Author: Jim Bayer

The Eden Prairie School District has filed an application to receive more than $2.5 million in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants to help purchase 10 electric school buses and charging systems. The EPA allows qualifying districts to replace up to 25 buses. But eligible buses need to be 2010 or older models, which reduces the amount of grant funds available. “EP currently operates just 10 buses in our fleet in that range,” Jason Mutzenberger, district executive director of business services, said in an email to EPLN. “We applied (in June) to replace all 10 with these funds.” Even though the…

A 23-year-old Shakopee man has been charged with four felony criminal counts, all related to a police undercover prostitution operation. Franklin Alexander Segovia Lopez is charged with prostitution for agreeing to hire someone he believed to be ages 13 to 16. Count II charges Lopez with soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct. Counts III and IV relate to using electronic communication to solicit a child to engage in sexual conduct, or engaging or describing sexual conduct with a child. According to the police complaint: Eden Prairie police joined several other law enforcement agencies in an undercover prostitution and…

Morning sun glistened off the calm surface of Bryant Lake on a recent Friday, broken only by the wake of a sleek rowing shell propelled by four female high school seniors. The four young women – Ashleigh Reid, 17, and Claire Koehler, 16 – both of whom attend Eden Prairie High School (EPHS); Adrienne Mongeon, 18, who attends Lakeville South High School; and Elodie Jones, 17, who attends Edina High School – are members of the varsity rowing team at the Twin City Youth Rowing Club (TCYRC) located in Eden Prairie. Coxswain Ella Muilenburg, 17, who also attends EPHS, steered…

An Eden Prairie man has been charged in Hennepin County District Court with four counts of assault, including two on unborn twins born prematurely after a June 30 incident. Donatus Ray Harrell, 41, was arrested July 27 and is charged with first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and domestic assault by strangulation of his girlfriend, and two counts of first-degree assault of an unborn child resulting from assault on a pregnant woman. According to the police complaint: Police responded to a report of domestic assault at an Eden Prairie address early on June 30. Harrell’s girlfriend of eight years told…

Eden Prairie’s representative in Congress does not want President Joe Biden to run for reelection as president in 2024, according to media accounts of a July 28 interview on WCCO Radio. Phillips, who represents the Third District which comprises Eden Prairie and much of the western suburbs, told radio host Chad Hartman that he thinks Biden should step aside for a “new generation” of leadership in the White House, according to a Star Tribune report. When Hartman asked Phillips if he shared the apprehension of other Democrats about Biden seeking a second term, he replied, “I have respect for Joe…

A 79-year-old man from Eden Prairie drowned July 23 in Table Rock Lake in the southwest corner of Missouri near Branson, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. The patrol’s report identified the victim as Eugene M. Nelson. No other information was available. According to the report, Nelson was swimming in the lake when he began to struggle. He then went underwater and drowned, the report said. Nelson’s body was recovered the following day and he was pronounced dead at 11:47 a.m. by the Taney County Coroner, according a report in the Branson Tri-Lakes News. According to that same report, Nelson…

In an awful instant almost 15 years ago, Vijay Dixit says his life stopped. Dixit’s 19-year-old daughter, Shreya, was killed in a Nov. 1, 2007 crash caused by the momentary distraction of the driver of the car in which she was riding with three other friends. She was on her way home from the University of Wisconsin to visit her family. While his life stopped in that moment, it didn’t take long for Dixit to channel his grief into something positive. The statistics According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted driving is responsible for: 9 highway deaths every day…

Toyotas and Volkswagens have been the most frequent targets of car thieves in Eden Prairie this year, contrary to a recent national trend, according to an Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) report. Kia and Hyundai models are being stolen at a far higher rate in St. Paul, Ohio, Florida and other metro areas, thanks to an apparent manufacturing flaw, according to recent published reports. The Star Tribune reported that car thefts in St. Paul have increased by 40% this year compared to the same time last year. The report said that Kias and Hyundais have been the most frequently stolen.…

The Eden Prairie School Board will vote at its July 25 meeting to ask residents to approve two separate requests to bolster the district’s operating funds as well as fund capital projects for the next 10 years. If the board approves one or both of the referendums, they will be on the ballot Nov. 8, along with the election of school board members. Four board seats for 4-year terms each will be on the ballot, as will a special election to elect one board member for a 2-year term to fill a seat vacancy that expires Jan. 6, 2025. Candidates…

At exactly 12:01 a.m. Thursday, July 21, 16305/07 Lincoln Lane turned left on Eden Prairie Road heading south and rolled slowly out of town. But it isn’t the end of the road for the structure. Lincoln Lane The Lincoln Lane neighborhood will be transformed into a four-story, 239-unit apartment complex called The Ellie, whose name refers to Elizabeth Fries Ellet, the East Coast writer credited with giving Eden Prairie its name. The neighborhood got its start in the 1960s when Leonard “Len” Holte purchased property east of Eden Prairie Road immediately north of the historic Smith-Douglas-More House. It was a small neighborhood,…