Scott West Gets No. 2 Seed for Section Tourney
B.P. Man Who Fired at Police Bought Gun Illegally Page 4
Belle Plaine Boys’ Hoops Team Wins Two Games Page 15
Page 14
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, FEBRUARY 11, 2015
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 7
Broken Water Pipe Sends Cardinal Ridge Residents Scampering into Cold, Homeless
Resident: ‘There Was Water Coming Down Like a Damn Waterfall’ SnoFest Week Belle Plaine High School is observing its annual SnoFest with various activities this week, culminating Valentine’s night (Saturday) with a dance at the Oak Crest Elementary School gym. The ice rink across the street from the high school was the setting of this year’s SnoFest royalty photo, the identities of whom were announced Monday. This year’s SnoFest royalty are front row, from left, Amelia Kahle, Alesia Hastings, Autumn Crimmins, Kala Schmidt and Courtney Fogarty. In the back are Robert Nowak, Adam Glisczinski, Ben Wagner, Nick Johnson and Matthew Ludvik.
Couple’s Courtship, Marriage Started With a Dinner Order, Bet A Valentine’s Day Love Story
He remembers the day he laid eyes on the woman of his dreams. Michael Rademacher bet his cousin and a friend he would not leave the restaurant that night without the waitress’s phone number and the chance to ask her out on a date. Fourteen-plus years later, the Belle Plaine couple still enjoys the idea that there was a spark when they first met. But like many married couples, their lives are intertwined with their kids. With Valentine’s Day on Saturday., they have no grand plans for Saturday. Lisa and Michael will spend the day with their daughters, selling Girl Scout cookies and ice fishing. Lisa is a leader of a Belle Plaine Girl Scout troop. Naturally, her husband is a staunch supporter. “We plan to be on the lakes Lisa and Mike Rademacher of Belle Plaine met in November (ice fishing) around the area of 1999 at a restaurant in Cologne. She was the waitress and he was a customer, immediately enchanted with her. He asked Couple’s Courtship her out later that evening. Today, they are married with three (continued on page 16) children.
A portion of a 2 inch water sprinkler pipe above the third floor ceiling at Cardinal Ridge Apartments failed Friday afternoon (Feb. 6), sending thousands of gallons of water cascading down walls, filling light fixtures, saturating carpets and 36 residents scurrying out into the cold. The water reportedly damaged “about half” of the building’s 35 units, said Paul Gregor, one of the owners of Bessler Management, the firm that owns and operates Cardinal Ridge. Residents reported hearing
Broken Water Pipe (continued on page 8)
Walls, ceilings and carpeting in about half of Cardinal Ridge’s 35 units were saturated after a 2-inch sprinkler pipe above the third floor apartments failed Friday afternoon. The break released thousands of gallons of water flowing from the third floor down to the ground level. Firefighters found standing water in the first floor main hallway.
School Board Taking Theater, Fine Arts Ideas to Bigger Stage It’s a discussion Belle Plaine School Board members typically have after the successful completion of a fall play, where standing-room-only audiences trigger talks on the desire for a bigger, better theater facility. Monday (Feb. 9) during the school board workshop, community members Warren Wolf and Jerry Meyer approached the school board to discuss the feasibility of the school district expanding its current Performing Arts Center, affectionately known as the Black Box Theater. The two men stressed they were not representing any organization, but instead are two proud BPHS alums – Meyer,
1957 and Wolf, ’55 – who want to see the school and community enjoy the kind of school facilities they believe Belle Plaine deserves. Their idea is a facility that could be used by fine arts groups in the school and community like, a place with 500 to 600 seats, a la Jordan and Le Sueur-Henderson high schools. It would be a place the school district’s growing choral music and band programs could enjoy acoustics better designed for music rather than the cheering of the hometown volleyball or hoops fans, a facility where audience members would sit in padded chairs without fearing
the onset of bleacher butt. Wolf recalled attending band and choir concerts in the school’s gymnasiums where the near-capacity audiences leave with “nothing but positive comments.” Superintendent Kelly Smith noted Belle Plaine has the luxury of an accomplished fine arts program, one where a fall play draws capacity crowds to five shows and a one-act play draws a SRO crowd. “You go to most schools and people don’t even know they have a one-act play,”
School Board
(continued on page 6)
The staff at the new Belle Plaine Eyecare Center includes, from left, optician Laurin Hartmann, receptionist Jenifer Moseman and Dr. Zachary Dirks, the latter of whom lives just north of St. Peter. Hartmann and Moseman are both from Belle Plaine.
Belle Plaine Eyecare Center Opens
(From left) Scott Ahlbrecht, Jacob Sellnow of Belle Plaine, Jon O’Brien and Chris Ahlbrecht will lead a wood duck house building seminar and session Saturday (Feb. 14) at Ahlbrecht A new eyecare center, the second in a couple of months in Masonry Shop (371 Ervin Industrial Blvd.) in Jordan. Belle Plaine, has opened on the north side of Highway 169. Belle Plaine Eyecare Center is located in the business center at 168 Commerce Drive East, which is across the street from They want youth to appreciate This Saturday (Feb. 14, 10 Veterans Park. Wood Duck Building wood ducks and waterfowl and a.m. to 1 p.m.), Jacob SellDescribed as a comprehensive (continued on page 3) give the birds a helping hand. now of Belle Plaine and Jon eyecare facility, Belle Plaine Once again this year, four area O’Brien, Scott and Chris AhlEyecare Canter has both ophmen and area businesses are brecht, all of Jordan, will lead thalmologists and optometrists hosting a wood duck building the seminar and construction at on staff, providing services seminar. ranging from routine eyecare
B.P. and Jordan Men Hosting Wood Duck Building Project
for the entire family to emergency eyecare to surgical and LASIK consultations. There’s also a wide selection of glasses and contacts to choose from. Dr. Zachary Dirks is joined in the Belle Plaine office by optician Laurin Hartmann and receptionist Jenifer Moseman, both of whom are from Belle Plaine. Dr. Dirks has been in practice for eight years, including at St. Peter Eyecare Center, where he
still sees patients. His father, Dr. Blake Dirks, started St. Peter Eyecare Center over 25 years ago. Belle Plaine Eyecare Center’s hours of operation are Monday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. Saturday appointments are also available. Belle Plaine Eyecare Center can be reached at 952-8735554. You can also visit www. bpeyecare.com for more information.