BPHS Grad Has Passion for Space
Tiger Track Teams Run Away With MRC Indoor Championships Page 17
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7-Year-Old B.P. Boy Winning Trophies Galore
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SECOND YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, MARCH 27, 2013
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 13
The Belle Plaine Friends of the Library Board plans to eventually demolish the city-owned building at left, currently rented for use by Front Porch Photography, and construct an addition to the library building.
Belle Plaine Friends of Library Proposing to Expand Facility The BPHS robotics team and its robot -- No. 4663 -- is ready for the regional competition tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at the University of Minnesota. On its pyramid, the team includes (from left) Alex Casebier, Thea Iverson, Ben Preusser, Patrick Schaefer, (not pictured) Keegan Titus and Nicole Eisenschenk. The team is led by (below, from left) advisors Jeff Heine and Kyle Iverson.
B.P. Robotics Team Has Lofty Goals for First Competition
‘Cyber-Tigers’ Will Enjoy First Regional This Week at ‘U’
A year ago, the idea of a robotics team at Belle Plaine Junior-Senior High School was something few were certain would become reality. Today, the team’s entry in the regional competition is packed and ready to go. The Minnesota North Star Regional competition begins tomorrow (March 28) and runs through Saturday (March 30) at Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. Belle Plaine – known as the Cyber Tigers -- will compete at Mariucci Arena. The pits and machine shop open each day at 8 a.m. A practice round will be tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. to noon, and again at 1 to 4:30 p.m. Qualification matches are Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5:45 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The final round of
Robotics
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by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine Friends of the Library Board is proposing to construct an addition to the public library downtown that would increase the size of the facility by one-third to onehalf. According to Joey Behnke, CEO of the Friends of the Library Charitable Gambling Committee, the project could be done with very minimal costs to the city. Behnke said he is confident the project, estimated at over $300,000, could be funded almost entirely through
charitable gambling funds and a county or state grant. The Friends of the Library presently has charitable gambling sites at the Red Door Bar, Sparetime Tavern and Borough Bowl. “We have enough money stashed away to get this started, and with future charitable gambling proceeds, this shouldn’t cost the city,” Behnke said. Laurie Behnke, treasurer of the Friends of the Library Board, and Tami Almlie, charitable gambling manager, both agreed that the cost to the city would
be minimal. The city is responsible for the public library building and its maintenance, while Scott County pays for all staffing and material costs, the latter of which includes books, computers and furniture, etc. The expansion would occur at the present site of Front Porch Photography (123 West Main Street), which has been operated by Toni Fogarty for a number of years. She rents the facil-
Library
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Mayor Pingalore is New Manager of Valley View Golf Course/Restaurant by Dan Ruud Belle Plaine Mayor Mike Pingalore is the new General Manager of Valley View Golf Course and Eagle Ridge Restaurant/Lounge in Belle Plaine. His first day on the job was March 18. Pingalore replaced Matt Hauge, who resigned recently to accept a similar job with the Waseca Lakeside Golf Club. Hauge had worked at Valley View for about seven years. Pingalore, 39, became mayor of Belle Plaine this past January after defeating incumbent Tim Lies in the November General Election. He has lived in Belle Plaine for about 10 years.
Pingalore, who has also worked for Taylor Corporation in sales and marketing, said he is in the process of transitioning from that job to his new one at Valley View. Pingalore spent a number of years living in Florida before moving to Belle Plaine. He attended Jacksonville (Florida)
University on a golf scholarship from 1992 to 1996, graduating with a degree in business communications. He eventually operated his own business in Orlando as a manufacturers’ representative for golf products. He currently runs his own small business called BrokenTee Custom Golf, a mobile golf club repair service. Pingalore and his wife, Tina, met at a PGA Golf Show in Orlando in 1998. They have three children – Jake, 11, Ella, 9, and Grace, 3. Pingalore is
New Manager
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Before a home basketball game last month against Jordan, BPHS’s robot made its public debut presenting the referee with the game ball.
What to Do With County Jails and Not Enough Prisoners? Scott-Carver Counties to Study Sharing of Jail Space Hoping to bridge the gap between the number of available beds and bed space in use in the Scott and Carver county jails and the cost to operate the two facilities, county sheriffs and commissioners are beginning to look into the possibility of sharing space and possibly services.
Last week, Scott and Carver County commissioners met in a workshop to begin what could be a lengthy study and series of talks on the potential of sharing services in the name of maximizing the efficiency of operating the two jails.
Plenty of Vacancies
The Scott County Jail in Shakopee was built for $32 million in 2005. It includes sheriff’s offices, a 9-1-1 dispatch center, conference and training space. It has 264 beds and space to expand to 450 beds. But that expansion would eliminate office space. Its average daily population the past four years has been 116 or about 44 percent of its existing capacity.
The Carver County Jail in Chaska was built in 1994 and has 117 beds. Its average daily population the past four years is 78, or 67 percent of capacity. The two counties built their jails hoping to bring in additional revenue by housing other counties’ inmates, state and federal prisoners as well as their own inmates and pre-trial offenders when space permits. Carver County has a beneficial contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It provides the lion’s Workers were moving large coolers into the former Duets building downtown on Tuesday. Inshare of Carver County’s $1.1 side was Linda Heng, who with her husband Tim recently purchased the building from Rick million in annual revenue. Scott and Mary Krant. The Hengs, who also operate Broadway Market in Jordan, plan to call their County has eight to 10 Bureau Belle Plaine business Main Street Donut and Deli, which will include breakfast pastries, sandwiches, hamburgers, soups and more. Linda Heng said plans are to open the business soon Jails after all the necessary procedures are completed, including the upcoming inspection. More on (continued on page 8) Main Street Donut and Deli will appear in an upcoming addition of the Herald.
Main Street Donut and Deli Moving In