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Cause for celebration

Consensus: Too much going on

Celebrate lawnmowing? Yes, please – if it’s in January

Changes must be made to schools’ Christmastime programming

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JORDAN

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012

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INDEPENDENT BRIDGE TO THE MINI-MET

Bridging the creek on time Clock ticks for railroad crossing BY MATHIAS BADEN editor@jordannews.com

PHOTOS BY DAVID SCHUELLER / REPRINTS AT PHOTOS.JORDANNEWS.COM

High school senior Sarah Hanek said she’s been excited to take on the extra work of being student director of “Don’t Look Down.”

Hanek learns to lead

Access to the ballpark won’t be cut off after all. Jordan City Engineer Tim Loose released an updated schedule, including a month leeway at the end of the year, for const r uction of a new bridge to the Mini-Met ballpark on Tuesday. In downtown Jordan, Rice Street spans Sand Creek via a recycled-steel bridge erected in 1936. Since a few years ago, when the state deemed the structure insufficient, the Jordan City Council has sought to replace it, settling recently on a $1 million pier-style bridge with facades that look like Kasota stone, acorn-shaped streetlights, and ornamental green railings.

When city officials found out about the bridge’s 32.5 rating on a scale of 100, they shut down the bridge to garbage trucks, beer trucks and team buses that frequent the Mini-Met. Any rating below 80 constitutes a deficient bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The city swung a deal for a $ 60,000-plus auxiliary access between Park Drive and the ballpark, over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. But the agreement expires on Dec. 31, 2012. City engineers have worked hard at resolving the issue, but in the back of their minds was the ultimate consequence for a baseball town: Would the ballpark be forced to close?

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LEGISLATURE RECONVENES

One-act plays return to stage at high school this weekend

Robling aids Shakopee’s push for Vikings stadium

BY DAVID SCHUELLER dschueller@swpub.com

BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com

A

fter some mentoring and preparation, Jordan High School senior Sarah Hanek is getting an experience that few high school students can claim – directing a play. “It’s really exciting because I’m the first in my school’s history to do this,” Hanek said.

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She’s leading one of three one-act plays being performed Friday and Saturday at the high school.

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Ethan Palmer as Paul wasn’t suicidal – at least, to start with. Then his friends and family show up. Dillon Baxendell (right) plays an officer.

As other proposals for a new Vikings stadium faced increasing scrutiny and the governor enforced last week’s deadline for all plans, new Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke spoke with SavetheVikes.org founder Cory Merrifield. Two days later, a plan was hatched to bring the Vikings to Shakopee. Earlier this month, the pair huddled over a table at Perkins Restaurant for hours with the local chamber of commerce

INSIDE SEN. CLAIRE ROBLING SHARES HER VIEWS ON THE UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSION. PAGE 4 president, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Claire Robling of Jordan and state Rep. Michael Beard of Shakopee.

Vikings to page 8 ®

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Juliana Montoya Ramirez (left) is a student from Colombia who teamed up with Jordan High School student Alex Cole and others for a show last Friday, Jan. 13.

Colombia to Jordan & back Partnership spans continents, teaches through experiences BY DAVID SCHUELLER dschueller@swpub.com

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PHOTO BY DAVID SCHUELLER / REPRINTS AT PHOTOS.JORDANNEWS.COM

uliana Montoya Ramirez and 20 other students from Cali, Colombia, spent some time on stage collaborating with Jordan High School students on a cover of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” It was one musical moment toward the end of a cultural

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exchange trip that included family stays, discussions in classrooms, fun at a water park, and snow tubing at a nearby ski hill.

INSIDE OPINION/4 OUR SCHOOLS/5-7 DAYBOOK/8 PUBLIC SAFETY/10-11 SPORTS/12-13 CALENDAR/14 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 345-6571 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@JORDANNEWS.COM.

“It’s been amazing,” Montoya Ramirez said. “It’s been a great experience, because it’s been a way of showing our culture.” Jordan High School has for more than five years had a relationship with educators in Colombia, which has turned into trips for students between the two countries.

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