Shakopee_111011

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‘Grease’ is the word at SHS

Three times a champion

Drama department’s play is Nov. 17-20

Hauger makes history with third state title

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www.shakopeenews.com

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011

SHAKOPEE

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news

VALLEY Tabke, Whiting, Lehman winners Schmitt falls by 365 votes BY KRISTIN HOLTZ AND SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com

Four hours before the polls closed Tuesday, Erik Mortensen Tweeted a public challenge to mayoral candidate Brad Tabke on the social media network Twitter.com. “Headed to polls, planning on voting for john. Sell my [sic] in 140 characters...GO,� wrote user Morteri1029 (Mortensen), referencing the space limit. “I like this!� responded TabkeforMayor. “Shakopee has plateaued [sic]. We need to plan for the future and the next wave of growth. Focus on business and future.� It’s unclear whether Tabke, 32, swayed Mortensen. But it appears his well-tooled social media skills and boots-on-the ground campaign was enough to beat Shakopee Mayor John Schmitt, a four-term incumbent by 9 percent. The unofficial vote total was 2,254 to 1,889. Less than a quarter of Shakopee’s registered voters participated in the

Election 2011 results Mayor Brad Tabke John Schmitt

2,254 1,889

mayoral election. Sha kopee had 4,191 ballots cast, approxi mately 2 2 percent of the city’s 19,094 voters registered as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. Turnout was dow n f rom 2 0 0 9 Brad when 24 percent of Tabke the city’s registered voters cast a ballot. However, the school district had a levy question on the ballot that year and a high number of candidates seeking city seats. In 2007, only 14 percent of registered voters participated in the city election. That year, Schmitt had one challenger and the two city councilor candidates ran unopposed. Although Tabke won by 9 percent, election results were neck-and-neck most of Tuesday night, with the can-

Mayor to page 10

CITY COUNCIL ELECTION

Heitzman out as he finishes third BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com

Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Shakopee City Councilor Matt Lehman couldn’t predict how it would turn out. “I had no way of knowing how the votes were going to split,� said Lehman, who placed second out of nine councilor candidates. “I had no clue on what to expect.� In the end, Lehman and challenger Jay Whiting won the two seats, with Whiting narrowly leading Lehman by

PHOTO BY KRISTIN HOLTZ

Shakopee mayor-elect Brad Tabke (center) gets results via his cell phone at the Turtle’s Social Centre Tuesday evening surrounded by campaign supporters Corky Mars of Shakopee and Steve Snider of Lakeville.

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION

Bowerman, McKeand, Tucker top vote-getters

Election 2011 results City Council Jay Whiting Matt Lehman Pat Heitzman Amy Zellmer Mark Reimler Michael Luce Suresh Nair Premm Badhwa Eric Brown

1,860 1,774 1,431 721 676 531 332 192 178

BY KRISTIN HOLTZ kholtz@swpub.com

86 votes. Whiting captured 24 percent of ballots cast with 1,860 votes, and

Council to page 10

The results are in, and the Shakopee School District has three pieces of its new School Board figured out. Reggie Bowerman, Angela Tucker and Matt McKeand were the top three vote-getters in Tuesday’s election. All are newcomers to the School Board, though Bowerman

with good people, meaning the board and the administration.� Candidate Jeremy Casper, 31, came up short with a total of 1,625 votes, or

School Board to page 10

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Legend

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Alternative alignment for state trail Shakopee city trails Minnesota Valley State Trail Mobile Home Park Land proposed for Trailhead by DNR (3 acres)

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Memorial Park $250,000 estimate to replace bridge Trail to be built along Co. Rd. 101 in 2014

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INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 CALENDAR/8 HAPPENINGS/9 SPORTS/13-14 CLASSIFIEDS/22-25 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6683 EDITOR: (952) 345-6680 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@SHAKOPEENEWS.COM.

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VOL. 150, ISSUE 45 Š SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS

keeping you on the ball

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Graphic by Traci Zellmann

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Trail to page 7

do

101

Sarazin St.

park — Memorial Park. Wouldn’t that be an appropriate location [for a trailhead] and where people would typically look for something like that?� T he cit y- ow ned brid ge — which connects the end of a state trail with a loop of city park trails and also serves snowmobilers in the winter — is up for discussion because the county plans to build a trail from Memorial Park toward Highway 169 in 2014. A connection to the Minnesota Valley State Trail will have to be designated once the new trail gets built along County Road 101. The DNR is considering creating a trailhead on donated land along

*Gustafson withdrew as a candidate but too late for her name to left off ballots

DNR proposal

lR hal Marsc

Snowmobiles have chewed at the wooden planks and the metal railings are rusting, but the walking bridge that Robert Schilz constructed across the Memorial Park pond in the dead of winter three decades ago is still sturdy. If commissioned today though, the 5-foot-wide, 90-foot-long bridge wouldn’t fly. It’s half the width of a standard trail bridge and can’t carry heavy maintenance equipment. “Today, they probably couldn’t paint the bridge for what I got paid to build it,� said Schilz, who owns an ornamental metal shop along Bluff Avenue. He sure is right.

Replacing the bridge with one that meets state standards is estimated to cost $250,000. To avoid that price tag, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has suggested realigning part of an existing state trail through a 3-acre vacant parcel of commercial land on First Avenue. A park ranger for the Minnesota Valley State Trail floated the idea before the Shakopee City Council on Tuesday last week, but was met with a good dose of skepticism. “I’m hesitant to have that property taken out of our ability to create more businesses along the corridor,� said Councilor Pamela Punt, although she recognized a utility easement makes part of the First Avenue property unbuildable. “We already have a great

previously served as an appointee. Bowerman, 46, led the way with 2,525 votes, or 25 percent of the total cast. Tucker came in second with 2,277 votes (23 percent), followed by McKeand with 2,091 votes (21 percent). Bowerman didn’t see the results until early Wednesday morning. “I’m thrilled,� he said. “I’m very grateful I have the opportunity to serve on the School Board and work

2,525 2,277 2,091 1,625 1,455

in

BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com

School Board Reggie Bowerman Angela Tucker Matt McKeand Jeremy Casper Andrea Gustafson*

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DNR proposes rerouting trail along First Ave.

Election 2011 results

all the care you need www.stfrancis-shakopee.com


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