Author: Jim Bayer

Lawyers claiming to represent several Eden Prairie families notified the Eden Prairie School District Thursday of their intent to seek a resolution “in advance of formal litigation” in the case of Eden Prairie High School varsity basketball coach David Flom. “These parents express deep concern,” the letter stated. Flom was suspended from his coaching job Dec. 8, 2022, pending an investigation into a complaint about his use of inappropriate language during a team classroom session on Dec. 7. The Feb.16 letter sent to the district and obtained by EPLN, came from the Minneapolis firm of Walker Law Offices, P.A., and…

George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in May 2020 and the police shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center in April 2021 each sparked civil unrest that resulted in deaths and injuries in both cities, as well as significant property damage. Police and city leaders were criticized for how police handled both situations, but most vociferously about the abandonment and burning of the Minneapolis Third Precinct police station. The station’s perimeter was unprotected and vulnerable to violent protestors. Eventually, police abandoned the building and those protestors set it ablaze. Consortium draws 28 members Eden Prairie has…

Mike Schmidt got his first taste of snowplowing on Oct. 31, 1991 – the infamous Halloween Blizzard that saw 28.4 inches of snowfall over a four-day period. So, you will forgive him if the 15 inches that fell recently was something of an annoyance by comparison. That was 30 years ago, and now Schmidt has been working for the Eden Prairie streets division for 26 years. On a day in between storms, he shows off the interior of one of the 20 massive dump truck plows in Eden Prairie’s fleet. The dashboard looks like a passenger jet cockpit. The plow…

A 31-year-old New Hope man is charged with one count of reckless driving and one count of speeding, both misdemeanors, in a Nov. 5 incident. He has been summoned to appear in Hennepin County District Court. According to the criminal complaint: An Eden Prairie police officer observed the defendant’s vehicle traveling 110 miles per hour (mph) in a 60 mph zone near E. Bush Lake Road and I-494. The officer observed the driver passing traffic in the far right lane. He accelerated as he passed the officer’s location. The officer stopped the car, which contained the driver and two passengers.…

Despite windchills below zero Saturday afternoon, dozens of hardy souls descended on Staring Lake Park for the Eden Prairie Winter Blast. The event featured free sledding, ice skating, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, horse-drawn carriage rides, bonfires, art projects, and more on a brilliant sunny – but cold – January afternoon. Top, an unidentified young tuber joined Eden Prairie friends (l-r) Ivy Phillips, 12, Camryn Sullivan, 12, and Lyla Carrell, 13, as they made their way back to the top of the Staring Lake sledding hill. Carlos Echenique, left, of Eden Prairie guided daughter, Valery, 5, on the ice skating rink. Building…

New Year’s Eve is coming up, and the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) and law enforcement agencies around the state have announced that officers will be increasing patrols and watching closely for impaired drivers. One EPPD officer treats every shift as if it were New Year’s Eve. Chad Streiff, an EPPD patrol officer for more than eight years, serves as a full-time DWI officer thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. As a testament to his effectiveness, Streiff has earned 18 Hat Trick Awards from the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, each accompanied by a hockey stick.…

Depending on who you ask, Eden Prairie has, more or less, 60 different neighborhoods. They have names such as Autumn Terrace, Bittersweet, Raspberry Hill, Edenwood, Topview and Gordon, Heritage Pines and Westgate. Then there’s Cedar Ridge Estates. Located in the west central portion of Eden Prairie, nestled between Pioneer Trail and Cedar Ridge Elementary School, in a landscape of mature shade and pine trees, 1980s-vintage two-story Tudor-style homes, and the occasional front yard pole flying the American flag. Three streets in the neighborhood – Rogers Road, McGuffey Road and Douglas Drive – connect to create a “U.” But the connection goes…

Jordan Markie walked swiftly through the south doors of the Eden Prairie Scheels store just after 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22. At the same moment, a young girl is seen walking at her father’s side as they approach the exit, each carrying merchandise bags. Less than 10 minutes later, father and daughter presumably are on their way home and Markie, 19, of Edina, is dead after shooting himself in an aisle on the store’s second floor. The Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) on Nov. 11 released its report on the Aug. 22 incident at the Eden Prairie Center store…

No charges will be filed, and the case is closed in the Aug. 22 suicide at Scheels that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old man and a lockdown of the Eden Prairie Center, according to a statement released Monday by the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD). The police report of the investigation compiled by the department is contained in a massive 42 GB online file. The inclusion of photos and video surveillance footage explain the file’s size, according to an EPPD spokesperson. EPLN is in the process of downloading the file to review the report details. Police had previously…

Charlie Alleman had made an important decision. He was on his way to his late shift at a glass company in Shakopee. He had decided to put in his two-week notice that night. Charlie had been bullied there and, with encouragement from his sister and mother, he was ready to be done. It was 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, 2022. He drove westbound on Highway 101 in Shakopee in the red 2014 Volkswagen Golf that his mother had given him earlier that day. As he approached the intersection with Valley Park Drive, Charlie probably saw the headlights coming toward him…