THE AYS O H LID tion
Dakota City’s ‘Christmas in the Village’ offers nostalgic holiday fun See Thisweekend Page 7A
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan
Sec Special issue is th e id s in
NOVEMBER 19, 2010 VOLUME 31, NO. 38
www.thisweeklive.com
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Opinion/6A
Puzzle Page/8A
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Manslaughter charge dismissed in shooting between friends Gun’s owner convicted of misdemeanor charge by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Defense attorney Earl Gray says the frantic 911 call is a potent reminder that his client, Michael Cody Schwartz, is innocent of manslaughter in a grisly tragedy. It occurred last Nov. 21, when Schwartz and his close friend, Logan Daniel Ahlers, then both 25, were at Schwartz’s Burnsville apartment after a night of drinking at a local
bar. They were joined by Schwartz’s cousin, Jeffrey Owen Plath. Ahlers burst into the apartment and began wrestling around with Schwartz, who happened to be holding his cocked and loaded handgun. The gun fired a bullet that entered Ahlers’ neck and exited his skull. “It is bone-chilling,� Gray said of the 911 call. “The cousin is holding onto his neck, and Michael is screaming at 911 to get over there with the ambulance. It pretty much showed it was a terrible accident.� Schwartz was acquitted Nov. 12 of second-degree manslaughter, three other felony
charges and a misdemeanor charge of intentionally pointing a gun at someone. There’s no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Schwartz fired the gun or was culpably negligent in Ahlers’ death, wrote Dakota County District Judge Michael Sovis, who ruled in the case after Schwartz waived a jury trial. Sovis convicted Schwartz of recklessly handling a firearm, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Second-degree manslaughter is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
“I think the Police Department was disappointed� by the verdicts, Burnsville Police Chief Bob Hawkins said. “I think the family of the victim was disappointed.� Ahlers and Schwartz, both of Burnsville, and Plath met the night of Nov. 20 at Nina’s, a Burnsville bar. They stayed until closing at 2 a.m., intending to regroup at Schwartz’s apartment on the 2700 block of Selkirk Avenue. After visiting the bathroom Schwartz couldn’t find his companions and became concerned. Plath later told police there had See Manslaughter, 15A
Lead levels too high in Eagan air, EPA reports Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says Gopher Resource is addressing emissions by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Submitted photo
The Heart of the City is lit for the holidays every year, thanks to the fundraising work of Ed Delmoro, longtime Burnsville resident and vice president of winter lighting for the nonprofit Burnsville Community Foundation.
One-man committee gets Heart of the City all lit up
The amount of lead in the air around Gopher Resource LLC, a recycling plant in Eagan, is too high, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA this week named Eagan one of 16 areas nationwide that is out of compliance with air quality standards for lead. A roughly 4.5-square-mile area around Gopher Resource did not meet the agency’s new standards, set in 2008, which lowered the acceptable amount of lead per cubic meter of air
Survey says: Eagan residents pretty darn happy with city High marks place Eagan among top suburban communities in metro area
by John Gessner
City decked out,� said Delmoro,a THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS Burnsville resident since 1982. “What I like is that it’s seen as a After a dozen years as Burnscommunity thing. I have over 60 ville’s one-man committee to raise sponsors that are not in the Heart of funds for holiday lighting in the the City — they’re businesses down Heart of the City, Ed Delmoro still on (County Road) 42 or elsewhere in greets each season like a child waitthe city, which tells me that it really ing to pounce on Christmas mornEd Delmoro is a city event.� ing. A retired vice president of sales for “Every year I’m like a little kid,� said Delmoro, 76. “Every year I get excit- Soo Line Railroad, Delmoro was serving ed again: ‘It’s time to get the lights going on Burnsville’s Heart of the City Steering Committee in 1998 when the holiday lightagain.’ � Delmoro’s work will brighten the Heart ing program was born. The citizen group secured donated lights of the City again beginning Nov. 24, the night before Thanksgiving, when tree lights from Target and decorated a large pine tree and decorative snowflakes are switched on at the Nicollet Avenue entrance to Civic during an annual holiday lighting ceremo- Center Park. The following year Delmoro expanded ny. Between the snowflake sponsorships and his sights to the newly streetscaped Burnscontributions for tree lights, Delmoro said ville Parkway. At the time, there was still he raises about $37,000 as vice president of an empty gas station and an empty Kmart winter lighting for the nonprofit Burnsville store on land in the Heart of the City that has since been redeveloped, Delmoro said. Community Foundation. “We’ve pretty much got the Heart of the See Delarmo, 16A
VIP Events gets another year in Burnsville by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A Burnsville nightclub and events center drew approving remarks from city officials and was granted another year in business Nov. 16. Super Mercado Olmeca Inc. won City Council approval of a planned unit development change to continue operating its VIP Events center as an interim use through Nov. 18, 2011. Redevelopment of the aging shopping mall could follow that. VIP Events is adjacent to the Super Mercado Olmeca food market and restaurant in the Valley Ridge Shopping Center south of Burnsville Parkway and west of County Road 5. Originally approved in May 2009, the events center was granted only a six-month extension this May because of previous concerns about noise General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
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and nuisances affecting surrounding neighborhoods. One neighbor spoke against the application at a Nov. 8 hearing before the Planning Commission. Nora Somers, 13701 Susan Lane, “questioned the types of events being held at the center,� said a city staff report. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval. The council gave its unanimous approval Nov. 16. “This particular year we have had no significant issues down there,� Police Chief Bob Hawkins said, calling owner Alex Luebbert and his staff good partners in preventing problems. VIP Events hosts teen and adult functions, including salsa dancing and Latin artists, officiated fighting tournaments and beauty contests. Hawkins said there have been 96 police calls to VIP Events in the past year, 54 of
which were walk-throughs or other visits initiated by police themselves. Of the 96 calls, 21 generated incident reports or prompted police response, Hawkins said. Luebbert typically has 16 security staffers for events, and up to 35 for the biggest events, Hawkins said. “We haven’t had any major issues,� he said, encouraging residents to call if there are nuisances. Council Member Dan Kealey said he took his daughter to a teen “foam party� there and was impressed by the security. “Nothing was going to go wrong there,� he said. Luebbert wasn’t granted his request to extend closing time on Thursdays and Sundays to 2 a.m. A discordant note was sounded by Minneapolis resident Vance Trendor, who told council members his agreement See VIP, 16A
from 1.5 to 0.15 micrograms. The area was out of compliance over a three-year period, from 2007 to 2009, during which levels as high as 0.70 were recorded. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Gopher Resource has been in compliance with federal standards for the past year due to emission reduction measures it implemented after 2008. And computer modeling, which is used to predict areas of high lead concentration, shows that all residential areas within Eagan continue to meet See Lead, 15A
by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Eagan once again scored high marks from residents on its community survey, so high they prompted the research company that conducted it to call the city the “jewel of the south metro.� “There isn’t a shred of bad news in this survey,� said Dr. Bill Morris, president of Decision Resources. The independent firm conducted a random survey this fall of 400 Eagan residents from every precinct in the city. Morris presented the results to the City Council at its Nov. 16 meeting. Ninety-five percent of residents polled rated the quality of life in Eagan as excellent or good, and 91 percent said they think Eagan is headed in the right direction, “the highest percentage that we have currently� for that question, Morris said. Eighty-two percent said they think
the value of city services is excellent or good, and the city’s police and fire services got the highest ratings in the metro area with 98 percent and 96 percent, respectively. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they couldn’t identify a serious issue facing the city. Of those that could, 19 percent said taxes are the biggest issue. Most other suburban communities in the metro area see about 30 to 35 percent of residents naming taxes as the most serious issue, Morris said. And in a year when voters showed a particular dissatisfaction with incumbents, Eagan residents seem remarkably pleased with the job their local officials are doing. Ninety-one percent said they approve of the job the City Council is doSee Residents, 15A
Facebook fans select name for zoo’s dolphin calf
Photo submitted
Facebook fans of the Minnesota Zoo have selected “Taijah� as the name for the zoo’s female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin calf born July 17 to mom Allie and dad Semo. Taijah, described as “spunky, inquisitive, bold and sassy� by zoo officials, made her public debut to zoo guests on Oct. 19. She is now about 60 pounds, 4 feet long, and very curious about her surroundings. A total of 1,833 votes were submitted on Facebook for the final name. “Taijah� received 687 votes, “Marais� received 637 votes, and “Sealie� received 509 votes.
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