History from birth to death
‘Stretch’ h’ n section
John Diers explores Historical Society exhibit
Tax tips, credit scores, and a frugal foodie
INSIDE
Page 13
PRIOR LAKE
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2012
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www.plamerican.com
AMERICAN Racino proposals stir city opposition BY LORI CARLSON editor@plamerican.com
Prior Lake’s mayor has sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton, encouraging him to reject “racino” bills before the state Legislature. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which operates Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, has stated its firm opposition to a racino (a combined race track and casino) in competition with the tribal enterprise. In late January, Prior Lake Mayor Mike Myser sent a letter urging Dayton — as well as Sen. Claire
Robling (R-Jordan) and Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) — to oppose racino funding proposals. Beard and state Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) submitted a bill in January that would authorize a racino Mike at Canterbury Park. Myser Myser wrote that competition would threaten the tribe’s casino revenue and cause the tribe to move toward selling liquor at the casino, which
could increase public-safety problems. “ T h e r e s u lt i s that Prior Lake’s police department will experience the need for additional officers, equipment and vehicles to respond to a lcohol-related Mark incidents affecting Buesgens city costs,” Myser wrote. Currently, the city gets $380,000 in donated revenue annually from the tribe.
“We have already been warned t h at decl i ni n g revenues due to racino competition will jeopardize this contribution,” Myser wrote in the letter. This week, Buesgens criticized Myser in a letter to the editor, calling Prior Lake’s opposition “troubling” and “ironic. “I find it troubling that the mayor’s view is that Mystic Lake, to the exclusion of any other Prior Lake business, must be given an absolute monopoly,” Buesgens stated. “Given his concern about protecting gambling at Mystic Lake, he’s apparently not in the
least bit troubled by competition for other gaming dollars, since last time I checked, there were numerous establishments in town selling pull tabs or lottery tickets.” Myser countered that the city cares about all businesses that employ its residents, not just Mystic Lake. But he said the casino — by far the city’s largest employer, with about 600 Prior Lake residents employed — requires significant city resources, particularly from the police department.
Racino to page 3 ®
PRIOR LAKE HIGH SCHOOL
CARP CARRIER
Open enrollment closes at PLHS School to accept 30 students BY MERYN FLUKER mfluker@swpub.com
High-school students looking to become Lakers in 2012-13 should get in while they can. At the Monday, Feb. 13 regular meeting, the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board voted to close open enrollment at Prior Lake High School on the recommendation of Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver — allowing only 30 more students to register. Over the past three years, closing open enrollment at the high school has become a routine as the school’s population has soared past the building’s original 2,000-student capacity. As of mid-October, the high school had 2,298 students. Because District 719 receives state integration dollars, Board members are able to vote to close open enrollment annually.
In a twist from years past, open enrollment will not close on an agreed-upon date. Instead, open enrollment will remain open until 30 additional students have applied to attend the high school. “This would allow us to take a maximum — not necessarily that we would — a maximum of 30 students over the course of the next several months and then close the high school for the coming year,” Gruver said. “I just believe that if we did it that way, then if a family presented themselves and would really like to be in our school, then we would have that opportunity.” The superintendent noted that in past years, families have moved to the area thinking that their children would be Lakers, only to find out that their homes were not within district boundaries — and because they discovered the news after open enroll-
Open enrollment history Here’s a brief history of open enrollment: 2009: Accepted 20 open enrollees 2010: Accepted 21 open enrollees 2011: Accepted 13 open enrollees Source: Prior Lake-Savage Area School District
ment had already closed, District 719 could not accommodate their requests. Open enrollment will remain open “until next January,” Gruver said, though she mentioned that “99 percent” of applications will most likely come in before the 2012-13 school year begins. In January 2013, the board will again review the situation at the high school and decide whether to close open enrollment.
Enrollment to page 3 ®
Man nearly five times legal limit during crash BY ALEX HALL ahall@swpub.com
PHOTO BY MERYN FLUKER / REPRINTS AT PHOTOS.PLAMERICAN.COM
Prior Lake High School senior Alex Angelo, of Savage, grips a carp on Spring Lake. Angelo, along with her peers in environmental science and Advanced Placement environmental science, spent Tuesday afternoon assisting the Prior Lake Spring Lake Watershed District to tag carp. They tagged 1,752 fish in the hopes of studying their migratory patterns and other information about the carp, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota. Visit www. plamerican.com to see more photos from the event.
Police say a Prior Lake man who caused a crash in January that injured another driver had a blood alcohol content nearly five times the legal limit for driving, according to charges filed in Scott County District Court. Benji Lee Chalich, 37, is charged with two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation. According to the complaint, a Prior Lake police officer was driving westbound on County Road 82 on Jan. 12 at about 10:38 a.m. when he came upon a two-vehicle crash that had occurred on the road. The officer checked on Chalich, who was still in the vehicle and bleeding from the head. The officer said he could smell an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. Another officer who arrived on
INSIDE OPINION/A4 OBITUARIES/A6 SPORTS/A9-10 AMERICAN SLICE/B1 CALENDAR/B5 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 345-6378 OR EDITOR@PLAMERICAN.COM
KEEP UP: FIND MORE PUBLIC-SAFETY NEWS ON PAGES A6-A8 AND ONLINE AT WWW.PLAMERICAN.COM. the scene broke the rear passenger window of Chalich’s vehicle to gain access. Once inside, an officer asked Chalich if he was OK, at which point he allegedly replied that he was drunk and was sorry for the crash. The driver of the second vehicle, who was complaining of hip pain, said Chalich was driving the wrong way on County Road 82 going eastbound in the westbound lane. The driver said he was traveling on the inside lane when he saw Chalich coming at him, and that he had nearly come to a complete stop when Chalich hit him head-on. At the location of the crash, County Road 82 has two eastbound lanes
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and two westbound lanes and the two sides are separated by a grass median. Officers observed that both vehicles had sustained significant damage to their front ends. A Prior Lake Detective also saw several empty beer cans on the floor in the passengerside backseat of Chalich’s vehicle. After the crash, the second driver was transported to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee. The man was diagnosed with a broken hip, and doctors told him that the injury would require hip replacement surgery. Chalich was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where a Minnesota State Trooper obtained a blood sample from him. Subsequent testing revealed that Chalich had a blood alcohol content .38. The legal limit for driving in Minnesota is .08. Chalich has two drunken driving convictions in Minnesota since 2001.
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