Caponi Art Park goes medieval.
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 VOLUME 32, NO. 29
See Thisweekend Page 12A.
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/4A
Sports/5A
Public Notices/6A
Real Estate/7A
Announcements/8A
Classifieds/9A
City will seek proposals for last remaining parcel of AAA land Clock is ticking on development incentive for site by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Jessica Harper
Five illegal immigrants were found living in the basement of a home on the 1400 block of Highview Avenue in Eagan. The owner, Joo Ok Kim, was sentenced on Sept. 7 for haboring and concealing illegal aliens.
Eagan man sentenced for harboring illegal aliens Men lived in basement, forced to work without pay by Jessica Harper THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Though slavery was banned in the United States more than a century ago, forced servitude still finds its way into our communities. And Eagan is no exception. Five men, illegally in the United States from Mexico, spent months living in a basement with no heat, no kitchen and meager amounts of food. They were given only mattresses on the basement floor and the blanket they brought with them for bedding. The men received no pay — except in the beginning — for work they did for the Eagan homeowner, Joo OK
Kim. Kim was sentenced Sept. 7 by U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen to 24 months in prison for harboring and concealing illegal aliens. Police discovered the men on March 28, 2009, while responding to a disturbance call at the 63-year-old’s home. Four of the men were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Kim was indicted that day for what Eagan Police Chief Jim McDonald calls the first known case of slavery in the city. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2010. In his plea agreement, Kim
admitted to keeping five Mexican nationals — who where in the country illegally — in his basement. The men crossed into the United States between 1999 and 2006, and one of them began working for Kim’s siding business in 2005. The others met him in 2008. What began as meager pay — barely enough to buy food — turned into no pay. Kim admitted in his plea to having the men work for his siding business. According to the reports by the Star Tribune, Kim is an immigrant himself from South Korea. Immigration officials say he could lose his See Kim, 6A
Burnsville CEO doing her part to get Americans back to work
Burnsville will pursue a familiar method in trying to sell a piece of city-owned land in the Heart of the City. The city will issue a request for proposals for the property – 1.75 acres at Pillsbury Avenue and Travelers Trail, north of the Performing Arts Center/Heart of the City parking ramp. It’s the last piece of land in what was known as the AAA property.
The city has twice issued RFPs for the 6.24acre AAA site – one of which called on potential buyers to include a performing-arts center component in their development plans. Eventually the city built the center itself, along with the ramp. Those buildings and the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe now occupy most of the AAA land. For three years the city has hung a “For Sale� sign on the re-
maining parcel. But most of the nibbles have come from developers interested in projects that wouldn’t have fit Heart of the City zoning standards, which include a minimum building height, or been warmly received by the City Council. Such projects have included gas stations, stand-alone fast-food restaurants and apartments, according to Skip Nienhaus, the See Land, 6A
Riverfront trail will link Eagan, Burnsville and other destinations by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Burnsville and Eagan are bordered by the Minnesota River but have little in the way of riverfront amenities. That will change with construction of regional trail segments through both cities. The Minnesota River Greenway plan is expected to be approved next month by the Dakota County Board of Commissioners. The $12 million, 17mile trail will follow
the river through Lilydale, Mendota Heights, Mendota, Eagan and Burnsville. It will create a continuous trail connection from Lilydale State Park in St. Paul to Scott County. Burnsville,. whose City Council and parks commission heard an update on the plan at a Sept. 13 work session, will have a unique segment of trail, Dakota County Senior Planner John Mertens said. The city’s river-bottom land includes 1,400 acres of
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. “It will be a unique section of the Minnesota River Greenway in that it’ll be so close to the river,� Mertens said. The city has already received a $1 million federal grant for its trail section, which will run along Black Dog Road Interstate 35W east to Cedar Avenue. The county has agreed to kick in $200,000 for the segment. The city, which will See Trail, 7A
9/11 remembered
Miller’s work on president’s council includes training program for manufacturing machinists by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
After attending President Obama’s jobs speech on Sept. 9 and sitting with some of the biggest honchos in American business, Darlene Miller has some thoughts on the politics and spectacle of it all. But this small-business CEO with a growing reputation is also focused on job-creation efforts that didn’t get splashy headlines. Specifically, Miller is working on developing Right Skills Now, a training program for machinists that she says will become a national model. The program is an outgrowth of Miller’s position as co-chair of the hightech education subcommittee of the President’s Council on Jobs and Com-
petitiveness. As owner and CEO of Permac Industries in Burnsville, a precisionmachined parts manufacturer with 36 employees, Miller brings the voice of small business to the president’s jobs council. And that’s how she wound up in Washington, D.C., for Obama’s Sept. 9 speech to Congress on getting America working again. Miller was seated behind first lady Michelle Obama, alongside business titans Jeffrey Immelt of GE, Kenneth Chenault of America Express, and AOL founder Steve Case. Her February appointment to the council followed a growing list of honors for Miller. She has won national small-business awards from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce See Miller, 7A
File photo by Rick Orndorf
Darlene Miller, owner and CEO of Permac Industries in Burnsville, is pictured in May at a listening session of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, of which Miller is a member. Permac hosted the event, which included an appearance by then-Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Photo by Rick Orndorf
Burnsville firefighters led off Saturday’s Fire Truck Parade at the Burnsville Fire Muster with a re-enactment of New York firefighters raising a flag at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. From left are Tim Finley, Paul Odden and Assistant Fire Chief Dan Hove. The Fire Muster, Burnsville’s annual community celebration, included a 9/11 memorial observance after the Community Parade on Sunday. For more Fire Muster photos, see Page 14A.
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Home break-ins in Savage and Burnsville prompt police alerts by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Savage and Burnsville police are still seeking clues in three similar home break-ins, but the two in Savage and one in Burnsville don’t appear to be related. Each was unnerving, involving nighttime intrusion or attempted intrusion through window screens. Police in both cities have advised residents to keep windows and doors locked. In Savage, the targets were chil-
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the Burnsville intruder and the Savage intruder are the same person, said Savage police Capt. Dave Muelken. The Burnsville incident involved a woman, and was “at least three miles from the location where our two were,� Muelken said. After the incident on Sept. 6, a half dozen Savage police officers went door to door that day, alerting area residents to the break-ins and handing out fliers, Muelken
said. The schools have also been alerted. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and charges. On Aug. 28, a resident reported that a chair had been found under the window of a children’s bedroom and the screen had been removed. Police said there was no evidence anyone had entered the bedroom. On Sept. 6, a girl awoke and saw the silhouette of someone in
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her room, Muelken said. She remained motionless, as if asleep, and the intruder left through the window. The girl told her parents the next morning, Muelken said. That screen had also been removed. “They both had two children in there,� Muelken said of the targeted bedrooms, “but in each case there was a 7-year-old female.� Police haven’t established a motive for the intrusions, Muelken See Break-ins, 6A
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dren’s bedrooms at Hidden Valley Estates, an apartment complex near Hidden Valley Elementary School and Eagle Ridge Junior High School. The complex is on the 4400 block of West 137th Street. The overnight incidents in Savage were on Aug. 28 and Sept. 6. The Burnsville incident, on the 13700 block of Wellington Crescent, was on July 6. Both cities’ police have shared information, and they don’t think
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