A Day of Baseball
Bar-B-Q Days Medallion Tucked Away
Page 4
BPHS Grad to be Gophers’ Starting Heavyweight Page 12
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THIRD YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, JULY 2, 2014
Reaching Head High by the Fourth of July Orin Kruschke said he experienced some storm-related erosion damage on his ranch in Blakeley Township but that his corn is “doing great,” as evident from this photo taken on Monday. He said his land is on the sandier side, which in wet years like this is a benefit. Many other area farmers are not as fortunate as corn in some fields is struggling to make it to even knee high on the Fourth of July, which decades ago was the norm but not so good nowadays.
Road Repairs Has Counties Looking to Federal Government Two weeks after areas roads were inundated with rain, floods and mud, counties are looking to the federal government for help paying for the cleanup and repairs. In Scott County, floodwaters still cover Highway 101 between downtown Shakopee and Chanhassen/County Road 61. High water is also keeping Minnesota River crossings in Jordan (County Road 9) and Chaska (Highway 41) closed. The submerged roads leaves Highway 25 in Belle Plaine and Highway 169 in Shakopee as the county’s lone river crossings. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) installed a temporary trafficcontrol light at the intersection
“No one has an extra $3-$6 million set aside to rebuild roads.”
backed up for several blocks. In Blakeley, Scott County is looking for money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help pay for flood- and storm-related damage. FEMA officials began reviewing storm damage across southern Minnesota this week. In Scott County, County Road 6 (Union Trail/the Blakeley Mitch Rasmussen, road) between Blakeley and Scott County Belle Plaine, and county roads Highway engineer 1 and 60 between Blakeley and Highway 169 were damaged severely by the June 19 storm of Main Street and Highway 25 that dumped almost eight inchin Belle Plaine Thursday (June es of rain on already-saturated 26) to facilitate moving traffic ground. through Belle Plaine. Before the light was installed, the fourRoad Repairs way stop sign at Main Street (continued on page 6) and Highway 25 had traffic
by Dan Ruud A city project that’s been in the works for months is coming to fruition and Belle Plaine High School student Wyatt Herrmann is about to complete a big step toward becoming an Eagle Scout. Wyatt, a member of Belle Plaine Boy Scouts Troop 324, has overseen the building of more than a half-dozen target frames that will be placed at the soon-to-be Belle Plaine Public Archery Range, which will be located on about two acres of county-owned land on County Road 6 (Blakeley road) just beyond Belle Plaine city limits. It’s expected to open later this month. The son of Dan Herrmann and Ann Herrmann, Wyatt, 15, has been involved in scouting since the first grade. “My parents signed me up for it and I just stuck with it. It’s
Local Scout
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Richard and Suzanne Burmeister stood on the road in front of their longtime home in the center of Blakeley Village on Monday as cleanup efforts continue.
Blakeley on Road to Recovery by Dan Ruud Restoring normalcy to the village of Blakeley and the surrounding hillsides and roads is still a long ways off but each day progress is being made in that direction. Some of the dozen-plus individuals and families evacuated due to flooding and mudslides have returned as power has been restored and road and erosion cleanup continues on a daily basis. Even though they were able to “tend to some things” at their home of 43 years in the center
of the village on Monday, Dick and Suzanne Burmeister will not be able to move back until telephone service is restored. Dick recently suffered a stroke and is on a heart monitor, and he and Suzanne are not comfortable with moving back at this time. They’ve been staying with nearby family until they can return to Blakeley fulltime. The Burmeisters said their home has been flooded a number of times over the decades but this was the first time they “had to move out.”
Dick said he’s pleased with the progress that’s been made in Blakeley the past 10 days or so, adding that, “I think the county and construction outfit are doing a fine job (clearing the roads and stabilizing things).” The Burmeisters and other residents of the village and surrounding countryside expressed big relief when the heavy rains that were in the forecast this past weekend did not fully materialize. Although some rain
Blakeley
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Business is Booming at RES B.P.’s Vanasek Enjoying Busy Time of Year at Area Pyrotechnics Firm
Edward Vanasek still enjoys a good fireworks show, regardless of whether the company he’s partially owns is producing it or not. Fireworks, whether they burst close to the ground or hundreds of feet into the sky, he said, is just something that gets into your blood and stays there. Vanasek, a Belle Plaine resident, is one of three owners of RES Specialty Pyrotechnics, a fireworks firm located just south of Union Hill in Le Sueur County’s Derrynane Township. The other owners include Steve Coman, the company’s chief executive officer, and Kent Orwoll. Being part owner – even one in so-called semi-retirement, he said – doesn’t afford Vanasek, a 70-year-old former accountant much downtime this time of year. This week, RES will enjoy 20 percent of its business for 2014. Its staff and technicians will produce approximately 60 fireworks shows in between July 3-8. Vanasek spent Monday driving to Northfield to pick up a truck. Later in the day, he was driving a truck to another site. Meanwhile, crews at the small company have been working feverishly. The staff not only loads vehicles with the tubes and equipment needed to produce a show, but also manufacturing pyrotechnics for presentations in communities large and small. For most of the year, RES employs about 20 people full- and part-time. This time of year, Belle Plaine’s Edward Vanasek, one of the owners of RES Spewith the Independence Day cialty Pyrotechnics, displayed harmless examples of some of Belle Plaine Boy Scout Wyatt Herrmann, 15, has been the key holiday and summer communi- the fireworks the company makes and will shoot into the heavplayer in the planning and construction of the target frames ens at the shows it presents during the Independence Day holiRES for the archery range that will open later this month in Belle day and throughout the year. The company is located south of (continued on page 2) Plaine. Belle Plaine, not far from Union Hill in Le Sueur County.
Local Scout Making Targets With Sights Set on Eagle Badge Project Will Wrap Up With Opening of Public Archery Range
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