Chaska lefthanded pitcher Brad Hand got the start on Friday for the Marlins against the Nationals in minor-league baseball action in Florida's Gulf Coast League.

Hand cruised through the first two innings, before running into trouble in the third.

Restaurant owner Bryan Turtle said about 500 specialty cars may show
up for tonight's Minnesota Valley Rally in downtown Shakopee.

A
spin-off of a car show that used to occur mid-week, the rally is
expected to draw a much larger crowd because it's being held Fridays,
every other week.

There will be street vendors and area shops
will also be open. The first event is tonight, with remaining shows
scheduled for July 18; August 1, 15 and 29 and Sept. 12 and 26.

During the annual event, neighborhoods hold block parties, usually sometime between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., for residents to get to know each other and serve as a crime deterrent.

“Everyone gets to know their neighbor,” explained Chaska Police Officer Julie Janke. “What we want to do is create an awareness with the Police Department and the community,” she said.

The filing period for county and state offices closed Tuesday.

At the state level, incumbent state legislators Joe Hoppe, a Chaska Republican, and Paul Kohls, a Victoria Republican, will face Democrat challengers. Evan Rapp, a Chanhassen resident, filed for the District 34B seat currently held by Hoppe. Marcia Krueger, of Norwood Young America, will challenge Kohls for the District 34A seat.

Carver County employees are transferring more and more information electronically and the current system is not meeting their communication needs, according to Steve Taylor, administrative services director for the county.

Currently, the county is tapping into communication lines provided by private companies. However, the county is currently accepting bids for a proposal that would allow the county to either own or lease a fiber-optic system.

Fiber-optic lines provide dramatically more capacity and communication speed than copper T1 lines.

It’s a problem the size of Massachusetts, and Minnesotans may be partially to blame.

Are you interested in reading the public notices published in the July 17, 2008 print edition of the Chaska Herald newspaper? The page or pages on which those notices were printed are attached to this item, in the form of .pdf’s that can be opened with Adobe Acrobat.

Sam Lendzyk tired of wrapping napkin after napkin around the cold exteriors of her kids’ freeze pops. So rather than complain, she decided to do something about it.

There’s a familiar face gracing Monday nights on HGTV these days. Former Chaska resident Sasha Andreev is one of the new hosts of “Curb Appeal” - a show dedicated to teaching homeowners how to improve their home’s exterior appearance.

The 27-year-old admits that he had little experience in outdoor beautification when he took on the job.