From the page to the stage: Chameleon Theatre presents its New Play Festival. See Thisweekend Page 16A.
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville SEPTEMBER 2, 2011 VOLUME 32, NO. 27
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
www.thisweeklive.com
Messages/2A
Opinion/4A
Sports/8A
Classifieds/10A
Eager to enter the eighth grade
Announcements/13A
Public Notices/14A
Five Lakeville teens arrested for hate crimes, damages Slurs such as ‘white power’ were spray-painted on a car, other property by suspects tracked down by police by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Laura Adelmann
Tyra Jaramillo (left), Erin Lunz, Pieper Walton and Heidi Lambrecht are all smiles anticipating Tuesday’s start of the new school year, as announced on the Robert Boeckman Middle School sign in Farmington. As Yearbook Committee members, the eighth-graders also plan to be busily documenting it. Parent Martha Jaramillo said she is looking forward to school starting “so the kids have something to do and are tired at night.”
The Lakeville Police Department arrested five Lakeville teens last week for a series of racist vandalism acts they allegedly perpetrated on an African-American woman and her family. After a few incidents, police were able to track down the teens, all of whom confessed to their involvement in the crimes. “We will pursue charges to the fullest extent of law,” Police Chief Tom Vonhof said. Because they involve juveniles, the cases will be sent to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.
‘Bias crimes’ At about 1 a.m. on Aug. 18, Vonhof said, police re-
ceived a call that there was racist graffiti and damage to a vehicle at a Lakeville townhome. There were no witnesses and police did not see any suspects. According to KARE 11, the graffiti on the car, the garage door and the walls inside the garage said “white power.” The woman, named Tanesha, told KARE 11 she moved in May to Lakeville from north Minneapolis to seek a better environment for her eight children. Her neighbors have been welcoming, she told the television station. To help her kids become acclimated with Lakeville she changed her hours at a medical device company. A few nights after the Aug. 18 incident, Tanesha called police again. She
reported that a vehicle drove by the house slowly with its passengers yelling racial obscenities at her. She did not get a license number, but she did offer a rough description of the vehicle: It was a dark-colored minivan. Lakeville police officers, who, Vonhof said, pursue crimes like this intensely, were able to locate the minivan within 24 hours. “They thought that because of the nature of the crime, (the vehicle) must be relatively close by,” Vonhof said. “Obviously, in this type of crime we really went after this.” When the officers tracked down each of the five teens, all of them confessed to their involveSee Teens, 7A
Yellow Ribbon adds McKnight takes reins of familiar territory Farmington city budget one of McKnight’s top priorities clout to Heritage Center project by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Facility will be central location for veterans organization’s services by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
As the plans for the Heritage Center became more concrete last spring, it appeared that the participating parties would be the Senior Center and the Lakeville Area Historical Society. During these discussions, though, a parallel dialogue was taking place among members of the Lakeville Yellow Ribbon organization. “We were looking for a central spot to run some programs,” said Lindy Kes, who was among the original members of the group. The Yellow Ribbon organization entered talks with the other two parties and the new partnership was born. Yellow Ribbon offered to sponsor the commercial kitchen for the new Heritage Center, which will occupy space on Holyoke Avenue, across from City Hall, that used to serve as Lakeville’s police station. The estimated contribution is about $27,000, which Kes said the group can raise now that the City Council voted last month to officially approve the project. Tom Hilla, who was active duty in the Navy from 2001-2009, is also part of Yellow Ribbon. He sees his organization’s participation as the essential third peg, combining three organizations that all relate to each other in beneficial ways. Some of the programming Yellow Ribbon wants to provide, such as helping veterans reenter civilian life and access services available to See Heritage Center, 7A
As far as anyone at City Hall can recall, David McKnight is Farmington’s first homegrown city administrator, a role he was just getting used to during his first day on the job Monday, Aug. 29. His first actions included meetings with administrative staff and organizing his desk. “I got in at eight, and we did normal first-day stuff,” McKnight said. But, McKnight is already mindful of the important work ahead. His priority projects this week are to become familiar with the city’s budget details and to prepare information packets for the Farmington City Council’s Sept. 6 meeting. In the next few weeks, he plans to discuss with Farmington City Council members their goals for the 2012 budget, then determine how staff can provide what is needed to meet those goals. Recently, council members discussed passing a budget that includes a debt-reduction plan. The plan would raise property taxes eight times in the next 12 years, using the funds to reduce, then eliminate, $38.3 million of debt over the next few decades. The plan
Photo by Laura Adelmann
David McKnight, Farmington’s new city administrator, began work in his office on Monday. transforms the way it provides funding and budgets for city projects. Eventually, the city would be able to pay project costs upfront instead of issuing bonds and paying multiple thousands more in interest. McKnight, a former Farm-
A sign of the times by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Owning a home and holding a good job that pays well enough to afford it all are among the cornerstones of the American Dream. But what happens when a person loses those? The home, the one that was to bring equity and house a family, enters foreclosure. The job, the source of income behind all of this, dissipates into the ethers of recession.
Lakeville man cites unemployment, foreclosure in child abandonment that led to his arrest in California
turbing case,” said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, “the likes of which we simply haven’t seen before.” Backstrom said his office has dealt with parents under stress and a threat to their children, “but it is rare for someone to pack up and leave the state like this.” Unemployed architect Cross, in a letter to his son, cited this dissolution of the American
Dream as the motive behind his decision to leave his son. According to court reports, the letter to his son read: “If this paper is wet it’s because I am crying so bad. You know your dad loves you more than anything. This economy got (illegible) there are no jobs for architects so I have to go because the sheriff (sic) will take the house July 27. “There will be no more for me. Some good news is your mother is alive. Though I do
Services We Offer: 9/2•2707813R•F
General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
Sometimes the obliteration of a certain way of life can push people to extremes of desperation, as apparently was the case with Steven Alexander Cross, 60, of Lakeville, who was Steven arrested Monday after- Cross noon in Cambria, Calif., on charges that he abandoned his 11-year-old son with a neighbor in Lakeville and fled town. “This is an unusual and dis-
ington City Council member, said he plans to learn more about the plan, but added that debt reduction is “always good.” “The council has to come to a decision on how to do it,” McKnight said. City Council members are
considering the debt reduction plan as part of its 2012 budget process and have not passed it yet, although a majority of council members have indicated preliminary support for the plan during budget workshops. Other priorities on his schedule this week were to meet staff working in locations outside of City Hall, such as police officers and maintenance workers, and to begin establishing relationships with business members, school district officials and city residents. McKnight, a lifelong citizen of Farmington and Farmington High School graduate, already has many relationships and contacts in the city. In June, when he was unanimously selected as the next city administrator by the council, McKnight’s local connections and his heart for his hometown were some of the qualities that set him apart from other applicants. McKnight’s extensive experience was likewise an important factor in the decision. During an interview, McKnight expressed his eagerness to work in the city where he grew up; at the time, he was the administrator of Mendota Heights, a position he had held since November 2009. See McKnight, 15A
• Complete Driveway Removal and Replacement • New Construction • Patching • Overlays • Paver Sidewalks and Driveway Prep.
FORMERLY JOHNSON’S RICHFIELD BLACKTOP
Larry Werner, editor and general manager of Thisweek, shares some thoughts on crime coverage in a column on Page 4A. not think it is for the best. Give these letters to (the neighbor). Do not open them. I hope they get to give you a chance. There are many great years ahead for you. Not so for me.” See Times,14A
$200 OFF FREE Estimates Credit Cards Accepted
John Johnson Owner
john@johnsonsblacktopdriveway.com &
!""'! !
$
Lic. #L30350516 • Bonded & Insured
www.johnsonsblacktopdriveway.com • 952-890-8668