Chaska Herald - Public Safety - Comments

The suspect has been charged

Mark Olson — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:02:34 -0500

The suspect has been charged in this case.
Read the update here: http://www.chaskaherald.com/news/courts/man-charged-watertown-shooting-4...

The Sheriff's Office had

Mark Olson — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:51:44 -0500

The Sheriff's Office had sought Ryan Lindeen as a suspect in this incident. He was arrested at about 3:30 p.m., May 1. This story has been updated to reflect the news.

Monday's theme is

Mark Olson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:34:03 -0500

Monday's theme is thunderstorms. And given today's forecast, I hope Wednesday, Thursday and Friday don't also live up to their subject matter.

Drugs and alcohol aren't

jayr — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:25:26 -0500

Drugs and alcohol aren't just societal issues, they are every day issues for kids from the time they can think for them selves, mommy has a glass of wine with dinner, and daddy has a beer when we BBQ on 4th of July and other days. Bars are all around us people drinking on tv in movies etc. Drugs are in front of us daily every day I see commercials for drugs with side effects that can lead to death yet are FDA approved. If a kid see some drug advertised on TV to help with some problem that's approved by the FDA and is legal yet is dangerous enough to kill what's going to stop them from getting some marijuana or cocaine or any other drug for that matter and either using it or selling it? Drug rehabs are full of abusers who probably started using at an early age or were exposed to it.

Duluth is the latest city to

Mollee Francisco — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:13:53 -0500

Duluth is the latest city to consider following Chaska's lead and enacting a social host ordinance. You can read about it here: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=62721&section=Non...
(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

This scum was also arrested

Drayzen — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:53:35 -0500

This scum was also arrested in 2000 for assaulting a 71 year old security officer and stealing his car. And Sorenson was a homeless man. Pretty tough guy for targeting the most defenseless people possible. I hope he rots in prison.

Mayor Gary Van Eyll noted in

Mollee Francisco — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:03:45 -0500

Mayor Gary Van Eyll noted in his State of the City of Chaska speech today that partners for this Ridgeview facility "could" include a well-known oncology practice as well as Children's Hospital.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

UPDATE: The kindergartner

Mollee Francisco — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:35:46 -0600

UPDATE: The kindergartner who was transported to the hospital following the incident did undergo surgery for a broken femur.

The overhead radiators are currently being removed from the lower level classrooms though no reason for the fall has been discovered yet.

Preschool classes will be moved along with the kindergarten classes to St. Francis Hall at GA church for the time being.
Preschool classes that were cancelled Friday will resume Tuesday morning.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

Please pray for these three

txaggie94 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:17:28 -0600

Please pray for these three children and all the children and teachers at Guardian Angels. This was a traumatic experience for everyone involved, and I want to commend the entire faculty and staff for how it was handled.

THIS WAS A FREAK ACCIDENT. There is no blame. Mrs. Ronhovde, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Ward, Father Paul, and all the teachers and staff stayed calm, took care of the injured children, and ensured that the uninjured children were safe. As parents of a GA kindergarten student who witnessed the accident, we wish to express our sincerest gratitude to everyone at GA, and our heartfelt prayers for the children and their families.

Given how completely and

txaggie94 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:48:31 -0600

Given how completely and utterly accident prone I am, an ER in Chaska would save me a ton of gas money!

As for the helicopters - we can hear the helicopters from Clover Ridge as they travel to and from Ridgeview in Waconia, so I can definitely see how that would be a concern for the neighbors. I hope it works out, though!

The Richard Happ story has

Mark Olson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:09:13 -0600

The Richard Happ story has been updated to include the findings of the Judicial Appeal Panel. The panel's findings have also been included with the story as attachments.

Keith Anderson, editor of

Mark Olson — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:26:17 -0600

Keith Anderson, editor of the Waconia Patriot, offers an insightful view regarding the social host ordinance in his "Personal View" column this week.

In his comments, he takes county commissioners to task for their view that the state take on the ordinance rather than Carver County:

"We've all griped about the lack of control we have over our own communities and how the state rams too much bureaucratic garbage down our throats.

"Well commissioners, here's your chance to take the lead, set your own plate and tailor it to this county."

Read the entire column here: http://www.waconiapatriot.com/articles/2008/02/07/waconia_patriot/column...

A countywide social host

Mark Olson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:53:42 -0600

A countywide social host ordinance was rejected by the Carver County board in November on a 3-2 vote.

Some commissioners said they’d like to see a statewide ordinance tackle the issue.

At least one commissioner, Tim Lynch, relayed constituent concerns of impaired drivers leaving the county to attend parties and “putting more impaired drivers on the road.”

How do you feel about the social host ordinance?

Found this interesting bit

patrick_dempsey — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:57:56 -0600

Found this interesting bit of news from 1950:

Mar 2, 1950 Shakopee Argus-Tribune Traffic on the M&St.L. R.R. was routed through Shakopee Friday when it was discovered that a railbridge two miles west of Carver had burned out Thursday night. Trains traveling on the line between Mpls. and Albert Lea were routed from Merriam Jct. to Shakopee on the Omaha line and from Shakopee to Chaska on the Milwaukee road. The M&St.L. passes through Chaska and Merriam and the bridge break was between these two points.

This is the same trestle that collapsed 57 years later.

I pulled up on this accident

Drayzen — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:12:58 -0600

I pulled up on this accident just as the authorities were arriving. It was a gruesome scene. I immediately thought there would be fatalities based on the condition of a couple of the vehicles. Hopefully everyone is okay! The bridge was pretty icy and it looked like maybe one of the vehicles lost control and went into oncoming traffic.