Hundreds of people braved a frigid Saturday March 12 to attend the 20th Annual Home, Landscape and Garden “Everything Spring Expo” at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Seventy exhibitors were spread throughout the church’s main level, featuring home improvement, landscaping and gardening businesses, among others. Arya Rask, right, (with dad, Shawn), appeared thrilled to meet one of the baby goats on display at the B3 Goats of Glencoe booth. Below, 62-year Eden Prairie residents John and Joyce Conley, center, stopped by the Eden Prairie Local News booth to chat with board members David Lindahl, left, and board member and writer Jeff…
Author: Jim Bayer
Jim Bayer
Jim is a retired teacher currently keeping busy as a reserve teacher, tutor, and Eden Prairie High School softball coach. Jim’s career began as a journalist, photojournalist, and editor before working in healthcare public relations and later earning a master’s degree in special education. Jim and his wife, Sue, a registered nurse, have lived in Eden Prairie for more than 25 years. Their two children, Jen and Matt, graduated from EPHS and live in Eden Prairie. Jim and Sue have four grandchildren.
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Passengers on Eden Prairie school buses and other transportation vehicles no longer are required to wear face coverings as of March 2 following new advice from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), according to a district spokesperson. “The CDC announced this change on Friday afternoon (Feb. 25),” according to Brett Johnson, senior director of communications and community relations. “People who want to wear face coverings are always welcome to do so.” On Jan. 31, 2001, the CDC issued an order that required face coverings on all modes of public transportation, including school buses. “Effective February 25, 2022, CDC…
The Eden Prairie School Board will consider approval of the final 2022-23 school calendar at its regular meeting Monday, Feb. 28. The board previewed a draft of the calendar at its Jan. 24 meeting. The approval consideration is bundled in the Superintendent’s Consent Agenda, along with approval of a preliminary 2023-24 calendar. COVID-19 update The meeting agenda also includes an update from Superintendent Josh Swanson on the district’s COVID-19 Safe Learning Plan. The district abruptly ended its mandatory face-covering requirement for all students and staff on Feb. 17 amid declining COVID-19 cases. That requirement was instituted in late December 2021 in advance…
Felony charges have been filed against five people in separate Eden Prairie incidents occurring in December 2021 and February, according to Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) complaints. Assault of police officer Leann Dael Exum, 27, of Brooklyn Center, has been charged with one count of felony fourth-degree assault of a peace officer and one count of DWI, a gross misdemeanor. According to Eden Prairie Police, at 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2021, Exum was observed driving east on Highway 212 approaching Valley View Road with no lights on. After being stopped, she was unable to turn the car’s lights on,…
An early morning bus fire on Feb. 11 injured four firefighters at the SouthWest Transit maintenance facility in Eden Prairie, according to city officials. At 12:38 a.m., the department received a water flow alarm at the transit facility at 14405 W. 62nd St., Fire Chief Scott Gerber told EPLN. Fire crews entered the building and found a SouthWest Transit coach bus on fire. Firefighters were able to douse the fire on the inside and outside of the bus. The fire was contained to a single bus thanks to the building’s sprinkler system, Gerber said. “The sprinkler system is an important part…
The Eden Prairie School Board approved the purchase of seven new buses at a cost of about $819,000 at its Jan. 24 meeting. The board was asked permission to purchase the five regular education buses and two special education buses before approval of the fiscal year 2023 capital budget in order to have buses delivered before the start of the next school year. The purchase is part of the district’s planned 15-year replacement cycle of seven new buses each year for its fleet of 104 buses and five vans. Purchasing the buses now ensures that students will have a consistent…
Felony charges against three defendants in unrelated cases for criminal sexual conduct, mail theft and fleeing police have been filed in Hennepin County District Court. Criminal sexual conduct A Bloomington man is charged with one count each of first and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct in a case involving a 16-year-old female who reported being sexually abused multiple times beginning at the age of 5. The girl identified Daniel Jerome Weibel, 46, as the perpetrator, according to the police complaint. Weibel reportedly was the boyfriend of the victim’s mother. Weibel has been summoned to appear in Hennepin County District Court. He was…
Chuck Rodman and Steve Wilson are the unofficial kings of cans in Eden Prairie. The pair has been involved in generating funds for the Eden Prairie Lions Club by cashing in an assortment of aluminum soda, fizzy water and beer cans for many years. They can reel off the current going rate for aluminum and they happily shed their warm coats in below zero weather so that the Eden Prairie Lions’ logos on their shirts are clearly visible in a photograph. The recycled can business is a little tougher these days, and not just because of the weather. It seems…
“Teaching is a hoot.” That’s how Prairie View Elementary School teacher Nate Gabel’s describes his work, even after two years of COVID-19, hybrid learning, online classes and figuring out how to make it all work. That attitude probably explains why he is one of three Eden Prairie Schools’ teachers that have been nominated for Education Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year honors. The two others, Kassy Miller and Emily Larson, both teach at Central Middle School. Nate Gabel Nate Gabel has taught at Prairie View for 23 years. During that time he has taught 4th grade, served as a cognitive coach, and since…
The parents of an Eden Prairie man have sued a University of Missouri fraternity after their son suffered brain injuries during a pledge party in October 2021, according to media reports. Daniel Santulli, 19, has been unresponsive and requires constant medical care since he was forced to drink a bottle of vodka at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, known as Chi Mu, on Oct. 20, 2021, according to the lawsuit. Santulli is unable to speak and remains unaware of his surroundings, according to the family’s lawyers. The suit, which names 23 defendants, alleges that pledges to the fraternity were expected…