As memorial services for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter take place in late November, including a formal funeral service on Nov. 29 in Plains, Georgia, longtime Eden Prairie residents might remember that she visited EP 45 years ago. The purpose of the first lady’s half-hour stop in Eden Prairie on Oct. 7, 1978, during a trip to the Twin Cities was to visit the Muriel Humphrey Residences, a set of three group homes – each holding 12 residents – located at the corner of Preserve Boulevard and Anderson Lakes Parkway. The homes were operated by the Louise Whitbeck Fraser School…
Author: Mark Weber
Mark Weber
Mark joined the Eden Prairie News as a reporter in 1979, just five years after its start, and spent the next 34 years in various roles including editor and publisher, as well as general manager of the parent company, Southwest Newspapers. He also published Edible Twin Cities magazine. His encore career was serving the nonprofit Eden Prairie Community Foundation as executive director. Mark is now retired. He and his wife, Roma, have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law, as well as a grandson. They have lived in Eden Prairie since 1984. "I hope the many words I have typed over the years have helped people understand the world around them."
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Local nonprofits Kaleidoscope Teens and Relate Counseling Center provide hometown support services for teens struggling with mental health issues.
Despite not securing many funding partners, the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District is moving ahead with the purchase of 28 acres of mostly open land along Spring Road in Eden Prairie. Why it matters: Funding the purchase through its budget will add 4% to the watershed district’s tax levy for at least the next three years, but will end the years-long controversy about whether or not homes should be built on the sloping property, with soils susceptible to erosion, located near Riley Creek and historic Fredrick-Miller Spring. The district’s board of managers voted 4-1 on Nov. 16 to proceed…
Tenants of Eden Prairie apartment complexes that are defined as having affordable housing and are changing owners will get additional protections under a new ordinance. The ordinance, given preliminary approval on Nov. 14 by the city council, would apply to about one-half of the roughly 35 apartment complexes in Eden Prairie. Owners of those complexes would be required to give notice of sale and ownership intent to tenants and the city. The notice would need to state whether the new owners intend to raise rents, and if so, when and by how much; clarify if they will re-screen or use…
Eden Prairie Police Department trains officers, collaborates with schools and other agencies for response to juvenile “person-in-crisis” calls.
Eden Prairie city officials are looking for more consistency in their approach to crosswalks and other pedestrian crossings, and it’s mostly because of the pandemic. “This really stems from, I think, COVID,” says Public Works Director Robert Ellis. “COVID brought a lot of people out to our trail and sidewalk system, which is a good thing. “As we’ve kind of returned to normal, the traffic has picked up. So I think people felt comfortable in 2020 walking around when there wasn’t a lot of traffic,” he adds. “But now that the traffic’s returning, they’ve been calling the Engineering Division quite…
Only two gravel roads remain in Eden Prairie, and one of them – the segment of Dell Road from Crestwood Terrace to Flying Cloud Drive – is now likely to be rebuilt and paved in 2025. With the Eden Prairie City Council voting Tuesday, Nov. 14, to move ahead, city staff will now schedule a January public hearing for the southwestern EP project, which is significant because it includes sewer, water, and storm drainage construction in addition to the road rebuild, all on a steep and curving route up and down the Minnesota River Valley bluffs. The city wants to…
Though signage issues remain, an advisory panel has recommended that the Eden Prairie City Council approve the construction of a Crew Carwash at the corner of Highway 5 and County Road 4. The 8-0 recommendation was made Monday, Nov. 13, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission. The project will be the subject of a public hearing before the city council in the next month or two. Why it matters: The business would fill a long-vacant corner at a busy intersection, while providing road right-of-way easements if that intersection were expanded to better accommodate traffic. Indiana-based Crew Carwash is proposing two…
Another automatic car wash has been proposed for a prominent Eden Prairie intersection, this time the southeast corner of Highway 5 and County Road 4 (Eden Prairie Road), where a Burger King once stood. The Eden Prairie Planning Commission, which advises the city council, will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, in the Council Chambers of the Eden Prairie City Center, 8080 Mitchell Road. Indiana-based Crew Carwash is proposing two stone, concrete, and glass buildings at that site: one for washing cars and the other for cleaning car interiors. The corner has been…
In a quiet neighborhood in northeastern Eden Prairie stands a watershed district office and learning center on five acres of land adjacent to the city’s Cardinal Creek Conservation Area. People go there to learn about rain gardens, cisterns, permeable driveway and patio pavers, wildlife-habitat restoration, and generally all topics related to stormwater management. It’s called Discovery Point, and it may be the model for another watershed district that is considering the purchase of 28 acres in southern Eden Prairie for preservation but also possible use as an office and learning center. When the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District’s board…