Author: Jim Bayer

Eden Prairie residents are stepping up to help newly settled Afghan refugees in Minnesota – including some right here in Eden Prairie. A donation drive to provide Afghan refugees with coats, boots, hats, gloves and warm clothing is Saturday, Dec. 4 from noon to 3 p.m. at Pax Christi Catholic Community, 12100 Pioneer Trail in Eden Prairie. Nearly 300 Afghan refugees have been resettled in Minnesota since August, according to the International Institute of Minnesota (IIMN). Some of them have found themselves in Eden Prairie and need assistance establishing a household and preparing for winter weather. Eden Prairie’s chapter of…

COVID-19 rates in Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and Eden Prairie Schools continue to increase, based on recent county and school data. Eden Prairie’s case rate per 10,000 residents was at 72.8 as of the two-week period ending Nov. 22. That is up from 67.6 the previous two-week period and from 56.2 at the beginning of October. Hennepin County and cities surrounding Eden Prairie have seen similar increases (see chart below), according to the Hennepin County COVID-19 Dashboard. Eden Prairie Schools reported a total of 120 positive cases in the two-week period ending Dec. 3. That included 59 in Pre-K through 5th grade, 44 in…

Some Eden Prairie residents answering a knock on their door recently got a bit of a surprise. Instead of Amazon, UPS or FedEx, it was an Eden Prairie police officer – delivering their mail. The department recently recovered bags of mail that had been stolen from mailboxes and returned as much as they could, according to Kari Knoll, City of Eden Prairie senior communications coordinator. Knoll said there hasn’t been a dramatic increase in mail thefts recently, but it typically picks up this time of year. As do thefts of packages delivered on doorsteps. Knoll had these tips for homeowners:…

Officials continue to monitor increasing cases of COVID-19 being reported in Eden Prairie schools but call case rates in the district “relatively stable.” Meanwhile, students age 5 and over are now eligible for vaccines and booster shots are available to many, but Minnesota continues to struggle with some of the highest positive case rates in the country. One year after returning all students to distance learning based on skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in 2020, Eden Prairie Schools reports 68 students and 15 staff members as COVID-19 positive over the two-week period ending Nov. 19. Over the same two-week period in 2020,…

Eden Prairie police are asking for help from the community to identify a suspect in the Oct. 14 robbery of an Eden Prairie bank. Police responded to a report of a robbery at BMO Harris Bank, 11455 Viking Drive, at 2:50 p.m. that day. Employees reported that the male suspect entered the bank wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses. The suspect handed a note to a teller demanding cash, a police Facebook post reports. There were no injuries and no weapon was used. The suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect is described as a Black male,…

Eden Prairie School Board member Debjyoti “DD” Dwivedy has announced a temporary absence from his board duties due to an active-duty mission with the U.S. Army Reserve. Dwivedy said the deployment will force him to miss meetings in person through Dec. 31, 2021. He said he would watch meeting recordings to stay in touch. Dwivedy is a first lieutenant in the Army Reserve. He did not indicate the location of the deployment. Board Chairman Adam Seidel released the complete version of Dwivedy’s letter, addressed to Eden Prairie residents and parents. The following is that letter: Thank you very much for…

Five candidates are on the ballot for a special election to fill two open Eden Prairie School Board seats on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Polls are open until 8 p.m. The candidates are Steve Bartz, Albert Born, Michelle Mattison, Francesca Pagan-Umar and Darryl Stanton. Click on the candidates’ names to see profiles of each of them. An Eden Prairie school district official reported that early in-person voting before Nov. 2 went well. Many residents participated this week with direct balloting. The district won’t have a final tally until the results are released by Hennepin County tonight. After the polls close, election results can be found at https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/election-results/ or www.edenpr.org. Polling…

Dell Road will be closed beginning Monday, Nov. 1, between Wiedman Way and Hackberry Court, for five to seven days to repair a private pipeline, according to an announcement from the city. Local residents will continue to have access to the area, the city said. For a map of general traffic rerouting, see the city’s announcement here. The affected area is just south of Pioneer Trail in southwest Eden Prairie.

COVID-19 mitigation efforts outlined in the Eden Prairie Schools’ Safe Learning Plan will remain unchanged for now, Superintendent Josh Swanson told the school board at its Oct. 25 meeting. The Safe Learning Plan requires students from Pre-K through 6th grade to wear face coverings indoors. Teachers are required to wear face coverings when they cannot maintain at least six feet of social distancing — unless they are fully vaccinated and removing a face covering “supports educational outcomes.” It recommends that all other staff and students wear masks indoors, but it is not required. The plan also says that “the best way to…

Five candidates are on the ballot for a special election to fill two open school board seats Nov. 2. Polls are open on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. In-person absentee voting ends at 5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 1. Absentee voting is at the Administrative Services Center, 8100 School Road. The candidates are: Steve Bartz, Albert Born, Michelle Mattison, Francesca Pagan-Umar and Darryl Stanton. Click on the candidates’ names to see profiles of each of them. Polling places Five polling places will be used in Eden Prairie and Bloomington for the special election, including four that combine precincts. Immanuel Lutheran Church, 16515 Luther Way…