Dakota County
Tribune
Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas
www.dakotacountytribune.com
NEWS
April 27, 2017 • Volume 132 • Number 9
Perseverance takes to the air
Baumann selected The Lakeville Area School District 194 selected an internal candidate to fill its superintendent of schools position. Page 2A
OPINION Billboard sends bad message The University of Minnesota should have chosen to show more diverse people on its billboards promoting the medical program. Page 4A
THISWEEKEND
Poet featured at library event
Rosemount graduate keeps dancing after paralysis by Tad Johnson SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Just when 1983 Rosemount High School graduate Tresa Honaker was living out her dream as owner, choreographer and performer of her own 10-yearold dance company, she suffered the most devastating setback. During a 2012 rehearsal for AirAligned Aerial Dance Group, Honaker was about 15 feet above the floor when she fell from an aerial fabric, injuring her spine. The fall left her paralyzed from the waist down. “My accident was the most devastating thing for me,� said Honaker, this year’s RHS Legacy Award recipient. “I was 46 years old when it happened, but in probably the best shape of my life. Not only had I returned to dance but also relearned a lot of gymnastics skills and became a professional aerialist. I realized that most people at almost 50 were beginning to slow down. I feel I was definitely not. I tried to take things a moment at a time. It really was the only way through it. I felt like I had died but was also still here. Quite a strange existence. My students that were with me before and continued with me after were the bridge that connected what was with what is.�
During a 2015 TED-Sacramento talk, she said she was encouraged by others who asked what she was going to do after her accident, as they suggested wheelchair dancing or being a choreographer. Honaker said at the time that those ideas were not hers just yet. She said she wanted to focus on her rehabilitation first. She started working with Sacramento-based Spinal Cord Injury Functional Integrated Therapy in an attempt to gain more strength and mobility. Honaker said she reached a milestone in early 2015 as she was able to crawl on her hands and knees with no assistance. That has not been her only milestone. She’s back with AirAligned as its artistic director as she was selected to work out of the Warehouse Artists Lofts in Sacramento that Honaker calls her new community. “It’s interesting to have the financial local support in the arts,� she said. “Sacramento being the capital of California allows for a lot of grant-funded projects. Being that I’m on a fixed budget because of my accident, I’ve had to look at these Photo submitted types of financial support that I really didn’t know existed at all. My projects I Rosemount High School graduate Tresa Honaker is arpersonally funded before. I feel grateful tistic director at AirAligned Aerial Dance Group. She was injured during a rehearsal after falling from an aerial See LEGACY, 12A fabric.
‘Workin’ for a Livin’’
New council member starts term
Rosemount poet Vicki Mickelson will discuss her book “Island Attitudes� at a May 2 event at the Robert Trail Library. Page 17A
Bernhjelm has a new resident perspective by Maren Bauer SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
SPORTS
Track teams sky high The Rosemount and Farmington high schools track teams are hoping for better weather as the season heats up. Page 10A
PUBLIC NOTICE The Dakota County Tribune is an official newspaper of the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District. Page 12A
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A Public Notices . . . . . . 12A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 13A Announcements . . . . 16A
News 952-846-2033 Display Advertising 952-846-2019 Classified Advertising 952-392-6862 Delivery 763-712-3544
Photo contributed by Jane St. Ores
Rosemount High School’s 2017 OnStage “Workin’ for a Livin’� will be performed at 7 p.m. April 27-29 and May 5 and 6 along with a 2 p.m. April 30 matinee in the school’s Performing Arts Center. Tickets are sold out for the May 6 show, but they are still available for remaining performances. Prices are $9 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for students. For main performances, go online to district196.org/rhs and find the OnStage link to the “Seat Yourself� button. Tickets may be also purchased at the PAC Box Office one hour prior to a performance.
Katie Bernhjelm, Farmington’s newest council member and avid Minnesota sports fan, has always had an interest in getting involved in local politics. E v e n though she is due with her first child in early May, Katie Bernhjelm Bernhjelm jumped at the chance to achieve one of her goals by applying to fill a vacant position on the City Council, which became available following the March 9 resignation of Tim Pitcher. Bernhjelm grew up in See COUNCIL, 12A
Area students raise trout for the Vermillion River will be stocked in May by Maren Bauer SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Most Americans dread April 15 as Tax Day (luckily the deadline was extended this year). Some people marched on April 15 to demand that President Donald Trump release his tax returns. And then there were the anglers. April 15 marked the official trout opener in Minnesota, and Farmington was special. The Vermillion River is the only major metropolitan area stream in the country with a trophysized brown trout fishery,� said Dan Callahan, Minnesota Trout Unlimited Communications co-
ordinator. “If you catch a brown trout there, you must release it — they are wild, naturally-reproducing fish.� Brown trout have yellow along their bottom sides, and spots almost everywhere, except their tails. Their tails don’t have much of a notch, either, which is why browns are sometimes called squaretails. They prefer cooler water. If temperatures get above 75 degrees, brown trout will most likely be found in spring-fed tributaries, hiding on the bottom, or in sections of the river where cold groundwater seeps in. See RIVER, 8A
Photo submitted
A brown trout that was pulled from the Vermillion River.
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