Letters to Santa
Kelly Smith Seeks Appointment to ‘U’ Board of Regents Page 4
Pages 24-29 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, DECEMBER 19, 2012
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 51
City Council Votes 3-2 to Accept Pasek’s Resignation and Separation Agreement by Dan Ruud At the end of its final regular meeting of the year, the Belle Plaine City Council Monday night voted 3-2 to accept the resignation of police officer Bryan Pasek and the subsequent separation agreement package between the city and the union that was presented by City Administrator David Murphy. Highlights of the agreement include a lump sum severance payment of $15,027.72, which is equivalent to three months pay, as well as a lump sum pay-
ment of $6,581.69 that represents 227.74 hours of accrued paid personal time. The agreement also states that Pasek will continue to receive health insurance benefits through the end of February 2013. Pasek’s resignation will take effect Dec. 21. Voting against the separation agreement were council members Gary Trost and Paul Chard, both of whom wanted one month of the three-month severance package subtracted
from the agreement due to Pasek having been on “paid” administrative leave the past month. Mayor Tim Lies and council members Cary Coop and Scott Schneider voted in favor of the agreement. Mike Pingalore was absent. Pasek, who has been a member of the Belle Plaine Police Department since 2002, was arrested for his second DWI on Nov. 20. His first occurred
City Council
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B.P. Residents Plagued by Credit/Debit Card Fraud
Santa Claus Returns to Town
Investigation Checking Work of Hackers, Skimmers
Santa was visited by a number of children at the Belle Plaine Public Library Saturday afternoon, his second of two visits there this holiday season. Among those visitors were top photo, from left, siblings Khang, Long and Nhi Nguyen of Belle Plaine. Pictured at the right having a stare down with Santa is Jeffrey Teal of Belle Plaine. Mrs Claus was also there, as was one of Santa’s helpers taking souvenir photos for visitors to take home.
Michael Schoenbauer and his family were shopping for Christmas tree last week. He was stoned to learn someone in Texas illegally used the debit card he planned to use to pay for a tree. “There was $600 worth of charges on it from a Walmart in Texas,” Schoenbauer said. He used cash to pay for the tree but is worried about the ability to use his debit and credit cards for Christmas shopping. Schoenbauer isn’t alone. Dozens of Belle Plaine residents, and several from outside the
community, have reported attempted or successful illegal use of their credit and debit cards in the past week. This week’s police report required an additional eight pages from its typical size because of the 40 reports police received of fraudulent use of credit/debit cards in Dubai, Italy, Mexico, Hong Kong, Ohio and Florida. Police are looking into the reports. They are checking whether a hacker compromised the credit/debit card services used by merchants in Belle Plaine. To determine if the fraudulent uses of credit/debit cards is truly the work of a hacker, police must find a commonality between the fraudulent charges, the credit/debit service company and the merchant. While the FBI is not involved in the investigation, the chief
said the volume of incidents will likely be reviewed by a state task force that handles financial crimes. He’s not aware of any other individual community experiencing the concentration of fraud reports as Belle Plaine has seen in the past few weeks. Police are also concerned some or all of the fraudulent charges could be the work of a skimmer, a devise that can read credit/debit card information and spend money in the accounts without the cardholder’s knowledge or permission. Stolee encourages people to use their credit/debit cards inside businesses and not at an exterior point-of-sale. The outbreak of fraudulent
Fraud
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Schools in Belle Plaine Reviewing Safety Plans Response to Connecticut Tragedy
The news from Newtown, Conn. Friday and over the weekend prompted Belle Plaine school officials to review build-
ing security plans after a shooter murdered 20 students and six adults before he eventually took his own life. Friday afternoon, Belle Plaine Schools Superintendent Kelly Smith sent a pre-recorded message to parents through the school district’s automated notification system. He assured
them school safety is a paramount concern and that district staff is available to help any student struggling with the effects of the shootings at the elementary school in Connecticut. “Our thoughts and prayers are
Schools
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Mitch Kuhnke created a Christmas lights show at his parents’ home on Butler Drive.
Kuhnke’s Christmas Lights Show a Gift to Community
Happier Holidays at the Pumps
There’s some good economic news this holiday season. The price of regular unleaded gasoline last week and this week (as of Tuesday) was under $3 a gallon after having challenged the $4 mark earlier this year. This photo was taken at the pumps at Coborn’s in Belle Plaine. The Cenex and Kwik Trip stations were also at $2.99 a gallon. Some of the lowest gas prices in the state to begin this week were found in Shakopee, where several SuperAmerica and Holiday stations had prices near $2.80 per gallon. Economists say several circumstances are behind the recent gasoline price drops, including the end of the summer/fall driving season, which reduces demand for gasoline. Crude oil prices had been falling as well. However, economists warn that you shouldn’t get used to these prices as the cost of crude oil may be rising again on reports that China’s manufacturing sector is gaining strength, which could increase demand and prices.
He stands like a conductor at the curb in front of his parents’ house. With an iPod in hand, Mitch Kuhnke points to each set of lights as if ordering them to turn on and off on cue during a demonstration of the light show he created. The light show is computercontrolled. Strands of Christmas lights and 10 floodlights, after all, don’t listen to a 20year-old. Kuhnke knows when each set of lights is to turn on and off because he spent hours at a computer keyboard, meticulously orchestrating the light show. He has the ability to listen to a song, identify individual instruments and notes, and choreograph a strand of lights or floodlights to the melody of the song.
Kuhnke’s Christmas Lights Show
Where: 705 Butler Drive When: Daily though Jan. 1, 5-10 p.m. (Friday’s show includes bonus ninth song) How: Tune radio to 89.10 FM and drive by slowly. The show lasts just under 30 minutes Cost: Best of all, it’s free Can’t Get There: Visit You Tune (Awesomehouselights) “He did all the work. It’s his way of giving something back,”
said Jackie Kuhnke, Mitch’s mother. The split-level house at 705 Butler Drive – just off South Ash Street near Heritage Park – looks like any other house through the course of any given day. But from Nov. 26 through Jan. 1, from 5 to 10 p.m., it comes to life. Passers-by interested in the free show should turn the car radio to 89.10 on the FM dial. A small transmitter Kuhnke purchased transmits eight songs about 100 feet from
Kuhnke’s
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