Author: Stuart Sudak

Juli Olson has a message for the person who stole a 6-month-old dilute calico foster kitten named Pencil Case from PetSmart in Eden Prairie on Sunday afternoon. “We would just like to get our kitten back,” said Olson, adoption manager for Ruff Start Rescue, the non-profit organization that rescued Pencil Case. “Is it about the adoption fee — NO. We are always willing to work with a loving family that can’t pay an adoption fee. It is not OK to steal a kitten. Please return her so she can be reunited with her sister and her foster family. No questions asked.…

A makeshift theater was set up in the parlor of the historic Cummins-Phipps-Grill house earlier this month by the Eden Prairie Historical Society. People sat quietly in folding chairs, their eyes focused on the small screen playing the short horror movie “The Doll.” On a dark and still night outside, the movie’s ominous music seemed like a perfect soundtrack for the setting both on- and off-screen. After all, the movie about a young girl named Violet who finds a doll in the woods and unknowingly makes a deal with a demon when she brings it home was filmed in the…

Nancy Tyra-Lukens, chair of the Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) board of directors, spoke last week to about 75 students in three Advanced Placement U.S. Government classes taught by Brian Sibley at Eden Prairie High School. The former Eden Prairie mayor told the students about the 2022 EPLN Voter Guide, which was mailed to all 26,000 city households earlier this month. She brought copies of the 24-page guide that provides information on all candidates running for local races in the Nov. 8 election. (To view the online version of the voter guide, go to the EPLN  website.) Tyra-Lukens stressed the…

Grace Church Eden Prairie announced a major growth and renovation project earlier this month. According to a press release, the project aims to expand educational opportunities for children ages 5 and under with the non-denominational church’s Grace Beginnings early learning and childcare program. It will also benefit other ministries and programs by adding a new student center, classrooms, and multi-use spaces to the church at 9301 Eden Prairie Road. The targeted renovation completion time is currently slated for the fall 2024 school year. One of the church’s priorities, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Troy Dobbs, is to make efforts to…

Roy Terwilliger describes Eden Prairie as a community of builders. He said that’s how it was 48 years ago when he came to town, and that’s how it is today. Terwilliger prefaced his point by reciting a poem by memory. It can be found online under a few different titles, though “The Wreckers” seems to be its original name. The Wreckers I watched them tearing a building down, A gang of men in a busy town. With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell, They swung a beam and a sidewall fell. I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled, As the…

The Eden Prairie Police and Public Works departments are hosting a catalytic converter theft deterrent marking event from 2 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at the city’s maintenance facility, 15150 Technology Drive. According to a posting on the city website, the event is free for Eden Prairie residents who own one of the top 15 most targeted vehicles for catalytic converter theft. Those 15 are the Chevrolet Express, Ford Econoline, Ford F250, Honda Accord, Honda CRV, Honda Element, Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Mitsubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Prius, and Toyota Tundra. For a chance…

The six local legislative candidates shared their positions on many other topics, too, including climate change and if they would consider voting to legalize sports betting and marijuana in the state. Democratic state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski is running against Republican Marla Helseth for the 49th district seat. Democratic state Rep. Laurie Pryor is running against Republican Ryan Chase for the 49A seat, and Democratic Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn is running against Republican Thomas Knecht for the 49B seat. At times during the two-hour forum, the Republicans and Democrats did agree. For instance, they all supported removing the Social Security tax for…

Six candidates vying to represent Eden Prairie and part of Minnetonka in the Minnesota State Legislature pitched their views and themselves to voters earlier this month. The six did so during the two-hour Senate District 49 and House Districts 49A and 49B candidate forum. Hosted by the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Hopkins, it took place Sept. 7 at Eden Prairie City Center. Candidates gave opening and closing remarks and answered questions submitted in advance by the public. Topics discussed included public safety, inflation, education, gun regulations, and abortion. Democratic state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, in office…

Two of the 48 people charged Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Feeding Our Future food fraud investigation are from Eden Prairie. In a Sept. 20 story, the Sahan Journal compiled the names of the people listed in six separate indictments (charging documents) and three criminal informations, another form of charging document, for their alleged roles in a $250 million scheme to defraud federal child nutrition programs. While announcing the charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery, federal prosecutors called the scheme the country’s largest case of COVID-19 pandemic fraud. Outlined in the charging documents, according to…

After nearly two growing seasons, Eden Prairie High School senior Calista Swensen’s garden is still thriving in what seems like an improbable setting. Tucked away on the side of a large industrial building at 7550 Corporate Way in Eden Prairie is the People’s Patchwork Community Garden, which Swensen began in April 2021. Her father owns one of the businesses housed there. During a visit to the garden last month, Swensen describes it as her “little oasis in industrial Eden Prairie.” Botany, she added, is a big interest of hers. “I find it very relaxing to be out here with the bugs…