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Rosemount’s Shamrock Film Festival offers three days of screenings and film events Oct. 7-9. See Thisweekend Page 7A
NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville OCTOBER 1, 2010
VOLUME 31, NO. 31
www.thisweeklive.com
Public Notices/4A
Opinion/5A
Puzzle Page/8A
Announcements/9A
Classifieds/10A
Sports/14A
Collaboration could benefit south-metro cities
by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
For at least the past decade, urban studies theorists such as Richard Florida have illustrated how a modern metropolitan area, for all intents and purposes, functions as a single municipal entity. While this is true to some extent in the MinneapolisSt. Paul metro, cities or pockets generally operate in much more of a Balkanized fashion, even with the Metropolitan Council and other cross-border relationships
Itasca Project’s regional development entity a move toward a united marketing front for the entire metro area at play. The Itasca Project, a cadre of representatives from the business community, asserts this lack of unified marketing has cost the Twin Cities metro area economic opportunities as businesses choose other ar-
Inmate charged in alleged plot to murder county attorney, judge Conspiracy to murder, assault charges brought in Rice County by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
A convicted felon has been charged with contracting for the murders of Dakota County Attorney James B a c k s t ro m and Judge Rex Stacey and the assault of a John witness who Woodward testified against him. John Stephen Woodward, 47, who is formerly of Inver Grove Heights but is now serving almost eight years in a Faribault prison on methamphetamine charges, allegedly tried to pay another inmate $10,000 to murder Backstrom and Stacey, who presided over Woodward’s 2007 drug conviction. Woodward, Backstrom’s former neighbor, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit firstdegree assault, according to a Rice County complaint filed Sept. 29. Prosecutors allege that Woodward hired Thomas Ray Jackson to murder
Backstrom in December, on the day Jackson was scheduled to be released from prison, and had his wife give an attorney $2,500 as a down payment. Initially, Jackson allegedly told the attorney the money was for a truck, but eventually reported the murder-for-hire scheme after he determined Woodward’s intentions were real. The county says it has videotape evidence of Woodward giving Jackson a map to Backstrom’s residence and details about his normal route to work. The plot allegedly was hatched during jailhouse conversations between Jackson and Woodward, who described his previous relationship with Backstrom as “best buddies.” According to the complaint, Woodward allegedly told Jackson how he could do it, giving him the route, location of the hit and instructions to shoot through Backstrom’s vehicle window. Jackson turned the information over to investigators. Investigators allegedly later recorded conversations between Woodward See Plot, 4A
eas whose cities act in closer concert. “The Twin Cities region is not on anyone’s radar,” said Skip Nienhaus, economic development coordinator for Burnsville. He added that whenever national site selectors do ac-
Students given formative math assessments as a proactive strategy by Kara Hildreth THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Jason Berg looks at all learning through a math lens. As the District 192 math specialist, it is Berg’s job to support math instruction in all of Farmington’s eight schools from kindergarten through high school. “My charge is to provide support in any which way I can,” said Berg. As a former Farmington High School math teacher who was consumed with lessons on algebra, geometry and calculus, Berg is now able to share his enthusiasm for math since becoming the district math specialist a year ago. As the head girls’ basketball coach, Berg can combine his experience teaching math with his coaching abilities to cheer on teachers who teach math at every level. “When we talk about technology or staff development, or we talk about different initiatives, I can speak to it from a mathematical perspective,” Berg said. In the past year, the
By law, board has to pass preliminary levy, but Nov. 2 referendum will likely change tax numbers THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The Lakeville school district’s Board of Directors approved the district’s preliminary 2011 tax levy at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 28. After the unanimous vote, the preliminary tax levy calls for a $1.36 million, or 4.3 percent decrease, to the 2011 tax levy. But district officials acknowledge the numbers mean little at this point. The reason, according
to Mark Klett, the district’s director of business services, is the unique position the district is in this year. There is a $3 million, voter-approved tax levy coming off the books next year, but while it’s expiring, and can’t be included in the preliminary 2011 levy, vot-
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Burnsville, whose mayor Elizabeth Kautz is part of Itasca’s job growth task force, seeks to kick in the required $25,000. Minneapolis, for comparison purposes, has dues in the $150,000 range. Another area city looking to be-
District 192 math specialist sees learning through math lens
Lakeville’s school board approves preliminary levy by Derrick Williams
tually visit the metro area, “they are incredibly impressed. In many cases, we get on their radar because of the visit.” Membership dues for cities participating in this unified marketing effort are based on population.
come a part of the entity is Rosemount, whose city council witnessed a presentation last week by Kathy Schmidlkofer, an executive at General Mills who is spearheading the effort. City Administrator Dwight Johnson sees potential for Rosemount achieving positive returns on a possible $10,000 membership investment. The cost of not having a national marketing presence is too much, he said. “It puts us at a disadvanSee Collaboration, 9A
ers will have a chance on the Nov. 2 ballot to reauthorize it. The measure was originally approved by voters in 2003 to fund operating Lakeville South High School. Also on the ballot are two other referendums asking for levy dollars. If the renewal levy is reapproved, or the other two questions are passed, the preliminary levy passed by the board will be moot. See Lakeville, 6A
Photo by Kara Hildreth
Jason Berg, Farmington District 192 math specialist (right), talks math with Katie Buelo, a math specialist at Boeckman Middle School. Finishing up a year as the district math coach, Berg said, “We want to make sure we are all on the same page, while we still leave room for individual teachers at each grade level to figure out the best way to deliver math curriculum to their students.” math specialist position has been evolving, Berg said. In the past, it was the duty of building principals to make sure math standards were being taught at each grade level, Berg said. Working closely with the district curriculum department and the data and accountability staff, Berg said, “We also work together with the literacy specialists and the technol-
ogy specialists.” One challenge Berg has taken on is to prepare teachers for a change in state standardized tests. “One of the biggest changes is taking place with the math standards,” Berg said. The MCA II tests are based on standards from 2002, but math instruction is also adopting the new math standards from 2007, Berg said.
“What it has caused us to do is some juggling and making sure we are covering all our bases,” Berg said. Last year, increased efforts were focused on elementary math instruction to make sure teachers had enough support, Berg said. This school year, increased math support is being put toward the middle schools because this will be See Specialist, 6A
Farmington’s school tax levy to decrease in 2011 District’s $1.3 million levy decrease could result
in $34 tax savings for owners of $250,000 home by Kara Hildreth THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The Farmington School Board adopted a preliminary 2011 tax levy of $19.6 million, which is a $1.3 million decrease from last year’s $20.9 million tax levy. As a result, the average residential property, which the district estimates at $250,000, could see a $34 decrease in the school portion of their property taxes, according to Jeff Priess, the district finance director. A commercial or indus-
trial property valued at $350,000 could see a $60 decrease, he said. “It is good news how taxes are decreasing because that is the way our levy works, because it is attached to property values,” Priess told the School Board at
its Monday, Sept. 27 meeting. But the bad news is that property values have decreased, he added. The state will also be picking up a larger chunk of the districts’s overall funding, Priess said. That’s because the taxable market rates in Farmington have decreased more than 6.6 percent as a result of the shaky economy. All told, Farmington’s property values on commercial, farm and residential See 192, 3A