and Wash-ington and Ramsey county attorneys requested to meet with Smith on Tuesday to have input into the scope and nature of the review, according to a joint Aug. 8 letter from the prosecutors to the chief. We are particularly in-terested in learning how that review will address past controlled substance

criminal cases in which drug samples were tested by the SPPD Crime Lab, they state. The results of this review will be critical to our ability to appropriately cali-brate our responses to any past cases in a manner that furthers both justice and public confidence in our criminal justice system. Howie Padilla, St. Paul Police spokesman, said they will announce the two con-sultants hired to conduct the review once the con-tracts are signed. We want someone who has got a wealth of experi-ence in working with crime labs, Padilla said, and can help us identify what train-ing we have and what we dont have, and how we can supplement that training. Asked how procedures and training at the lab had gotten to this point, Padilla said thats the question ev-erybody wants to know. He expected the admin-istrative review would help find those answers. According to court doc-uments filed Aug. 16, the hearing may reveal addi-tional problems at the lab, as testimony was expected to detail contamination issues at the lab and why those issues are not allevi-ated by sending evidence to another lab for testing. St. Paul Police Officer Jamison Sipes was to tes-tify that drug evidence was left in unsecured hallways, which concerned him. Witnesses were to tes-tify that drug evidence was stored, transported and stacked together without ensuring each was kept in secure packaging and would not be in contact with other drug evidence. Glenn Harden, former

BCA Forensic Lab super-visor, who was expected to testify that the lab never performed a validation study or testing to verify if the cleaning methods they employed were effective or ensure work surfaces were clean and free of drug resi-due before additional tests were performed. In the summary docu-ment, Traub stated Harden is saying it is simply un-known what is and what is not contaminated because of the poor record keeping and the lack of standard operating procedures in the SPPDCL. Prokopowicz challenged that assertion in his letter. He said there has been no evidence of actual con-tamination of items and substances that were sub-mitted to the BCA for re-testing. He added that the state acknowledges testimony that indicated the pres-ence of contamination in samples subjected to gas chromatography testing performed by the crime lab. He stated those samples and solutions were not sub-mitted to the BCA for re-testing. Prokopowicz wrote the prosecution must prove that it is reasonably possible that tampering or contami-nation did not occur, and repeatedly called for the evidence to be reviewed and presented in individual tri-als where they will be fully addressed. Traub declined comment about the issue.

Laura Adelmann is at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

EvidEncE, from 13A


and 20 percent online. Now he hopes to find a new career, perhaps with a small business. I can manage and or-ganize. I have finesse with numbers. I just want to find a place that will give me a chance to show what I can do, he said. Instructors like Harold Torrence, Scott Gunderson, Patti Wiegand and others at Dakota County Techni-cal College certainly got the chance. Regardless of any pos-sible limitations, you can always see Kevin inspiring and motivating fellow stu-dents to move forward with their dream, said Torrence. He has the ability to build strong and lasting human relationships with a com-passionate leadership style. His personal story is more than inspirational. Sweeney found his in-structors to be just as inspi-rational for him. They gave me wonderful

ideas, enthusiasm and confi-dence to continue learning. They sought out opportuni-ties to help me and taught me how times are changing so I can adapt, he said. One of Sweeneys class projects was to give a speech to his classmates and he de-cided to give it on handicap awareness. But overall, he says he was the one who did the learning from his class-mates, especially the foreign students. Seeing how they adapt-ed to the United States was amazing, he said. It was sort of the same thing I was doing learning to function in a new culture. Sweeney views his chal-lenge in changing careers as a common one in todays economic climate, especially for baby boomers and se-niors. My story is related to how all people have to change. Look at businesses that are closing, laying off, and downsizing. If youre one of those workers, youll have to learn to do some-

thing else. This is where baby boomers are coming in. Companies are getting rid of older workers, so they have to go back to school to learn technology to get back up to date. Sweeney knows from experience that it can be daunting entering a class-room for the first time in decades, but he encourages other older students not to let it stop them. Dont be afraid to step in the limelight of school. Your brain can adapt and learn again, he said. Keep an open mind and look for-ward. If there is something you want to do, go for it. Institutions like Dakota County Technical College make it easier than ever for older students to feel com-fortable and get the educa-tion they need. For more information, call (651) 423-8301, or go to www.dctc.edu.

Emily Hedges is a freelance writer for Sun Thisweek.

Sweeney, from 12A

Thisweekend


Zoo bidding farewell to its dolphins Discovery Bay exhibit runs through Sept. 9

by Andrew MillerSun ThiSweek

The Minnesota Zoo is inviting the public to come and say goodbye to its dol-phins, which will be on ex-hibit through Sept. 9. Regular dolphin train-ing sessions will continue until the end of August, and from Sept. 1 to 9 the zoo is hosting a daily Dol-phin Open house with special events for visitors. The zoos two Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Allie and Semo, will be available for viewing in the Dolphin Stadium during the open house, and guests can get their pictures taken with an image of Allie or Semo superimposed on a green screen. There also will be a giant card for guests to sign and wish the dolphins safe travels. This fall, Allie and Semo will be moving to other ac-credited facilities, and join-ing larger social groups, to allow for major repairs to the zoos 15-year-old, salt-water-damaged Discovery Bay building. Repairs are expected to take at least a

year, during which time the dolphin tank will remain empty. Zoo officials have not

disclosed the specifics of where Allie and Semo will be moving, which is stan-dard practice during trans-

portation of dolphins and other marine mammals to ensure the health and safety of the animals. After

Allie and Semo have been moved, the zoo plans to provide details and status updates to the public.

The open house events next month will mark the end of the zoos popular dolphin program, which started in 1978, as Allie and Semo wont be return-ing to the zoo after Discov-ery Bay reopens. According to Minne-sota Zoo officials, dolphins typically live in social groups, and the Minnesota Zoo would need several dolphins to create this type of setting in Discovery Bay. There are not enough dol-phins available from other institutions to create a new, cohesive social group. After repairs are com-pleted at Discovery Bay, zoo officials say there will likely be a temporary ex-hibit of rays and fish un-til a larger exhibit can be funded and built. More about the dolphin open house events is at www.mnzoo.org.

Andrew Miller can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

File photo

The zoos two Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Allie (above) and Semo, will be permanently relocated to other facilities next month to allow for major repairs to the zoos saltwater-damaged Discovery Bay building.

To submit items for the Arts Calendar, email: darcy.

[email protected].

Comedy Todd Andrews with spe-cial guest Tom Baumgartner at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24,andSaturday,Aug.25,atMin-neHAHA Comedy Club, 1583E.FirstAve.,Shakopee(lowerlevel of Dangerfields), (612)860-9388, www.minnehaha-comedyclub.com.Tickets:$13.

Concerts Summer Salon cham-ber concert at 8 p.m. Satur-day, Aug. 25, at PresbyterianChurch of the Apostles, 701E. 130th St., Burnsville. Sug-gesteddonation:$20.Informa-tion: (952) 890-7877 or www.ChurchApostles.org. Break Even Band, 8:30p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Saturday,Aug. 25, The Black StallionSaloon, 23385 Emery Ave.,Hampton,(651)437-6625. The Suburbs with Magno-lias,7:30p.m.Thursday,Aug.30,SubwayMusic in theZoo,Minnesota Zoo amphitheater,Apple Valley. Cost: $34. Tick-

ets available at ticketmaster.com. Little Feat with Tom Fuller Band,7:30p.m.Sunday,Sept.2, Subway Music in the Zoo,Minnesota Zoo amphitheater,Apple Valley. Cost: $34. Tick-ets available at ticketmaster.com.

Exhibits/art shows A botanical art exhibit byThe Great River Chapter ofBotanicalArtists is on displaythroughSept.16attheLakev-ille Area Arts Center, 20965Holyoke Ave. Information:(952)985-4640. Pilgrims and Passages,ajointexhibitfeaturingartbyAn-thonyDonatelleandJonReis-chl,isondisplaythroughSept.8 in the gallery at BurnsvillePerformingArtsCenter,12600Nicollet Ave. For more infor-mation,call(952)895-4676orvisitwww.burnsvillepac.com.

Festivals/special events Burnsville Fire Musterruns Sept. 5-9. Information:www.burnsv i l le f i remuster.com/. Burnsville Convention &

Visitors Bureaus Canvas & Vineswillbe6to9p.m.Thurs-day,Sept.13,attheBurnsvillePerforming Arts Center. In-cludes wine, craft beer, food,art,musicandasilentauction.Admissionis$35.Guestsmustbe 21 or older to attend. Call(952)895-4690formoreinfor-mationandtopurchasetickets,or visit www.canvasandvines.com.

Theater The Chameleon TheatreCircle andSegueProductionswill present Steel Kiss at7:30p.m.Sept.7-8and2p.m.Sept. 9 at the Burnsville Per-forming Arts Center, 12600NicolletAve., Burnsville. Tick-ets are $13 for adults and$10 for students, seniors andgroups. Tickets can be pur-chasedat theboxofficeorbycalling(952)895-4680. The Chameleon TheatreCircles13thannualNew Play Festival will be 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at theBurnsville Performing ArtsCenter, 12600 Nicollet Ave.Ticketsare$20foradults;$17for students/seniors; $17 forgroupsof eight ormore.Tick-ets are available at the box

office, ticketmaster.com or bycalling(800)982-2787.

Workshops/classes Allegro Choral Academyiscurrentlyacceptingregistra-tionsforits2012-13seasonforstudents in second to eighthgrade. Classes available inRosemount and Lakeville.Earlybirddiscountifregisteredbefore Aug. 24. Registrationinformation: http://www.alle-groca.org/ or [email protected]. Adult painting open stu-dio from 9 a.m. to noon thefirst and third Fridays of themonthattheEaganArtHouse,3981LexingtonAve.S.Feeis$5 per session. Information:(651)675-5521. Music Together in the Val-ley offers classes for parentsand their infant, toddler andpreschool children in Rose-mount, Farmington, LakevilleandApple Valley. Information:www.musictogetherclasses.comor(651)439-4219. The Eagan Art House of-fersclassesforages4throughadult. Register now for fallclasses.Foracompletelistinggo to www.eaganarthouse.orgorcall(651)675-5521.

Dan Petrov Art Studio inBurnsville offers oil paintingclassesforbeginners,interme-diate and advanced skill levelpainters, www.danpetrovart.com,(763)843-2734. Teens Express Yourself with Paint, 5 to 7 p.m. Mon-daysatBrushworksSchool ofArt in Burnsville, www.Brush-worksSchoolofArt.com, (651)214-4732. Drama/theater classes forages4andupatRiverRidgeArtsBuilding,Burnsville,(952)736-3644. Special needs theater program (autism-DCD), ages5 and older, Burnsville, (952)736-3644. Joinother 55-plusadults attheEaganArtHousetocreatebeaded jewelry. The Jewelry ClubmeetsonthethirdFridayofeachmonthfrom1to3p.m.Information:(651)675-5500. Savage Art Studios, 4735W. 123rd St., Suite 200, Sav-age, offers classes/workshopsforallages.Information:www.savageartstudios.comor(952)895-0375. Soy candle making class-es heldweekly inEagannear55 and Yankee Doodle. CallJamie at (651) 315-4849 for

datesand times.$10perper-son. Presented by MakingScentsinMinnesota. Country line dance class-esheldforintermediatesMon-days1:30to3:30p.m.atRam-bling River Center, 325 OakSt.,Farmington,$5/class.CallMarilyn(651)463-7833. Country line dance class-es on Wednesdays at theLakevilleSeniorCenter,20732Holt Ave. Beginners, 9-10a.m.; Intermediate, 10 a.m.-noon. $5/class. Call Marilyn(651)463-7833. The Lakeville Area ArtsCenteroffersarts classes forallages,www.lakevillemn.gov,(952)985-4640.

theater and arts calendar

StopSmoking

Todayis The day


Book sheds light on the lives of atheistsAtheist Voices of Minnesota features essays from four Dakota County residents

by Andrew MillerSun ThiSweek

A new book edited by Bill Lehto of Farm-ington seeks to dispel misconceptions about what he says is one of Americas most mis-understood groups of people. The book, Atheist Voices of Minnesota, is an anthology of per-sonal stories from 36 Minnesota atheists. its set for release Aug. 28. The essays deal not so much with rationales for atheism which, generally, is rejection of belief in God as they deal with the experience of being an atheist. The writings are broken into sections including Life as an Atheist, Coming Out as an Atheist and Letting Go of Faith. we really think its a good introduction to atheism its not in at-tack mode, theres not an-ti-religion rhetoric, said Lehto. we have a couple people who wrote about dealing with grief. One guy wrote about being an alcoholic and trying (Alcoholics Anonymous), but finding the higher power didnt work for him. in addition to Lehtos essay Rough Sea, the book features writing from three other Da-kota County residents. Among the contributors are Jill Carlson of Burns-ville, Todd Torkelson of eagan, and eric Jayne of Apple Valley.

There are also essays from high-profile Min-nesota atheists such as huffington Post blogger Chris Stedman and uni-versity of Minnesota-Morris biology professor PZ Myers, whos billed as the worlds most popu-lar atheist blogger. Jayne, a social worker who serves as associate president of the nonprofit Minnesota Atheists, said the book is the first of its

kind the first ever book of personal stories from atheists in any state in the country. One of the most com-mon misconceptions is that atheists are angry, immoral nihilists, Jayne said. This book will show that atheists are very thoughtful, moral people who have a deep concern about justice, happiness and well-being. Lehto is releasing the book through his newly

created publishing house, Freethought house, in collaboration with Min-nesota Atheists. After the publishing costs are covered, pro-ceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Minnesota Atheists to help cover expenses for the groups weekly Atheists Talk radio show on kTnF-AM 950, along with oper-ating expenses such as speaker fees and volun-teer outreach programs. Atheist Voices of Minnesota can be purchased from online

booksellers such as Ama-zon and Barnes & noble, as well as at many local bookstores. More about the book is at MnAtheists.org.

Andrew Miller can be reached at [email protected] or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

Harvest of Art exhibit starts Sept. 9 The eagan Art house will hold its seventh an-nual harvest of Art Com-munity Art exhibit Sept. 9 through nov. 2. The exhibit opening will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, at the eagan Art house, 3981 Lexington Ave. S. A variety of media will be on display, and pottery sale will be for sale. The exhibit will then be divided to go on display at vari-ous community locations including the eagan Art house, easter Lutheran Church, Ring Mountain Creamery, Dunn Bros. Coffee, and the eagan Community Center. Ad-ditional information is available online at www.ea-ganarthouse.org. For more information, call (651) 675-5521.

Programs explore stories that shape state highlights of the Da-kota County Librarys fall programs of Minnesota history and stories include: Author and local organ-ic farmer Atina Diffley will discuss her book, Turn here, Sweet Corn: Organic Farming works, which has been called a memoir, a class in organic farming, a lesson in entrepreneur-ship, a love story, and a legal thriller. wednesday, Oct. 10, 7 to 8 p.m., Farm-ington Library, 508 Third Street, Farmington. news anchor and in-vestigative reporter Don Shelby will discuss his ca-reer and current projects, including his book, The Season never ends: wins, Losses, and the wisdom of the Court. Saturday, nov. 3, 11 a.m. to noon, Galaxie Library, 14955 Galaxie Ave., Apple Valley. Local author Annie wilder will discuss her book, Spirits Out of Time, where she reveals true family ghost stories. Thursday, nov. 8, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Robert Trail Library, 14395 S. Robert Trail, Rosemount.

kARe-11 journalist Boyd huppert will share some of his favorites from the Land of 10,000 Sto-ries series. Saturday, nov. 10, noon, Farmington Li-brary, 508 Third St., Farm-ington. The free programs are offered through the Min-nesota Mosaic cultural arts series. For more informa-tion and a list of programs being offered, visit www.dakotacounty.us/library and search Mosaic.

Fundraiser for Childrens Lighthouse Musical heart notes-Treasuring Children, a musical fundraiser for Childrens Lighthouse of Minnesota, will be held from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Satur-day, Sept. 29, at the Steeple Center, 14375 S. Robert Trail, Rosemount. kSTP anchor Bill Lunn will emcee the event. en-tertainment will include the eagan women of note, singer/songwriter Dale OBrien, Latino band Shandy Jimenez, Sawtooth Blue Grass Band, flamenco dancers Las Zapatistas and magician Darren Maar. The event will include door prizes and a draw-ing for a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. More information can be found at www.childrens-lighthousemn.org.

Area residents perform in T

sun thisweek burnsville and eagan

Documents

city inspection

buildings emp

city employees

burnsville eaganwww

burnsville football

property tax levy

total tax levy

provisional license