Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000 Messages/2A Opinion/4A Announcements/5A Classifieds/8A Sports/11A Public Notices/13A A NEWS OPINION SPORTS Thisweek www.thisweeklive.com www.thisweeklive.com Farmington-Lakeville Farmington-Lakeville DECEMBER 23, 2011 VOLUME 32, NO. 43 Thisweek Newspapers will not be published on Fri- day, Dec. 30. The offices of Thisweek Newspapers, 12190 County Road 11, Burnsville, will be closed from Dec. 26- 30. Delivery of the weekly newspaper will resume with the Friday, Jan. 6, edition. Newspapers will not be published Dec. 30 by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS The board chair of Dakota County nonprofit 360 Communi- ties was tight-lipped Tuesday about the ouster of Mary Ajax, the agen- cy’s longtime president and CEO. But a community observer sug- gested Ajax’s creation of a staff “hierarchy” at 360 cost her some goodwill among supporters of the 40-year-old agency. The board acted to “change the organization’s leadership” effective Dec. 16, Chair Pete Diessner said Tuesday. Ajax, a Burnsville resi- dent with family ties that date back to her communi- ty’s farming origins, worked for the agency for 37 years. “I do want to emphasize that Mary made signifi- cant positive contributions to the community, to 360 Communities,” Diessner said. “It’s certainly not an easy time for 360 or the people involved.” Ajax didn’t return a call to her home. She joined the agency, then called Community Action Council, in 1975 and was appointed president and CEO in 1992. In recent years Ajax over- saw the agency’s transition to 360 Communities, which included moving its head- quarters from Lakeville back to Burnsville, where it had been for many years. Bob Erickson, a former Lake- ville city administrator and cur- rent Lakeville Area School Board member, praised Ajax’s work over the years but said the staff hierar- chy she created turned heads in the Agency tight-lipped about Ajax’s ouster ECM Publishers of Coon Rapids agrees to acquire Minnesota Sun Newspapers Lakeville council debates allowances Farmington council approves raises Farmington American Legion hit with property tax hike Thompson will not seek Senate leadership position by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS After speculation that he was a likely candidate to replace scandal-rid- den former state Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, Lakeville state Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, said he will not seek the leadership post. “I don’t believe this is the right time. I’ve cho- sen to support someone else,” said Thompson, who is current- ly an assistant majority leader. He declined to identify who he is endorsing, saying that it is an internal caucus matter. He made the decision not to run on Monday, he said. Thompson is supporting for the position someone whom he believes has more experience and can better unite the Senate Republicans. “Moving forward, our cau- cus needs to be unified in order to help us build on the legislative success of last session,” Thomp- son said. “I want what’s best for the state and the caucus.” His family was not an issue in his decision, he said. His wife is supportive of his endeavors; and his children, one in college and another in high school, are “of an age where it is not too hard on them.” Thompson was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2010, replacing long-time Sen. Pat Pariseau, who retired. He won 63 percent to DFLer Steve Quist’s 37 percent. Since then, he has be- come a rising Repub- lican star, leading the freshman class in the Senate and maintaining a ubiquitous presence in local and regional me- dia. He has also been a vocal opponent of a new publicly funded Vi- kings stadium, though he said that was not a factor in his deci- sion. Thompson, who is a lawyer, hosted “The Dave Thomp- son Show” on KSTP radio for nearly eight years. He was also a regular on “At Issue with Tom Hauser” on KSTP-TV. Though he was born in Little Falls, Thompson grew up in East Grand Forks. After attend- ing the University of North Da- kota in 1984, he received his law degree from the U of M three years later. Koch resigned from her post as Senate majority leader after Senate Republican leaders con- fronted her over an alleged in- appropriate relationship with a staff member. Thompson has not ruled out future opportunities, he said. Aaron Vehling is at aaron.veh- [email protected] or www.face- book.com/thisweeklive. by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS Some Farmington city employees will receive a 1 percent raise in 2012, but negotiations of benefits will be a focus of union contract negotiations in the coming year. On a 4-1 vote, the Farm- ington City Council on Dec. 19 approved the raise for clerical and mainte- nance city staff and non- union employees who are not department managers. Council Member Julie May cast the dissenting vote, citing consistency in her voting against tax in- creases and support of bud- get cuts. She said she appreciates staff, but in this economy, now is not the time for a wage increase. According to the city, this marks the first time since 2009 that the employ- ees have had a raise, and that year the increase was \Sen. Dave Thompson by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS Traditionally in Lakeville, the campaign and growing seasons fol- low a similar schedule. But the former is starting a bit early this year with a Monday night vote on the city’s 2012 budget. The council voted last spring to reduce from $1,350 to $500 the an- nual allowance each member re- ceives to attend functions and serve on committees. The 2012 budget increases that amount to $750, still a $600 reduc- tion from the previous year. Some seminars and gatherings can exceed $200 per person. Combine that with all the mileage from driving around 38-square-mile Lakeville and that $500 is spent pretty quickly, propo- nents of the $750 allowance contend. But after a motion to approve the 2012 budget on Dec. 19, Council Member Matt Little, who is running against Mayor Mark Bellows for mayor, introduced an additional mo- tion to keep the allowance at $500. “We are increasing expense ac- counts two weeks after firing an em- ployee,” Little said, referring to the elimination of the city’s electrical inspector in favor of a contractor in order to save $77,000 over the next two years. Bellows disagreed. “I will not let you get away with saying we have an increase in any way,” he said. Little said he was able to keep his expenditures to $516. “I’m very frustrated,” Bellows said in an interview after the meet- ing. “Matt bringing it up at a final budget vote without telling council members beforehand is a statement of his unwillingness to work togeth- er as a team.” As for why Bellows prefers the budgeted reduction of $750 to to keeping the allowance at the 2011 rate, he said it all adds up. As mayor, he needs to attend scores of func- tions, ranging from League of Min- nesota Cities gatherings to Cham- ber events to the various activities around town that are required of a mayor, he said. Bellows estimated that he puts in about 1,800 miles a year conducting council-related duties. Even the non-mayors on the council have similar duties whose costs add up. Bellows of- fered at the meeting that perhaps Little’s temperate expenses say more about his lack of involvement in the community than about fiscal re- sponsibility. Little countered: “Certainly, citizens know I’m involved in the community. I choose to go to free ones (events) in many cases.” The motion died on a 2-2-1 vote with Bellows and Council Member Laurie Rieb voting against the motion and Little and Council Member Kerrin Swecker voting in favor of retaining the 2011 rate. Council Member Colleen LaBeau abstained. She said she did sobecause she does not use her council allowance; her business covers most expenses because she attends events for the council that she would have already been attending as a local business Bellows sees Little motion as cynical politics Benefit package to be reviewed Mark Bellows Matt Little by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS Hurdles keep mount- ing for a Farmington ser- vice organization dedicat- ed to the community and local war veterans. Already restructuring under Chapter 11 bank- ruptcy, the Farmington American Legion Post 189 restaurant will see property taxes increase 61 percent in 2012. Taxes on the Legion’s restaurant building will escalate from $22,298 to $35,876 in 2012. The in- crease of $13,578 is most- ly due to the Legion los- ing its community service organization property tax status. The increase accom- panies a market value de- crease of about $20,000, and will force the Legion to pull thousands more from its charitable giv- ing funds to keep the bills paid next year. “It’s just one thing af- ter another,” said John Blowers, the organiza- tion’s house committee secretary. Problems began for the Legion membership after a 2008 fire, apparently started by a tossed ciga- rette, forced remodeling and repairs. New state building codes required addi- tional upgrades to the 11,000-square-foot res- taurant, but they weren’t covered by insurance. Legal appeals didn’t change that, and the Le- gion took out an $800,000 loan to fund the upgrades itself. Although the Legion kept up on its loan pay- ments, financial paper- work wasn’t filed on time and Highland Bank called the $800,000 loan due by October. In an emergency meet- ing Oct. 12, Legion lead- ers agreed to seek protec- tion under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and seven members paid the $10,000 legal fees to do so. Since then, the organi- zation’s membership has kept the business opera- ECM Publishers, a me- dia company based in Coon Rapids, and the parent com- pany of Thisweek Newspa- pers, has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire the Min- nesota Sun Newspapers from American Community Newspapers II located in Dallas, Texas. While ACN has accepted the Letter of Intent, purchase agreement negotiations are ongoing. “This potential combina- tion promises vital home- town journalism for scores of suburban communities,” said Julian Andersen, CEO and chairman of ECM. “Both of these newspaper groups are staffed and led by talented and effective associates, who will bring vim and vigor to the opportunities and re- sponsibilities of a larger me- dia enterprise.” “ECM is always look- ing for ways to grow as an information company,” said Marge Winkelman, president and chief operating officer. “ECM has grown over 35 years from a weekly newspa- per in Princeton, Minn., to a company with 21 publica- tions delivered to more than 300,000 Minnesota homes.” “Opportunities of this magnitude rarely happen and ECM is looking forward to working with all the asso- ciates at the Sun Newspaper Group and to continue to provide quality newspapers and an online presence to all the communities that we serve”, Winkelman empha- sized that no final agreement has been reached with ACN, but hopes a signed agreement will happen before the end of this year. Jeffrey Coolman, vice president and group publish- er for Minnesota Sun News- papers states: “The great- est resource we have are the Classification change drives increase Photo by Rick Orndorf The mild weather has left the landscape virtually snowless and lake ice uncertain, but that did not stop two men from ice-fishing on Lake Marion in Lakeville on Dec. 20. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently said that despite some cold weather, it is advisable to stay off the ice. Taking a risk Taking a risk Taking a risk Taking a risk Mary Ajax Photo by Laura Adelmann For now, food and drinks continue to flow at the Farmington American Legion as organization members struggle against a tough economy, Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a 2008 fire and a 61 percent property tax increase in 2012. See Tax Hike, 10A See Ajax, 13A See ECM, 10A See Debate, 12A See Benefits, 12A Your guide to New Year’s Eve entertainment. See Thisweekend on Page 6A

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Weekly newspaper for the cities of Farmington and Lakeville Minnesota

Transcript of Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

Page 1: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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General 952-894-1111Distribution 952-846-2070

Display Advertising 952-846-2011Classified Advertising 952-846-2000

Messages/2A Opinion/4A Announcements/5A Classifieds/8A Sports/11A Public Notices/13A

ANEWS

OPINION

SPORTSThisweekwww.thisweeklive.comwww.thisweeklive.com Farmington-LakevilleFarmington-Lakeville

DECEMBER 23, 2011 VOLUME 32, NO. 43

Thisweek Newspapers will not be published on Fri-day, Dec. 30. The offices of Thisweek Newspapers, 12190 County Road 11, Burnsville, will be closed from Dec. 26-30. Delivery of the weekly newspaper will resume with the Friday, Jan. 6, edition.

Newspapers will not be published Dec. 30

by John GessnerTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

The board chair of Dakota County nonprofit 360 Communi-ties was tight-lipped Tuesday about the ouster of Mary Ajax, the agen-cy’s longtime president and CEO. But a community observer sug-gested Ajax’s creation of a staff “hierarchy” at 360 cost her some goodwill among supporters of the 40-year-old agency. The board acted to “change the organization’s leadership” effective Dec. 16, Chair Pete Diessner said Tuesday.

Ajax, a Burnsville resi-dent with family ties that date back to her communi-ty’s farming origins, worked for the agency for 37 years. “I do want to emphasize that Mary made signifi-cant positive contributions to the community, to 360 Communities,” Diessner said. “It’s certainly not an easy time for 360 or the people involved.” Ajax didn’t return a call to her home. She joined the agency, then called Community Action Council,

in 1975 and was appointed president and CEO in 1992. In recent years Ajax over-saw the agency’s transition to 360 Communities, which included moving its head-quarters from Lakeville back to Burnsville, where it had been for many years.

Bob Erickson, a former Lake-ville city administrator and cur-rent Lakeville Area School Board member, praised Ajax’s work over the years but said the staff hierar-chy she created turned heads in the

Agency tight-lipped about Ajax’s ouster

ECM Publishers of Coon Rapids agrees to acquire Minnesota Sun Newspapers

Lakeville council debates allowances

Farmington council approves raises

Farmington American Legion hit with property tax hike

Thompson will not seek Senate leadership position

by Aaron VehlingTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

After speculation that he was a likely candidate to replace scandal-rid-den former state Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, Lakeville state Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville, said he will not seek the leadership post. “I don’t believe this is the right time. I’ve cho-sen to support someone else,” said Thompson, who is current-ly an assistant majority leader. He declined to identify who he is endorsing, saying that it is an internal caucus matter. He made the decision not to run on Monday, he said. Thompson is supporting for the position someone whom he believes has more experience and can better unite the Senate Republicans. “Moving forward, our cau-cus needs to be unified in order to help us build on the legislative success of last session,” Thomp-son said. “I want what’s best for the state and the caucus.” His family was not an issue in his decision, he said. His wife is supportive of his endeavors; and his children, one in college and another in high school, are “of an age where it is not too hard on them.” Thompson was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2010,

replacing long-time Sen. Pat Pariseau, who retired. He won 63 percent to DFLer Steve

Quist’s 37 percent. Since then, he has be-come a rising Repub-lican star, leading the freshman class in the Senate and maintaining a ubiquitous presence in local and regional me-dia. He has also been a vocal opponent of a new publicly funded Vi-

kings stadium, though he said that was not a factor in his deci-sion. Thompson, who is a lawyer, hosted “The Dave Thomp-son Show” on KSTP radio for nearly eight years. He was also a regular on “At Issue with Tom Hauser” on KSTP-TV. Though he was born in Little Falls, Thompson grew up in East Grand Forks. After attend-ing the University of North Da-kota in 1984, he received his law degree from the U of M three years later. Koch resigned from her post as Senate majority leader after Senate Republican leaders con-fronted her over an alleged in-appropriate relationship with a staff member. Thompson has not ruled out future opportunities, he said.

Aaron Vehling is at [email protected] or www.face-book.com/thisweeklive.

by Laura AdelmannTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Some Farmington city employees will receive a 1 percent raise in 2012, but

negotiations of benefits will be a focus of union contract negotiations in the coming year. On a 4-1 vote, the Farm-ington City Council on Dec. 19 approved the raise for clerical and mainte-nance city staff and non-

union employees who are not department managers. Council Member Julie May cast the dissenting vote, citing consistency in her voting against tax in-creases and support of bud-get cuts. She said she appreciates

staff, but in this economy, now is not the time for a wage increase. According to the city, this marks the first time since 2009 that the employ-ees have had a raise, and that year the increase was

\Sen. Dave Thompson

by Aaron VehlingTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Traditionally in Lakeville, the campaign and growing seasons fol-low a similar schedule. But the former is starting a bit early this year with a Monday night vote on the city’s 2012 budget. The council voted last spring to reduce from $1,350 to $500 the an-nual allowance each member re-ceives to attend functions and serve on committees. The 2012 budget increases that amount to $750, still a $600 reduc-tion from the previous year. Some seminars and gatherings can exceed $200 per person. Combine that with all the mileage from driving around 38-square-mile Lakeville and that $500 is spent pretty quickly, propo-nents of the $750 allowance contend. But after a motion to approve the 2012 budget on Dec. 19, Council Member Matt Little, who is running against Mayor Mark Bellows for mayor, introduced an additional mo-tion to keep the allowance at $500. “We are increasing expense ac-counts two weeks after firing an em-ployee,” Little said, referring to the

elimination of the city’s electrical inspector in favor of a contractor in order to save $77,000 over the next two years. Bellows disagreed. “I will not let you get away with saying we have an increase in any way,” he said. Little said he was able to keep his expenditures to $516. “I’m very frustrated,” Bellows said in an interview after the meet-ing. “Matt bringing it up at a final budget vote without telling council members beforehand is a statement of his unwillingness to work togeth-er as a team.” As for why Bellows prefers the budgeted reduction of $750 to to keeping the allowance at the 2011 rate, he said it all adds up. As mayor, he needs to attend scores of func-tions, ranging from League of Min-nesota Cities gatherings to Cham-ber events to the various activities around town that are required of a mayor, he said. Bellows estimated that he puts in about 1,800 miles a year conducting council-related duties. Even the non-mayors on the

council have similar duties whose costs add up. Bellows of-fered at the meeting that perhaps Little’s temperate expenses say more about his lack of involvement in the community than about fiscal re-sponsibility. Little countered: “Certainly, citizens know I’m involved in the community. I choose to go to free ones (events) in many cases.” The motion died

on a 2-2-1 vote with Bellows and Council Member Laurie Rieb voting against the motion and Little and Council Member Kerrin Swecker voting in favor of retaining the 2011 rate. Council Member Colleen LaBeau abstained. She said she did sobecause she does not use her council allowance; her business covers most expenses because she attends events for the council that she would have already been attending as a local business

Bellows sees Little motion as cynical politics

Benefit package to be reviewed

MarkBellows

Matt Little

by Laura AdelmannTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Hurdles keep mount-ing for a Farmington ser-vice organization dedicat-ed to the community and local war veterans. Already restructuring under Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy, the Farmington American Legion Post 189 restaurant will see property taxes increase 61 percent in 2012. Taxes on the Legion’s restaurant building will escalate from $22,298 to

$35,876 in 2012. The in-crease of $13,578 is most-ly due to the Legion los-ing its community service organization property tax status. The increase accom-panies a market value de-crease of about $20,000, and will force the Legion to pull thousands more from its charitable giv-ing funds to keep the bills paid next year. “It’s just one thing af-ter another,” said John Blowers, the organiza-

tion’s house committee secretary. Problems began for the Legion membership after a 2008 fire, apparently started by a tossed ciga-rette, forced remodeling and repairs. New state building codes required addi-tional upgrades to the 11,000-square-foot res-taurant, but they weren’t covered by insurance. Legal appeals didn’t change that, and the Le-gion took out an $800,000

loan to fund the upgrades itself. Although the Legion kept up on its loan pay-ments, financial paper-work wasn’t filed on time and Highland Bank called the $800,000 loan due by October. In an emergency meet-ing Oct. 12, Legion lead-ers agreed to seek protec-tion under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and seven members paid the $10,000 legal fees to do so. Since then, the organi-zation’s membership has kept the business opera-

ECM Publishers, a me-dia company based in Coon Rapids, and the parent com-pany of Thisweek Newspa-pers, has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire the Min-nesota Sun Newspapers from American Community Newspapers II located in Dallas, Texas. While ACN has accepted the Letter of Intent, purchase agreement negotiations are ongoing. “This potential combina-tion promises vital home-town journalism for scores of suburban communities,” said Julian Andersen, CEO and chairman of ECM. “Both of these newspaper groups are staffed and led by talented and effective associates, who will bring vim and vigor to the opportunities and re-sponsibilities of a larger me-dia enterprise.” “ECM is always look-ing for ways to grow as an information company,” said

Marge Winkelman, president and chief operating officer. “ECM has grown over 35 years from a weekly newspa-per in Princeton, Minn., to a company with 21 publica-tions delivered to more than 300,000 Minnesota homes.” “Opportunities of this magnitude rarely happen and ECM is looking forward to working with all the asso-ciates at the Sun Newspaper Group and to continue to provide quality newspapers and an online presence to all the communities that we serve”, Winkelman empha-sized that no final agreement has been reached with ACN, but hopes a signed agreement will happen before the end of this year. Jeffrey Coolman, vice president and group publish-er for Minnesota Sun News-papers states: “The great-est resource we have are the

Classification change drives increase

Photo by Rick Orndorf

The mild weather has left the landscape virtually snowless and lake ice uncertain, but that did not stop two men from ice-fishing on Lake Marion in Lakeville on Dec. 20. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently said that despite some cold weather, it is advisable to stay off the ice.

Taking a riskTaking a riskTaking a riskTaking a risk

Mary Ajax

Photo by Laura Adelmann

For now, food and drinks continue to flow at the Farmington American Legion as organization members struggle against a tough economy, Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a 2008 fire and a 61 percent property tax increase in 2012. See Tax Hike, 10A

See Ajax, 13A

See ECM, 10A See Debate, 12A

See Benefits, 12A

Your guide to New Year’s Eve entertainment.See Thisweekend

on Page 6A

Page 2: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

2A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

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Christmas Conspiracy:More Presence

9:30a Contemporary10:30a Blended

Nursery/Children/Youth 9:30am & 10:30a17671 Glacier Way

SE Corner of Cedar & Dodd, Lakeville952.469.PRAY (7729)

www.crossroadschurch.org

Cross of ChristCommunity

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8748 210th St. WestIn Downtown Lakeville

on the corner of Holyokeand 210th StreetPh: 952-469-3113

www.crossofchristchurch.orgSunday Morning Schedule

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YOUTH REVOLUTION

“A place to discover God just as you are”

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ELCA

All SaintsCatholicChurch

19795 Holyoke AvenueLakeville, Minnesota952-469-4481

Weekend Mass TimesSaturdays at 5:00 pmSundays at:7:30, 9:00, 11 am & 5:30 pm

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THISWEEK December 23, 2011 3A

by Laura AdelmannTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

A Farmington 14-year-old is now a twice-published author. Ben Heckmann, a stu-dent at Dodge Middle School, recently held a book signing for “Velvet Black 2 – A Kidnapping in England” at B&B Pizza in Farmington. The book is the second in a series for Heckmann, who at 11 years old wrote “Vel-vet Black – The Incredible Tale of Four Rock Stars,” which has sold hundreds of copies. Heckmann has a pas-sion for all kinds of writing, penning songs and poems in addition to the books. “I just love it,” he said. Writing about a rock band allows Heckmann to celebrate another of his

passions – music. An accomplished gui-tarist, Heckmann said he wanted to read books about music, but when he couldn’t find any he liked a few years ago, he decided to write one himself. He started by developing the characters, giving each of them traits that make them stand out. Heckmann’s first book introduced readers to his main character, Vivi Jones. In the first book, Jones is a new kid in town who doesn’t fit in until he joins a rock band, Velvet Black. Eventually, the band winds up on a televised am-ateur band competition. His new novel picks up the story at the competi-tion where the Velvet Black band members are kid-napped by their manager’s best friend. “Turns out he’s a good guy,” Heckmann said, re-fusing to reveal more details that might spoil the book’s

ending. Heckmann’s books, which he also illustrates, have been published by KidPub Press, an online company in Boston that specializes in working with young authors. He is working on writing another book that is aimed at high schoolers. “I’ve been brainstorming some stuff, but nothing re-ally good yet,” he said. KidPub Press President Perry Donham said Heck-mann’s first book was one of the most popular the company has offered. “Ben is a natural story-teller, and his drawings tie it all together,” Donham said in a news release. “You can tell he had a lot of fun writ-ing it.” Heckmann’s books are available online at Barnes & Noble, amazon.com and kidpub.com.

Laura Adelmann is at [email protected].

Farmington 14 year-old releases second book

Educators honored as TIES Exceptional Teachers

Ben Heckmann’s Velvet Black series

continues

Photo submitted

Ben Heckmann, 14 of Farmington, holds his second book, published by kidpub.com.

Media specialist honored Gordon Wenum, inter-active media center spe-cialist at Lakeville Area Public Schools, received the 2011 Outstanding Minnesota High School AV/Media Coordinator Award from Alpha Video. Wenum received the award on Dec. 13 at the annual TIES Education Technology Conference in downtown Minneapolis.

TIES Exceptional Teachers were recognized Dec. 13 at the TIES 2011 Education Technology Conference in Minneapo-lis. Local teachers recog-nized include: • Lisa Christen and Em-ily Robb of the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School Dis-trict. • Jason Just of the Lake-ville school district.

• Cindy Nordstrom and Brian Trussell of the Rose-mount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District. The teachers were cho-sen by their superinten-dents for the TIES Ex-ceptional Teacher award, which recognizes teachers who model the best prac-tices in using technology in their classroom and engag-ing students in learning.

Education

Page 4: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

4A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

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Opinion

by Larry Werner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

When you’re raised by a German father and a Pol-ish mother, as I was, you’re not all that comfortable with hugging. Mary Ajax, who was removed as presi-dent and CEO of 360 Communi-ties this week, is a hugger. Mary likes people and, even at public events, she’ll wrap her arms around folks like me rather than offer a businesslike handshake. Ironically, my last hug came about a year ago, when we recognized her as a Dakota County Tribune Exceptional Businesswoman. Ironically, I say, because it was probably business choices that cost her a job with an organization she started working for in 1975, that she’s run as president and CEO since 1992. Mary built and led a nonprofit that did exceptional work deserving of recognition, even if her financial decisions were

less than exceptional. For several years, too many people in Dakota County have been critical of the salaries she paid her-self and some prominent folks she hired as managers at the organization.

An organization supported by contributions and government grants shouldn’t be paying six-figure salaries to its executives, the critics have been saying. And why give salaries like that to retired city managers, school superintendents and judges who made plenty in their public jobs before retiring to nonprofit work? Were they man-agers worth the money Mary paid them or friends Mary took care of with the organization’s precious funds? Last month, Thisweek’s Burns-ville editor, John Gessner, reported on the departure of several 360 managers, and this week, we’re re-porting on the departure of Mary,

whom I first met at the coffee shop in downtown Lakeville. It sits a block down Holyoke Avenue from the offices that were occupied for years by what was then known as the Community Action Council. Before moving, Mary decided that the name of the organization created confusion with other do-gooder groups and agencies, and we were then told CAC would be 360 Communities. It was the kind of touchy-feely name you’d ex-pect from a touchy-feely person like Mary. Her organization was providing 360 degrees of support to those who need it. The name change was criticized, as was the move from a humble space in downtown Lakeville to fan-cier space in Burnsville, the town Mary’s family had lived in for sev-eral generations. Even if she got a good deal in Burnsville, the space looked more like a business headquarters than the old mall offices in Lakeville.

And the criticism increased when 360 Communities decided to close the food shelf it operated for many years below the headquarters in Lakeville. The hum of criticism built to a roar as the agency hired prominent former public officials at big salaries. When the reces-sion hit, funding dropped, and the gossip about problems at the or-ganization were fueled by Mary’s decision to cut some of those man-agement positions. The 360 Communities board decided to make the tough call to remove its executive director for the good of the organization. It would be unfortunate if the news of this change detracts from the good work the organization does – the food shelves throughout the county, the Lewis House women’s shelters in Eagan and Hastings and the Armful of Love program that collects gifts at this holiday time for struggling families. Bill Tschohl, an Eagan real es-

tate broker and Apple Valley resi-dent, wrote a letter we published a couple weeks ago. Mary had spo-ken to Bill’s Rotary Club about the need to support her agency in these difficult times. As Bill wrote: “By supporting 360 Communities we change lives and help to strengthen communi-ties.” In her 20 years running the or-ganization many of us still call “CAC,” the hugging CEO made some management mistakes, but she also wrapped her caring arms around the poor, the abused, the hungry and others less fortunate. And she gave thousands of others in Dakota County an opportunity to do the same. Larry Werner is editor and general manager of Thisweek Newspapers and the Dakota County Tribune. He can be reached at [email protected]. Columns reflect the opinion of the author.

Ajax was probably better at hugging people in need than managing finances

Put food for the hungry on your Christmas gift list nonprofit finances

Thisweek Columnist

LettersThisweek Columnist

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

Thisweek Farmington Lakeville

Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julian AndersenPresident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marge WinkelmanGeneral Manager/Editor . . . . . . Larry WernerFarmington/District 192 Editor .Laura AdelmannLakeville/District 194 Editor . . Aaron Vehling

Thisweekend Editor . . . . . . . . . Andrew MillerPhoto Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rick OrndorfSports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy RogersSales Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mike JetchickOffice/Production Manager . . . Ellen Reierson

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Correction In the Dec. 16 story, “Teacher contract negoti-ations heat up in Lakeville schools,” Scovil’s quote should have read, “Seven-ty high school classes have anywhere from 40-75 stu-dents.” Thisweek regrets the error.

by Don HeinzmanTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

More people than ever are get-ting their holiday food from local food shelves. Throughout the Twin Cities area, people who never thought they would go to a food shelf are asking for food. In the suburban area, once thought to be the home of the successful middle class, people reluctantly are going to a food shelf. Single mothers and those families who have lost their homes are at the mercy of this severe recession. At the ACBC Food Shelf in Anoka, 60 families a day are being served. One study says that this year, 583,000 Minnesotans are in need of food. Hunger Solutions reports that one in 10 Minnesotans are at risk for hunger. Since 2008, visits to food shelves have in-creased 89 percent; the number using food stamps has risen by 68 percent. The number of students getting free and reduced lunches in the schools grows every week. The need is obvious, so what can you do? First preference is to donate money to your food shelf. A dollar can be stretched to buy many dollars of food from food banks. Kathy Willis of Family Pathways pro-vides food for the needy in the Cambridge-Forest Lake, Wyoming and North Branch

areas. She suggests a money do-nation first. She can buy from her sources 24 packages of macaroni and cheese for $7.50, 24 cans of soup for $11.74 and 12 Helper meals for $7.50. You can locate your local food shelf by calling the Emergency

Food Shelf Network at (763) 450-3860. Donate food to your local food shelf, not just what’s been on your shelf for months, but recently-purchased food. Volunteer to work at your local food shelf. They are working non-stop at filling orders for clients. That’s what you can do now. In the summer, you can plant an extra row of vegetables in your garden and do-nate your produce to the food shelf. You can advocate for the hungry in Min-nesota by contacting your state and federal legislators and urging them to support bills that provide food for the hungry. During this holiday season, take time to remember the hungry in your midst. Re-membering those in need is the essence of the Christmas season.

Don Heinzman is chairman of the ECM Ed-itorial Board. Thisweek Newspapers and the Dakota County Tribune are part of ECM. He can be reached at [email protected]. Columns reflect the opinion of the author.

Kline shouldn’t cut programs that serve the poorTo the editor: In response to Rep. John Kline’s guest column (Dec. 9 Thisweek): I, too, want to share with him his enthusiasm for the wonderful program, Toys for Tots, which brings such joy on Christmas morning for millions of children. As a person who did not receive a toy on Christmas morning in my childhood, I can appreciate even more the significant role this pro-gram can play in a child’s life. I hope Kline will join me in working so that these very children do not have their food stamps (SNAP), their school lunches and/or their mother’s WIC pro-gram taken away. These are real possible outcomes if the House (of which Kline is a member) cuts the pro-grams that are designed for the poorest among us. As many know, cut-ting these programs is a real threat in the climate of Washington today. Da-vid Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, says, “Everything we have achieved for poor and hun-gry people in the last 35 years is under severe threat of budget cuts.” Will Kline as our representative work to protect the rich from losing their tax privileges or will he work for the 7.2 million children who will receive a toy on Christmas morning but are under threat of having their food sources cut?

Would he lead us in the most powerful way we have to help the poor in our society – by citizen activ-ism? Charitable programs are important to poor and hungry people, but it is im-possible to food-bank our way to the end of hunger in America. All the food provided by all the charities in the country amounts to only about 6 percent of the amount of food that poor people receive from fed-eral food programs such as school programs and food stamps? (Facts are from “Exodus From Hunger” by David Beckmann.) So I ask Rep. Kline, why doesn’t he activate us citi-zens to work for real solu-tions to hunger and pover-ty?

RUTH JONESFarmington

Little dog brings community together To the editor: I am spending this holi-day season living life with a renewed sense of community and the blessings that come from living in such a rich and loving community. In the Oct. 14 issue of Thisweek Newspapers a very wonderful writer, Laura Adelmann, wrote about the plight of a young dog who could not see. The dog’s name is Daisy, and she was born blind. Daisy spent her entire 2-1/2-year-old life defense-less on a chain outdoors. She weighed a mere 14 pounds, and being unable to see on that chain, she could not de-fend herself when other ani-mals wanted to take her food or water or when they thought she would be a source of food. Daisy has so many scars. After Adelmann wrote the article about Daisy and the garage sale being held to raise the funds necessary for Daisy to have surgery that would give her sight for the first time and for life, my incredible

community came together. People lined a driveway to donate money for a little dog they had never seen or did not know. Some met Daisy, and dozens cried as they petted her and said her name. Two very nice ladies agreed to take turns holding Daisy. People came and they bought things from an everyday garage sale but lots more came just to do-nate and help. Today Daisy sees just fine. I have never paid much at-tention to community before. I forget to say thank you to the volunteers at the church-es, schools and community events. I forget to look around at the work city and county employees do and appreciate it. But most of all I forget to say thank you for the smiles, well wishes and incredibly large hearts of those I see every day while I am out run-ning errands or living my life. Thank you, everyone. For helping Daisy, but more im-portantly for helping me to feel like this is where I want to belong. Merry Christmas.

LAURA E. CLOOSERosemount

Roundabouts To the editor: Are they really serious about placing a roundabout at Cedar Avenue and 140th Street? In the early morning there are thousands of cars com-ing up Cedar from the south, and in the afternoon there are thousands that come south from Minneapolis and sub-urbs. With the stoplights, there is a big backup at 140th Street. With the roundabout, the backup will be all the way to Bloomington. Cars will be tailgating so close to get through north and south that those going east and west will never be able to get through. Someone should have to explain in detail to the pub-lic south of the river how this will work.

BOB CRAWFORDApple Valley

Page 5: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

THISWEEK December 23, 2011 5A

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Utecht - SlaterGreg and Theresa Utecht of

App le Va l l ey announce theengagement of their daughter,Catherine Anne, to Joshua Slater,son of Paul Slater of Marietta,GA and Reba Slater of Lubbock,TX.

Cathy trained at AVEDA Insti-tute and is a Master Stylist/ColorSpecialist in Alpharetta, GA.Joshua graduated from the ArtInstitute of Atlanta, GA and is aProfessional High End Automo-bile Photographer.

The April, 2012 wedding will bein Burnsville, MN

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Carlea MaraeMichel

Born Friday, September 2, 2011at Northf ie ld Hospi ta l . Sheweighed 6 pounds 4 ounces andwas 20 inches long.

Proud parents are Alex andBecca (Ninneman) Michel ofLonsdale. Grandparents areAnita and Jerry Kniefel, Rose-mount, the late Carl Ninneman,Rosemount and Robert andCindy Michel, Webster. Greatgrandparents are Peggy Macy,S h a k o p e e , B e r n i c e S e n a r t ,Lakeville and David and MaryKay Velishek, Prior Lake.

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Kenneth H. PeekAge 81, of Burnsvi l le , MN

passed away peacefully Decem-ber 13, 2011 with family at hisside after a long battle with Can-cer. Ken is survived by his daugh-ter, Tara and son in-law JeffreyCohn. He is preceded by his wife,Charlotte and his two brothers,Roland and Wallace. He leavesbehind several treasured nieces,nephews, cousins aunts and aloving sister in-law.

Ken was born in Albert Lea,MN. When the call to arms came,he enlisted and joined the 25thDivision Infantry of the US Armyin the Korean War. At the age of19 he started working at Roches-ter State Hospital as a Psychiat-ric Tech. After meeting his futurewife, they moved to Californiaand lived there for over 40 years.He worked as an X-Ray Tech,and later sold X-Ray equipment.Later in life, he worked at Cama-rillo State Hospital as a PsychTech then at the Ventura CountyCrisis Center. After the death ofhis wife he retired. In 2008 hemoved back to Minnesota to bewhere his family tree and rootsare. He had finally come home.

He was an avid writer and heand his brother’s war stories canbe viewed at the Minnesota His-torical Society. He was a dedi-cated and passionate contributorto a cancer blog support sitenamed RedToenail. Each year ofremission, he would paint a toe-nail red. Dad was one toughViking Warrior.

With a smile, his quick wit, akind heart, and sage wisdom, Kenenriched the lives of everyone hemet. He was an avid wildlifelover, and is now soaring as aBald Eagle…so if you see onedipping its wings over the mightyMississippi, wave back, becausethat’s our Dad saying hello. Kenwas a loving, caring, dedicatedson, husband, father, uncle, andfriend. He will be missed by all.

A open house celebration of hisl i fe wil l be held sometime inJanuary. Details pending.

In lieu of flowers, donations arewelcomed to be made to eitherRedtoenail.org, Wildlife ScienceCenter of Forest Lake, MN. orWolves-Woods & Wildlife ofLakeville, MN.

Online condolences are availableat: www.whitefuneralhomes.com

BonnieV. McNelis

O f L a k e v i l l e , f o r m e r l y o fDetroit Lakes area, died Decem-ber 19 after a struggle with can-cer. Born on October 4, 1938 inDetroit Lakes, MN, she gradu-ated from Detroit Lakes HighSchool in 1956 . Bonnie attendedSaint Cloud State Universitywhere she graduated wi th adegree in English and Spanish in1960. She embarked on her 35year teaching career in Lakevillewith her husband Dennis beforegoing to work for the BurnsvilleSchool District teaching at bothMetcalf and Nicollet Junior HighSchools. An enthusiastic anddedicated teacher, she encour-aged and shared her love of writ-ing and books with countless stu-dents over the years. Many of hercountless former students to thisday recall studying and learningto love “The Miracle Worker”.Upon her retirement, `Bonnie andDennis enjoyed traveling andd i v i d e d t h e i r t i m e b e t w e e nLakeville, Destin, FL, and theirbeloved lake home in Nevis,Minnesota. She was a voraciousreader, an avid crossword enthu-siast, and an expert gardener.She is survived by her belovedhusband of 51 years, Dennis, herthree daughters Jackie Seurer(Mark), Laurie Hardie (John),and Molly McNelis-Guse (Eric)and five grandchildren, as wellhas her sisters Joyce Kautz of St.Louis Park and Joann Irvin ofChesterfield, Missouri. She waspreceded in death by her parents,Vernon and Bess Anderson. Shewas a strong and gentle womanwho led by example. MemorialMass was held 11AM on Thurs-day, December 22, 2011 at AllSaints Catholic Church, 19795Holyoke Ave., Lakeville therewas a gathering of family andfriends 5-8 Wed (12/21) at WhiteFuneral Home, 20134 KenwoodTr., Lakeville and 1 hour prior toMass at church. Interment, AllSaints Cemetery, Lakeville, MN.Memorials preferred to Headwa-ters Animal Shelter in ParkRapids , MN or The Spec ia lOlympics.

Online condolences at:www.whitefuneralhomes.com

White Funeral HomeLakeville 952-469-2723

Wilfred M."Mike" Fritz

Mason City-Wilfred M. "Mike"Fritz, 70, died Tuesday Decem-ber 20, 2011, at the Muse NorrisHospice Inpatient Unit, MasonCity.

A funeral Mass was be held at10:30 a.m. Friday, December 23,2011, at Holy Family CatholicChurch, 714 N. Adams, withReverend Kenneth B. Gehlingofficiating. Burial will be inElmwood St. Joseph Cemetery,Mason City.

Mike's viewing was Thursday,from 4:00-7:00 p.m. with a scrip-tural wake service at 6:00 p.m., atHogan Bremer Moore MemorialChapel, 126 3rd St NE, MasonCity. Should friends desire,memorials may be directed toHospice of North Iowa.

Wilfred Michael Fritz was bornon March 20, 1941, at MasonCity, IA to Wilfrid and Lucille(Gephart) Fritz. He was raised inMason City and graduated fromHoly Family Catholic School.He also attended Hawkeye Tech-nical College in Waterloo, IA.Mike was united in marriage toRosie Sheka on February 1, 1964,in Plymouth at St. Michael 'sCatholic Church; to this unionfour children were born.

Mike had a variety of careersduring his life including workingfor Northwestern State PortlandCement, White Farm Equipment,owning Fritz's Texaco in MasonCity, IA, but most recently hewas employed and retired fromthe City of Mason City where heworked as an Operator of theWaste Water Treatment Plant.After retirement Mike and Rosierelocated to Lakeville, MN tohelp their granddaughter pursueher dream of playing hockey. InOctober of 2011 they moved backto Mason City to be closer tofamily. He became very activewith the Lakeville Booster Cluband helped Morgan's hockeyteam. While in Lakeville Mikeand Rosie met many great peopleand established new friendships.Mike loved spending time withhis family; especially attending hisgrandchildren's school and sportactivities. He enjoyed traveling,taking cruises, fishing and will beremembered most for his sense ofhumor and his gift of gabbing!

Mike is survived by his wife,Rosie Fritz, Mason City, daugh-ters Brenda Fritz, Forest City;Cheryl (Dave) Ellingson, Indi-anola, Anne (John) Ward, MasonCity, and Kathryn Fritz and spe-cial friend Travis Wieland, Han-ska, MN; eight grandchildren:Megan, Emily, Lindsay, Josh,Morgan, Zach, JD, and Claire;his sister, Suzanne (Glen) Wike,his brother, Edward (Mary) Fritz;his Aunts Margaret and Lois;brothers and sisters-in-law Clau-dia (Wesley) Combs, Jean (Den-nis) Fitzl, Jane(Edward) Ohden,Glenn (Satta) Sheka; along withmany nieces, nephews other rela-tives and friends.

Mike is preceded in death by hisparents.

Hogan Bremer Moore ColonialChapel

126 3rd Street N.E. MasonCity, Iowa 50401

641-423-2372www.colonialchapels.com

Joan LouiseThomas(nee Olson)

B e l o v e d d a u g h t e r , s i s t e r ,mother, grandmother & friend.Age 58, peacefully departed thisearth on December 18, 2011. Joanwas preceded in death by herhusband, Mike Thomas; andfather, William Peter Olson. Sheis survived by her daughter,Jayme Thomas; grandson, Jor-den; mother, Dolores Lucille (neeRachner) Olson; brothers, Paul,Peter, Gaylen (Ben), Greg, Glenn& Bill; sisters, Janice Freise, JoyceCullen & Jeanette Jensen; andnumerous nieces & nephews. Joanwas born in St. Paul but livedmuch of her adult life in Eagan.She was a former employee ofBlue Cross, SafeNet & Amer-iprise. A visitation was held onTuesday, Dec. 20th from 4-8PMat J.S. KLECATSKY & SONSFUNERAL HOME, 1580 Cen-tury Pt . (Yankee Doodle @Coachman), Eagan with a pri-vate family Service and Rosaryon Wednesday the 21st. Joanrequested memorials in lieu offlowers.

J.S. KLECATSKY & SONS 651-454-9488

www.klecatskys.com

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To submit an announcementForms for birth, engagement, wedding, anniversary and obituaries announcements are available at our office and online at www.thisweeklive.com (click on “Announcements” and then “Send Announcement”). Completed forms may be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to Thisweek Newspapers, 12190 County Road 11, Burnsville, MN 55337. If you are submitting a photograph along with your announcement, please only submit photographs for which you have the right to permit Thisweek Newspapers 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 editions of Thisweek Newspapers. Photos may be picked up at the office within 60 days or returned by mail if a self-addressed, stamped envelope is provided.

Page 6: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

6A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

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ThisweekendThisweekend by Tad JohnsonTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

There are many ways to ring in the new year in Da-kota County. People can rock out with their friends at one of the many clubs or pubs or dash down the slopes at Buck Hill. The following is a list of some of the New Year’s Eve events planned on Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve Party, 5-8 p.m., Lebanon Hills Visitor Center – Discov-ery Room, Lebanon Hills Regional Park, 860 Cliff Road, Eagan. With rain in the forecast, luminaries won’t be lit on the hiking and snowshoe trails, but the New Year’s Eve party will go on – now for free. All pre-registered guests will receive a full refund. There will be no cost at the door. Instead of snowshoeing or ice skating, bring sleds for a sliding party on a lit hill, enjoy a children’s story-teller in the center and cud-dle up with s’mores around the campfire. There will be no live mu-sic or live animals from Da-kota Wild Animals, but the New Year’s Eve ball will still drop at 7:59 p.m. Hot bev-erages and lemonade will be available to purchase. For questions, call the Lebanon Hills Visitor Cen-

ter at (651) 554-6530. Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill & Lounge, Cham-pagne Dinner Special, 1960 Rahncliff Court, Eagan, (651) 452-0999, www.ansa-risgrill.com.

Legends Club Grill, Spe-cial New Year’s Eve Buffet, 8670 Credit River Blvd., Prior Lake, (952) 226-9989.

Bogart’s Place, Good For Gary, 9:30 p.m., $12, doors open at 7 p.m., no reserva-tions. Good For Gary is a cover band that plays cur-rent top 40/dance/hip-hop, including Lady Gaga, Flo-Rida, Eminem, Rihanna, Usher, Enrique Iglesias, Katy Perry, Ke$ha. Ad-dress: 14917 Garrett Ave., Apple Valley, (952) 432-1515.

The Bang for the Buck New Year’s Eve Party, Primetime Bar and Grill, DJ Diesel and many special guests throughout the night along with hourly drink specials, contests, prizes and giveaways. Address: 14103 Irving Ave. S., Burnsville, (952) 435-6111.

Babe’s New Year All-Re-quest Dance Party, Babe’s Music Bar, free party fa-vors, free champagne toast at midnight, taxi service all night long. Address: 20685 Holyoke Ave., Lakeville, (952) 469-5200.

Rudy’s Red Eye Grill, Lakeville, Dave Hudson

and Shawn Vaughn, http://davehudsonmusic.com/in-dex2.php. Address: 20800 Kenrick Ave., Lakeville, (952) 469-0711.

New Year’s Eve with Louie Anderson, 7:30-9 p.m. and 10-11:30 p.m., comedy, Burnsville Performing Arts Center, $31.95 to $69.95 / $101.95 VIP meet and greet. Address: 12600 Nicollet Ave., (952) 895-4680, www.burnsvillepac.com.

Jeff Gerbino’s New Year’s Eve farewell to Min-nesota show, 8 p.m., comedy, Apple Valley American Le-gion, 14521 Granada Drive, Apple Valley. Tickets are $20 in advance by calling (952) 431-1776 or at www.comedygallery.com. Tickets are $25 the day of the show.

New Year’s Eve with Root City Band and The Devine Collection, 8 p.m., Best Western Premier Nicollet Inn, $15. Root City is a funky blues band based out of Minneapolis. The Devine Collection is a female-front-ed band with soulful vo-cals. Tickets are available through JamBase at www.jambasetickets.com/evinfo.php?eventid=180469, $15 in advance / $20 day of show (if available). Dinner reservations be-fore the event can be made at Morgan’s on Nicollet. Address: 14201 Nicollet Ave., Burnsville, (952) 435-

1855, www.nicolletinn.com/morgans.

Buck Hill, ski, ride, or tube until midnight, Gabe’s Ski Race, Kevin Hall of Halls of Magic, Zombie Boardshop Big Air Comp, KS95 Party in main chalet 6-8:30 p.m., then moving to the BuckStone lodge for the remainder of the cel-ebration, Secret Boarding Santa bearing gifts, free glit-ter glam hairdos, free tarot

card readings. Seating for dinner in the Whittier Room will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. For reser-vations, contact Diane at (952) 432-6566, ext. 3, or email [email protected]. Rhythm Junkies Live in the Lodge, huge fireworks display at midnight, live en-tertainment including magi-cians, clowns, jugglers and more.

There are no additional charges for the extra ac-tivities on New Year’s Eve, however, as always, there is a charge for lift tickets, rent-als, food, beverages and the Big Air Competition. The Nicollet Inn (for-merly the Holiday Inn) in Burnsville will be running a shuttle to and from Buck Hill for guests staying there. Mention the Buck Hill deal and get a special rate.

Music, comedy highlight the nightEvents to ring in the new year

BoDeans coming to Burnsville on Dec. 30

Photo submitted

Legendary Minnesota funnyman Louie Anderson will be spreading holiday cheer this New Year’s Eve at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, with two standup shows scheduled – at 7:30 and 10 p.m. – in the PAC’s 1,000-seat theater. Tickets range from $32 to $102 for the Saturday, Dec. 31 shows and are available in person at the PAC’s box office and via Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787 or Ticketmaster.com.

Twenty-five years after they were named “Best

New American Band” in a Rolling Stone readers poll, the BoDeans are still going

strong. The Wisconsin roots rockers best known for their alt-rock anthem “Closer to Free” – which

was the theme song of the TV show “Party of Five” – are now touring in support of their 10th studio album, “Indigo Dreams,” and will

be playing the Burnsville Performing Arts Center’s main hall Friday, Dec. 30.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show range from $41 to $44 and

are available in person at the PAC’s box office and via

Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787 or Ticketmaster.com.

Photo submitted

Auditions for Giant Step Theatre’s “Wizard of Oz” will be Jan. 6-7. The cast is open to children ages 8 and older as of Jan. 1. To schedule an audition, send an email on or after Dec. 26 to [email protected]. Include the child’s name, age as of Jan. 1, grade level, and prefer-

ence for a Friday evening or Saturday afternoon audition time. Emails will be returned beginning Dec. 27 with an audition location, time and the audition readings. Giant Step Theatre is a collaboration of Lakeville Area Schools Community Education and the Lakeville Area Arts Center.

Auditions open for ‘Wizard of Oz’

Page 7: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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THISWEEK December 23, 2011 7A

by Aaron VehlingTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

At this point last year, Lakeville had experienced at least two feet of snow. There were some weekend flurries predicted by the time this story went to press, but overall, Lakeville has seen less than a foot of snow the last couple months of this year. For Lakeville’s Public Works Department, that means crews can spend more time on tasks unrelated to plowing snow. In November and Decem-ber 2010, Public Works spent 3,300 labor hours managing snow (tasks such as plowing and deicing). In those months this year, staff members have spent only 500 hours on such tasks, said Public Works Di-rector Chris Petree. “Staff take a ton of pride in plowing snow,” Petree said, “but in the same breath they are happy to get other tasks done.” Among those other tasks is performing maintenance on the city’s vehicles. Fleet technicians participate in snow-plowing, Petree said, and so last year they had lit-tle time to perform preventa-tive maintenance. This year, though, technicians have been able to chip away at the backlog. During the winter months, Public Works staff members traverse the city trimming boulevard trees. Last winter,

Whither snow? Whither snow?

Photo by Rick Orndorf

A lack of snow has been a mixed blessing for Lakeville. On one hand, city crews are able to get a head start on maintenance and landscape projects; but outdoor recreation opportunities, such as the pictured trail on Lake Marion, are off-limits to winter fun.

they could not even begin this task until February, Pe-tree said, because of snow duties and the dangers of “hazardous snow banks.” This year, though, crews have been able to get a size-able head start. In the world of the Parks and Recreation Department, the nicer weather has been a mixed blessing, said Steve Michaud, the department’s director. Whereas his team has, as with Petree’s, been able to complete some maintenance and landscaping work, ice rinks and cross-country ski trails are nearly moth-balled. The city’s ice rinks were scheduled to open on Dec. 17, Michaud said, but there has not been an adequate freeze to allow for ideal rink conditions. The couple inch-es of ice currently in them is not ideal.

“We have a shift work-ing evenings again because cold weather has moved in,” he said, “but it takes six to eight inches to create a strong base.” As for outdoor recreation, Michaud said, “we really need to get those cross-coun-try and snowshoe areas go-ing.” The effect on finances is essentially neutral. The city’s fiscal years mirror the calen-dar year, but winter does not, of course. “If anything,” Petree said, “we are a little ahead or on-pace because of the extreme winter of January to March 2011.” Perhaps 2012 will reflect the true nature of a Minne-sota winter. Until then, there is always an indoor rink.

Aaron Vehling is at [email protected] or www.facebook.com/thisweeklive.

Page 8: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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Last HopePet AdoptionApple Valley Petco

11-3pmEvery Saturday!

Cats, Kittens,Dogs & Pups!

Adopt or donateto your animal rescue:

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Last Hope, Inc.(651) 463-8747

CAN COALIE COME AND PLAYIN YOUR FENCED YARD?

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MISCELLANEOUS:Save up to 50 percent off your next heat-ing bill. �������� �������� �������� ������������ ���� ��� ��� ��� ����� � ����� �� ��������� ��������� ���� �������������� ������

MISCELLANEOUS:Wrap up your Holiday Shopping ���� ���������� ����������� �������������������������� ������ � ���� �� ������� ���� ����� ������ �� ������� ��������� ������� ��� � ����� ����� ������������ ����������������������������� ��� ������������ ������

SHARI`S BERRIES - Order MouthwateringGifts! ��� ������� ������������ ���������������������� ������� ���� ������ ���� ������ ������� �� ���������� ����� ���� ���� ������ � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ��������������� ������

Personalized holiday gifts for Everyone ������ ����� ���� �� ������� ��� ���������� ��������� ���� �������� ���������� �� ������ ���������� ����� ��������������������������������� �� ���� �������������� ������

PROFLOWERS - Looking for a Holiday Giftthat will really impress? ������� ����� ��������� ��� ���������� ����� ���� ��� ���� ������������ ����� ���� ��������� �� ������������������������� �� ���� ��������������������

DISH Network. Starting at $19.99/month���� �� ������� ����� �������� ���� ��� �������� ���� � � ��� ����� ���� ���������������� ���� ������������ ������

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS.��� ��� �� ��� �� �������� ������� ����������� ������ ���� ������ ��� ����������� ������ � ��� � ���� ���� � ����� � � � � � �� ������������� ������

ATTENTION SLEEP APNEA SUFFERERSwith Medicare. ��� ���� ���� ������������ �������� �� �� ����� ���� ���� ������������� ���� �� ���� ������� ��� ���� ����� ������������ ���������� ���� ������������ ������

AUTO:DONATE YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR BOAT TOHERITAGE FOR THE BLIND. ���� � ������������ ��� ����������� ���� ������� ������������ ����� ���� ��� ������������������

CASH FOR CARS: ��� ����������� �������������� �� ���� ��� ������ ����� �� ���� ������ ��� ����������� ���� ��� ������� �������������������� ������

ADOPTION��������� ����������� ��������� ��� ������ ������������ ����������� ������ �������� ����� ������ ������� ���� ���������� ������������� ���� �������������

AUTOMOTIVE������ � �������� ����������� � ������� ���������� ������� ������ �� ����� ������� �������������� ������� ������� ������ ����� ����������������������������� ����������������������

AUTOS WANTED��� ���� ��� ����� ��� ���������� ������� �� ���� ������� ������� ������ ��������������

EMPLOYMENT������� ����� ��� ������� ���� ��������� �������� ��������� ������� ����������� ����� ����� ���� ����������������������������������������

FINANCIAL����� ����������� ������ ����� ��� ����� ���� �� ���� ����������� �� ������ ���� ����� ����� ��������

HEALTH & FITNESS���� ������� ���� ����� ������������� ����� ���� ����������� ���� ������� ��������� ��������������

HELP WANTED����� ��������� ���� ����� ���� ��������� ���������� � �������� � ���� � ���� ���� ����� ����� ��������������� ��������������

MISCELLANEOUS���� ��� ����� ��� ���� �� ������ ���� ������� ���� �������� ������� ������ ��������������

MISCELLANEOUS������ ������� ������ ���� ����� ��������� ������������������� �������� ��� ��������� ����������� �������� ����������� ��������� ��� �� ���������� ���� ������������ ����������������������

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REAL ESTATE������� ����������� ����������� ���� ������� ��������������������� ��� ���� �������� ���� ��� ������������

WANTED TO BUY������� �������� ���� ������� ��� ����������� ���������� �� �� ������� �������� ����� �������� ���������������������� ��������������������������

��������� ��� �� ��� ���� ��� ���� ������ ������������������� ��������������������� �� ��������������

Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belongto has purchased the above classifieds. Determining thevalue of their service or product is advised by this publica-tion. In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisersdo not offer employment but rather supply the readers withmanuals, directories and other materials designed to helptheir clients establish mail order selling and other busi-nesses at home. Under NO circumstance should you sendany money in advance or give the client your checking,license ID, or credit card numbers. Also beware of ads thatclaim to guarantee loans regardless of credit and note that ifa credit repair company does business only over the phoneit is illegal to request any money before delivering its ser-vice. All funds are based in US dollars. Toll free numbersmay or may not reach Canada.

OrganizationalNotices

OrganizationalNotices

OrganizationalNotices

BurnsvilleLakeville

A Visionfor You-AA

Thursdays 7:30 PMA closed, mixed

meeting atGrace United

Methodist ChurchEast Frontage Roadof 35W across fromBuck Hill - Burnsville

EAGAN/BURNSVILLE/SAVAGE AA3600 Kennebec Drive (2nd Floor)

Eagan, MN (Off of Hwy 13)

Meeting Schedule• Sundays 6:30pm (Men’s) & 8pm (Mixed)

• Mondays 6:30pm & 8pm (Mixed)• Tuesdays 6:30pm & 8pm (Mixed)

•Wednesdays Noon (Mixed) & 8pm (Mixed)• Thursdays 6:30pm Alanon & 8pm (Mixed)

• Friday 6:30 (Mixed) & 8pm (Mixed)• Saturdays 8pm (Open) Speaker Meeting

Questions? 651-253-9163

If you want to drinkthat’s your business...If you want to STOP

that’s ours.Call

AlcoholicsAnonymousMinneapolis: 952-922-0880St. Paul: 651-227-5502

Find a meeting:www.aastpaul.org

www.aaminneapolis.org

South SuburbanAlanon

������� ����������Ebenezer Ridges

Care Center����� ��������� ���������������� �� �����

������ ���������������������

��� ���� �����������Contact Scott

612-759-5407or Marty

612-701-5345

Farmington AAClosed Mixed Meetings

Mon, Wed, Thursat 8 PM

Open Meeting 2nd Sat.

Alanon MtgsThurs at 8pm

All meetings at:Rambling River Center

325 Oak Street

Questions?Call Mike W. at952-240-1262

www.aa.org

Abraham LowSelf-HelpSystems

(Recovery, Int'l)��������� ������������

������ � ������ ������ �������� ����������� ����������� �������� ������ ��������������� ������ ��������������� �������� ����������� ���� ������ ����

������ �� ���� ������������������� ��������������

Dona:612-824-5773

www.LowSelfHelpSystems.org

TH, DblsDuplexes

HousesFor Rent Real Estate

For Sale

Apts &Condos

Apts &Condos

HousesFor Rent

���������� � ��� ��������� ��� ������� �� ������������ �� ����� �����

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��� ���� ������ ������������ �� ���� ��������� ��� � � � � � � � � � � � �� � ��� � � � � � �� � � � � � �

����� �� ������� �� ��������� �������������� ���������� �� ��������������� ����� �� ����� ������ ���������� ���� ��������� �������� ������� � �� ��� ����� �� �� �� � �� ������������ �� ���� ��� ���� ������������ ���������� �� ����������������� �������� ������ ���������������� ����� ��� ��� �� �� ������� ���� ������� �� ����� ������������ �������� ������ ��� ����������� ��� ������� �� ��� ���������� ���

���� ��������� ���� ��� ���������� ������ ��� ����������� ������� ������ ����� �� �� ��������� ����� ���� ��� ������� ��� �������������� ���� ��� ��������� ����������� �� ���� ��������� ��� ���������� �� �� ����� ����������������� �� �������� �� ������������ � � � � � � � ��� � � � � � � � � � � ���������������� ��� ������������������ ������ ��� ��� ��������������� �� ���������������

Burnsville:Rambush Estates

Gorgeous3 BR, 2 BA,

all 1 floor living!Mobile Home!Has Storage

shed.Washer/Dryer

in home!952-890-8440

AV TH Conv. loc! ������������ ������� ��� ���� ���������� ������ ���� ���� ������������� � ����� 651-437-8627

���������� � ����� �������� ��������� ����� � � � � � � � � � � � � � ��������� ������������

������ ��� ��� ������� �� � ������� ��������������������

����� ������ � ��� ������ � ��� ����� � � � �������� ����� ��������� ������ ������ �� ����� ��������� ������ ������������

����� ������ ��� ����������� ����� ������ ����� $410�� ���� � ��� ��� � ����� ������������

��� � ��� � ��� ������ � ��� ���� ����� �� ������� ��� ������ ������������ ��� �� 952-432-1789

FYI: ReadersWe will NOT

be publishing aDecember 30thnewspaper!

We’ll be back witha January 6th edition!

� � � � � � � � � � � � � �������� ��������� �������� �������� �������� ������ ������ ��������� ���������������

��� ���� �� �������������� ������ � ���� �� ������ ��������� ������ ������ ���� 952-435-3446

Lakeville:2 BR,

Starting $815per month

ManufacturedHome!

With W/DNo shared walls!

Call Tanya952-435-7979

��� ������� � ��� ��� ��� ����� ���������������� ���� ���� �������� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ������� ������ 952-447-3320

���� � ��� � ��������� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ��������� ������������

��������� � ������ � � � ������� ������� ������� �������� ��� ����� ������������ ������������

AV Palomino EastApts-Blowout Price

uu���������� uu���� ������� � �� ����3rd floor Vaulted ceilingFree Cbl, W/D Call Now!

952-686-0800

Roommates/Rooms For Rent

Lakeville:Manufactured

Home!For Sale $5500

2 BR, 1 BA.New carpet!952-435-7979

���������� ��� �� ���������� ���� ����� ���� �������� ������ ������������

��������� � � �� � ������ � ��� ���� ����� ���������� �� ��������� ��������� �� 612-532-5426

���� � �� ��� ���� ������������ �������� ����������� ������ ������������

��� ���� ��� ����� ������� �� ������ $500 inclutils. 612-636-1364

����� ������� � ��� ���� ���� ��� ��� �������������� ������ ����� �������� ��������� ������ � ��������� � �� ������ ���� ����� ����� ������������

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CommercialFor Rent

Modular/Mfg For Sale

���������������� ��������� �����Office Space for Rent

�� �������� ���������������������� ������� ������� �� ������ ����� ��������

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Page 10: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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10A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

tional, made payroll and paid bills while looking for options and putting the building up for sale. But its bills evidently have taken more of a bite out of the Legion’s budget than in the past. Gloria Pinke, manager of Dakota County’s Assessment Services division, said the organization’s giving did not equal its property tax pay-ment, so it no longer qualifies for a lower property tax rate allowed for community ser-vice organizations. “We were trying to pay the expenses like heat and lights,” Blowers said. “We gave out a fair amount of money, but not enough to maintain a nonprofit.” So in 2012, the Legion will pay commercial property tax-es as any other Farmington business. Legislative changes to the property tax code have also shifted more of the tax bur-den onto commercial prop-erty types. According to county property tax estimates, the state’s general tax portion of the Legion’s property taxes is the biggest increase, go-ing from $2,500 this year to $8,733 in 2012, a 249 percent difference. Pinke said the city’s por-tion of the Legion’s tax bill is estimated to increase from $4,561 to $7,182; the county portion is set to go from $2,464 to $3,296; and school taxes will rise from $4,500 to $5,600 in 2012. The Legion’s restau-rant building also dropped $20,000 in value for 2012, but is still worth about half a mil-lion more than the organiza-tion paid for it. “We have to sell the build-ing,” Blowers said. Organization leaders have committed to keeping the American Legion itself together, and Blowers vows they will continue to serve the community with or without a building.

“The building is not the American Legion,” Blowers said. “It’s the people.” Roger Shirley, gambling manager of the Farmington Legion, said the veterans are involved in many activities in Farmington, giving to Toys for Town and other fundrais-ers, including a recent dona-tion to provide televisions for the veterans home in Hastings. “The big problem is fi-nancing,” Shirley said. “We’re not behind on any payments, the bank is just plain going to call the loan on a technical-ity.” He said they have talked to many lending organiza-tions that will only provide fi-nancing if a Legion member guarantees the loan. “That’s normal banking practice,” Shirley said, “but no one is going to step up and guarantee $800,000 on their own.” Blowers said they are com-plying with all the require-ments in the bankruptcy pro-ceedings, which have included several hearings, and they are current on its bills and pay-roll. The organization is on a strict budget and has periodic court review of its financial activities to ensure it is in compliance with the plan. The next review is Jan. 9. Unless a member wins the lottery or a financier comes forward, Blowers said they have no choice but to sell the building, which is on the mar-ket for about $1 million. Several interested buyers have come forward, and one bid Blowers characterized as “low-ball” was rejected. Blowers said Legion mem-bers have worked hard to keep the 300-member organi-zation running, despite all the financial challenges. “We’ll just keep trying till the end,” Blowers said. “I think we surprised them that a bunch of old guys didn’t just roll over and give up.”

Laura Adelmann is at [email protected].

Tax Hike/from 1A

people who work for us.The merger will bring our tal-ented staff from both com-panies together to create one of the strongest community newspaper groups in the re-gion. The future will bring us great opportunities to serve our readers and advertisers, grow our market share, and develop new print and digi-tal products. Both companies have a very strong commit-ment to community journal-ism and combined will add tremendous synergy to the marketplace.” Both ECM and the Sun Group are comprised of newspapers, shoppers, and websites. ECM publishes 15 newspapers and six shop-pers with total weekly cir-culation of 155,000 and 191,000, respectively. The Sun Group publishes 32 newspapers and two shop-pers with total weekly circu-lation of 357,000 and 38,000, respectively. ECM websites

attract 1,000,000 page views a month, and Sun Group websites attract 461,000 page views per month. ECM was created in 1976 by Elmer L. Andersen, who started the newspaper com-pany after a successful ca-reer as businessman, state legislator, and governor. The company began when An-dersen bought competing weekly newspapers in Prince-ton and combined them into the Princeton Union-Eagle. Subsequently, ECM added a commercial web printing plant in Princeton and ac-quired an independent deliv-ery company that now oper-ates as a division of ECM. In a sequence of transactions over the past 30 years, ECM acquired additional newspa-pers. Dirks, Van Essen & Mur-ray, a newspaper merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, N.M., represent-ed American Community Newspapers in the transac-tion.

ECM/from 1A

by Laura AdelmannTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

A Dakota County cor-rectional deputy on military leave has been charged in Scott County District Court with two counts of criminal sexual conduct against two adolescent girls. Raul Rubio Mascorro, 35, of Shakopee, was placed in a military jail in Indiana, where he was stationed preparing for

deployment to Afghanistan. According to the Scott County criminal complaint: An investigation began after a 15-year-old girl told a Shakopee High School coun-selor she was being sexually abused by Mascorro, but was afraid to come forward until he was on deployment. The girl said Mascorro had violated her sexually mul-tiple times over the past two

or three years, masturbated in front of her and offered her $300 to $400 to have sexual intercourse with him. Another girl, 13, also re-ported being sexually abused by Mascorro multiple times over the past two years. Mascorro, a soldier in the Army, called a relative on Dec. 10 from Indiana, and admitted to sexually assault-ing one of the girls “only as

much as she was comfortable with.” Hospitalized after claim-ing to be suicidal, he admitted to military and hospital staff that he had sexually abused the girls. Mascorro is charged with first- and second-degree crim-inal sexual conduct and faces penalties of up to 30 years in prison and/or fines of up to $40,000.

Dakota County Jail officer charged with sexual abuse

Page 11: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

THISWEEK December 23, 2011 11A

SportsSouth Suburban

Conference

Boys BasketballTeam Conference Overall W L W LLakeville North 0 0 5 0 Eastview 0 0 5 0 Apple Valley 0 0 4 1 Lakeville South 0 0 3 2 Rosemount 0 0 3 2 Eagan 0 0 3 3 B Jefferson 0 0 2 2 B Kennedy 0 0 1 3 Prior Lake 0 0 1 3 Burnsville 0 0 0 4

Tuesday, Dec 27• Lakeville South at Rochester Tourna-ment, 8:15 p.m.Wednesday, Dec 28• Shakopee at Lakeville North, 7:45 p.m.Thursday, Dec 29• Lakeville North tournament

Girls BasketballTeam Conference Overall W L W LLakeville North 3 0 5 2 Lakeville South 2 1 5 3 B Kennedy 1 1 5 2 Rosemount 1 1 4 3 Eastview 1 1 4 3 Apple Valley 1 1 4 4 Eagan 1 1 3 3 Prior Lake 1 1 3 4 Burnsville 0 2 1 3 B Jefferson 0 2 0 6

Tuesday, Dec 27• Minneapolis South at Lakeville South, 8 p.m.• Lakeville North vs. Rochester Century at the Rochester Rotary Tournament, 8:15 p.m.Wednesday, Dec 28• Lakeville North at the Rochester Ro-tary Tournament • Chanhassen at Lakeville South, 8 p.m.

Boys HockeyTeam Conference Overall W L T W L TEagan 2 0 0 4 1 0 Burnsville 2 0 0 5 2 0 Lakeville South 2 0 0 3 2 0 Apple Valley 2 0 0 3 2 1 Prior Lake 0 1 0 3 2 0 Eastview 0 2 0 4 3 0 Lakeville North 0 2 0 2 4 0 B Kennedy 0 0 0 2 6 0 Rosemount 0 2 0 1 5 0 B Jefferson 0 1 0 0 4 2

Monday, Dec 26• Lakeville South tournamentTuesday, Dec 27• Lakeville South tournament• Lakeville North at Virginia, 7 p.m.Wednesday, Dec 28• Lakeville South tournament• Lakeville North at Grand Rapids, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, Dec 29• Lakeville North at Hibbing, 3 p.m.

Girls HockeyTeam Conference Overall W L T W L TLakeville North 6 1 1 7 3 1 Eagan 5 1 1 9 1 2 Lakeville South 5 1 1 8 2 1 Eastview 4 3 1 5 6 1 Burnsville 2 2 3 2 6 3 B Jefferson 3 4 0 6 5 0 Apple Valley 3 5 0 7 5 0 Rosemount 2 4 2 3 8 2 Prior Lake 0 6 1 1 10 1 B Kennedy 0 3 0 4 8 1

Monday, Dec 26• Lakeville South at Edina Tournament, TBDTuesday, Dec 27• Lakeville North, Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eastview at Farmington tourna-mentWednesday, Dec 28• Lakeville South at Edina Tournament, TBD• Lakeville North, Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eastview at Farmington tourna-mentThursday, Dec 29• Lakeville North, Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eastview at Farmington tourna-ment

Missota Conference

Boys BasketballTeam Conference Overall W L W LHoly Angels 0 0 3 0 New Prague 0 0 4 1 Chanhassen 0 0 4 2 Northfield 0 0 3 3 Red Wing 0 0 3 3 Chaska 0 0 3 4 Farmington 0 0 2 5 Shakopee 0 0 1 4

Wednesday, Dec. 28• Farmington vs. Mahtomedi at Hastings tournament, 5 p.mThursday, Dec. 29• Farminton at Hastings tourament

Girls BasketballTeam Conference Overall W L W L Northfield 0 0 5 1 Red Wing 0 0 7 2 Shakopee 0 0 5 2 Chanhassen 0 0 5 2 New Prague 0 0 4 4 Holy Angels 0 0 3 4 Chaska 0 0 1 6 Farmington 0 0 0 7

Wednesday, Dec. 28• Farmington vs. Sartell at Orono tour-namnet, 5 p.m.Thursday, Dec. 29• Farmingotn at Ornono tournament

Boys HockeyTeam Conference Overall W L T W L TChanhassen 1 0 0 3 1 0 New Prague 2 1 0 2 4 1 Northfield 1 1 0 5 3 0 Holy Angels 1 1 0 1 4 0 Farmington 0 0 0 3 3 1 Red Wing 0 1 0 3 4 0 Shakopee 0 0 0 2 6 1 Chaska 0 1 0 1 7 0

Friday, Dec. 30• Farmington at Shakopee, 6 p.m.

Girls HockeyTeam Conference Overall W L T W L TRed Wing 4 0 0 9 2 0 Chaska/Chan 4 0 1 7 2 1 New Prague 3 1 0 6 6 0 Shakopee 1 2 1 2 9 1 Farmington 1 3 0 3 7 0 Northfield 1 4 0 4 6 0 Holy Angels 0 4 0 1 11 0 Tuesday, Dec. 27• Farmington tournamentWedneaday, Dec. 28• Farmington tournamentThursday, Dec. 29• Farmington tournament

by Andy RogersTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

The south metro has been a longtime training ground for some of the best volleyball players in Minne-sota. A few area alumnae showed their power earlier this month as they helped Concordia University in St. Paul compile a 34-2 re-cord and sweep previously unbeaten California State, San Bernardino, 25-20, 31-29, 25-18 to win its fifth-straight NCAA Division II National title. “It was emotionally and physically the most excit-ing experience ever,” said 2011 Farmington gradu-ate Katie Habeck, who was named the American Vol-leyball Coaches Association National Freshman of the Year. “It was the first time for me and the other fresh-men. I’ve never experienced something like that before. “I think everybody was just on their game. We all knew we all wanted to win so bad. We had the fight in us.” Even though Concordia won the previous four na-tional titles, the team was the underdog, yet its confi-dence never wavered. “Our team is really good at holding our ground,” Habeck said. “We never get nervous. We just sup-port each other and fight for ourselves and our team-mates.” The game was played in San Bernardino’s home gym, so they were up against nearly 3,000 fans, too. “Our whole team is able to block big crowds out,” said 2011 Eastview graduate freshman Ashley Murtha, who was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. “The energy of the whole gym and crowd being extremely loud. It makes us play better.” Their friends and family made the trip and a crowd of fans watched back on the St. Paul campus. Coming into the season

as a four-time defending champion, Concordia was every team’s target. The team had its share of injuries, which pressed several young players into action. It was a new set of challenges, but by the time they played San Bernardi-no, it was behind them. “I was expecting a five-game match,” 2010 Lake-ville North graduate sopho-more Cassie Weaver said. “It was unreal. There was nothing we couldn’t do. You could see that they were frustrated. We knew they were undefeated. We just gave it our all and played a little bit better.”

Since high school Murtha said the transi-tion from high school to college was pretty drastic. “In college you’re play-ing with girls who are all better than you,” Murtha said. “In high school some of us might have been the good players. When you come to college, you’re not the only one.” Her experience at Eastview prepared her well. “Playing with coach Becky Egan and Kate Ben-nett, having them as coach-es helped me out and be competitive,” Murtha said. “They were always tough on me.” Senior Taylor Fieldsted, a 2008 graduate of Lake-ville North, and Weaver are Panther volleyball alumnae who were coached by Doug Bergman, Milan Mader and Steve Willingham. “Everyone was out to get us,” Fieldsted said. “We were always top-ranked and always playing top-level teams. It helped me compete for a spot on the court.” It was a little easier for Weaver to ease into college volleyball with Fieldsted on the team. “She was my mentor coming into college,” Weav-er said. “We played together and I looked up to her and hope one day I can be a su-perstar like her.”

Habeck, who led the team with 122 blocks and was third on the team with 278 kills, started as a fresh-man. Coming from Farming-ton, where she led the team to a state tournament ap-pearance as a junior, Ha-beck said her time with the Tigers helped her get this far. “It made my love for the game grow and grow,” she said. “I just love being on the court. I love having my teammates out there and working hard. There’s never any doubt.”

It’s just practice Every girl mentioned one of the secrets to their suc-cess was the fact there’s no down time during the sea-son in practices. Win or lose, the next practice is usually more challenging than the last. “Our coaches know that every single practice we work our hardest and that makes us better,” Murtha said. “Every single time we come to practice, even after a game, you come in ready to work your hardest.” Head coach Brady Star-key and assistant George Padjen like to keep the team

focused and relaxed, but there is no half-speed at any time. “Practices are basically my favorite part of my day,” Weaver said. “There’s al-ways so much energy at the gym. It’s hard to not going full speed. That’s probably why we’re so successful.”

Go for six? The fact that Concordia has won five national cham-pionships in a row hasn’t sunk in for Fieldsted. She was on four of the five teams that won nation-al titles as one of their top servers and defensive spe-cialists. But she didn’t go to Concordia thinking this was going to be the case. She made her intentions known before Concordia won its first title. She chose the school so her friends and family could watch her play and because of the academic offerings. Every win has meant something different to her, but going out on top has been special. “We had a lot of injuries this year and a lot of set-backs,” Fieldsted said. “We are always looking to win a national championship, but

we took it week by week. A lot of freshmen stepped up.” In her first career game, Concordia lost to Cal State, San Bernardino, but she went out beating them in her last game. “That’s the only team in my career I hadn’t beaten,” Fieldsted said. It was perhaps her final game of competitive volley-ball. “Unless you count old lady volleyball, my career is going to be done. But I’m going to still coach and mentor young girls in the game I always loved to play,” Fieldsted said. Habeck, Murtha and Weaver plan on going for No. 6 next season, al-though they don’t feel any pressure. “I’m stoked,” Weaver said. “There’s going to be roles that need to be filled. I know it’s going to be anoth-er good season. Our coach-es are never like: ‘Oh, we’re out to win another national championship.’ But I expect next year will be the same. There’s a calm confidence about this team.”

Andy Rogers is at [email protected].

Area players help Concordia win fifth-straight title Lakeville’s Fieldsted, Weaver;

Farmington’s Habeck; Eastview’s Murtha propel team to championship

Photo courtesy of Concordia University

Concordia University women’s volleyball players Taylor Fieldsted, No. 6, Ashley Murtha, No. 7, Katie Habeck, No. 8, and Cassie Weaver, No. 9, helped the Golden Bears win their fifth straight NCAA Division II National Title on Dec. 3 in California. Habeck gradu-ated from Farmington, Murtha from Eastview, and Fieldsted and Weaver are graduates of Lakeville North.

by Andy RogersTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

The boys swimming and diving team at Farmington has given the school plenty of reason to cheer in the past few years, earning the school conference championships, state champion medals and several dual victories. Last year the Tigers won Section True Team meet, the Missota Conference title, fin-ished second in Section 1AA, and sent two relays and five individual events to state. The Tigers were stacked with a senior class featuring Brian Huls, Matt Stephan, Allen Berg and state diving champion Tyler Magalis. Even with that talent de-parture, the team is hoping for similar results in 2011-12.

Captains Zack Holton, Derek Anderson and Con-ner Kealy plan to work hard along with 13 other returning letter winners. “Our captains are all driv-en and motivated in different ways,” head coach Ryan Ha-men said. Returners Holten and

Christopher Kirchmann both have state tournament experience. Other returning swimmers Aaron Lane, Nick Stephan, Aaron Cochnauer, Chris-tian Bell and Eric Schimmel along with diver Evan Ca-rufel provide depth in all four strokes. “Many have the desire to be part of that depth in the big meets,” Hamen said. “We have a lot of new swimmers who I am excited to see de-velop. They take a lot of time and work but if they have the determination, they will do well.” The Tigers defeated Northfield on Dec. 15 in their Missota opener, 94-87. Kirchmann won the 50 and 100 freestyle, Lane the 100 backstroke and Holton the 100 butterfly. Evan Carufel was the diving champ and the 200 medley relay swam the fastest. The Tigers were third at the Prior Lake Invitational earlier this month.

Andy Rogers is at [email protected].

by Andy RogersTHISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

Lakeville North and South have been rivals for more than a half decade, but it’s not always that heat-ed. For swimming, it’s more like a family. The teams practice together, host home meets together and both fig-ure to finish near the top of the South Suburban Con-ference this season. For Lakeville North, re-turning swimmers Hunter Burchfield, Alex Dahl-gren, Brandon Jensen, Tim Mitchell, Nathan Regan, Nick Saloka, Trae Schindler, Zach Smith, Cameron Ver-by, Sam Wilson and Ryan Young either competed at state or were alternates on relays last year. “I think we have a good team with a lot of senior leadership that can make our season a good one,” head coach Dan Schneider said. “I think we have good team depth and our best event may be distance free-style.” Schindler, Regan and Young qualified for state last season in the 500 free-style as sophomores, and Mitchell was seventh in the individual medley at state. The Panthers have some holes in the breaststroke and diving events, but Sch-neider feels the team could finish in the top three in the conference and in Section 3AA where Rosemount and Prior Lake look formidable. “If we swim well, a top-10 finish at state is possible,” he said. The Panthers defeated Eastview 94-83 on Dec. 9 and Lakeville South 98-85

on Dec. 16 before tying for second at the Albert Lea Tiger Relays on Dec. 17 be-hind Rochester Century. Against Eastview, Lake-ville North had 57 lifetime best swims and against South the Panthers added 43 more lifetime best perfor-mances.   “I can’t complain when we have 100 lifetime bests in two meets,” Schneider said. “We are off to a great start to the season and I hope we can continue to improve.” In the current ranking, North is rated No. 6 in the state by the coaches associa-tion.   “Not sure we belong there, but we will find out more as we go,” Schneider said.

Lakeville South The Cougars have a bal-anced lineup with a strong core with captains Erik Ha-glund and Seth Young along with Evan Ostendorf, Mitch Herrera, Travis Meyer and Robert Trone. There’s also a brotherly aspect to the Cougars this season with twin brothers Clay and Drew Mickelson the freshmen Sabal twins, Luke and Matt, plus their older brother junior Joe Sa-bal. Diving, distance freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke are their strongest events, while depth in all events should give the Cougars a few extra points in duals. The sprint freestyle is one event where the Cougars aren’t up to speed. “Of all the places to have a concern the sprint free-style is the most critical be-cause sprint freestyle events

account for more points in meets than any other in our meets,” coach Rick Ringeisen said.  “There are several very talented young sprinters on the team and I feel that by the end of the season they will be ready to strut their talent.  However, in the meantime, the rest of the team will have to cover for our sprinters.” Ringeisen feels the team has the capability to fin-ish in the top half of both the conference and Section 3AA if they continue to im-prove. “I have several boys on the team who have set the goal of placing in the top eight at the state meet,” Ringeisen said. “I hope that we are able to give chase and finish as the third place team in the conference.” The Cougars already raced against Rosemount and Lakeville North, the two favorites in the confer-ence, losing both duals. Against Rosemount, the team posted 48 lifetime best swims. “I was thrilled with how well the team swam,” Ringeisen said.  Against Lakeville North, the meet was close and the Cougars even held a slight lead at the diving break. Lakeville South tied with North at the Albert Lea Ti-ger Relays for second. “The relay meet format allowed my team’s depth to play a greater role in the success. In addition, Lake-ville North was missing a couple guys due to illness,” Ringeisen said.  

Andy Rogers is at [email protected].

Lakeville swimmers like a family Tiger swimmers hope to continue strong tradition North, South still practice, share home meets together

Farmington hopes thrilling 2010-11 season carries over

Farmington wins fourth dual in a row After going nearly two years without winning a dual, the Farmington wres-tling team won four in a row last week completing a run not reached in nearly 10 years. The Tigers defeated Richfield/Edina 39-34 and

Minnetonka 55-24 on Dec. 16. The Tigers defeated Eastview 38-37 on Dec. 15, which was decided by the eighth tie-breaker (most to-tal first points scored), and Montgomery-Lonsdale/Le Center 39-30 on Dec. 10. Taylor Venz has gone 11-1 on the season. Jacob Gabbard is 6-2, and Kyle Benjamin 5-1.

Sports Brief

Page 12: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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12A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

owner. At the meeting, Swecker said regarding the 2012 al-lowance figure that she had a “hard time putting it back into the budget.” Rieb could not be reached for comment by press time. The council allowances account for a small frac-tion of the city’s nearly $71 million budget. The bud-geted total for 2012 would be $3,750, which is less than

half a percent of the entire operating budget of the city. Bellows lamented the erosion of congeniality among council members. “There’s just not a spirit of colleagues working to-gether,” he said. “I think it was a grandstanding effort on his (Little’s) part for the purpose of his own political advancement.”

Aaron Vehling is at [email protected] or www.facebook.com/thisweeklive.

Debate/from 1A

offset by a work furlough. Later in the meeting, the council raised concerns about various benefits in the revised city employee hand-book. After discussion, several provisions that were pro-posed to be included were not approved. Issues involving those benefits will be discussed during collective bargain-ing negotiations in 2012, City Administrator Dave McKnight said. A provision in the em-ployee handbook allow-ing employees to use a city credit card for personal ex-penses, and then reimburse the city, was eliminated after Council Member Jason Bar-tholomay raised questions about it. Finance Director Teresa

Walters said city employees should never use city financ-es for personal expenses. Human Resources Direc-tor Brenda Wendlandt said the provision was added after some employees had mistakenly used the city’s card for personal expenses. “It was done in conjunc-tion with the finance direc-tor when it was put in place prior to Teresa’s being here,” Wendlandt said. McKnight said the pol-icy’s removal would make it clear to employees not to use a city credit card for per-sonal expenses. Other benefits to be re-viewed include policies in-volving accrued leave, va-cation, step adjustments, compensatory time off and sick leave.

Laura Adelmann is at [email protected].

Benefits/from 1A

Dungeons & Dragons for teens The Farmington Li-brary, 508 Third St., will offer Dungeons & Dragons for Teens from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 28-29. Registration is required. For more information, visit www.dakotacounty.us/library or call (651) 438-0250.

Students promote recycling Drop-off bins for US-Again (use again) have been installed at Lakeville North High School to collect cloth-ing for recycling thanks to LNHS students Adam and Cassie Alexander. LNHS will get a quarterly reward from USAgain from each pound of clothing col-lected at the site. Information on USAgain can be found at www.usagain.com.

City BriefsLakeville seniors The Lakeville Senior Center is located at 20732 Holt Ave. Senior center in-quiries can be directed to Linda Walter, senior coor-dinator, at (952) 985-4622 or [email protected].

Jewelry-making class Make flame-painted cop-per jewelry in this class at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. Pay for what you make; prices range from $8 to $12. Class limit is 8 students; class length is 90 min-utes. Sign up by Jan. 3.

Seniors

Page 13: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

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PUBLIC NOTICENew Market Township

Notice of Filing Dates and Offices for

ANNUAL TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS

Notice is hereby given to qualified votersof New Market Township, Scott County,Minnesota that filing for the Annual Town-ship Election to be held on Tuesday, March13, 2012, will be accepted for the followingoffices.

Two (2) Supervisors for a three (3) yearterm.One (1) Supervisor for a two (2) year term.One (1) Clerk for a two (2) year term.Affidavit of Candidacy will be accepted at

the Townsh ip Hal l , 8950 230th St ELakeville, Mn 55044 by appointment withthe Town Clerk. Phone 952 461 2333. Fil-ings will be held for a two week periodbeginning Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 8:00AM and ending Tuesday, January 17,2012. The filing fee is $2.00.

LeRoy Clausen, ClerkNew Market Township

Published in the Lakeville Times FridayDecember 16, and 23, 20112850100 12/16-12/23/11

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursu-

ant to Minn. Stat. § 103B.227, Subd. 5, theBlack Dog Watershed Management Com-mission is soliciting letters of interest forlegal, auditing, and engineering services.Letters should be submitted to the Com-mission in care of:

Mr. Daryl JacobsonBlack Dog WMO AdministratorBurnsville Maintenance Facility13713 Frontier CourtBurnsville, MN 55337

Written letters must be received on orbefore January 30, 2012.

Dated: December 13, 2011BY: /s/ Roger N. Knutson

Roger N. KnutsonAttorney for the Black DogWatershed ManagementCommission

2853772 12/23/11 & 1/6/12

PUBLIC NOTICEELECTION FILING NOTICE

TOWN OF EUREKA

Affidavits of candidacy for the EurekaTownship Annual Election to be held onTuesday, March 13, 2012 will be acceptedby the Town Clerk Tuesday, January 3,2012 until Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at5pm.The office to be elected:

Supervisor position #3 for a 3 year termSupervisor position #4 for a 3 year term

Eureka Town Hall: 25043 Cedar Ave,Farmington, MN 55024. Office hours:Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to6:00 pm (952) 469-3736.

Nanett SandstromClerk/ TreasurerDecember 16, 2011

2851498 12/16-12/23/11

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THISWEEK December 23, 2011 13A

community. “More recently, from feedback I’ve gotten from the community, there was growing concern regarding the organization and the hi-erarchy of that organization, and individuals who had been supporters of the pre-vious CAC were starting to question the compensation of the various positions that had been created,” Erickson said. “They were question-ing the appropriateness of that in relation to its non-profit status.” Earlier this year four top 360 employees left or lost their jobs during what Ajax described in November as a time of budget retrench-ment. Terminated were Greg Konat, a former Burnsville city manager and Dakota County physical develop-ment director who served as 360’s executive vice presi-dent, and Steve Haschig, for-mer senior pastor of Shep-herd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake, who served as 360’s senior devel-opment director. Two other high-profile hires retired: former School District 191 Superinten-dent Ben Kanninen, who was 360’s senior director of school success, and former District Court Judge Leslie Metzen, who was the agen-cy’s senior violence-preven-tion coordinator.

According to federal tax filings from 360, Ajax earned $235,359 in 2009 (in-cluding $63,306 in “other” compensation from the or-ganization and related or-ganizations), and her execu-tive vice president, Konat, earned $172,776 (including $29,935 in other compensa-tion). Filings for 2010 show Ajax earning $172,459 and Konat earning $123,107. The agency had a fiscal-year-ending deficit in 2010 of $580,540, according to information on charities compiled by the state attor-ney general’s office. Ajax said in a Nov. 4 interview that the agency, which set a $4.3 million bud-get for the 2011-12 fiscal year, is used to adjusting to shifting fiscal fortunes. “We’re in a strong, healthy financial position now be-cause we’ve got the staffing level that we can sustain and support,” she told Thisweek after being asked about the loss of top staffers. Erickson praised 360 Communities programs in-cluding the two Lewis House family shelters and the agen-cy’s annual domestic abuse awareness luncheon. “That will certainly be part of (Ajax’s) legacy, in my opinion,” he said. School-based family sup-port workers are also part of her legacy, Erickson said. “I have had the privilege of working with Mary and

several of her associates at Community Action Coun-cil,” he said. “She certainly left an indelible mark on the community.” Jeff Mortensen, 360’s leader of strategic develop-ment, is serving as interim president and CEO while the agency seeks a replacement. The leadership change will not affect any of the critical services 360 Com-munities provides to the many people who depend on it, 360’s release said. Ajax received a 2011 Da-kota County Tribune Ex-ceptional Businesswoman award, the 2007 Minnesota State University Distin-guished Alumni Humanitar-ian Award, the 2003 Min-nesota Medical Association Stop the Violence Award and a 2005 recognition from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty for her 30 years of service with 360 Communities. In addition to overseeing 360 Communities, Ajax has served on the Fairview Min-nesota Valley Care System Board of Trustees, is past president of the Burnsville Rotary Club, and is past chair of the United Way Council of Agency Execu-tives. She is a member of vari-ous Dakota County Rotary clubs, several chambers of commerce and a variety of boards.

John Gessner is at [email protected].

Ajax/from 1A

Page 14: Farmington and Lakeville: Thisweek Newspapers

14A December 23, 2011 THISWEEK

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