Eden Prairie declares Steve Schewe Day as EPLN leader steps down

Former and current Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) staff and volunteers gathered at Tuesday’s Eden Prairie City Council meeting to recognize CEO and publisher Steve Schewe.

The council declared Sept. 2, 2025, as Steve Schewe Day, honoring the work he has done since taking on that role in 2022. Schewe has guided the newspaper through efforts to expand EPLN’s reach and audience.

Schewe is stepping down after learning that a benign meningioma, a tumor that forms on the membranes surrounding the brain, had returned. He was first diagnosed in 2019 and had the tumor removed at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

He learned in June that the tumor had returned. This time it is smaller, and surgery to remove it is scheduled for Sept. 10 at Mayo.

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Schewe said he expects his recovery will take at least six months. 

Throughout his EPLN tenure, his role was a volunteer position.

Nancy Tyra-Lukens, former mayor and chair of the EPLN board of directors, called Schewe an excellent addition to the team.

“We all know that by definition, volunteers do not get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they are priceless,” Tyra-Lukens said. “Steve Schewe is a stellar example of a volunteer who is truly priceless.”

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Schewe became EPLN’s CEO and publisher in 2022, succeeding former publisher Jenifer Loon.

Mayor Ron Case, reading the Steve Schewe Day proclamation, noted that under Schewe’s leadership EPLN held an artificial intelligence (AI) workshop in October 2023 before AI was at the forefront of most people’s minds.

Schewe, along with other EPLN staff, helped put together a printed voter guide that was mailed to every home in Eden Prairie to assist residents with local elections, Case said.

In 2025, EPLN most recently welcomed two new paid reporters – part-time schools reporter Maddie Robinson and full-time general assignment reporter Rachel Hoppe – through grant funding made possible by Schewe, Case said.

Tyra-Lukens said Schewe devoted his time and energy to growing EPLN into what it is today, with more than 200,000 page views and nearly 4,000 subscribers.

“He gave us his heart, his head and his energies,” Lukens said. “He didn’t have a background in journalism, but he knew the value of nonpartisan local news.”

At the council meeting, Schewe expressed gratitude for his role at EPLN.

“This has been a group project,” Schewe said. “We were founded during the pandemic. We met by Zoom for something like nine months, and I didn’t know most of the people who were involved when I first got started. And I’m glad to say it’s been a major gift to me.”