ING WEDD E D I GU sue
Included
A
The Dakota Valley Symphony is celebrating 25 years with a concert and dinner at the Burnsville PAC. See Page 10A
Thisweek Apple Valley-Rosemount FEBRUARY 4, 2011
in this is
VOLUME 31, NO. 49
NEWS OPINION SPORTS
www.thisweeklive.com
Real Estate/3A
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Sports/6A
Classifieds/7A
Teen’s big spirit triumphs
Free library class could save a life
Surgeries, illness can’t stop Eastview boy from cheering for his favorite team by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
As the Eastview girls basketball team warms up, senior Michael Sheridan calls out to them from the sidelines. A stray ball bounces out of bounds. He catches it and passes it around his back to one of the players, while shouting “focus, eye on the ball.� Though he’s not a player, Michael is an integral member of the Lightning as team manager. “He’s as much as a part of the team as we are,� varsity player Amanda Beckman said. At 4 feet tall, Michael will never play varsity, but that doesn’t squash the 17-year-old’s enthusiasm for the game. Michael’s growth was stunted by a rare inherited disease called Hurler syndrome, which affects his metabolism by preventing a him from breaking down long chains of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans. His speech is also under-developed and the quality of his bones and joints is more like a senior citizen’s than that of a high school senior. Michael spent much of the first two years of his life in and out of hospitals. He was diagnosed with Hurler syndrome at 9 months old. “It was devastating to hear the diagnosis,� his father, Kevin, said. Michael received his first bone marrow transplant six months later at the University of Minnesota. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work,� Kevin said. The procedure required chemotherapy to kill off Michael’s own marrow, which would be replaced by a donor’s. But the original marrow
Salt sold as meth? That’s a felony
grew back, and Michael was in need of a second transplant in 1995. At age 2 he underwent another transplant. Many didn’t think he would live beyond age 5, Kevin said. “I was despondent days after that,� he said. “But now he’s very healthy medically – he still has issues but can do normal kid stuff.� Despite his struggle with Hurler syndrome, Michael stays in good spirits. His confidence and humor not only keep him going, but also the girls basketball team. “He helps put things in perspective – that it’s not all about winning and losing,� Eastview girls basketball coach Paul Goetz said. The girls’ favorite part of practice includes what the team calls the Michael Drill, in which players dribble a ball around Michael and tussle his hair as they pass. Michael loves it, too. Michael has served as team manager for four years – catching rebounds, assisting with equipment and cheering from the sidelines. He has always enjoyed shooting hoops, but once he started working with the team, he became an even bigger fan of the game, his father said. “It’s great how kids have accepted him as one of their own,� Kevin said. “They don’t look at him as being different. They accept him for who he is.� Aside from managing the team, Michael loves just being a typical teen – chatting with friends on Facebook and hanging out with them at school. In a few weeks Michael will be forced to take a short break from the hardcourt as he undergoes
Heart attack survivor is living example of CPR’s importance by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Jessica Harper
Eastview senior Michael Sheridan has served as girls basketball team manager for four years. Though he doesn’t score points for them, players say he’s an integral member of the team. knee surgery. Doctors expect, at some point, he will also need spinal and hip surgeries as well as surgery on a heart valve, Kevin said. Regardless, Michael won’t let this stop him from cheering for his favorite team. Even if he’s in a wheelchair, he said, he’ll be there on the sidelines at every game. E-mail Jessica Harper jessica.harper@ecm-inc.com
at:
Eastview actors in the spotlight
Apple Valley man charged with drug crime by Andrew Miller THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Table salt – it’s not a controlled substance, and it won’t get you high. But pawning off a small amount of salt as the powerful street stimulant methamphetamine and selling it to a police informant is, in fact, a felony. A 24-year-old Apple Valley man was charged in Dakota County District Court last week for allegedly doing just that. Shain Alan Freeman has been charged with sale of a simulated controlled substance in connection with the November 2010 incident. The criminal complaint gives the following account: A police informant arranged to purchase 1.5 grams of methamphetamine from Freeman on Nov. 4 in a parking lot in West St. Paul. The informant was given money by police and was equipped with a recording device. Following the transaction, the informant met with police at a predetermined location and turned over a clear plastic bag containing a white substance. See Meth, 12A
Legal Notices/11A
Photo by Rick Orndorf
Sarah Cartwright, right, and Amanda Taylor star in Eastview High School’s one-act play “Third and Oak: The Laundromat,� which took second place out of seven teams in the subsection competition Jan. 28 in Lakeville to qualify for the section finals on Feb. 3. Centering on a late-night conversation between two strangers in a dreary, nearly deserted laundromat, “Third and Oak� is directed by Eastview theater director/English teacher Scott Durocher.
Bill Schwartz of Apple Valley said the fact he’s alive is miraculous. Almost two years ago, at age 51, Schwartz suffered cardiac arrest just as he’d put his minivan into drive, his then 9-yearold triplets in the back. Without warning, he collapsed in the driver’s seat. “From that moment on, I was clinically dead,� Schwartz Schwartz said. As his terrified children screamed, the van coasted across the street and stopped at a neighbor’s house. In an uncanny set of circumstances and actions, the people around Schwartz responded in exactly the right way. His daughter, Lily Schwartz, assuming Schwartz had been stung by a bee, administered a dose of the epinephrine shot he always carries for his bee- sting allergies. The neighbor, Sharon Sieren, a registered nurse, ran from her house, pulled Schwartz from the van and started CPR. Schwartz’ son, Evan, called 911, but in the frenzy only reported the car had hit Sieren’s house. A fireman who lived nearby was just leaving his home when his girlfriend suggested they check out the call. He did, saw Sieren’s rescue efforts, immediately called the situation in, and took over CPR. Nobody knew if Schwartz would survive. Cardiac arrest, which occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating, can happen to anybody of any age, in any physical condition, without warning. Nationally, the cardiac arrest survival rate is less than 5 percent, making it the leading cause of death in the United States. Quick action is critical to saving the life of someone in cardiac arrest. In an effort to train more people in life-saving CPR techniques that don’t require mouth-to-mouth, several Dakota County libraries, See CPR, 12A
Doctor’s mission is the gift of vision Apple Valley optometrist headed to Haiti to provide eye care in earthquake-torn village by Andrew Miller THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
This month, Patrick Wellik is bringing the gift of vision to an earthquakeravaged region of Haiti. Wellik, an optometrist at Apple Valley Eye Care, and seven members of Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville will be heading to the Haitian village of Gris-Gris on Feb. 10 for an 11-day mission trip to provide eye care to residents of the village and surrounding communities. “We will be providing eye exams and glasses to hundreds of people who have never had eye care in their lifetime,� Wellik said. “It is difficult to imagine my life General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
without glasses. I would be unable to function in most of my daily activities. It will be quite rewarding to provide these people with their first eyeglass prescription.� Wellik will be the sole optometrist on the mission trip, with assistance at his ad hoc eye clinic coming from the seven members of Church of the Risen Savior, whose sister parish, St. Rose of Lima, is in Gris-Gris. The mission trip was originally planned for February 2010, but was postponed because of the earthquake that hit Haiti in January of that year. Wellik’s help is needed now more than ever in GrisGris.
“I know they had destruction of quite a few homes in the earthquake,� he said. Wellik expects to see about 100 patients a day, and will be bringing nearly 1,500 pairs of prescription glasses along on the trip. While Wellik and his travel companions from Church of the Risen Savior are funding the trip themselves, donations of glasses and cash are being accepted. Donations can be dropped off at Apple Valley Eye Care, 7789 W. 147th St., Apple Valley. Because the nonprofit Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity, or VOSH, is serving as the in-
termediary for donations, people can still donate after the group’s Feb. 10 departure date. Monetary donations will be given directly to the Haitian people; checks can be made out to “Risen Savior Catholic Church� with “Haitian Mission� in the memo line. For more information about making a donation, contact Apple Valley Eye Care at (952) 432-0680. Updates about the group’s experience in Haiti will be posted at www. Photo submitted applevalleyeyecare.com throughout the Feb. 10-20 Dr. Patrick Wellik of Apple Valley Eye Care and seven members of Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville are trip. undertaking an 11-day mission trip to provide eye exams Andrew Miller is at andrew. and prescription eyeglasses in Gris-Gris, Haiti. The group departs Feb. 10. miller@ecm-inc.com.
ďż˝
&
!""'! !
$