Author: Jim Bayer

The South Vietnam jungle was cold and wet in January 1968. As 28-year-old U.S. Marine First Lt. Gary Nash jumped into his rack (military slang for a bed or bunk) on the night of Jan. 30, all he could think about was staying warm. “Everybody thinks (about) the steaming jungles of Vietnam,” Gary said. “It was cold. And I remember jumping in the rack. No boots on, but my full utility uniform flak jacket was next to me. I didn’t sleep with that on but I slept with my utility jacket on. It was so cold.” His Marine unit was…

Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) boys volleyball players were crushed last year when Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) members said no to the sport joining the ranks of varsity sports – by a single vote. Tuesday, the MSHSL voted again. This time the thumbs were up, and the sport becomes sanctioned by the MSHSL beginning in the 2024-25 season. “Amazing, very happy and excited; excited for the boys,” said EPHS boys volleyball head coach Stephanie Chapek. “They’re going to be ecstatic. Last year with the no vote, it was crushing for them, and, you know, I knew they’d be…

Hennepin County District Court has released charges filed against a Rochester, Minn., man accused of stealing merchandise from Scheels, pawning some and returning others for gift cards with the help of a female accomplice. Three other people were charged with DWIs occurring in Eden Prairie. Theft A 39-year-old Rochester man is charged with theft stemming from a September 2022 incident at Scheels in Eden Prairie. According to the police complaint: Police received a report from Scheels about a male and female who entered the store on Sept. 19, stole a pair of boots, and then returned the boots, receiving a…

Editor’s Note: Up-to-date schedules for all Lake Conference events can be found at lakeconference.org. Last week, Eden Prairie Local News featured track and field, softball, and boys and girls golf. This week we feature badminton, baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, synchronized swimming and boys tennis. Badminton Coach: John Becker (24 years) Captains: Shravani Deshmukh (12), Ishani Nandan (12), Rhea Yenubari (11), Olivia Ladegaard (11) Coach John Becker started the EPHS badminton program in 2000, making this the sport’s 24th season. This year’s squad includes 37 girls. The team began the season with a 5-2 win on March 29 over St. Paul Como…

Eden Prairie High School spring sports are underway following a mixed-weather bag. From snow to the 80s, and back to snow again, in just a few days have allowed teams to move out of the Prairie Dome and Activities Center (except badminton, which plays in the main gym, and synchronized swimming, which uses the Oak Point pool) on to their regular playing fields. Today and again next week, Eden Prairie Local News offers previews of the seven varsity sports competing in the Lake Conference. Today, we look at track and field, softball, and boys and girls golf. Next week we…

When Caroline Larsen was 8½, her mom sat her down and told her it was time to start swimming lessons. Now 16 and an Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) junior, Caroline said she loved the water even then, but spent most of her time floating rather than swimming. She agreed to join the Foxjets, a local swim club, joining her older sister and her father, Lloyd, who is the club’s head coach. At the end of the first week at Foxjets, the new swimmers raced one another. “Obviously, you just tried to get away,” Caroline recalled. “And that kind of…

An Eden Prairie martial arts instructor has been convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from repeated sexual contacts with a 15-year-old girl in 2018. Hyobin Lee, 33, was sentenced Tuesday to 48 months in prison for penetrating a victim 13 to 15 years old while in a position of authority. Judge Carolina A. Lamas, who presided over the case in Hennepin County District Court, opted to reduce Lee’s sentence by more than 30% compared to state sentencing guidelines. In her Minnesota Sentence Guidelines Departure statement, Lamas cited Lee’s offense as a “crime less onerous than usual” as her reasoning…

The identities and conditions of three occupants of a single-engine airplane that crashed Saturday in Eden Prairie are not known as of Monday night. The plane was attempting to land from the west when it crashed short of a runway at Flying Cloud Airport at about 9:35 p.m. The four-seat airplane departed from Fairmont Municipal Airport in Fairmont, Minn., according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have begun an investigation into the cause of the crash. Eden Prairie Police and Fire departments responded to a report of a plane crash west of Spring Road…

Eden Prairie was recently at the epicenter of the online, hyperlocal, nonprofit, and nonpartisan news world. The meeting Feb. 25 and 26 at the Eden Prairie Hennepin County Library, dubbed Local News Shoptalk, was the brainchild of Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) Publisher and CEO Steve Schewe and Alice Dreger, founder and publisher of East Lansing (Mich.) Info (ELi). Among the 16 attendees were founders, CEOs, board members, reporters and editors of six publications in five states. EPLN and ELi were joined by representatives from NancyOnNorwalk in Norwalk, Conn.; North News in North Minneapolis; The Daily Catch, Hudson Valley, N.Y.;…

(EPLN reports on charges filed in Hennepin County District Court against defendants in felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor cases involving Eden Prairie Police Department officers. Because EPLN does not have the resources to follow all of these cases through the legal process, names are not used other than in exceptional situations involving public figures or especially noteworthy cases. In all other cases, age, gender and cities of residence are published.) DWI A 29-year-old Isle, Minn., woman is charged with two gross misdemeanor counts of second-degree operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and a third count of careless…