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Caponi Art Park in Eagan is playing host to the Medieval Fair on Oct. 3. See story in Thisweekend page 7A
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 VOLUME 31, NO. 30
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Eagan gears up for final Eagan food phase of ‘ring road’ shelf to expand Sept. 29 open house set for project designed to ease congestion around city’s busiest intersection
Eagan Resource Center will open larger facility in Eagan, new food shelf in downtown Lakeville
by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
by Erin Johnson
The final section of Eagan’s long-planned “ring road� could become a reality as soon as next year. Sixteen years in the making, the ring road aims to ease congestion around Eagan’s busiest intersection: Yankee Doodle and Pilot Knob roads. The city will hold an open house on the project from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at City Hall. The ring road would connect existing streets to form a loop around the Yankee Doodle/Pilot Knob/I-35E intersections, providing local traffic with alternative routes. “This will allow people to more efficiently and more effectively move around that area,� said Tim Plath, Eagan transportation engineer. “It’s going to provide a lot more options for people.� The first phase of the project extended Northwood Parkway – located next to Home Depot – across I-35E to connect with Central Parkway, located next to the Community Center. The Northwood Overpass was completed in October 2008, and now more than 5,800 Submitted graphic vehicles use it each day, Plath The final phase of Eagan’s ring road will connect Duckwood Drive said. and Federal Drive with an overpass stretching across I-35E, similar See Ring Road, 16A to the Northwood Overpass completed in 2008.
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The Eagan Resource Center is responding to unprecedented demand in recent years by expanding into a larger Eagan facility and opening a satellite food shelf in Lakeville. As of Dec. 1, the organization plans to move its Eagan food shelf operations into a larger space just blocks from its current facility at 3910 Rahn Road. The Lakeville food shelf will open Oct. 1, in the same downtown building as the space vacated by the 360 Communities food shelf in June. Demand for the Eagan Resource Center’s food shelf services is at an all-time high, said Executive Director Lisa Horn. The facility now serves more than 500 families from Eagan, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Rosemount each month, up from just 38 families a month in 2005. It served 410 new individuals in August alone, a 20 percent increase over previous months. “We are seeing the impact of the recession in a very real way with our families,� Horn said. “They are really struggling right now. We’ve got families that are sleeping in their cars.� The new Eagan facility, called The Pantry, will be set up like a grocery store, providing a more dignified experience for clients, Horn said. At 3,250 square feet, it will also
provide more than 1,000 additional feet of space. Located in the Cedarvale Business Center on Cedar Grove Parkway, the expanded space will be open four days a week, an increase of two days. The resource center’s current Eagan building – a small, one-story house donated by Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church – will continue to be used for client intakes, programming, and other supportive services. The Lakeville food shelf will be located in the Holyoke Crossing mall and aims to fill the gap left by the departure of 360 Communities, Horn said. Formerly known as the Community Action Council, 360 Communities moved its headquarters from Lakeville to Burnsville and its food shelf to Messiah Lutheran Church in the northern part of Lakeville. Horn said the Eagan Resource Center was approached by a group of concerned former volunteers for 360 Communities who wanted to keep a food shelf in downtown Lakeville, which is in the southern part of the city. One of those former volunteers, Matt Little, said the new food shelf is expected to serve about 200 families in Lakeville. “A lot of people are still without jobs and foreclosures in Lakeville are rising,� said Little, a candidate See Food Shelf, 16A
Explosion shuts down Black Dog power plant Burnsville facility will be off-line for weeks pending an investigation, Xcel says by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A small explosion and additional fire incident shut down Xcel Energy’s Black Dog power plant in Burnsville on Tuesday morning. Three firefighters were injured – two were treated on the scene and returned to battle the blaze and the other was sent to Regions Hospital in St. Paul to be treated for leg injuries, according to the Burnsville Police Department. It all started at 7:15 a.m. when plant personnel detected smoldering in one of the plant’s coal hoppers, said Xcel spokesman Tom Hoen. Ten minutes later they decided to call the Burnsville Fire Department as a precaution. This move proved prescient when by 8 a.m. there was a small explosion in the
hopper, Hoen said. “The fire was put out quickly thereafter,� he said. At a press conference later in the morning, Burnsville police said a second fire broke out in the roof’s insulation. About 50 firefighters fought the blaze in crews of four or five. Certain panels on the outside of the plant that were blown out by the explosion were designed to blow out in that fashion, Hoen said. None of the 75 employees was injured and all were back at the facility the next day to work, Hoen said. “Employees are safe and accounted for,� he said. By Wednesday, Xcel was looking to protect the inside of the facility from a predicted torrent of rain. “We are sealing up the exterior of the building,� Hoen
said, citing the west end’s post-explosion exposure to the elements. Damage assessment is ongoing. The plant, which serves 800,000 residents and uses coal and natural gas, will be off-line for the next few weeks while Xcel and the Fire Department investigate the cause of the explosion, Hoen said. “Customers will not see any outages because of this,� Hoen said. Xcel can route power from other plants and can also buy power on the market, he added. After a discussion with the director of the plant, Hoen said that the facility has not experienced any explosions in the last 10 to 15 years.
Photo by Rick Orndorf
E-mail Aaron Vehling at aaron. An explosion and subsequent fire at Xcel’s Black Dog power plant Tuesday morning resulted in the facility shutting down. Three firefighters were injured. The explosion blew vehling@ecm-inc.com. out metal panels on the side of the building.
Helping hand? How about a helping goat? Survey says taxes, crime worry Burnsville residents
Food For His Children is a nonprofit which provides poor families in Tanzania with goats by Derrick Williams THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Kerrie and Rob Holschbach know giving back to those less fortunate is something they need to do. “I feel it deep inside my heart,� Kerrie said. But the Burnsville couple wanted to do more than just donate money or food. Kerrie and Rob are the unlikely founders of Food For His Children, a nonprofit that General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
provides goats for needy families in the poor African country. “We’re helping the poorest of the poor,� Kerrie said. “Children orphaned by HIVstricken mothers, elderly people – those a lot less fortunate.� The nonprofit is holding a fundraiser at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26, at Crossroads Church, located at 17671 Glacier Way in Lakeville. See Goats, 16A +&//: 800%4 $,&3." / 45"$&: " "/%3&8 .*--&3
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THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
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Burnsville residents Rob and Kerrie Holschbach started Food For His Children, a nonprofit that provides goats to poor families in Tanzania. The goats provide families with milk that can be used by families to drink, and to sell.
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What’s bugging Burnsville residents? Property taxes and neighborhood crime, in particular, according to the results of a city-commissioned survey. The August survey of 400 people in randomly selected households shows general satisfaction but growing discontent in Burnsville, pollster Bill Morris told the City Council
Sept. 21. “The survey seems to be saying, ‘We’d be more comfortable if you took a look at these two problems now,’� Morris said. Burnsville’s “moderately hostile� tax climate reflects a darkened mood that Morris said is pervading suburbs across the metropolitan area. But Burnsville’s spike in crime fears is unique among See Survey, 12A
The Dakota County Tribune is your source for Business information south of the river.
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