Author: EPLN Staff Reports

Elucent Medical has new names in the C-suite; Brighter Days Grief Center acquires northern Minnesota camp.

The City of Eden Prairie celebrated its annual “Night to Unite” event Tuesday, with 152 neighborhoods hosting block parties and engaging in a community food drive. According to a Wednesday police department blog post, residents were encouraged to donate food to the PROP Food Shelf, and the response was generous. Eden Prairie residents donated 9,656 pounds of food and $275 in cash and gift cards to the local organization. The blog also highlighted a special incentive: parties that donated more than 200 pounds of food were entered into a drawing for an ice cream social hosted by the Eden Prairie…

Eden Prairie’s Round Lake Beach has been temporarily closed due to unsafe levels of bacteria found during routine testing, the city reported Tuesday. As a result, the city has closed the lake for swimming until further testing determines the water is safe. Hennepin County Public Health conducts sampling and analysis of public beaches in the county from Memorial Day to Labor Day to ensure safe water quality for swimming. The department also has the authority to close contaminated beaches. Testing conducted on the water of Round Lake on July 31 revealed unacceptable test results. The lake was also closed for…

An Eden Prairie man is among 11 people facing felony charges following a multi-agency undercover operation led by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that targeted human trafficking and resulted in the recovery of four victims. Yonis Abdiweli Hashi, 22, of Eden Prairie, was arrested along with 10 other suspects during a two-day operation on July 27-28 in St. Paul. According to a July 29 news release, the suspects were allegedly caught attempting to solicit minors for sex or promote prostitution via online conversations with undercover agents, who posed as minors or sex buyers. The operation was led by the…

Jack Leslie Steinmetz, a WWII veteran aged 99 years, passed away at Methodist Hospital on July 10. Jack was born to Leslie G. and Elsie Mae Steinmetz on July 3, 1924, in Minneapolis, where he lived with his parents and sister, Gloria Steinmetz Gauper. When he was 12 years old, his mother drowned while out rowing with the family, an event he would remember for the rest of his life. He and his sister were sent to separate caretakers, but remained close until her death. Jack was drafted while a senior at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, where he…

Kenneth Richard Fricke, age 77, of Eden Prairie, died unexpectedly at home on July 25. He was born to parents Emmett and Ilene on March 26, 1946, in Sioux City, Iowa. Ken will be remembered for his affinity for connecting with those he knew and strangers alike. He had a witty sense of humor and a knack for lightening the mood, often with a timely pun. After graduating from Morningside College in 1968, he moved to Minnesota and began his career at the Hennepin County Home School youth correctional facility. It is there where he met Thelma, his loving wife…

Brighter Days Family Grief Center, a grief support institution in Eden Prairie, is expanding its reach by acquiring Camp Journey, a free bereavement camp in Brainerd for children. Camp Journey, supported by the Brainerd Noon Rotary Club, has hosted grieving youth, ages 5-17, for a weekend bereavement camp for the past 15 years. The Camp Journey committee aimed to find an organization specializing in working with grieving children and bereavement camps to ensure the camp’s ongoing presence. “The committee believes we have found this organization in Brighter Days Family Grief Center,” said Carol Johnson, committee lead. “Their widely recognized reputation…

Lynne Shonts of Eden Prairie passed away early in the evening of July 4 from complications from her year-long battle with lung and brain cancer, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Lynne was born in Manhasset, New York, to Irving Gerb and Rhoda Zeigler, moved to Rochester, New York, where she met her husband Dave Shonts, and lived in Clearwater, Florida, and the San Francisco Bay area before settling in Minnesota and having three children, Peter, Michael and Steven Shonts. Lynne was a compassionate advocate for animals and for the special needs children with whom she worked at the Eden…

Eden Prairie Local News received second place awards in feature reporting and sports photography from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Minnesota chapter.

Bob Reller, a Minnesota native and United States Naval Nuclear Power veteran, opened Mister Sparky of Eden Prairie in late June. The locally owned and operated franchise provides residential electrical services to residents of Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Edina, and the surrounding area. “I am honored to join the Mister Sparky franchise family and have an opportunity to work alongside talented technicians to help residents worry less about electrical issues and have higher quality of life knowing their homes are safe in our hands,” said Reller. “I am so excited to turn the lights on at Mister…