According to a Chaska police alert issued Wednesday afternoon, an elderly Chaska woman received a call from someone identifying himself as “Brian Gates” from the Federal Trade Commission.

The man said that Random House said that she won $350,000 if she agreed to pay a 1 percent tax. The telephone numbers given to verify the information were linked to the scam, according to the police report.

Most dog bites can be prevented if children know how to be safe around dogs, states a press release from Dr. Teresa Hershey.

Hershey, of Chaska, a veterinarian at Westgate Pet Clinic, will give a program on the topic to Clover Ridge Elementary School first-graders on May 17.

May 16-22 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. A press release notes that 4.5 million people per year are bit by dogs nationwide and 60 percent of the victims are children.

The Chaska Police Department, with Tommy’s Old Fashioned Malt Shop, is hosting a bike registration from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 18.

At the event, children 12 and under can register their bicycle and receive a coupon for a free kid’s malt. There will also be helmets on sale for $10 that are normally $22.95, according to a police department press release.

Kidsdance will provide live music for the event, which is at the malt shop, 2 River Bend Place (in front of the Best Western River Inn & Suites building).

By Dorothy Clark-Miles

We at CHS are extremely proud of our graduates.

This is a time for celebrating the results of their rigorous coursework, dedication and commitment over the past 12 years.

The end is finally here: prom; their last baseball or track or lacrosse season; the final band or choir concert; the last of their drama events; the last speech contest; finals; graduation.

By Police Chief Scott Knight

From Monday, April 19 through Sunday, April 25, 11 people have been killed on Minnesota roadways.

The recent rash of traffic deaths — unofficially 16 since Friday, April 23 — has pushed Minnesota above the 100-death mark for the year, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The Chaska Police Department is holding an informational meeting on predatory offenders on Monday, April 26. Here’s the press release from the department:

This week we have been hearing about Ming Sen Shiue and his horrible crimes committed in 1980. After serving his 30-year sentence, Mr. Shiue is undergoing a Civil Commitment Trial, which would continue his confinement, as he is set for parole in July of this year.

In case you've been enjoying this mild spring too much, here's a splash of blood-sucking reality, courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Health:

Warm early spring weather has brought out ticks earlier than usual in many regions of Minnesota earlier than usual.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) urges anyone heading outdoors in Minnesota this spring and early summer to use tick repellents and other measures to prevent Lyme disease and other serious diseases transmitted by ticks.

Jesus Julian Del Rio, 18, of Chaska, has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular operation for an April 12 single-car crash, according to a press release from Carver County Attorney Jim Keeler.

Law enforcement officers determined that Del Rio appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, near the Hickory Street and Highway 61 intersection in Chaska, Keeler stated.

The victim was the passenger in the defendant’s car and is suffering life-threatening injuries.

Del Rio appeared in Carver County District Court on Friday, April 16.

By Unsie Zuege

It was the worst kind of homecoming imaginable.

It was Jan. 2, 1996. Mark Muhlenkort had just returned from a vacation. As he drove into his neighborhood, he saw fire trucks. “Huh. I wonder what’s going on? Then I realized ‘That’s my house!’

Your mind goes in 16 million directions. ‘Did I forget to turn something off?’ Just that morning I had someone check the house.