Dakota County
Tribune
Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas www.dakotacountytribune.com
NOTICE
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Newspaper ofďŹ ces closed The office of Sun Thisweek and the Dakota County Tribune will be closed on July 4 in recognition of Independence Day.
OPINION Ranked-choice deserves a look The Legislature should allow more cities to try ranked-choice voting in future elections. Page 4A
THISWEEKEND
Runestone musical The mysteries of the Kensington Runestone are set to music in an Apple Valley writer’s Minnesota Fringe Festival show. Page 14A
July 3, 2014 • Volume 129 • Number 18
Two charged in 2013 murder Killing of Burnsville woman allegedly took place in Rosemount by John Gessner SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Authorities say they don’t know why Anarae Schunk’s killers wanted her dead. But prosecutors needn’t prove a motive to prove the crime, said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, whose office Conrade filed murder charges June 27 in the 20-yearold Burnsville woman’s stabbing death last ChavezSept. 22. S h a v e - Nelson lle Oscar Chavez-Nelson, 32, and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Ashley Marie Conrade of Rosemount, were charged with intentional second-degree murder. The pair killed Schunk sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. in the kitchen of Conrade’s Rosemount townhome, Backstrom said at a news conference in Hastings. He said Schunk was stabbed 22 times. Chavez-Nelson and Conrade are accused of “aiding each other� in the alleged murder, Backstrom said. It occurred hours after Chavez-Nelson, aka Anthony Lee Nelson, allegedly shot and killed 23-year-old Palagor Jobi of Savage in a See SCHUNK, 5A
Apple Valley’s volunteer fire crews fought a daytime fire on Freesia Way on a cold March day with plenty of snow on the ground. Daytime fire coverage is a challenge for many area fire departments as some volunteers have full-time jobs that have them commuting out of the local area. (Photos by Tad Johnson)
Firefighters hard to recruit, retain Stations in Dakota County, throughout the state face same obstacles by Jeffrey Hage SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Shortly before 11 p.m. Jan. 15, a fiery explosion ripped through the Coin-Tainer Co.’s block-long manufacturing facility in Milaca. As fire lit the January night sky, firefighters from four departments as close as Milaca and as far away as Onamia (22 miles north of Milaca) left the warm
confines of their homes to fight the fire in 19-degree temperatures. All were volunteers. As of 2012, there were 1.1 million firefighters in the United States and 70 percent were volunteers, according to data provided by the Mound Fire Department. “They don’t do it for the money,� said Greg Lerud, co-chief of the Milaca Fire Department.
“They do it to give back to the community.� But the demands of training, an increasing number of emergency calls, a desire to be involved in the busy world of family activities and a firefighter candidate pool that is increasingly more transient is making fire service less attractive to volunteers throughout Minnesota. “To address and attract volSee FIRE, 7A
ArtBlast takes off
SPORTS
Chuck Brooks has been the Rosemount Leprechaun Days Grand Parade announcer for the past few years. The Rosemount High School teacher has added author to his list of titles with last year’s release of the book “’Twas the Night Before Christmas in Rosemount.� (File photo)
Record broken at all-star game Local people were heavily involved in the state high school all-star football game, including one who kicked a record-setting field goal. Page 8A
Teacher, student create page-turners Rosemount author, illustrator duo to pen a series by Nick Hassett
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Announcements . . . . . 5A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 11A Thisweekend . . . . . . . 15A
News 952-846-2033 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000 Delivery 952-846-2070
Isabelle Young, 9, of Lakeville, was at the Robert Trail Library in Rosemount last Thursday afternoon with her aunt Davina Nelson, of Rosemount, when Isabelle and her cousins were making folders covered in duct tape as part of the Create with Duct Tape event during the Rosemount Area Arts Council’s ArtBlast. The weeklong celebration June 23-29 included a variety of arts events, such as those related to theater, music, visual art and much more. More photos are inside this edition and online at SunThisweek.com. (Photo by Jennifer Chick)
SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
After finding success in adapting a classic Christmas tale to be set in Rosemount, a teacher and former student of Rosemount High School will be creating a Rosemount series. “’Twas the Night Before Christmas In Rosemount� was the brainchild of Chuck Brooks, who enlisted the help
of student AndrĂŠ Nelson to illustrate the children’s book. It was originally a column Brooks wrote for the Rosemount Town Pages, and was published in December 2012. “We were overwhelmed at the response,â€? Brooks said. “We ordered 300 copies for the first print, and right away needed another 200. We’ve See SERIES, 2A
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AndrĂŠ Nelson