Author: Stuart Sudak

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Stuart Sudak is editor-in-chief of Eden Prairie Local News, having previously served as co-editor. He is a longtime freelance journalist based in Minnesota. Over the years, he has written for newspapers, magazines, websites and corporations. He also served as an editor at several newspapers in Minnesota and Illinois, including the Eden Prairie News from 2000 to 2005. He lives in Chaska with his wife, Tracy, and their three children. Contact him at stuart.sudak@eplocalnews.org.

Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case sat down last month to discuss what he deems are the city’s successes in 2022 and what’s in store for 2023. Case thinks the city is in a positive place, noting the progress of several key initiatives, including the adoption of the Eden Prairie Race Equity Report in January 2022. He also shared his goals for 2023, which include keeping close tabs on the budget and its impact on taxes, and expanding the council’s efforts to reach out to the community by going on the road and holding town halls, business roundtable groups, and meeting…

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C.H. Robinson Worldwide, the Eden Prairie-based freight and cargo logistics provider, has confirmed that Bob Biesterfeld, the CEO and president, has stepped down effective Dec. 31. He also resigned from the company’s board. C.H. Robinson offered no explanation for the transition in its Tuesday public announcement on the leadership change. Biesterfeld’s departure was described as “abrupt” by several media outlets, including the Star Tribune. FreightWaves added that it had been in the works for months. According to a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Biesterfeld’s departure from the company was an involuntary termination without cause. Scott Anderson,…

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For the fifth year in a row, an Eden Prairie couple has stepped up to help families in danger of losing their homes. The couple, who prefers to remain anonymous, is providing an annual $25,000 matching gift to PROP Food Shelf to support the organization’s housing services in a campaign called “Keeping Families in Their Homes for the Holidays and Beyond.” The gift will match any donation until midnight on Dec. 31. PROP’s homelessness prevention program works to help families in Eden Prairie from losing their homes by providing temporary financial assistance to cover a month or more of rent. That gives…

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Eden Prairie native Hugh Burke and his girlfriend Kylie Donohue teamed up to write a children’s book that teaches kids about diversity. Burke, a second-year medical student training to be a pediatric psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota, and Donohue, a second-year student at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago, aimed to create a story that would entertain young readers and impart important lessons about working together and recognizing one’s strengths. “I don’t think a lot of boyfriends and girlfriends get to experience (writing a book together),” Burke said. “We felt like we were working toward something that we…

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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.…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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