Author: Mark Weber

The ongoing work to establish the Eden Prairie Local News as the primary source of local reporting will be the topic of a free Zoom event planned for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, by the Eden Prairie Community Foundation. The public program features Jenifer Loon, who leads the working group that has created EPLN, being interviewed by Foundation Executive Director Mark Weber, who is also a member of that working group. Loon will answer questions about the process that led to creation of the digital EPLN and what’s ahead. Space is limited and registration is required ahead of time on…

The application period for 2021 direct grants from the Eden Prairie Community Foundation ends on Dec. 23. Awards will be presented next spring. Application materials can be found online at www.epcommunityfoundation.org. To see if your organization qualifies, take the Eligibility Quiz at https://bit.ly/2QMh37F. The Foundation has awarded more than $2 million in direct grants since its formation, with 550 grants going to about 100 different nonprofits and agencies serving Eden Prairie. Every corner of Eden Prairie has been touched in some ways, as the Foundation funds grants in a wide range of areas: arts and culture; education; recreation and environment;…

Carolyn Kinzel, founder of the Eden Prairie-based, nonprofit Brighter Days Grief Center, said the center will acquire the Youth Grief Services program of Fairview Health effective today, Dec. 10. Youth Grief Services (YGS) has been operating for over 20 years, offering a range of free youth and adult grief support and education as well as Camp Erin, a summer camp for grieving kids. Brighter Days will also hire three full-time employees in January to maintain the continuity, value, and relationships the hospital’s Youth Grief Service program served.  In almost four years of service, Brighter Days Grief Center has served more…

Even as many Eden Prairie retailers struggle to survive a trying year, several new construction projects are being planned for 2021 or beyond. That includes plans for retail – and possibly a Lakewinds Food Co-op – southwest of the intersection of Flying Cloud Drive and Prairie Center Drive near Eden Prairie Center, in the shadow of the multi-story Flagstone senior-living complex being built by Presbyterian Homes. The Flying Cloud Commons retail project has been billed as including a Lakewinds grocery store, a Chick-Fil-A restaurant, and a Bank of America branch. City approval of plans is nearly complete, with only a…

A bit of Eden Prairie crystal-ball gazing in the early 1970s is proving more accurate than many might have guessed. When the city’s Major Center Area Task Force in 1973 concluded its work to guide future development of the area surrounding Eden Prairie Shopping Center, it hoped that options like personal rapid transit or what it called Computer Automated Transit Systems (CATS) would be part of the system to keep traffic moving. In fact, it said development of a CATS system in Eden Prairie by 1995 “may be practical.” Well, the forecasted date was off, but today’s construction of light-rail…

You can travel from the Southwest LRT construction project of today to the horse-drawn wagon days, more than 150 years ago, without a time machine and without leaving Eden Prairie. It’s possible because city officials have pinpointed and are preserving a portion of a long-ago wagon road along the Minnesota River. It’s a roadbed that in even earlier times may have seen oxcart traffic. It’s difficult to access, and could stay that way for some time. The road segment is barely discernible on the now-wooded bluffs in southeastern Eden Prairie. The area is also the subject of a preservation plan…

Lisa Toomey and PG Narayanan won four-year seats on the Eden Prairie City Council in the election decided Tuesday, with Toomey topping other candidates in 18 of 20 voting precincts. Unofficial totals from the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State had Toomey with 19,366 votes, Narayanan with 17,262 votes and Ryan Miske, who was not elected, with 15,056 votes. This was the first city council campaign for Toomey and Miske. Narayanan finished as a runner-up in 2018 but was later appointed to fill a vacant seat, making this his second run for council and first win. “I am extremely…

The word “couple” seems inadequate to describe Mary Jane and Basil Wissner. “Doting couple” would be closer, but not quite there. “Soulmates,” maybe? Married for 58 years, the Wissners were known for their community involvement and philanthropy in Eden Prairie, where they lived since the late-1960s. “They were joined at the hip,” says friend Gary Stevens. Mary Jane, he recalls, would admit she was the apple of her father’s eye and even a little bit spoiled before Basil, a Marine lance corporal who grew up in an orphanage, came into her life. Her dad wondered aloud if this new guy…

Eden Prairie photographer Kelley Regan has captured beauty. Experience her images here, watery jewels dotting the Eden Prairie landscape. Red Rock Lake hosts a majestic eagle and Trumpeter swans in a calm courtship, and sunset closes in on the wooded banks. There’s evidence year-round, but Autumn is a blunt reminder of Eden Prairie’s natural beauty. The community continues to grow and develop while holding fast to its lakes, hills, prairies, and woodlands. At Bryant Lake we see the power and calm of a windsurfer treading ripples and a lush green overlook with deep blue waters. We are enfolded into a…