Dakota County
Tribune
Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas www.dakotacountytribune.com
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Hindu temple opening in Farmington Hindu Milan Mandir hopes to serve as community center, prayer hall by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK
Leprechaun Days set to roll Inside today’s edition is the Rosemount Leprechaun Days special section with a review of new and changing events along with a full schedule. See Inside
OPINION Tweet raises legal questions A court will decide if the Elk River Area School District overstepped its bounds by suspending a student over a Twitter message. Page 4A
July 10, 2014 • Volume 129 • Number 19
DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
After Milan Mandir, a temple for followers of Hindu, has its grand opening July 18-20 in Farmington, it will be first of its kind in the south metro as a branch of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha. There are smaller temples housed at private residences, but this will be the largest Hindu congregation in Minnesota aside from the 43,000-square-foot Hindu Temple of Minnesota in Maple Grove. The work to establish the Hindu Milan Mandir has taken years of cultivation.
General secretary Satya Balroop’s family started a prayer service out of her house in the late 1990s in Eagan when they moved to Minnesota from New York. Balroop eventually transformed her two-car garage into a Mandir when they ran out of space. Now, they will be using the 18,000-square-foot former church at 501 Walnut St. “That’s what we felt the Lord wanted us to do,” Balroop said. “We loved it the first day we stepped in the place.” The building was purchased in 2012, but it needed several repairs. The largest problem was a leaking roof. “We needed an umbrella just to walk through,” Balroop said. There were enough is- Swami Parameshananda stands in front of Hindu Milan Mandir at 401 Walnut St. in Farmington. The grand opening is scheduled for July 18-20. (Photo by Andy Rogers) See MANDIR, 6A
THISWEEKEND
Back on stage for ‘Shrek’ Two Eagan High School grads are returning to the stage of their alma mater this month for the leading roles in “Shrek.” Page 17A
SPORTS
Members of Verge, which will play on Family Fun Night in Rosemount’s Central Park on Thursday, July 24, are Paul Guggenheim, Paul Van Sleet, Matt Reichow and Tom Ernst. (Photo by Seamless Media)
Verge to rock the park Twin Cities band to play during Family Fun Night by Tad Johnson
New era begin in hockey Greg May takes job as head coach of varsity team at Farmington High School. Page 10A
SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
For those who like to rock, Verge salutes you. The tributes to its audience and music giants past and present will take center stage when the
Twin Cities band plays on Thursday, July 24, at the Central Park Amphitheater during Rosemount Leprechaun Days. The band, which was formed in 2012, has ties to Dakota County with one member living in Mendota Heights and with its regular gigs at Thunder Valley in Burnsville where it won the Battle of the Bands in February 2014.
Tom Ernst, who plays bass, said the band plays about once a month and is selective in its number of shows, which makes the Rosemount engagement a rare chance to catch these rockers who helped raise thousands of dollars for Voices of Vaccines, a national parent advocacy nonprofit, in See ROCK, 7A
Maricia Pacheco is crowned Miss Farmington at the Royal Ambassador Coronation during Dew Days last month. (Photo submitted)
Miss Farmington Maricia Pacheco humbled by title Being ambassador more than just a crown by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK
Finalists interviewed ONLINE To receive a feed of breaking news stories, follow us at twitter.com/ SunThisweek. Discuss stories with us at facebook.com/ SunThisweek.
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Announcements . . . . . 6A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 12A Thisweekend . . . 16A-17A
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Council talks to chief candidates on Tuesday by Tad Johnson SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Three finalists to become the new chief of police in Rosemount met members of the public and city officials at an open house and formal interviews Tuesday at City Hall. The three candidates are Richard Schroeder, sergeant with the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office and current Rosemount fire chief; Mitch Scott, captain with the Apple Valley Police Department, and Mark Elliott, commander with the Bloomington Police Department.
Richard Schroeder
Mitch Scott
Council members conducted separate interviews with each of the finalists Tuesday. The council will make its final selection later in hopes that the new chief will be in place by the end of the summer, according to a release from the city. The city invited applications for police chief this spring after the resignation
of Chief Eric Werner, who had accepted the same position at the city of Maple Grove. Schroeder replaced longtime Rosemount Fire Chief Scott Aker in May of last year. He was a 15-year veteran of the department at the time, whose most re-
DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
When Maricia Pacheco was crowned Miss Farmington during Dew Days last month, she was overwhelmed. She never considered herself to be a pageant girl and she knew that many of the girls had as good of a chance to be crowned. “We had all worked hard during our candidacy and each had a shot,” she said. “That night I just had to believe that I had done everything I possibly could and hope I had the right qualities to become a royal ambassador. I do not take any event for granted because I know that there was another girl who wanted this just as much as I did.” She’d run down this road before. She entered the Farmington Royalty Ambassador Program last year, but didn’t earn a crown. Pacheco said she tried to remain true to herself and hoped the judges liked her. “Being an ambassador is so much more than a crown on my head,” Pacheco said. “I get to represent Farmington everywhere I go and it’s a great feeling to know that other people, especially younger girls look up to everything that the other princesses and I do.” It wasn’t an easy process. The candidates were judged based on an interview, platform speech, onstage questions, formal wear presentation and fun fashion presentation. They also were chosen based on attendance, punctuality, cooperation, button sales
See CHIEF, 5A
See PACHECO, 7A
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