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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011
CHASKA
$1
HERALD
Voters reject school tech referendum First failed levy since 1995 BY CHUCK FRIEDBAUER friedchu@yahoo.com
By a slim margin on Tuesday, local citizens told District 112 they’re not ready to pay more for technology. The district’s capital project referendum to fund technology plans over the next 10 years failed on Nov. 8, by
216 votes, or a 3.6 percent margin of the total 6,100 ballots cast. Chanhassen was the only District 112 city to vote in the majority for the plan. “We placed the decision in the communities’ hands and they told us it is not time to move forward with this initiative,” said District 112 Superintendent Jim Bauck. The levy would have provided approximately $1.98 million a year for 10 years toward technology equipment and programs – approximately $220 per pupil. The district must now decide the impact the failed vote has
on its plans for the future. “The implementation of the 10-year plan and the $1.98 million levy per year is off the table,” said Bauck. “We now have to make some difficult choices about the curriculum we can offer and the tools we use.” “We tried to be very clear in our communications that our annual capital budget is about $2.1 million, of which we have about $1 million for technology expenditures,” said Bauck. “Unless groups like PTOs or
How District 112 voted Technology Referendum vote breakout by city City
For
Against
Total
Carver
262 (42.4%)
356 (57.6%)
618
Chanhassen
971 (51.4%)
917 (48.6%)
1,888
Chaska
1,225 (47.3%)
1367 (52.7%)
2,592
Victoria
484 (48.3%)
518 (51.7%)
1,002
Totals
2,942 (48.2%)
3,158 (51.8%)
6,100
Source: District 112
Levy to page 2 ®
Taking a stroll through history BY MARK W. OLSON editor@chaskaherald.com
The new historical walking tour of Chaska has been a hot item at City Hall, according to City Planner Melissa Duchinsky. “They are going like hotcakes,” she said, earlier this week. The color maps give short synopses of 47 historic downtown buildings – ranging from 1858 brick landmarks to the 1950 Athletic Park. Each description carries the name of the building, a photo graph, the year it was built, a brief history, an architectural description and, in most cases, a photo. The brochures also give a brief history of Chaska, an overview of the city’s architecture, and the city’s past status as a major Minnesota brick producer. “We’re very pleased with the newest map,” said Tracy Swanson, director of the Chaska Historical Society, which produced the map with the Heritage Preservation Commission and the city of Chaska. “This is quality!” echoed a recent visitor to the society, while browsing through the publication. The last Chaska walking tour map was published in 1993. The newer map builds on the older publication, adding more architectural details. “[It] painted a more complete picture,” Duchinsky said. The new publication includes the building p g as info on the same page
PHOTO BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO PHOTO BY MARK W. OLSON
Guardian Angels Catholic Church is on the cover of the new walking tour. the map, making it easier to follow. “One of the goals of the walking tour was to make sure it was very readable,” Duchinsky said. Patrick Smith was hired as a consultant, and helped create the map. Smith, a former Chaska assistant planner, has researched Chaska brick and helped create the city’s preservation ordinance.
Walking tour to page 2 ®
Historic Walking Tour What: The city of Chaska and the Chaska Historical Society recently published “A Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Chaska”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
City of Chaska walking tour maps illustrate historic downtown Chaska.
Where: Maps are available at Chaska City Hall or the Chaska Historical Society, located just west of Highway 41 along Fourth Street. Cost: Free
Emergency room physician Valerie Johnson stands outside one of the trauma rooms in the Two Twelve Medical Center Emergency Department. Also pictured are registered nurses LuAnn Welk (at far left), Sheila Gall and Micky Powers.
Medical center hits milestone Two Twelve ER/urgent care has served 20,000 patients BY MOLLEE FRANCISCO mfrancisco@swpub.com
Ten months old and Ridgeview’s Two Twelve Medical Center is feeling fi ne. Turns out the stand-alone emergency room and clinic, located at the northeast corner of highways 212 and 41, has been a big draw for the area, attracting patients from both near and far. “We’re drawing from 670 different zip codes,” said Mike Phelps, chief administrative officer for Two Twelve Medical Center. The emergency room/urgent care alone passed the 20,000 patient mark in October. Phelps said an estimated 10,000 to 11,0 0 0 people walked through the medical center doors (including clinic services) each month. “We’re feeling good,” said Phelps. “There have been no big surprises
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and our tenants are satisfied.” Phelps said the majority of the medical center’s users are coming from the Chaska and Chanhassen region, although a significant number of residents from area cities like Victoria, Carver, Excelsior and Mound also visit the center. The center draws patients westward as well, including Eden Prairie and South Minneapolis. “We figured our draw would be from core zip codes,” said Phelps.
Mike Phelps Chief administrative officer Two Twelve Medical Center
For more information on the Two Twelve Medical Center and its tenants, visit twotwelvemedical.org.
Two Twelve to page 2 ®
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24 7 EMERGENCY & URGENT CARE Just Minutes from Home Highways 212 & 41 in Chaska 218943
“We figured our draw would be from core zip codes. But as more people have come and experienced that first touch with Ridgeview, they’ve spread the word.”
www.TwoTwelveMedical.org