First Clue for Shamrock Medallion Hunt
City to Purchase Emergency Preemption Devices Page 4
Boys Hoops: Which Tigers Will Show? Page 15
Page 6
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THIRD YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, FEBRUARY 26, 2014
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 9
When Will it Melt? Representing Scott West at this week’s state individual tournament in St. Paul will be back The scenery may be postcard-like, but one of Minnesota’s coldest and peskiest winters in row, from left, Andrew Fogarty, Derek Dahlke and Ray Carter. In the front are Jackson Stauf- recorded history continues. Last Thursday’s storm dumped close to 10 inches of snow across facher, Ben Kelvington, David Flynn and Zach Siegle. much of the Twin Cities area, which was followed by more below-zero temperatures. Daytime highs are not expected to reach double digits Thursday through Saturday. In fact, some days may struggle to get above zero, even to begin March. According to the National Weather Service, the Twin Cities has entered into its 10th coldest winter on record and the coldest since 1979. As for snow amounts, the official Twin Cities reading so far is 57.0 inches, which is almost 17 inches above average to date.
Scott West Qualifies Seven for State Individual Wrestling Tourney
by Dan Ruud Seven members of the Scott West wrestling team qualified for this week’s Minnesota State Class 2A Individual Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. That’s up two from last year and down two from the total in 2012. There were 10 Scott West qualifiers in 2011, eight in 2010 and seven in 2009. Four of this year’s Panthers state-qualifiers got there by winning the championship of their respective weight classes at the Section 2AA Individual Tournament held Friday and Saturday at Mankato West High School. The other three advanced to state by finishing
second. Winning section championships for Scott West in their weight divisions were sophomore Ben Kelvington (113), junior David Flynn (126), senior Zach Siegle (138) and junior Andrew Fogarty (160). Flynn, Siegle and Fogarty are returning state place-winners and are a combined 124-4 this season. Each are among this year’s favorites to win a state title in their respective weights. Finishing second Saturday and also representing the Panthers at state individually are eighth-grader Jackson Stauffacher (106), senior Derek Dahlke (170) and senior Ray
Carter (182). The first two rounds of the Class 2A individual tournament will take place Friday, followed by the semifinals and championships on Saturday. Wrestleback and consolation matches will be mixed in both days. Day one of the tournament (Thursday) will be devoted to the team tournaments, after which all three champions (Class 1A, 2A and 3A) will be crowned (see accompanying Class 2A schedules). Below is a listing of Friday morning’s Class 2A first-round
Scott West
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37 Apply for City Administrator Job Former Belle Plaine, Scott County Administrator Involved in the Search
in the process is scheduled to take place March 4. Belle Plaine Finance Director and Interim City Administrator Dawn Meyer said some staff members and the city council will meet that day with a representative(s) from SpringThe search for a new Belle sted, a public sector advisor the Plaine city administrator con- city hired to assist with finding tinues and the next major step the best possible candidates for
the job. At the March 4 meeting, Springsted will present the applications/resumes to the city and the process of narrowing the field to a group of finalists will commence. According to David Unmacht of Springsted, as of Monday
Administrator Job (continued on page 4)
School Board Eyeing Hike in Building Maintenance Spending
The Belle Plaine Robotics Team includes (back row, from left) Advisor Jeff Heine, Justin Entinger, Chris Neubauer, Thea Iverson, Breck Dorgher, Noah Sterk, Assistant Advisor John Ristvedt, (front row, from left) Keggan Titus, Zack Teal, Alex Casebier, Patrick Schafer, Josh Buck, Joey Buck, (not pictured) Noah Stiemke and Garrett Meeuwen.
After Strong First Showing, Cyber Tigers Headed Back to Regional
Hoping to build on the success and experience they enjoyed a year ago in their first season, the Belle Plaine Robotics Team is headed back to regional competition next week. The team – the Cyber Tigers – and their robot will be at the Lake Superior Regional Competition March 6-8 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center in the South Pioneer Hall. They are among 57 teams from Minnesota and the upper Midwest registered for the competition. The team will travel to Duluth for the regional competition rather than compete during spring break at Mariucci Arena because its advisor, Jeff Heine, the school district’s director
B.P. Robotics Team: Year 2
The Cyber Tigers will be at the regional competition March 6-8 in Duluth. The team will compete in “Aerial Assist,” a game requiring robots complete multiple tasks and work with other teams’ robots. More information on the game is available at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oxp4dkMQ1Vo
of buildings and grounds, and team members will be with the school band in New York during spring break.
The Cyber Tigers debuted their robot Valentine’s Day, delivering the game ball to officials at the start of the home varsity basketball game. The team has been working on the robot, preparing it for the “Aerial Assist” competition since early-January. This year’s game is played on a 25-by-54 foot rectangularshaped field divided into three segments. Each segment being
Cyber Tigers
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tential job. It wants the work done early this summer, before the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Tournament draws crowds to Tiger Park adjacent to the school building later in the With an eye toward taking summer. care of its investment in the dis- Smith’s decision to alert directrict’s buildings and grounds, tors to the roof repair is based the Belle Plaine School Board is planning roof repair work at the junior-senior high school. Approving the district’s fiveyear capital investment and maintenance plan Monday (Feb. 24), the district plans to dip into reserves. The plan in- The Belle Plaine Planning and cludes $65,000 on roof repair Zoning Commission will hold over the south gymnasium. a public hearing shortly after Superintendent Kelly Smith 7 p.m. Monday, March 10 on a offered directors a heads-up on proposal to at least temporarily the deficit-spending plan and prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes the expensive roof repair at a and to prohibit the establishworkshop the previous week. ment of any tobacco products The district won’t know the shop in Belle Plaine. exact amount of the cost of the The Belle Plaine City Council repair work until contractors will also conduct a public hearcan inspect the condition of the ing on the issue at its March 17 roof this spring once the snow meeting. cover has melted away. “It’s a 1994 roof. Their life ex- According to the public notice pectancy is usually 20 years,” released by the city this week, the purpose of the moratoriSmith said. The district has published a um is “to protect the planning request for quotes on the po- process and health, safety and
Board OKs 2014-15 School Year Calendar
on its cost. It represents a bit of a jump in the amount the district might have otherwise spent on facilities and grounds. But the project is important to prevent leaking from damaging
School Board
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City Considering Moratorium to Prohibit E-Cigarette Sales welfare of the residents of the city.” The ordinance would “prohibit the sales of e-cigarettes, as defined, and similar synthetic tobacco consumption devices, and prohibit the establishment of any ‘tobacco products shop,’ as defined, in the city during the one-year term of the ordinance or such shorter period in which the study of these subjects may be completed.” Other cities, ranging from nearby St. Peter to New York and Los Angeles, are considering or have passed ordinances to limit e-cigarette use within their communities.