Author: Jim Bayer

April 2007 – Cocoa Beach, FL Mandy Matula rolled the optic yellow sphere in her right hand, instinctively feeling for the raised stitches that allowed her to manipulate its speed and trajectory. Forty feet away stood a swarthy young Ohio baseball player, his aluminum bat waving menacingly in her direction. Moments before, they had been poolside with their high school teammates debating the respective difficulty of baseball versus fastpitch softball. Girls throwing softballs underhand didn’t compare to their sport, the boys declared. “Mandy could strike any of you out!” one of her teammates countered. And the challenge was on. The…

Eden Prairie Eagles junior Alexa Mann was named an Athlete of the Week by the Star Tribune in recognition of her recent hitting fireworks on the varsity softball squad. Alexa has hit six home runs in the past seven games, including a walk-off homer against Buffalo April 26. Alexa added to her recent power display on Monday, May 3 hitting a two-run shot in a 7-5 loss to Hopkins.The Eagles are 6-4 overall and 5-2 in the Lake Conference. Alexa joined three other metro softball players, two lacrosse players and a baseball player in the honor which was published in…

A nerf war being planned by Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) students is raising concerns among some parents and community members, as well as city and school officials despite organizers’ efforts to keep participants safe. Nerf wars involve the use of NERF® Blasters or other foam-firing toy weapons. The EPHS version, which is not school sponsored, includes teams of up to 12 players, and has no identified boundaries in its rules posted on Twitter (@ephsnerf21), but does identify “safe zones” in which players are not allowed to shoot their opponents. EPHS Nerf Wars 2021, which is scheduled to run from…

COVID-19 case rates in Eden Prairie and other western suburbs appear to be mirroring overall Minnesota indicators that a third wave of pandemic activity may have peaked. The Minnesota Department of Health April 27 reported that the state’s seven-day average positivity rate of COVID-19 diagnostic testing has dropped from a peak of 7.5% on April 8 to 6.6%. By comparison, Eden Prairie’s 14-day positive rates appear to have peaked in the period of March 30 to April 12 and have since dropped slightly. The same is true for most surrounding communities. Eden Prairie Schools reported a drop in student positive…

Veronica Stoltz, the Eden Prairie School Board member at the center of a controversial board meeting last summer, has submitted her letter of resignation effective May 24. In her resignation letter dated April 7, Stoltz says that she and her husband have accepted employment outside of Minnesota and will be relocating their family this summer. The board will consider the resignation at its April 26 live Zoom meeting, which begins at 6 pm. “It has been a great privilege to serve as a School Board Director for one of the finest school districts in the state of Minnesota,” she wrote…

Eden Prairie schools plans to help its students process the verdict in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty Tuesday, April 20 of all charges against him in the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Recognizing that the event will prompt different reactions in students, Superintendent Josh Swanson in a statement posted on the district’s website Tuesday afternoon, said that schools will provide students with age-appropriate ways to process what has happened. “We do not presume to know how each person is feeling or what they may need at this time,” he said. The verdict came…

Eden Prairie High School officials are preparing for some students to walk out of class at 1 p.m. Monday, April 19 to participate in a state-wide, student-organized event in solidarity against racial injustice. The planned 47-minute walk-out comes as the trial of Derek Chauvin is expected to go to a jury this week and following the recent police-involved death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center. “While we wholeheartedly respect every individual’s right to peaceful assembly and free expression,” Superintendent Josh Swanson wrote in a message posted Thursday on the district’s website, “our top priority is to provide a safe teaching…

Eden Prairie Schools has been in the solar power business since 2015 when it made the decision to invest in two community solar gardens in Wright and Dakota counties.

Eden Prairie Schools Eden Prairie Schools reports updated 14-day COVID-19 cases among students and staff every Friday. EPLN will report that information every other week. 3/26 – 4/9 Staff – 0 cases Students – 20 cases (Note: Eden Prairie Schools has 1,825 staff members and 8,768 students. Total staff is all district employees, including coaches, advisors, and reserve staff.) City of Eden Prairie/Hennepin County and Surrounding Cities Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie report 14-day COVID positive rates per 10,000 residents. EPLN will report information for Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and a few cities contiguous to Eden Prairie each…

COVID-19 case rates in Eden Prairie have inched back up to where they were three months ago, according to Hennepin County’s COVID-19 Public Dashboard. Eden Prairie’s case rate per 10,000 people for the period of March 9-22 stood at 30.0. That compares to 31.6 for the last two weeks of December 2020. The rate had dropped to 16 the first two weeks of February. Hennepin County’s overall numbers are higher but compare a bit more favorably over the same time period. The county’s case rate was 26.9 from March 9-22, up from 18.2 the first two weeks of February, but…