Author: Stuart Sudak

Standing just a few steps from the Eden Prairie Community Center ice arena, Jennifer Britton and Julie Jacobson talk about goals. For these goals, though, the action is happening off the ice. Several hockey groups have teamed up on the Eden Prairie Hockey Legacy Campaign to improve rink facilities and honor the sport’s local tradition at the Community Center. Britton and Jacobson are two of the many parent volunteers working on the Legacy Campaign, which aims to raise $500,000 in donations for the project. It has another $150,000 to go to meet that goal, after raising $350,000 in six months.…

Santa Claus is finally back in town. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa’s North Pole Experience has set up shop again in the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House in Eden Prairie. In Santa’s festively decorated parlor sat Arlyn Grussing in a comfy chair, certainly looking the part of jolly old Saint Nick as he greeted two young children and their families last Saturday. Grussing has a long white beard, spectacles, a red coat, a black belt and boots, and, maybe most importantly, a jolly disposition. His Santa bona fides are displayed in a framed certificate over the fireplace mantel. On it,…

Asia Mall bustled with customers during its first weekend open to the public. Apparently, as one city official quipped, too many people were excited about it. The long awaited opening of the mall caused weekend traffic jams in and out of its parking lot along Technology Drive. The 100,000-square-foot project, an Asian-themed mix of grocery, restaurant, retail, and office uses in the former Gander Mountain building at 12160 Technology Drive, east of Costco, opened its doors on Nov. 10. With 75% of the space leased, owners described Nov. 10-19 as a “soft opening” for the mall, which limits occupancy. “It’s been…

C.H. Robinson, the Eden Prairie-based freight and cargo logistics provider, confirmed on Monday that it laid off 650 of its workers last week. According to a statement by the company, the positions have been eliminated across the company, not specific to Eden Prairie. Transition assistance is being provided to those affected. CEO Bob Biesterfeld cited slowing freight demand as the reason for the layoffs. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Biesterfeld addressed the natural cycle of the freight market and the efficiencies C.H. Robinson is gaining from its technology and automating processes. “On our second quarter earnings call in late…

Bob Lambert wrote in a diary during his yearlong tour of duty in Vietnam. That year, from October of 1967 to October of 1968, in which he served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, is the only time in his life that he kept a diary. The diary is tucked away in Lambert’s old helmet bag on a shelf in his Saint Peter house. He rarely looks at it, though he did when writing a book on his life after retiring as Eden Prairie parks and recreation director in 2007. “It was helpful in writing that…

Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski won reelection Tuesday by beating Republican Marla Helseth for the District 49 seat. According to unofficial voting results, Cwodzinski ended up with 26,448 votes, or 62.28% of the total ballots cast in all 29 precincts, while Helseth had 15,998 votes, or 37.67%. The district encompasses all of Eden Prairie and southern Minnetonka. Cwodzinski, who taught U.S. government and history at Eden Prairie High School for 31 years before retiring in 2016, has been in office since 2017. His campaign focused on four core values during his campaign: healthier and safer communities, stronger schools, civility…

Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case was reelected to a second term by voters on Tuesday, decisively beating Tracey Schowalter. For the two open council seats, incumbents Kathy Nelson and Mark Freiberg also conclusively fended off challengers Micah Olson and Greg Lehman. Case, Freiberg and Nelson’s new four-year terms begin in January. According to unofficial vote results, Case received 19,054 votes, or 69.33% of the total ballots cast for mayor in the city’s 20 precincts, while Schowalter received 8,364 votes, or 30.43%. And, according to the unofficial vote results for the council, Nelson received 15,109 votes, or 35.54% of the total…

Democratic U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips was reelected Tuesday to his 3rd District House seat, beating Republican Tom Weiler. Phillips, 53, of Wayzata, has held that seat since 2019. According to unofficial voting results, Phillips received 198,882 of the votes, or 59.56 percent of the ballots cast in all 231 precincts, while Weiler received 134,795, or 40.37%. “I love representing the remarkable people of #MN03 and am humbled to continue serving the very community in which I was raised in the 118th Congress,” Phillips wrote Tuesday night on his Twitter account. “Thanks to all who chose optimism over fear. Our best…

Juli Olson has a message for the person who stole a 6-month-old dilute calico foster kitten named Pencil Case from PetSmart in Eden Prairie on Sunday afternoon. “We would just like to get our kitten back,” said Olson, adoption manager for Ruff Start Rescue, the non-profit organization that rescued Pencil Case. “Is it about the adoption fee — NO. We are always willing to work with a loving family that can’t pay an adoption fee. It is not OK to steal a kitten. Please return her so she can be reunited with her sister and her foster family. No questions asked.…

A makeshift theater was set up in the parlor of the historic Cummins-Phipps-Grill house earlier this month by the Eden Prairie Historical Society. People sat quietly in folding chairs, their eyes focused on the small screen playing the short horror movie “The Doll.” On a dark and still night outside, the movie’s ominous music seemed like a perfect soundtrack for the setting both on- and off-screen. After all, the movie about a young girl named Violet who finds a doll in the woods and unknowingly makes a deal with a demon when she brings it home was filmed in the…