By Kristin Holtz

The prospect of losing one’s house to foreclosure is both emotional and stressful.

Worried about where their family may sleep, homeowners facing foreclosure are perfect prey for mortgage rescue scams.

“We are seeing it over and over again, especially with homeowners in this area who don’t know where to turn,” said Ed Nelson, of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center.

The U.S. Department of State’s Office of Passport Services has determined that all Minnesota agents/offices that process first-time driver licenses, identification cards and instruction permits can no longer accept passport applications, according to a Carver County press release.

Safe Haven, Inc., located in Shakopee, has selected Tamara Larson to serve as its new executive director, according to a press release.

Safe Haven, founded in 1995 supports young adults with transitional services that would otherwise be homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. Safe Haven provides transitional housing beds and apartments, independent living skills training, crisis counseling, and several other support services to assist this at-risk population.

Guest Commentary by Gordon Stewart

How do the 21st century disciples of a first century Galilean Jewish carpenter crucified by the Roman Empire follow their Lord?

More specifically, faced with the bulldozing of Palestinian houses in the occupied territories and with walls that bear a strange resemblance to the concentration camps of Hitler that brought the survivors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald to Israel as a refuge and Jewish homeland, what word do American disciples of the Jewish Jesus speak?

Realtor Dave Philp, a broker with Coldwell Banker Burnet in Chaska, is one of five winners chosen by the National Association of Realtors as REALTOR Magazine’s 2010 Good Neighbor Award winners.

Philp was selected for raising millions of dollars to fund state-of-the-art medical care at Ridgeview Medical Center. “This year’s Good Neighbor Award winners are extraordinary examples of how Realtors value service and are committed to improving communities,” stated NAR President Vicki L. Cox Golder, in a press release.

Consumers and businesses in the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis are signing up for a new website that’s a part of the “group-buy” social media and e-mail discount trend currently popularized by sites such as Groupon.com.

DailyDeals.mn offers consumers a chance to sign up to get exclusive, half-off or more deals from merchants in the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis.

Kris Arneson of Chaska was the winner of a $200 shopping spree in historic downtown Chaska. Her name was entered at Mill House Gallery & Gifts during the Spooky Night on the Town event held Thursday evening, Oct. 28.

Eight participating merchants each contributed a $25 gift certificate from their establishment. The adult event is one of four annual events sponsored by locally owned downtown Chaska businesses.

Are you interested in reading the public notices published in the November 4, 2010 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.

Election 2010 totals and percentages are in for Chaska -- 59.5 percent of registered Chaska voters cast a ballot for a total of 8,019, according to this week's City Hall Bulletin.

Total Chaska election statistics

Pre-Election Day registrants: 12,984

Election Day registrants: 877

Total eligible voters: 13,861

Election Day ballots cast: 7,612

Absentee ballots cast: 479

Total ballots cast: 8,091

Turn-out percentage: 59.5%

By Mollee Francisco

The tears in Cassie Stech’s eyes come quickly and with little warning as she talks about the smiley child perched on her hip.

At first glance, Gavin Gilbertson looks and acts much like any other 15-month-old. He snacks on Honey Nut Cheerios. He loves reading books and coloring. He could roll a ball back and forth across the floor with his older brother for hours and he adores music so much that the mere mention of the word “dance” and he starts to shimmy.