Don’t curb your desire for pink
Hauger sets state record
Colorful garbage containers available for good cause
Junior bests previous mark by 10 seconds
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www.shakopeenews.com
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
SHAKOPEE
VALLEY
$1
news Homestead credit’s demise will be felt
LAUGHING LADIES
BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
PHOTO BY KRISTIN HOLTZ
More than 190 women attended the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce’s Ladies Night Out Sept. 13. Friends Anna Schieck (left) and Sandi Chermak howl with laughter after Schieck wins a prize following the fashion show at Turtle’s Social Centre. Shakopee fashion designer Christopher Straub emceed the event. See more photos online at shakopeenews.com
Illustrator creates in the digital world BY KRISTIN HOLTZ kholtz@swpub.com
F
ranklin Haws knows exactly when his art went in a new direction. It was 15 years ago when upgrading to a brand-new G4 Mac. All of a sudden, the Shakopee resident found a whole new world opened to him. Using Corel Painter software and a Wacom digital tablet, Haws, 52, creates works of art made fully in the digital world. His art tells stories about comic characters and vintage airplanes in a medium made famous through the likes of Disney and Pixar.
Area mayors, superintendents and township clerks flipped through 13 pages of spreadsheets and bulletpoints Friday morning and listened to two state experts to better understand how a major change to the state’s property tax system will affect local residents and businesses. “We have a responsibility in government for transparency and accountability. This is clear as mud,” pronounced Prior Lake Mayor Mike Myser. During July’s special legislative session, the state eliminated the popular homestead property tax credit to save $261 million. This will push more of the cost of local government back onto local property taxes. Clear enough. But to soften the blow on lowerand middle-class homes, the state has instituted a market value exclusion that lowers how much of a home’s property value can be taxed and spreads the pain across all properties (including commercial
$185,600 home........................ $44 $278,300 .................................... $83 $371,000................................... $121 $556,700 .................................. $192 and farmland). To accommodate the loss of the homestead credit, property tax increases next year range from 1.3 percent for lower-valued businesses to 4.3 percent for far mhouses. (Taxes will jump again next year for commercial property, however, due to a lag in the fiscal disparities tax program.) If the state had not chosen to buffer the homestead credit’s elimination by spreading out the tax difference, the property tax on a $75,000 home in Scott County would go from $456 to $760 — a 67 percent increase.
Homestead to page 10 ®
Ouch
If you go… What: Scott County Art Crawl. When: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1.
Wood Duck Trail homeowners face $9,000 assessments
Where: Studios and businesses throughout Scott County. Info: scottcountyartcrawl.org
BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
The digital illustrator is one of more than 60 artists featured at the Scott County Art Crawl Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1. The free, selfguided tour allows Frankin visitors to meet Haws artists in their studios and venues throughout the county. Haws will be at the Shakopee Public Library. While Haws has been drawing since childhood, fi lling sketchbooks with cars and airplanes, he focused primarily on graphic design after
Art to page 7 ®
Shakopee artist Franklin Haws’ digital illustration, “Deep Friends,” won first place in pastel and drawing category in the Savage Arts Council’s fifth annual juried show earlier this year.
They helped, like they said they would As Americans were preparing to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, a family friend was preparing for a second tour in Afghanistan. But instead of spending his remaining time saying goodbye to friends and family, he was furiously installing insulation and ceiling panels in his mom’s basement. A U.S.
Tax increase due to elimination
Navy reservist, Matthew Lindemeier learned last month he will be deployed early. For the last year, Matthew and his wife Jenny have spent their spare weekends constructing an apartment for themselves in the old farmhouse where Matthew grew up. His widowed mother suffered a rehabilitating stroke and requires 24/7 care.
With his orders moved up two weeks and most of their rental home in Northfield still needing packing, the remaining task seemed daunting. A friend contacted me about getting a group together to help the couple finish the job. But I feared I wouldn’t find enough people over
Shannon
FIECKE
Beyond to page 16 ®
Assessments to page 7 ®
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Crews spent three weeks earlier this summer patching a half-mile section of rural road that only 10 families live on, and the city doesn’t want to have to do that again. It cost an estimated $51,000 between staff time and materials — more than a tenth of what it would take to reconstruct Wood Duck Trail and fi x the underlying soil issues that created the mess of potholes in the fi rst place. Workers dug five feet in some areas to remove bad soil from Wood Duck Trail before patching the road back together with bituminous millings and loose rock. It remains to be seen whether the extensive patch job will hold more than one winter. “The street is falling apart,” surmised Assistant Engineer Jeff Weyandt at a recent City Council budget meeting. The reconstruction of Wood Duck Trail from Marschall Road to Maple Trail is one of eight street improvement projects on the city docket for next year. The projected $440,000 project cost is in the ballpark of overlays on Vierling Drive and 11th Avenue, but Wood Duck Trail carries far less traffic. The busiest area is the
VOL. 150, ISSUE 38 © SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS
CROFUT WINERY EVENTS Saturday, Sept 24 Have you ever seen a Vineman 30 feet tall?
September 24 & 25 Cousin Alan Crofut visits with his incredibly delicious treats & 100% Belgian Chocolate creations. All you can eat Chocolate Buffet $14. Assorted Chocolate Plate is $9.
Make your reservations now on our website www.crofutwinery.com 216031
Voted one of the Top 5 Chocolatiers in New England by Yankee Magazine.
We start out 4-7 pm with German Food Catered Buffet, Music, Campfires, S’mores and WINE
Live Music by Thirsty Camel Band
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Located 7 miles south of Mystic Lake, on Highway 13
952.492.3227
Sat. 11am-6pm Sun. 12-5pm
282
8
13 Prior Lake
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(German Buffet will be available for purchase, but the S’Mores are on us!)
At dusk, we will light VINEMAN in a ceremony to celebrate the harvest (think Burning Man with wine)