Author: Jim Bayer

Depending on who you ask, Eden Prairie has, more or less, 60 different neighborhoods. They have names such as Autumn Terrace, Bittersweet, Raspberry Hill, Edenwood, Topview and Gordon, Heritage Pines and Westgate. Then there’s Cedar Ridge Estates. Located in the west central portion of Eden Prairie, nestled between Pioneer Trail and Cedar Ridge Elementary School, in a landscape of mature shade and pine trees, 1980s-vintage two-story Tudor-style homes, and the occasional front yard pole flying the American flag. Three streets in the neighborhood – Rogers Road, McGuffey Road and Douglas Drive – connect to create a “U.” But the connection goes…

Jordan Markie walked swiftly through the south doors of the Eden Prairie Scheels store just after 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22. At the same moment, a young girl is seen walking at her father’s side as they approach the exit, each carrying merchandise bags. Less than 10 minutes later, father and daughter presumably are on their way home and Markie, 19, of Edina, is dead after shooting himself in an aisle on the store’s second floor. The Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) on Nov. 11 released its report on the Aug. 22 incident at the Eden Prairie Center store…

No charges will be filed, and the case is closed in the Aug. 22 suicide at Scheels that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old man and a lockdown of the Eden Prairie Center, according to a statement released Monday by the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD). The police report of the investigation compiled by the department is contained in a massive 42 GB online file. The inclusion of photos and video surveillance footage explain the file’s size, according to an EPPD spokesperson. EPLN is in the process of downloading the file to review the report details. Police had previously…

Charlie Alleman had made an important decision. He was on his way to his late shift at a glass company in Shakopee. He had decided to put in his two-week notice that night. Charlie had been bullied there and, with encouragement from his sister and mother, he was ready to be done. It was 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, 2022. He drove westbound on Highway 101 in Shakopee in the red 2014 Volkswagen Golf that his mother had given him earlier that day. As he approached the intersection with Valley Park Drive, Charlie probably saw the headlights coming toward him…

Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) is celebrating its first two years of publication and the distribution of its first Eden Prairie Voter Guide. You are invited to celebrate with us at EPLN’s annual meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at the Star Bank Community Room, 250 Prairie Center Drive. The Eden Prairie 2022 Voter Guide was mailed to all 26,000 Eden Prairie households the first week of this month. It offers candidates running in all local races the opportunity to speak directly to Eden Prairie voters. We hope that you have spent some time reviewing the Voter Guide and…

Using information obtained from the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) through a public data request, EPLN has independently learned and confirmed the identity of the Aug. 22 suicide victim at Scheels. He was Jordan L. Markie, 19, of Edina. EPLN confirmed his identity through social media posts and by contacting family members. Despite several attempts over the more than five-week period since the incident at the Eden Prairie Center mall, EPLN has been unable to obtain the victim’s name from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office or information about an ongoing investigation into the incident by EPPD. The medical examiner’s office and EPPD…

A Minneapolis woman is the second person charged in the fentanyl overdose of a 2-year-old at an Eden Prairie apartment complex. Samiya Shalaun Hammonds, 26, is charged with felony child endangerment stemming from an April 18 incident at the apartment on Anderson Lakes Parkway. The second suspect, Lamondre Calvin Reece, 25, of St. Paul, was charged in August with endangering a child in a situation that could cause harm or death. According to the criminal complaint: Eden Prairie police responded April 18 to an apartment complex on Anderson Lakes Parkway on a report of an unresponsive child. Officers found Reece and…

With some metro school districts reporting significant issues finding teachers for the fast-approaching school year, Eden Prairie Schools finds itself in a much better position, according to the district’s human resources director. Teacher shortages were a problem before the pandemic hit in early 2020, especially for substitute teachers and in some subjects. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are over a half million fewer teachers in American schools than before the pandemic. Eden Prairie hasn’t felt that squeeze. “We haven’t been impacted as significantly by the staffing shortage that maybe you’re hearing about on the national news,” said Tom…

Eden Prairie Police say there is no danger to the public and that the scene has been secured following a lockdown and an apparent suicide in the Scheels store at Eden Prairie Center mall Monday night. Police said they responded to a report of gunfire in Scheels and found a dead adult male in the store, according to an EPPD Twitter post at 8:36 p.m. Police later stated that the man died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. No other injuries were reported, and the dead man’s identity was not released. Police said further information would be forthcoming. After the…