Saturday, May 19, 2012
Students involved in putting on the mock crash May 18 talk about the experience and the impact they hope it has.
For Wayzata High School seniors Mitch Heflin and Anvita Singh, drinking and driving or distracted driving is more than just something on the news. It's something they want to make sure their peers are keenly aware of. With the help of local law enforcement, the school and several other organizations, students got a taste of what it's like to be on the scene of a teen drunken driving accident. The mock crash drill took place at the school's football stadium at 1 p.m. May 18 the day before prom. Agencies involved in this exercise included: students and staff with Wayzata Public Schools, Plymouth Public Safety, the Plymouth Fire Department, Hennepin County Communications, North Memorial Medical Services, Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s …
45.04349
-93.507399
Wayzata High School
4955 Peony Ln N, Plymouth, MN
/articles/video-wayzata-h-s-mock-crash-evokes-emotions
1758349
/locations/7055935
Thursday, May 17, 2012
County Board Chair Mike Opat delivered the 2012 address today in Plymouth.
Hennepin County Board Chair Mike Opat gave the State of the County address today at the Plymouth Creek Center in Plymouth. The TwinWest Chamber of Commerce hosted the event. A State of the County address hasn't been given since 2009. The reason? "There have been no speeches because given the state of the economy and federal and state budgets there wasn’t much I could say that was interesting enough to warrant an event like this," Opat said. "Like the rest of public-sector America…we have been hunkered down and focused on the basics." During his speech, Opat touched on changes to several areas of the County, that were also highlighted in a county press release: Budget/Finances "The State of Hennepin County is one of flat budgets and …
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-93.468407
Plymouth Creek Center (PCC)
14800 34th Ave N, Plymouth, MN
/articles/state-of-hennepin-county-looks-promising
2067665
/locations/7050196
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The plan was approved by the Senate on Thursday.
With Senate approval coming on Thursday by a 36-30 vote, a new Minnesota Vikings stadium is on its way. After plenty of twists and turns throughout the legislative session, debate intensified this week, as the House and Senate both held several late-night sessions to discuss the bill. All that remains now is a signature from Gov. Mark Dayton, who has been an ardent stadium supporter. Dayton is holding a press conference at 5:45 p.m. today with stadium bill authors, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and team owner Zygi Wilf, and Dayton could sign the bill then. The new stadium will cost roughly $975 million, with the team slated to pay a little less than half. The state will pay about $348 million by expanding gambling. The city of Minneapolis …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Hopkins officials say Excelsior, Minnetonka and Wayzata worry about the staff time involved.
Local leaders originally envisioned the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program as a partnership of six west metro communities helping members of the Minnesota National Guard and their families. But Hopkins officials worry some of the communities have been scared off by unwarranted fears about the demands it would place on city staff. The west metro group was supposed to be made up of Edina, Excelsior, Hopkins, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park and Wayzata. Edina has already passed a resolution supporting the initiative, and Hopkins expects to pass its resolution next week. But Hopkins City Manager Mike Mornson told council members Tuesday that Excelsior and Wayzata aren’t sure they want to participate. Meanwhile, Hopkins council members viewed …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Erik Paulsen is up for re-election this November and represents most of the communities that ring Lake Minnetonka.
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Wednesday, April 25
by U.S. Congressman Erik Paulsen I spent last week in Washington, but was able to meet with neighbors and small business owners during one-on-one meetings, business tours, a “Congress on Your Corner” and a Telephone Town hall event the week prior. The underlying concern for Minnesotans I spoke with was how important it is to continue to push for pro-growth initiatives to restart our nation’s economic engine in order to get out-of-work Minnesotans off the sidelines and back to work. This week, I’m happy to report, the House of Representatives took another step forward in helping small businesses expand, grow and hire, with the passage of the Small Businesses Tax Cut Act. Here is the latest on that bill as well as an update from our nation…
Monday, April 23, 2012
Residents expressed a mixture of support for and opposition to site plans.
Excelsior residents are voicing both excitement and grievances regarding a development plan that would potentially bring a grocery store and other businesses to town. Paul Tucci from Minnetonka-based Oppidan presented development plans for the now vacant Mason Motors property on Water Street, between Oak and George Streets, to the Excelsior City Council last week. The site plan includes an addition to the Mason Motors building, a second building for businesses and parking. Bill Mason, owner of the former Mason Motors, told the council about the excitement surrounding the possibility of a grocery store coming to Excelsior. Many council members, however, had concerns about traffic and the orientation of the building that would house the …
Saturday, April 21, 2012
What do you think about Congressman Paulsen's postions on taxes and health care? Tell us in the comments section below!
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Saturday, April 21
Information and media provided by Congressman Erik Paulsen. In this week's installment of "Erik's Correspondence Corner" video series, Representative Erik Paulsen (MN-03) directly responds to a question sent in from Scott in Wayzata and Lynda in Coon Rapids. Scott, a small business owner, wrote in expressing his concerns about the tremendous burden the current tax code has placed on his ability to grow, expand, and hire. Also this week, Rep. Paulsen heard from Lynda, who called in voice her concern about the change in the President's new healthcare law which forces consumers who use Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Healthcare Savings Account (HSA) to get a doctor's prescription when purchasing over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Congressman Erik Paulsen represents most Lake Minnetonka communities in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congressman Erik Paulsen delivers remarks on the need for systematic reforms to the current tax code. Information and media courtesy of Erik Paulsen
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Hennepin County estimates the measure would have cost an extra $550,000 countywide during the 2008 election.
Voter ID would require more election judges, additional training and new equipment that would result in hundreds of thousands in new election costs for Hennepin County and cities within its boundaries, according to county estimates. The costliest piece for the county would be provisional ballots for those who do not have photo identification on election day. Costs would include special equipment, additional staff time to process the votes and reminder notices for those who used provisional ballots, which would be counted only if the voter later supplied proof of identity. “This means that after a very long election cycle we’re going to be remaining in this intense world for a little bit longer,” said Rachel Smith, the county’s election …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
A local eighth grader placed first in the 2012 Plymouth Human Rights Committee's annual middle school essay contest.
The right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are at the heart of the winning essay for the 2012 Plymouth Human Rights Committee's annual middle school essay contest. Wayzata Central Middle School eighth grader Nikhil Deshpande earned the top honors essay contest with her essay that looks at those rights that she has in her life, but may not be present in other children's lives in other parts of the world. (See the full essay with this article.) The city's winning essay will advance to the statewide competition, sponsored by the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions. Deshpande will receive a cash prize of $75 and will compete for a first place prize of $500 in the state competition. This year’s essay contest asked entrants to…
45.01831
-93.47401
Plymouth City Hall
3400 Plymouth Blvd, Minneapolis, MN
/articles/human-rights-essay-contest-winner-announced
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/locations/6765613
Mike Carlier
10:28 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Vikings are already great. Can you remember the last time they lost a playoff game? Me neither;) more ›