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NEWS OPINION PIIN P NIO IIO O SPORTS SP SPO S PO P OR RT T
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville JULY 22, 2011
VOLUME 32, NO. 21
See Thisweekend Page 7A
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Classifieds/8A
Sports/11A
Public Notices/12A
Coupon Connection/14A
Popular city employee Mike Nibbe dies at 45 For 25 years, Nibbe worked at Farmington’s ice arena by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Mike Nibbe, a 25-year Farmington city employee, died Thursday, July 14, after battling terminal cancer for nearly three years. According to his obituary, the 45-year-old sports enthusiast, husband and father of three died peacefully at his Red Wing home. Nibbe was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a particularly aggressive disease, in 2009. For the next two and a half years, Nibbe endured radiation and chemotherapy treatments to shrink large tumors that spread throughout his body. Determined to keep working, Nibbe at first took treatments during his lunch hour. Eventually, he was forced to take time off work for the treatments. Later, he also had to take time off to recover from the exhausting ef-
Mike Nibbe fects of chemotherapy, symptoms he described as a combination of the flu and a hangover. When, earlier this year, Nibbe ran out of paid time off, Farmington city employees together contributed six months of their own accumulated paid time off to Nibbe, the maximum amount allowed. They also organized and contributed to several successful fundraisers
to help cover the family’s mounting medical bills. In a February interview, Nibbe said he considered his colleagues his second family. He fondly remembered shaking hands with many friends and colleagues who packed into the Farmington Eagles Club for a fundraiser. He refused to skip the event and rest, although he’d been hospitalized three times that week and his doctors advised him not to attend. Throughout the treatments, Nibbe worked hard to maintain his wellknown sense of humor. Talking about his ordeal last winter, despite feeling under the weather, he smiled and said, “When you go into the hospital and the doctors know you by name, I think you’ve been there too many times.� In honor of one of Nibbe’s final requests, he See Nibbe, 12A
Photo submitted
Gov. Mark Dayton (center) and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (left) signed spending bills into law Wednesday, July 20. Among those bills was a compromise with the Legislature to reduce cuts to transit funding that would have affected Lakeville’s transit system.
Metro Transit avoids devastating cuts to Lakeville bus service by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Maybe it was the rainforest-like dew point or the prospect of a constituency deprived by the state shutdown of MillerCoors products. At any rate, the Legisla-
ture and the governor came together this past week in a special session and passed a number of bills, including a transportation bill that saves Lakeville from what Metro Transit had expected to be devastating transit cuts.
Last week, Thisweek reported that Metro Transit faced $109 million in funding cuts from the state, which amounted to 20 percent of the organization’s entire budget. This would have meant massive service See Transit, 5A
Lakeville to market itself to businesses City Council voted to pursue initiative with federal funding by Taylor Thomas THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Lakeville is now one step closer to developing a strategy for marketing the city to businesses. Following a presentation by Community and Economic Development Director Dave Olson, the council voted unanimously at its July 18 meeting to approve an agreement with Arnett Muldrow and Associates LTD to prepare an economic development marketing strategy. “One of goals of that was to come up with a business marketing plan and strategy for the city to basically promote itself,� Olson said during a phone in-
terview with Thisweek. “We are being more proactive on the marketing side for business development.� The $30,000 initiative is funded by a federal community development block grant. Last December, the Economic Development Commission recommended pursuit of a marketing firm for the initiative, which the City Council voted to approve. After receiving bids, city staff decided on Arnett. Olson said in his presentation at the meeting that, though the council was not legally obligated to hire the lowest bid for this particular service, Arnett Muld-
row had offered the lowest bid among the field of firms. The firm has worked on similar projects in the past, Olson said, and that after a visit to Lakeville and appointment of a steering committee, the firm would be able to “start fullspeed� by September, and finish its work by October. The firm’s process involves setting up parameters for the marketing approach and meeting stakeholders in the community. Implementation of the plan will occur throughout 2012, Olson said. As Thisweek reported last See Lakeville, 12A
Local businesses provide uplifting services for life’s significant events Pigeon racing, releases can be full-time business endeavor by Laura Adelmann
mail Cooper at clcooper452@gmail.com.) Many people John and Marsha find the symbolism of a Fredrichs’ Lakeville-area white bird, representing company helps people a person’s spirit, soarcelebrate and commemoing up and disappearing rate life’s milestones. from view to be an emoTheir business, Wings tional outlet. of Love, provides white “With funerals, dove releases for wedit’s so powerful. I think dings, funerals and other for people it gives them events. closure,� Marsha FredOn July 22, the comrichs said. pany will provide 50 For weddings, white doves for release at two doves released tothe 6 p.m. opening cergether symbolize joint emony of the all-night ascension toward a new American Cancer Socibeginning and celebraety’s Relay for Life event tion. at Lakeville South High People can have School. Photo by Laura Adelmann the birds released for The event is held to celebrate survivorship Marsha and John Fredrichs hold two white homing pi- them or do it themand raise money for re- geons they own as part of their Lakeville-area white selves with directions from John and Marsha. search and other Ameri- dove release business Wings of Love. Birds used for can Cancer Society proes. Though most want them in grams. memory of someone, it can also the releases are actually homing piFor a $10 donation, people will be in honor (of someone) or even geons, technically part of the rock be able to release a dove during the for some particular reason — like dove family. Pigeons are used because, unlike ceremony. a cure,� said Carla Cooper, the “The doves are for whomever event’s survivor chairwoman. (To ringneck doves, they possess strong or whatever the individual wish- purchase a dove for the event, e- See Services, 6A THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Heat wave hits Farmington Humidity levels soar, affect businesses, plans by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Farmington residents endured unrelenting heat and punishing humidity this week as the Twin Cities’ heat index soared to tripledigits by mid-week. Temperatures were in the 90s and on Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings that extended to 10 p.m. The moist, miserable temperatures have translated into a sunup-to-sundown schedule for Zach Rademacher, owner of Air Way Heating and Cooling in Farmington. “I’ve been in business since 2004, and this is the busiest I’ve ever been,� Rademacher said. “The phone doesn’t stop ringing.� Some calls are from folks who spent years with a broken air conditioner. “Now, they are deciding to fix it,� Rademacher said. While his labor brings customers cool relief, Rademacher is spending most of his time outdoors enduring the blast-oven weather. To cope, he drinks a lot of water and cranks his truck’s air conditioning while traveling to the next call. Some workers don’t have that kind of intermittent break built
into their work. On Tuesday, a 23-year- old male construction worker was taken by ambulance to the Northfield Hospital after fainting from the heat while working on a new house, said Marilyn Walton, administrative supervisor with the Farmington Police Department. Workers at New Horizon Academy, a Farmington preschool, are keenly aware of the dangers such weather conditions pose. To protect them from the excessive heat, children at the preschool are not allowed outside when temperatures are above 90 degrees, said Heather Boehmer, a teacher there. For exercise, she said, they try to get children outdoors early in the day. This week, however, that heatbeating measure didn’t work. “The heat index is already above our guidelines before we can get them up in the morning,� she said, referring to the measurement of how hot it feels outside. The National Weather Service reported an unofficial hourly dew point record of 82 was hit between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the Twin Cities on Tuesday. It was the highest dew point See Heat, 5A
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Photo by Laura Adelmann
Farmington’s public pool has proven a popular place to cool off this week as temperatures and humidity levels soared throughout the Twin Cities.
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