Prior Lake American

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Safety in the field

Life after diagnosis

Rick Petrekovic on hunting dog First Aid

Sue Heaton is Relay for Life chairperson

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PRIOR LAKE

SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2011

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www.plamerican.com

AMERICAN STATE LEGISLATURE

Shutdown City Prior Lake residents will see only minor impacts – at least in short term BY MERYN FLUKER AND LORI CARLSON mfluker@swpub.com and editor@plamerican.com

Apparently we can’t all just get along. After the most recent legislative session failed to yield a fi nal budget, and post-session ta l ks between legislators and Gov. Mark Dayton broke down, the state of Minnesota found itself in shutdown mode Friday. For Minnesotans, it’s déjà vu. In July 2005, residents endured a two-week partial government shutdown also due to wrangling over the budget. But the shutdown that started Friday is expected to have much further-reaching impacts on state services. On Wednesday, Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen R. Gearin ruled that the state government would only be allowed to perform critical functions for the first 31 days of the shutdown. Should the shutdown extend beyond July, a court would need to expand the span of Gearin’s ruling. The shutdown will impact each of Minnesota’s 5.3 million residents

ONLINE HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE STATE SHUTDOWN?

www.plamerican.com J i the Join th conversation ti att th the recently revamped www.plamerican.com. Registered users of the previous website will have to reset their passwords, and underscores will replace spaces in previous user names.

differently, depending on which counties and cities they live in and which government services they depend on. Here’s how the shutdown will impact Prior Lake residents.

POST OFFICE A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service, including the Prior Lake Post Office, will continue operating.

Shutdown to page 7 ®

School cuts expected to reach $1.7 million State’s financial indecision affects District 719’s ability to forecast its budget BY MERYN FLUKER mfluker@swpub.com

Approving the preliminary budget is an annual duty for the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board, but this year is a little different. While the process is the same, this year’s budget ref lects district changes and the state’s current financial uncertainty. On Monday, the School Board approved District 719’s preliminary 2011-12 budget just in time for the new fiscal year, which began on Friday. General fund revenues are estimated at $62.05 million – $1.16 million less than the $63.21 million in the 2010-11 general fund. The absence of dollars from the one-time Federal Jobs Bill and the federal special-education stimulus package is largely responsible for the 1.84-percent decrease. Meanwhile, expenditures are forecasted to fall 2.69 percent in 2011-12, to $61.02 million. The bulk of that $1.68 million decrease comes from staffing reductions, some made to move the district’s secondary schools to a six-period school day – a change that will take effect beginning with the 2011-12 school year – and others in response to

JOIN THE CHAT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PRIOR LAKESAVAGE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT’S PRELIMINARY 2011-12 BUDGET?

www.plamerican.com declining elementary-level enrollment. Salaries and benefits continue to represent the largest portion of the district’s general fund expenditures, with 60 percent going to salaries and another 23 percent for benefits. “We really are an educational service organization and people are what make up the majority of our expenses,” said Director of Business Affairs Julie Cink. Typically the district’s budget process includes approval of a draft in June, with the board voting on a final version the following December. This year is no different in that regard, but wrangling between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature over the state’s budget means

Budget to page 3 ®

PHOTO BY LORI CARLSON

Police and tactical teams positioned themselves near county roads 17 and 12 on Wednesday as other officers pursued one of the two burglary suspects. County Road 12 west of County Road 17 eventually was blocked to through traffic while the manhunt continued.

Burglary suspects have lengthy criminal histories One man caught in tree, another in boat trying to paddle away from police BY LORI CARLSON editor@plamerican.com

T

he suspects involved i n Wed nesday’s bu rglary-turned-manhunt in Spring Lake Township both have extensive criminal histories. William Thomas Benjamin II, 35, of Minneapolis, and Jason Bradley Phyle, 28, of St. Paul, are in custody at the Scott County Jail. Both were charged Friday morning with fi rstdegree burglary, charges that carry a mandatory minimum of six months in prison; the maximum sentence is 20 years. Both Benjamin and Phyle have a long list of criminal convictions, ranging from burglary to drug possession to assault to fleeing police. Benjamin’s criminal past is the most extensive. He has 20 convictions in five different counties since 1996. Among them are several convictions for theft, receiving stolen property, fleeing police, assault and malicious punishment of a child. Phyle’s history includes three burglary convictions in Hennepin County and two convictions for fleeing police in Hennepin and Anoka counties. He also has convictions for assault and drug possession, dating back to 2004.

THE HUNT About 7: 30 a.m. We d n e s d a y, a woman at a home in the 16800 block of Marschall Road (C ou nt y Road 17 ) called 911 to report that a person was trying to enter the William home. When a Scott Benjamin County deputy arrived at the home, he spotted one of the suspects, who f led on foot. The deputy also noted a pickup truck was backed up to a detached garage near the house. Soon after the deputy began to chase the man, another Jason officer noticed the Phyle pickup f leeing the scene toward Spring Lake Estates, a residential area just across Marschall Road. A canine unit eventually located Benjamin attempting to hide in a tree in a wooded area off 165th Street. He surrendered when police ordered him to come down, said Capt. Jeff Swedin of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office. Area police and tactical teams, the county sheriff ’s office, state troopers, metro-area canine units and officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Three Rivers Park District spent more than four hours trying to track down Phyle. At about 12:10 p.m., police spotted Phyle paddling a small boat on Campbell Lake, about 400 yards from the

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Rap sheets Benjamin’s prior record includes 20 convictions in five different counties since 1996, including theft, receiving stolen property, fleeing police, assault and malicious punishment of a child. Phyle’s history includes three burglary convictions in Hennepin County and two convictions for fleeing police in Hennepin and Anoka counties. He also has convictions for assault and drug possession, dating back to 2004.

home where the burglary occurred, Swedin said. A State Patrol helicopter hovered over Phyle, who had jumped out of the boat and started swimming. Phyle reached the north shore of the lake and disappeared into the reeds. Phyle was quickly arrested by another Scott County deputy, who was near the area where Phyle had run. The woman was the only person home at the time of the burglary; she was not harmed. She told 911 operators that the doorbell rang at 7:20 a.m. and she saw a man and heard him say, “Hello. Is anyone there?” She did not answer, and ran upstairs to call 911. She then heard pounding on the door from the garage to the house. She also said she heard someone run through the house when the first deputy arrived.

Burglary to page 3 ®

VOL. 51 ISSUE 40 © SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS


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