Sports snapshots
Daylight Saving Time starts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ exhibit explores sports culture in photos
Turn your clocks ahead one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11
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THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
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TO THE VICTORS GO STATE
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Chaplains for Eden Prairie Police and Fire departments pose for a photo during a chili feed last year: (left to right) former Chaplain Wendell Pace and current chaplains Jim McCracken, Tim Power, Don Odens and Sharon Predovich. Not pictured: John Brecount, Jac Perrin, Paul Nelson.
PHOTO BY TODD ABELN
A last-second reversal resulted in a 2-1 decision, a state championship and the snapping of the longest win streak in Minnesota high school wrestling history. So, yes, Eden Prairie’s Sam Brancale is deserving of his own shout out. For more on state wrestling, go to A8.
Serving behind the scenes Eden Prairie chaplain program assists police and fire departments BY PATTY DEXTER pdexter@swpub.com
T PHOTO BY DANIEL HUSS
During Friday’s State Swimming and Diving Meet preliminary race, Eden Prairie’s Aaron Greenberg (left), Bryce Boston, Maverick Hovey and Michael Solfelt set Minnesota’s all-time 200 freestyle relay record with a time of 1:24.31. Saturday, they went even faster (1:23.9), posting splits of 20.94, 20.96, 21.2 and 20.80. As expected, Eden Prairie would also swim away with the team title. For more, go to A8.
he Rev. Jac Perrin tries to be ready for anything. Perrin, the senior pastor of Eden Prairie Assembly of God church, never knows when he may be called to the scene of a burning home or to console people who just heard the news of a loved one’s death. He’s one of seven area pastors who serve in a chaplain program for the Eden Prairie police and fire departments. “We, as a group, are temperamentally, habitual do-gooders. We have our automobile trunks filled with kits for first aid, survival materials, children’s books, teddy bears, etc.; all kinds of stuff we ourselves purchase to be available in an emergency. I keep Sponge Bob video games on my iPhone, which I have used to help little kids in a time of crisis,” he said. According to Dan Carlson, former Eden Prairie police chief, Eden Prairie’s chaplain program was established in the mid-1990s. He estimates there are between 50 and 100 official and unofficial chaplain programs across the state. It’s hard to know the exact
number because there is no formal network of chaplains around Minnesota, he said. Carlson also is the president and pastor of Public Safety Ministries, which provides chaplain services to the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association and Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association. He said chaplain programs provide external services or internal services. Each program is different in how they do this. “Some agencies use chaplains for external services or just internal, and most do a combination of both,” he said. Sgt. Jamie Good of the Eden Prairie Police said the chaplains are John Brecount, Jim McCracken, Paul Nelson, Don Odens, Perrin, Tim Power and Sharon Predovich. “We are just beginning the process to fill the eighth slot following a recent resignation from the program,” he said.
DIFFERENT ROLES Predovich, a pastor for Resurrection Life Church in Eden Prairie, said the chaplains provide support to police and fire in any way they can to make their job on the scene easier. This is through helping with the people involved in the situation. Many of the calls the chaplains receive involve death scenes, said Odens, a pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Eden Prairie. In late February, chaplains were dispatched to the Richard T. Anderson Conservation
Chaplain to A10 ®
Local legislators want more details about stadium BY PATTY DEXTER pdexter@swpub.com
Local legislators want to see more details before weighing in on the latest proposal for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. On March 1, Gov. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Mark and Zygi Wilf of the Vikings, and business and labor leaders unveiled an agreement for a “People’s Stadium.” The new stadium would be constructed at the “Downtown East” site, which
includes the current Metrodome land with the addition of a game-day plaza on the stadium’s west side, according to a press release from Dayton’s office. The tota l project wou ld cost $ 975 million, according to numbers provided by the governor’s office. The state of Minnesota would contribute $398 million for construction through charitable electronic pull-tabs. The city of Minneapolis would contribute $150 million toward upfront costs with existing convention cen-
If you go What: Sen. David Hann and Reps. Jenifer Loon and Kirk Stensrud have planned a town hall meeting on legislative issues. When: 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 10 Where: Large Room, Eden Prairie Library, 565 Prairie Center Dr., Eden Prairie Info: (651) 296-7449 or rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn ter sales and hospitality taxes, and $7.5 million for annual expenses and capital costs. The Vikings would privately
contribute $427 million toward the construction and $13 million for annual expenses. The agreement is contin-
gent upon approval by legislators and the Minneapolis City Council, the release states. Sen. David Hann, R-42, said Friday he had not seen a bill so he couldn’t say with precision what is being proposed. “My view of this is it’s going to be very difficult to pass something like this,” he said. Building a stadium for a professional sports team and funding it through gambling are two controversial topics, which makes Hann skeptical it will get done this way, he said. He believes a bill introduced
INSIDE OPINION/A4 OBITUARIES/A5 SPORTS/A8-9 CALENDAR/B2 CLASSIFIEDS/B7-9 LIVING IN EP/B10 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 942-7885 OR EMAIL EDITOR@EDENPRAIRIENEWS.COM.
by Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-53, has a better chance of getting things done. The bill calls for a user fee or surtax on ticket sales and suite sales. The surcharge would be collected by the state for a bond that would allow the Vikings to borrow up to roughly $300 million. “ T hat su rcha rge wou ld finance the payments of the b ond s a nd t he su rch a r ge would go away once the bonds would be paid,” Hann said.
Stadium to A10 ®
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