Author: EPLN Staff Reports

School children in need of weekend food, households in need of bedroom furniture, and families facing a housing crisis are among the residents being helped by the Eden Prairie Community Foundation and its donor-advised fund holders in its latest round of local grants. All told, the Foundation and its generous, philanthropic fund holders are allocating more than $64,000 to 17 organizations that applied for 2022 grants from the Foundation. The grant checks awarded in February are part of the Foundation’s annual grant cycle. Twenty-two nonprofits serving Eden Prairie residents made dollar requests totaling more than $97,000 for 2022 projects addressing…

An Eden Prairie man is charged with racially-biased assault following a Feb. 16 incident that began in front of the Eden Prairie Costco store and ended a mile away when the man rammed another car, according to a complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court. David Christian Schmeisser, 51, is charged with fourth-degree assault, motivated by bias, after confronting another Costco customer, identified as “PQN,” as they were both exiting the store, making racist comments, and eventually ramming PQN’s car. The police complaint described the incident: “Defendant cut in front of PQN, with his vehicle and would not move,” and…

The 2022 Minnesota FoodShare Fundraising Campaign starts this week, and PROP Food Shelf is working hard to take advantage of its matching program. According to a PROP news release, this campaign is the only annual statewide effort where a portion of every dollar given and every pound of food donated is matched. For more on the FoodShare campaign, click here. PROP is committed to a robust campaign as one of more than 300 food shelves eligible to receive a pro-rated share of the matching funds, the release states. All food shelf donations will be matched through April 10. “The cost…

The Shutterfly/Lifetouch campus in Eden Prairie has been purchased by Tempus Realty Partners for $23.4 million, it was announced Feb. 23. Tempus Realty Partners, based in Little Rock, Ark., acquires and develops commercial real estate in the Midwest, South, and Southeast regions of the United States. Tempus and Shutterfly were recently granted approval by the Eden Prairie City Council to demolish the western-most portion of their building along Viking Drive, north of Interstate Hwy. 494, in a move that company representatives said would help extend Shutterfly’s presence in Eden Prairie for the long term. In addition to being headquarters for…

Let’s Go Fishing-Eden Prairie (LGF-EP) is holding its annual fish fry fundraiser from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie. The event will be drive-thru featuring fried fish, hush puppies, baked beans, coleslaw, cookies, and bottled water for $17. LFG-EP has provided fishing excursions on Lake Riley for almost 30,000 seniors, veterans, hospice patients, youth, and families since its founding in 2012. The fish fry is LGF-EP’s largest fundraiser of the year. Immanuel Lutheran Church is located at 16515 Luther Way, Eden Prairie. For more information or to donate, visit the organization’s website.

In response to a winter storm warning in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, Eden Prairie has declared a snow event effective Feb. 22-23. According to the city, a snow emergency will go into effect as soon as snow accumulation reaches 2 inches. Once that snow emergency begins, people should not park their vehicles on city streets until noon Wednesday, Feb. 23.  Plows will begin a curb-to-curb cleanup beginning at 3 a.m. Feb. 23. For more information, click here. In addition, Eden Prairie Schools will dismiss students two hours earlier today. Morning and afternoon preschool sections are canceled. Afternoon and evening…

A vehicle led police on a high-speed chase from Eden Prairie into Minneapolis shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Troopers attempted to stop the vehicle for speeding near Interstate 494 and Highway 5. The vehicle did not stop and was pursued across the metro area. The driver fled on foot in Minneapolis and was eventually arrested. According to the State Patrol, the driver is suspected of being involved in multiple shootings and is being held at Hennepin County Jail on numerous charges. The traffic stop occurred during the State Patrol’s Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) effort. Since Valentine’s…

Both Eden Prairie High School varsity hockey teams recently lost to their counterparts in Minnetonka. The Eden Prairie boys’ hockey team lost 5-1 on Thursday, Feb. 17, at Minnetonka High School. The team plays its last regular-season game at Buffalo today at 3 p.m. The Section 2AA quarterfinals start next week. The Eden Prairie girls’ hockey team lost 7-0 on Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the Section 2AA semifinals game at the Braemar Ice Arena in Edina. The loss ended the team’s season.

Eden Prairie-based C.H. Robinson is teaming up with a company that began as the Google self-driving car project in 2009 to explore the use of autonomous trucks. The partnership is between C.H. Robinson, one of the world’s largest logistics platforms and a leader in the transportation industry, and Waymo Via, the trucking and local delivery unit of Waymo, the California-based autonomous driving technology company. According to a Feb. 16 announcement, the two will initially focus on pilot projects. That entails Waymo Via’s test fleet of autonomous trucks (with a safety driver) hauling and delivering C.H. Robinson’s customer freight between Dallas and Houston.  Both…

PROP’s popular fundraising event, Empty Bowls, returns for its 10th year on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Being held virtually again this year, Empty Bowls will raise awareness and seek financial support help all next week for PROP to fulfill its mission of combatting hunger and food insecurity in Eden Prairie and Chanhassen. “Every month, over 1,000 individuals seek the assistance of PROP to help ensure they and their families have enough food to eat,” said Jenifer Loon, PROP’s executive director. “When our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet, PROP is there, offering hope and the support they need. PROP has…