Ballet Royale is bringing the work of three local visual artists to life in a Feb. 11 show at the Lakeville Area Arts Center. See Thisweekend Page 10A
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan FEBRUARY 11, 2011 VOLUME 31, NO. 50
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Sports/6A
Classifieds/7A
Valentine’s/11A
Legal Notices/12A
Fire destroys Ansari’s restaurant
New place for lost pets
Early-morning blaze began near heating unit in roof
Now that Humane Society is closed, two other facilities will hold wandering pets, adopt out unclaimed animals
by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Firefighters from five cities helped battle an earlymorning fire at Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge in Eagan Feb. 9, but officials say the restaurant is likely a total loss. The Eagan Fire Department responded to the blaze at about 4:45 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames coming from the rear of the building. Due to the challenges that come with fighting a fire in the freezing cold, crews were also called in from surrounding communities such as Bloomington, Apple Valley and Inver Grove Heights. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but authorities believe it began near a heating unit in the roof above the kitchen. The restaurant’s owners told firefighters they’d had issues with the heating unit in the past, Eagan Fire Chief Mike Scott said. Firefighters struggled with extreme cold temperatures that caused a truck ladder to malfunction and a fire hydrant to freeze. Crews were also slipping and falling frequently on the sheer ice created by water from the hoses. No serious injuries were reported. The flames were extinguished within about two hours, but firefighters were still on scene five hours after the fire began, waiting for backup to relieve cold and
by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Erin Johnson
Crews from five surrounding communities helped Eagan firefighters battle flames and freezing temperatures at Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge on Wednesday morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the restaurant is likely a total loss, officials said.
IN BRIEF This story was originally posted online Wednesday. For more breaking news, go online at www. ThisweekLive.com. weary crews. While the damage has yet to be officially calculated, Scott said the building will likely be a total loss. “I’m standing here in 8 inches of water on the floor,
Club puts sights on Burnsville High School Board approves target shooting as extracurricular by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Students at Burnsville High School have a new club to join this year — target shooting. The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School Board approved on Feb. 3 establishment of the club, which will be directed by the American Legion. “I think this is a great program,� Board Member Sandy Sweep said. “It teaches kids responsibility in owning a gun.� Students will be required to take basic firearm safety to be eligible for the club, said Jeff Marshall, the high school’s inSee Club, 2A
and most of the ceiling is down,� he said from the scene. In addition to fire and water damage, much of the building was coated in ice, as was a limousine parked next to the restaurant. Opened in 2009, Ansari’s is owned by five brothers and overseen by their father, Pasha Ansari, who was the cofounder of the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Eagan. When their uncle Jamal chose to move the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe to
Burnsville, the brothers decided they wanted to remain in Eagan and opened their own restaurant. The building included a 110-year-old bar that was originally in the Leamington Hotel in Minneapolis, which was once a political hot spot and included several presidents among its guests before being torn down in 1992. Ansari’s is located at 1960 Rahn Cliff Court. Erin Johnson is at eagan. thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
Each year, Eagan Animal Control rounds up about 250 lost and wandering pets that don’t have identification. Those pets were previously taken to the Minnesota Valley Humane Society in Burnsville and held until they could be claimed or adopted. Now that the MVHS has closed, two other facilities have stepped up to house the city’s wayward animals. Pilot Knob Animal Hospital in Eagan will be the primary holding location used by Eagan Animal Control. If that facility is full, animals will be taken to American Boarding Kennel in Burnsville. American Boarding Kennel will also be used by Burnsville Animal Control. Eagan pays about $20,000 annually to house captured animals, which are held for five business days. Animals have included everything from dogs and cats to ferrets, rabbits and the occasional bird, said Eagan Animal Control Officer Karen Grimm. Not having identification for a pet can get costly: Owners who claim their pets will pay a $20 impound fee plus a $20 per-day fee. “So it will cost $40 to come and pick up a pet the same day it was brought in,� she said. If the pets are not claimed, the facilities will put them up
Photo by Rick Orndorf
Eagan animal control officers used to bring wandering pets to the Minnesota Valley Humane Society, pictured above, which would hold them for five days and adopt them out if they went unclaimed. That facility closed in December. Now an Eagan vet clinic and a Burnsville boarding facility will take on lost pets. for adoption. Of the 250 pets collected each year, only about 98 end up being claimed, Grimm said. “We did, however, return 116 animals without ever going to the pound. Those were the ones with tags on,� she said. “It’s important to have tags on. They get home a lot easier.� Grimm encourages all dog owners to purchase tags for See Animals, 12A
More charges filed against former Burnsville scoutmaster Stibal allegedly possessed pornographic work involving minors by Tad Johnson
sexual assault victims, who reported the material to police. A 44-year-old former When officers Burnsville scoutmaster who executed a search previously had seven felony warrant at Stibal’s sexual assault charges filed home, Stibal admitted against him was charged on that a video would be Monday with six felony counts Stibal found on the computof possession of pornographic er. Prosecutors later work involving minors. The original charges against determined it was a pornographic Peter Robert Stibal II are two work involving minors. Authorities seized several comcounts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and five counts puters, hard drives, USB storage of second-degree criminal sexual devices and CDs at Stibal’s Burnsconduct. The charges involve al- ville residence on Oct. 15, 2009. On two of the hard drives were leged incidents from 2002 to 2008. The pornographic material al- found approximately 161 images legedly was discovered on Stibal’s and 64 videos of apparent minors, home computer by one of the mostly males, engaged in sexual THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
conduct, according to the criminal complaint. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children examined the material and determined that 38 of the images and 16 videos depicted known minor victims of child pornography. Stibal was arrested in Stearns County on Oct. 19, 2009, and faces trial Feb. 28 in Dakota County. When asked about the sexual assault charges, Stibal previously admitted that he gave some of the boys in his Boy Scout troop back rubs but denied ever sexually assaulting them. Stibal admitted to sometimes being alone with individual Scouts, which he knew was a violation of
Boy Scout policy. Stibal is a Burnsville resident who graduated from Burnsville High School and earned his Eagle Scout award in Troop 650. He was assistant scoutmaster of the troop from 2000 to 2003 and scoutmaster from 2003 until his removal on Oct. 16, 2009, by the Northern Star Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Maximum sentencing for the six new charges is 30 years. Maximum sentencing for the first-degree charges is 60 years and for the second-degree charges is 125 years. Tad Johnson is at thisweek@ecm-inc.com
editor.
Artist’s MAD, MAD world includes parodying his beloved Batman Burnsville caricature, cartoon artist is one of the Usual Gang of Idiots and a leader in his field by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Burnsville cartoonist and caricature artist Tom Richmond persistently elbowed his way into the Usual Gang of Idiots. Richmond was so intent on joining the gang – the self-named cabal of contributing artists and writers for MAD magazine – that he even did some work for the less-than-MAD clone mag CRACKED. He finally landed an assignment to illustrate a twopage MAD spread on “Gadgets that Make Your Home General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
Theater Like Really Going to the Movies� in the October 2000 edition. Richmond went on to contribute to more than 80 editions, his Idiot status now seemingly secured. “If you draw caricatures,� Richmond said, “MAD is like Valhalla. MAD was also famously hard to get into.� What kind of person gets to be an Idiot? In Richmond’s case, it’s a mild-mannered, 40-something family man with a serious case of biceps (thanks to a bodybuilding habit) who’s been spinning whimsy into art since catching
Batman fever as a kid. In May, Richmond will begin a two-year term as president of the National Cartoonists Society. He recently joined TheCartoonistStudio, a Web cooperative (TheCartoonistStudio.com) that a number of prominent cartoonists are using to present their work to the public as their traditional print medium dwindles. He also owns a company, Richmond Illustration Inc., that does caricatures at Valleyfair, Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and the Six Flags amusement parks
Š EC Publications/DC Comics
Burnsville cartoonist Tom Richmond illustrated MAD magazine’s parody of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,� the seventh release in the film franchise. in St. Louis, Mo., and Spring“That’s been sort of a fi- Richmond, who employs up field, Mass. nancial bedrock for me,� said See Artist, 11A
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