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Dakota County

Tribune

Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas www.dakotacountytribune.com

NEWS Freedom Days to return A special section that includes the Freedom Days schedule of events and other information is inside today’s edition. Inside this edition

June 19, 2014 • Volume 129 • Number 16

Study recommends new pool in city’s future by Jennifer Chick SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

OPINION Combating deadly drug use The ECM Editorial Board says everyone can help prevent deaths due to use of legal and illegal drugs. Page 4A

THISWEEKEND

Sharing the magic of tap Dance and music troupe Rhythmic Circus is set to take the stage of Burnsville’s Ames Center next month. Page 17A

Following six months of evaluation and after considering five different options for Farmington’s 44-yearold pool, an independent consultant is recommending the city build a new pool. In late 2012, Farmington estimated its current pool, opened in 1971, had a five-year life expectancy. “The pool deck is buckling and heaving and cracking,� said Randy Distad, Farmington’s Parks and Recreation director. “We’ve had to replace pool heaters and filtration. The big unknown is anything underground, the pipes. If they go, there is significant cost to replace them.� Knowing that the pool could need significant repairs in the near future, the city began discussing options. “The idea was to have a plan in place so if and when the pool does fail in the next five years, we had a plan in place for aquatics,� Distad said. In October 2013, Farmington hired USAquatics to complete a study of the current pool, looking at options for its future. A pool committee was formed with community members, school district staff, a Parks and Recreation Commission member and city staff. The results of the study were presented at a joint Parks and Recreation Commission and Farmington See POOL, 7A

Farmington High School Principal Jason Berg talks to members of the girls basketball team he coached in the 2010 season. (Photo by Jim Lindquist – sidekick.smugmug.com)

Looking toward an exciting future Principal Jason Berg aims to help teachers realize their vision by Jennifer Chick SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

As Jason Berg begins his new position as principal for Farmington High School, he will be bringing his career full circle. Berg began his teaching career in Farmington in the fall of 1993 as a math teacher and head boys basketball coach. He has left Farmington High School and come back several

times over the years but what brought him back in December 2012 was Farmington’s plan to purposefully integrate technology and the personalization of education the district is moving toward. He said the future at the high school is exciting as the school looks to deliver education in a way that hasn’t been done before. “Personalization has not been done to this scale and it’s

hard when people haven’t seen it done this way before,� he said. “We have to continue to do a good job of explaining the why of how we are doing stuff.� Since December 2012, Berg has been an assistant principal at the high school so stepping into the principal position should not be a tough transition, he said. “In my mind, it’s not going

To the moon ‌ and beyond ArtBlast to celebrate success, work left to do by Tad Johnson

SPORTS

SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

Irish place second at state The Rosemount High School boys lacrosse team placed second in a twice-delayed state tournament game. Page 10A

When ArtBlast launches its arc of events Monday, it will signify two things. “ArtBlast is both a culmination and a beginning of something powerful in the Rosemount arts scene,� said Jeanne Schwartz, Rosemount Area Arts Council chairwoman. “Two years ago, we wouldn’t have been able to dream of being able to put on such an ambitious event.� One could say the weeklong festival with more than 30 events heralds the arrival of what RAAC has been working toward since it was founded in 2008. The all-volunteer group that receives no city funds is about to em-

bark on an ambitious celebration that aims to attract as many 3,000 people in one week, which is more than RAAC entertained in all of 2012. “The logistics – with an all-

volunteer staff – are staggering but will be rewarding if people show up,� Schwartz said of ArtBlast that was conceived only in January of this year. “Most organizations would have said, ‘What a great idea for 2015.’ We said, ‘It will be a lot of work, but let’s just do it. It may not be perfect the first year, but let’s just do it this summer, in 2014,’ � she said. It’s not like RAAC members were any strangers to putting on big events. In 2013, the council presented 51 arts events to 5,690 patrons, featuring 871 artists. This year, RAAC has organized 36 events for

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INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Announcements . . . . . 8A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A Public Notices . . . . . . 11A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 12A

News 952-846-2033 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000 Delivery 952-846-2070

Thirty years ago, Farmington High School football public address announcer Pat Rupp didn’t imagine himself as a sports reporter. He had enough commitments in his full-time job working for the Minnesota Department of Education and raising two school-age children. When the former publisher of the Farmington Independent, Ray Ackerman, asked him if he would be willing to write a story for the newspaper about each football game, Rupp, who had a degree in English education and loved sports, agreed. Pairing two of Rupp’s

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Pat Rupp has covered Farmington sports since 1984. He has worked for the Farmington Independent, Sun Thisweek and the Dakota County Tribune and most recently for Tiger Athletics News – a blog linked to the Farmington Area School District website. (Photo submitted) interests was an immedi- asking that their sports ate hit. receive coverage, too,� “After a week or so, Rupp said. “By the end (Ackerman) said he had of the school year, I was gotten requests from writing stories for all of parents of other athletes the Tigers sports for the

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Rupp to hang up his notebook SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE

by Jennifer Chick

Independent.� Since that 1984-85 school year, Rupp has been reporting on Farmington sports for the Independent, Sun Thisweek and the Dakota County Tribune, and, the past four years, for a Farmington High School sports blog called Tiger Athletics News. Rupp, who says he’s retired more times than NFL quarterback Brett Favre, adds that this time he is hanging up his notebook and keyboard for good officially at the end of June. “I never tire of following high school sports,� he said. “It keeps one thinking and feeling

See ARTBLAST, 15A

by Tad Johnson

Early Sunday house fire kills one A Farmington woman died in an early morning house fire Sunday. Karen Jean Fortman, 69, died due to thermal injuries and inhalation of products of combustion, sustained in a house fire, according to the report released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. Farmington Fire Marshal John Powers said the Farmington Fire Department was called to the single-story home at 5775 Upper 182nd Street on Sunday morning at 3:36 a.m. after several neighbors called to report the fire. The house is owned by Kenneth and Karen Fortman. The fire department arrived within five minutes of the call to find the entire second story of the house on fire. Approximately 40 firefighters responded and began suppression efforts. Powers said the fire was under control in about 35 minutes, but it took approximately two hours to completely extinguish the fire. Powers said Fortman’s husband woke up after hearing the smoke detectors. Kenneth tried to help his wife, who was sleeping in another room, but smoke and fire kept him

Longtime Farmington sports reporter to retire after 30 years ONLINE

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