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Reporter with Southwest News Media covering Savage and Burnsville for the Savage Pacer.
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BURNSVILLE - Unearthing 6 million cubic yards of waste from inactive landfills isn't a job for everyone, but Kraemer Mining and Minerals wants to make a deal to clean up the Freeway landfill and dump sites. Millions of cubic yards of trash sit at the sites without linings, meaning only dirt and rock lie between the waste and the Minnesota River and Jordan Aquifer.
A truck driver involved in multi-vehicle crash on County Road 42 last Thursday had previously been disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle. Barry Ishmel McReynolds, 44 of St. Paul, was operating a tanker truck carrying combustible liquids without the hazardous materials endorsement required by state law on his commercial driver's license, the Minnesota State Patrol found.
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District officials preparing to redraw school boundaries also expect a wave of new variance requests from parents wanting their child to attend a school other than the one assigned. With three schools closing this year, the Board of Education needs to decide how to handle variance requests under new circumstances.
Three schools in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District will close at the end of the current school year under resolutions adopted by the Board of Education this week. The directors voted to close Metcalf Middle and Sioux Trail Elementary schools in Burnsville and M.W. Savage Elementary School in downtown Savage during their regular meeting Thursday.
Becca Buck, a local elementary music specialist, knew something was missing from the repertoire of standard music she taught her multicultural students. So she set out to collect lullabies and other songs from students' homes - a project that's bringing music from around the world together and transforming her classroom and music education around Minnesota.
Savage Fire Chief Andrain Roach said lack of support from city leaders, around-the-clock demands and unrealistic expectations prevented the Fire Department from adapting to today's needs and led him to resign, according to a resignation letter obtained by the Savage Pacer. The Savage City Council accepted Roach's resignation, effective Aug.
SAVAGE - When jingle-writer Todd Millenacker's parents asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, he would tell them he wanted to rent an office and think of stuff. "They'd say, 'You're not just going to show up and think of stuff,' and here I am at 41," Millenacker said, sitting at the dining room table in his Savage home on a recent afternoon.
Existing freight rails connecting south central Minnesota to the Twin Cities, including tracks in Savage, are next in line to be studied for possible passenger rail service by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Northfield City Council member Suzie Nakasian founded the Minnesota Regional Passenger Rail Initiative and presented to local officials, state legislators and other community members in Savage about the potential for passenger rail this week.
A 74-year-old man was killed in a grain bin incident Tuesday, Sept. 10 in Faxon Township, approximately five miles west of Belle Plaine, according to a news release from the Sibley County Sheriff's Office. The man was unloading soybeans from a grain bin at a farm off State Highway 25.
A longtime Republican incumbent and Democratic newcomers are campaigning to win the Minnesota Senate District 56 seat in 2020. The district represents residents in Savage, Burnsville and Lakeville. Republican Sen. Dan Hall, first elected in 2010, this week said he will seek re-election in 2020 and will formally announce his campaign in January.
The Savage City Council broke the state's open meeting law prior to a special meeting Monday. The council met at Savage's Environmental Learning Center on July 8 for their annual retreat to discuss planning, finances, policies and department operations but failed to provide public notice of the meeting's location and discussion topics.
The landowner behind a proposal to build townhomes on a historic farm in Savage withdrew his plans this month. The proposal for 31 market-rate townhomes on the former Lynnhurst Dairy Farm would have required both a city comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning from low density to medium density.
The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Board of Education will vote tomorrow on whether to close Sioux Trail Elementary, M.W. Savage Elementary and Metcalf Middle schools at the end of the school year. The Board met Tuesday to discuss the recommendation for the first time since the district's consultant, Roger Worner, chose specific schools for the plan last month.
Father Donald DeGrood was sitting in his office at Saint John the Baptist Church and School in downtown Savage last Monday afternoon when he received a phone call from a number he didn't recognize. He didn't answer, and the number rang again. DeGrood answered that time. A U.S.
The Savage Fire Department is responding to more calls for service than ever before, but city officials still haven't announced a plan for replacing the fire chief who resigned two months ago. The department answered a record-breaking 421 calls for service in 2018, and interim Fire Chief Andrew Slama said he expects to surpass the record by the end of the month.
SHAKOPEE - Kerry Kaufmann parked his Ford Explorer near the Minnesota River boat launch. His was the only vehicle in the parking lot, and he liked it that way.
Historic flooding on the Mississippi River is bringing record-breaking delays to the year's barge season for Savage businesses along the Minnesota River, several business officials said. The latest start to barge season on record in Savage was May 15, but barges aren't expected to arrive until July this year, said Lisa Brickey, the warehouse manager at Mosaic Crop Nutrition.
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District families could see a plan for school closures, grade restructuring and boundary changes as soon as November. The Board of Education expects to reach a final decision on how facilities will factor into budget cuts no later than Jan. 1 amid falling enrollment, according to a timeline presented by district administrators this month.
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district officials should close three schools at the end of next school year to save money as enrollment declines, according to an expert evaluation completed this month. The district saw its lowest enrollment figure in a decade with 8,334 students last year, and the district projects the student count will drop to around 7,600 by 2023.
Savage Police say charges are pending against a 41-year-old Savage man after a car crashed into St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and School in downtown Savage around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Savage Police Capt. Bruce Simon said the man was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with "significant injuries."
Zachary Pumper, 34 of Savage, died Aug. 19 after sustaining fatal injuries while working on a construction site in Minneapolis, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner said earlier this month. Pumper is survived by his wife, Nicole Pumper, and two children, ages 7 and 4.
Nestled on the hilltop, to the west of the Highway 13 and McColl Drive intersection is where the Buff High Kennels dog boarding business has operated in Savage for 40 years. In recent years, the large Trout Run Preserve housing development has slowly covered the east hillside, bringing one home so close to the kennel that there is less than 30 feet between the property lines.
A world-class curling center would be the crown jewel of an entertainment and recreation hub a developer wants to build on Savage's last cow farm. Copper Creek, a Prior Lake-based developer, plans to transform the iconic Loftus farm into an ice complex with six lanes for curling and other entertainment amenities.
Michelle Roubik went to the emergency room after attempting suicide, but there weren't any psychiatric hospital beds open in the metro. After hours of waiting, Roubik learned a hospital bed had opened nearly two hours away. She was transferred there for treatment - away from family, friends and her everyday life in St.
Family ties have woven together the Savage Fire Department since the beginning. Tom Stang Sr. moved to town and bought a service station, now the BP on Highway 13 and Lynn Avenue, in 1966. A friend and regular customer, firefighter Clem Gerald, told him the fire department needed volunteers who were always in town and asked him to join.
Savage resident Todd Millenacker, 40, was reading a book on Mount Everest when he thought it really can't be that hard. He and his friends gave it a try one year ago. After 96 laps up and down the tallest peak of the Hyland Hills Ski Area in Bloomington, they completed the 29,000-foot climb, in a way.
A Monday morning fire left a south Savage home uninhabitable but caused no injuries, the city's fire officials said. The homeowner in the 15000 block of Dakota Avenue reported the fire at 4:20 a.m., according to Savage Deputy Fire Chief Andrew Slama. He said smoke detectors alerted the family to the fire and all residents evacuated safely.
A crowd of local residents and lawmakers said they oppose and worry about plans to greatly increase the Burnsville Sanitary Landfill's size and elevation at a meeting Wednesday.
Savage's 2040 Comprehensive Plan is complete, but disagreement over the future of 9 acres of land prevented preliminary approval by the Savage City Council late last month. Some local officials say the vacant land on the outskirts of Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve could provide an opportunity for condominiums, upscale apartments or senior living.
Forty years ago this month, three men were killed when an explosion ripped apart a grain elevator in Savage. According to grain and fire experts, tighter industry regulations haven't eliminated the risk of explosions. On Oct.
In an old bus garage, located a short walk away from Burnsville High School's main building, a revamped, state-of-the-art auto body shop is operating in full swing. Burnsville High School senior, Ryan Wolfe, works on installing a new gas line into a rusty 1967 Chevrolet Malibu.
Tears, picket lines and large crowds of teachers are no longer elements of the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District Board of Education meetings, yet the last year of emotional contract negotiations between the district and teacher's union still looms. Board members and leadership from the Burnsville Education Association teachers union met in a workshop following the a Board of Education meeting Thursday to discuss moving on after a difficult year.
Some city officials have questioned whether Savage's municipal liquor operation should continue after years of losing money, though others say it's not as much of a problem as it appears. Over the past 20 years, profits from the city of Savage's municipal liquor operation have contributed millions of dollars to community facilities.
Around 80 neighborhood gatherings took place on Aug. 7 for Nite to Unite - Savage's annual National Night Out celebration. The community building event - held on the first Tuesday in August each year - brings together neighbors, local law enforcement and local officials to celebrate community relationships, trust and working together toward a safer community.
Ray Loftus knew he'd be the last person working his family's land when he took over the dairy farming operation in 1983. Over the past century, 600 acres of farmland in Savage has passed down the Loftus family line, dispersed on the map by swells in the city's development, and leaving behind the 15 acres that Loftus hobby farms today.
A registered sex offender recently found on a school bus with kindergartners had previously committed sex offenses and been discovered on other buses in and around Savage in the past several years, a review of court documents and police incident reports shows.
A registered sex offender who allegedly hid on a St. Paul school bus recently had been living at the Quality Inn in Savage, police say. Michael Charles Friedrichs, 61, was charged March 5 in Scott County District Court with knowingly violating his sex offender registration and knowingly providing false information.
A Burnsville woman died of injuries resulting from a crash on Highway 13 near County Road 11 Monday in Burnsville, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Shukri Yusuf Mohamed, 25, died at the scene of the two-vehicle crash, which occurred around 3:30 p.m.
An incident in a Burnsville Costco parking lot that resulted in hours of police negotiations has ended peacefully, according to an update posted to Twitter by the Burnsville Police Department shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday. Police say they were negotiating with a male they believed to be suicidal and who may have had a gun since early Wednesday evening.
The Super 8 in Shakopee was evacuated after the roof over the swimming pool collapsed Tuesday night. Shakopee Police Sgt. Josh Davis said the call came in at about 6:40 p.m. that the roof over the pool collapsed.
The declining enrollment trend plaguing the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District isn't nearing a turning point, according to this year's projections. District officials recently raised the possibility of closing an elementary school and continued an ongoing discussion on how to stem the loss.
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District officials rolled out a proposal for widespread budget cuts this month in their efforts to close a projected $7.7 million deficit next year. Increasing class sizes, eliminating athletic programs for middle school and ninth grade students and cuts to elementary and middle school music programs are a few of the approximately 100 changes included in the proposal.
Michelle Roubik went to the emergency room after attempting suicide, but there weren't any psychiatric hospital beds open in the metro. After hours of waiting, Roubik learned a hospital bed had opened nearly two hours away. She was transferred there for treatment - away from family, friends and her everyday life in St.
A Savage Police vehicle was hit by a suspected drunk driver just after midnight early Tuesday, Savage Police said. The officer inside was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and the uninjured suspect remains in custody. Near midnight on Monday, Nov.
Two owners and operators of Shogun restaurant in Burnsville are each charged with eight felony tax crimes, according to The Minnesota Department of Revenue. The criminal complaint states Kehui Yang and Qiuyun Huang, both of Eagan, intentionally used sales suppression software to remove thousands of line items from sales receipts and underpay sales tax between 2014 and 2017, tucking away roughly $43,000 that should have gone to the state.
The Minnesota River in Savage crested for the third time this year on July 12 at 705.52 feet, according to observations reported to the National Weather Service by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For operations along the river that depend on barge traffic, high water comes with a hefty price tag.
The Minnesota Department of Health ordered the Norwood Inn and Suites in Burnsville to close after regulators say it failed to correct code violations. The inn at 12920 Aldrich Ave. S. is closed off with yellow tape and "keep out" signs. Mark Peloquin, a state code enforcement coordinator, said violations were recorded back in May during a routine inspection.
Savage and Burnsville's water supply underneath a landfill site near the Minnesota River isn't contaminated by flooding for now, but experts agreed the area's water will be threatened if cleanup doesn't happen in the coming years.
Savage officials say they're still hopeful that one day passengers will board Minneapolis-bound commuter trains in Savage on the existing Dan Patch rail line. Since 2002, a controversial state bill has banned the Minnesota Department of Transportation and any other state agency from considering the idea.
Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District employees and community members Wednesday told the Board of Education music programs, sports and college-credit classes are key to equitable learning among all students and shouldn't be cut any further. Many also called on the district to cut administrative positions and costs if cuts must be made.
BURNSVILLE - Newly approved concept plans to greatly increase waste capacity at the Burnsville Sanitary Landfill could help address groundwater contamination risks for Savage and Burnsville but could also leave the landfill mound towering taller than even the region's ski hills.
The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District and other districts across the state need more funding from the state for pre-kindergarten, special education and school safety programs, district officials told the Minnesota Commissioner of Education this week. Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker and key members of her staff met with Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District officials on April 2 to discuss the impact of the governor's education budget on district programs and budget shortfalls.
SHAKOPEE - Schools and offices across the state had closed, but the blizzard conditions and high winds Thursday didn't keep antique lovers away from one of the biggest shows in the Midwest, the biannual Junk Bonanza. Friends Jeanne Verbanae and Chris Kuffel arrived with their trailer from Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the gates of Canterbury Park at 6:30 a.m.
The 441-acre Savage Fen wetland - home to rare and endangered plants and birds - is nestled between busy roads, industrial operations and housing developments. The expansive wetland is seemingly in a bubble, but that's far from the truth.
Burnsville Center is at a crossroads, experts say, and the time is now to show retailers that the mall's heyday might actually be on the horizon. The center was the crown jewel of retail in the south metro for decades after its grand opening in 1977.
Sitting in the Eagle Ridge Middle School's media center after school, sixth-grader Joseph Ong unpacked nearly a dozen different types of cube puzzles, the most famous being Rubik's Cubes, from a black case. There's a 3x3, 2x2, pyraminx and skewb, to name a few, Joseph explains.
The Savage community came together to celebrate the holiday season and give back to several families at the Savage Police Department's seventh annual Santa Cop event Tuesday. Officials and residents gathered for s'mores, ornament-making and holiday tunes sung by the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District Freestyle jazz choir at City Hall before counting down to the tree-lighting, a new addition to the festivities.
Students and staff at Burnsville High School last week came together for what attendees described as a powerful conversation race and equality. The Dec. 13 event, entitled Speak Up, aimed to give students a time to express their feelings, challenge their beliefs and address the pain caused by racist acts at the school, such as racial slurs recently painted on the school's spirit boulder.
The sprawling forest, dense tree canopies and narrow, rugged trails that attract mountain bikers to Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in Savage also can create dangerous challenges for first responders, local officials said in recent weeks. "Obviously, we have a lot of mountain bikers in the community, which we are happy to report because it's a great park for health and wellness," Savage Fire Chief Joel McColl said.
The restaurateurs behind several downtown-style south metro eateries have opened Whiskey Inferno in their hometown. The new Savage restaurant features a wide range of steakhouse and barbecue eats and, true to its name, over 250 whiskeys. Owners Tony and Rheata Donatell also oversee the rustic-chic south metro spots Bourbon Butcher, Burgers and Bottles and Volstead House.
Around 300 people from around the country gathered at the Ames Center on July 29 for Savage resident Andy Nelson's album release party. It was also his cancer victory party. In October 2015, Andy put his mind to recording and releasing an album. One year later, he was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer.
Through tears, Christin Gigstad thanked the crowd that gathered under the shelter at River Bend Park on July 12 - severe thunderstorms in the area had not kept anyone away. "This last year has been the worst storm of our lives, so it can't be any worse than what we've had to go through," Christin said.
Officials called for public input in a Highway 13 study they hope will guide decision-making about the roadway's future design while balancing needs for mobility and access to local Savage. John Solberg with the Minnesota Department of Transportation said the department plans to launch a study of the highway and its connecting roads that could take two or three years.
Archive of articles published in Super Lawyers magazine.