Caponi Art Park presents sculptures with a spook factor. See Thisweekend Page 9A.
Thisweek Apple Valley-Rosemount OCTOBER 21, 2011
VOLUME 32, NO. 34
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Sports/6A
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Daisy, a little droopy after surgery this week, has eyesight for the first time in her life. Her vision will improve as the swelling goes down.
Public lines up to help blind dog see Loving home found for Daisy by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A blind, neglected dog now has sight and a loving family after an outpouring of support by community members last week. Daisy, the 2-year-old terrier who was rescued from an outdoor chain where, defenseless, she was often attacked by wild animals, successfully underwent two eye surgeries this week and is expected to be able to see for the first time in her life. “She can see,� said Laura Cloose, the Rosemount mom who runs Amazing Animal Advocates. “Every day she’ll see more as the swelling goes down. I am so happy that it hurts,� The expensive surgery was possible because many people read her story in Thisweek and
attended the garage sale fundraiser for Daisy’s surgery. “Checks were coming in left and right,� Cloose said. “There was a line down my driveway of people waiting to hand us checks for Daisy.� Cloose, who runs the nonprofit that took Daisy in, was still smiling as she described the response. “The only reason they were there was to donate,� she said. “They didn’t even buy things at the garage sale. People were crying and calling me handover-fist. They were telling me how touching the article was. I was crying the whole day. I was so happy.� One little girl donated two plastic Easter eggs and a baby food jar filled with quarters. A St. Paul man said he didn’t have any money, but donated a snow blower he’d See Daisy, 7A
Public Notices/11A
Classifieds/12A
Real Estate/15A
Police probe mystery of missing baskets at disc golf course Equipment stolen twice in two weeks at Alimagnet Park by Andrew Miller THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The disc golf baskets have been disappearing from Alimagnet Park. Twice in the last two weeks the park on Ridgeview Drive in Apple Valley has seen the baskets – the targets at which disc golfers hurl their hard-plastic frisbees – purloined from several of the course’s holes. “I’ve never been able to understand what motivates people to do that,� Parks and Recreation Director Randy Johnson said. “Somebody’s out to try and take the course down.� The first incident, about two weeks ago, saw baskets removed from four or five holes on the course, Johnson said, and city parks workers subsequently located all of those missing baskets within the park. The second incident, which authorities believe occurred sometime between Oct. 12 and 14, saw six baskets removed. Only two have been recovered – both were found submerged just off shore in
Alimagnet Lake. As to the culprit or culprits – unruly teenagers? a vigilante neighbor opposed to a disc golf course in their back yard? – police and city parks staff have no promising leads. No witnesses have come forward, and as of yet there are no suspects in the case, Apple Valley police Capt. Michael Marben said. “We’ll pursue any angle in the investigation as long as we’ve got more than hearsay or a hunch to go on,� Marben said. In addition to the cost of replacement – the baskets are valued at $350 apiece – the thefts have been a nuisance for golfers, who when they tee off now often find themselves aiming for bare steel poles. That inconvenience was noticed by Apple Valley resident Tom Hipple when he and his two sons played a round of disc golf last Sunday. “It was a disappointing afternoon,� said Hipple, who’s played the course about 20 times this year. “We noticed more than half the baskets had been
Photo by Andrew Miller
Baskets such as this one have been disappearing from the disc golf course at Alimagnet Park. Last weekend two were found submerged just off shore in Alimagnet Lake. removed from the poles, mostly in the last holes in the woods.� It was one of Hipple’s sons who spotted a basket in the shallow area of Ali-
magnet Lake. The family used sticks to fish it out of the water, and in the process noticed a second basket, five feet farther out. See Disc Golf, 7A
First technical college president dies
All eyes on Old Glory
The man who two weeks. But laid the foundation it was a fun time of what Dakota and everyone was County Techniup to the task.� cal College is today He said died on Saturday, his philosophy Oct. 15. for technical David Lee Schro- David Lee education was eder, of Burnsville, Schroeder focused on prowas 74. viding incoming Schroeder became the students with effective first director of the Da- pathways to secure rekota County Area Voca- warding careers. tional-Technical Institute When he started in in October of 1970. the job, the main camHe worked three pus building wouldn’t be straight years with no time completed for three years. off and put in 60-hour Classes ran all year and weeks creating programs, tuition was free. The first hiring faculty and staff, students attended class in buying equipment and rented space across a cluscoordinating everything ter of buildings. Enrollon the fly, according to a ment was 47. press release from the col“We started with nothlege. ing and created programs “By the time I finally that changed people’s took a vacation, I was lives,� Schroeder said. totally wiped out,� SchroWhen the main buildeder said in an interview ing opened in Rosemount later in life. “I went up in 1973, enrollment had North to our family cabin reached 700 students in and sat in the woods for some 30 programs.
The Minnesota Army National Guard’s color guard, led by Sgt. 1st Class M i c h a e l PHOTOS R i v e r a , ONLINE For more photos, presented go online to the flag thisweeklive.com at Apple Valley High School on Oct. 14 during pregame ceremonies for the Eagles’ football game against Bloomington Jefferson. For coverage of the game and other high school sports results, turn to Sports on Page 6A and go online to www. ThisweekLive.com. Photo by Rick Orndorf
After two name changes, the school became Dakota County Technical College in 1989. Six years later, when DCTC became part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Schroeder assumed the role of president of the college. “From the very beginning, our mission was education for employment,� said Schroeder, who retired in 1999. “When I look back on my career, I feel the strongest about serving students and getting them jobs. “It was hard to leave, but after 30 years it was time. I loved the place.� Schroeder received the 2010 Spirit of DCTC Award, which recognizes individuals who have contributed selflessly to the college mission while showing boundless support for student success in See Schroeder, 10A
Chemical company is third to build on former Continental site by Tad Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A once idle site at the southeast junction of Highways 52 and 55 in Rosemount is now filled with activity. While biofuels company Rosemount Clean Energies and fertilizer producer Origination Inc. have recently moved onto the site, chemical processor and distributor Hawkins Inc. is undertaking a similar reclamation project “next door.� Minneapolis-based Hawkins Inc. has purchased 25 acres of the former Continental Nitrogen Resources
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site, will build an up to $20 million, 63,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, and plans to open in May or June 2012 with eight to 12 employees. The three redevelopment projects and the jobs they bring with them are welcome indicators in a weak economy. Along with the jobs, the city is encouraged by the heavy industrial zoned redevelopment as it grows the city’s tax base, according to Kim Lindquist, Rosemount’s community development director.
It is not surprising that all three of these companies are coming to this location in Rosemount. Lindquist said heavy industrial property with railroad access is hard to find in the Twin Cities. All three companies have cited the access to rail as part of their decision to move to the location. In conversations with some of her colleagues in other cities, Lindquist said there has been more industrial development recently. “I don’t want to say there are deals to be had, but land is being priced a little bit
better than it was in the hey day,� she said. She said Continental had been looking to sell its 105acre site for about two years. The development also solves the problem of cleanup and refurbishment of the site, according to Lindquist. “They will make the site more attractive,� Lindquist said of the proposed addition of landscaping and bringing water and sewer service to the site. “They have done us a favor by taking on those site issues,� she said. She said her office has
been fielding more calls recently regarding commercial development in Rosemount. Hawkins Inc. is moving some of its operations from St. Paul that were prone to flooding accessibility issues each spring, according to a report in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The Rosemount City Council approved a sewer extension at the site on Sept. 20. Hawkins Inc. reported in its annual report that it had a 15.8 percent increase in sales ($297.6 million) for fiscal year 2011 ended April 3,
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2011, compared to fiscal year 2010. Net income for fiscal 2011 was $20.3 million. Hawkins distributes, blends and manufactures bulk and specialty chemicals for use in the fields of energy, electronics, paper, food processing, pharmaceutical, waste water treatment and medical devices. Hawkins has 25 facilities in 13 states. A call to Hawkins for this story was not returned as of presstime. Tad Johnson is at editor. thisweek@ecm-inc.com.