A fresh look at unsolved murder
Unknown faces, scoring questions
Decade-old homicide not forgotten by Shakopee police
With high roster turnover, Sabers may struggle early
Page 5
Page 15
www.shakopeenews.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011
SHAKOPEE
VALLEY Track meeting draws throng
$1
news
HO-HO-HOLIDAY FUN
BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
So many people showed up to learn more about a proposed motor sports complex in Elko New Market last week that cars parked on the grass outside Eagle View Elementary School. A $400 million motor sports facility has been proposed on roughly 400 acres at the northeast corner of County Road 2 and Interstate Highway 35 in Elko New Market. It would feature a 7/8-mile oval track that could seat up to 65,000 spectators and accommodate Indy and NASACAR-type races, and a quarter-mile drag strip with seating for up to 35,000 spectators. A hotel with 500-plus rooms and a large exhibition center are also planned. Former Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg was hired by the International Motorsports Entertainment and Development Corp. to lead the Nov. 29 presentation before a packed audience.
Track to page 8 ÂŽ
PHOTO BY KRISTIN HOLTZ
The Shakopee Holiday Festival drew community members of all ages to watch the ceremonial tree lighting in downtown Shakopee last Friday night. Even Santa Claus stopped by to greet children, including Morrison Kaufhold, 3, of Shakopee with his dad Tony. Families also enjoyed a bike parade, caroling, horse-drawn carriage rides, hot chocolate and a visit from Peanuts characters. See more photos, as well as video from the tree lighting ceremony and caroling, at shakopeenews.com.
District might pull out of co-op, start own ALC
Refashioned for a new era Three businesses now share former art gallery
BY KRISTIN HOLTZ kholtz@swpub.com
BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
O
ld customers still walk through the back of the two-story stucco building at the corner of First Avenue and Holmes Street looking for the Tole Bridge. Tracy Besse is glad to tell them where the gallery has moved (next door, under a new name) — after a short spiel, of course, about her showroom: a decorative-concrete business called I-Coat. Three businesses now share the space that the Tole Bridge — refocused and redubbed First Avenue Picture Framing — held for 32 years. Wilbur and Patricia Schroers purchased the building from a retired shoe shop and western tack owner in 1977 for a paint and wallpaper shop with a small art supplies and framing business. They named it the Tole Bridge after a European art form and because of its location near the downtown bridge.
PHOTO BY SHANNON FIECKE
Three businesses now share the former Tole Bridge art gallery and framing studio building. John and Patti Jo Schroers, owners of First Avenue Picture Framing, middle, are pictured with H&R Block owner Mathew Kunnasery, left, and Mike and Tracy Besse, iCoat owners. Two years after opening, the wildlife-art craze hit and the family business got out of paint and wallpaper, son John Schroers recalls. The Tole Bridge morphed into an art gallery and frame shop, with art supplies in the back, where Patricia taught a long-running Monday night art class with her friend Dar Davies. Wilbur, who ran the framing shop with his two sons, died three years ago, and Patricia sold the building to H&R Block owner
Mathew Kunnasery this summer. At the same time, her sons John and Pat realized the family business was long overdue for revamping. The gallery and frame shop had once supported five incomes. But the last few years had been tough on the Tole Bridge, with the brothers taking part-time jobs to support their families, so they decided to streamline and refocus on the best part of their business.
Businesses to page 7 ÂŽ
The Shakopee School Board is weighing the pros and cons of establishing its own area learning center after other districts in the CarverScott Educational Cooperative indicated they might be interested in starting their own schools. Eastern Carver County School District 112, based in Chaska, plans to set up its own ALC beginning in the 2012-13 school year. Several other smaller districts also expressed
interest in withdrawing, Shakopee Superintendent Rod Thompson told board members last week. Shakopee, which is one of nine cooperative members, sends approximately 40 students to three of Carver-Scott’s alternative learning centers: Carver-Scott High School in Chaska, New Beginnings in Chaska and Spring Lake Area Learning Center in Lydia. The district also has three inschool alternative-learning pro-
ALC to page 8 ÂŽ
Board taps Swanson to fill seat BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
After interviewing three candidates, the Shakopee School Board voted unanimously Nov. 30 to appoint former school Facilities Task Force member Scott Swanson to an open board seat. Swanson — an assistant vice president with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage who is active in the River Valley Theatre Company — will fi ll
INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 HAPPENINGS/11 CALENDAR/10 SPORTS/15-16 CLASSIFIEDS/23-26 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 345-6680 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@SHAKOPEENEWS.COM.
the seat vacated by Tony Bonsante through December 2013. Bonsante resigned because he was moving out of the district. The other candidates were former Shakopee Mayor Bill Mars, who is president of the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission, and Jeremy Casper, a recent School Board candidate who chairs the city’s transit committee.
Swanson to page 7 ÂŽ
VOL. 150, ISSUE 49 Š SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS
keeping you on the ball
Our certiďŹ ed athletic trainers, physical therapists & specialists offer complete care, from training & prevention through diagnosis, treatment & rehabilitation
SPORTS MEDICINE
PHYSICAL THERAPY
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
AQUATIC THERAPY
3HAKOPEE s #HASKA s 3AVAGE (Therapy services vary between locations)
all the care you need www.stfrancis-shakopee.com