Volleyball Tigers Fall One Step Short of State
Girls’ Cross Country Team Runs at State Page 13
Page 13
“Bye Bye Birdie” Opens Soon Page 2
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, NOVEMBER 9, 2016
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 45
B.P. Club Hosts Veterans Day Dinner, Speaker Friday
After going 22 years without a section championship, members of the BPHS football team admired their second such trophy in two years following Friday night’s championship game against Jordan in Rockford.
Football Tigers Going Back to State Will Take on St. Croix Lutheran 3 p.m. Saturday in Lakeville
by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine High School football team punched its ticket to the state tournament for the second year in a row by knocking out rival Jordan 34-21 in Friday night’s Section 2AAA championship game at Rockford High School. Even though the game was played nearly an hour away from both communities, the Tigers and Hubmen had a big and vocal fan base at the game, which was played on the Rockford Rockets’ new and pristine artificial turf, much like Jordan recently installed at its complex. Jordan, which was the tournament’s No. 4 seed, beat No. 1 seed Providence Academy
in the semifinals the previous Saturday. It opened the tournament with a 44-15 rout at home against No. 5 seed Rockford on Oct. 25. Since losing to Belle Plaine 41-24 to fall to 0-3 back on Sept. 16, the Hubmen had won six of their last seven games. The Tigers, who made their first state tournament appearance in 22 years last season with a 9-2 record, will enter this Saturday’s tilt against St. Croix Lutheran with the same mark, the only losses coming against Waseca and Class 4A powerhouse Marshall. Saturday’s kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Lakeville North High School. Although St. Croix Lutheran will bring a 10-0 record with it to Lakeville, the Crusaders have played a far different schedule than most other teams in the state Class 3A tourney this year. Their victories have all come against teams from the
immediate metro area, including Providence Academy, which St. Croix Lutheran beat earlier this year by just 10 points (3424). Providence Academy went on to become the No. 1 seed for the Section 2AAA Tournament before its 21-7 loss to Jordan. In the Section 4AAA tournament, St. Croix Lutheran defeated St. Paul Como Park 44-14 and Minneapolis Henry 34-7. “We are really excited about the challenge of playing St. Croix Lutheran,” said Tigers coach Justin Johnston. “They have been a good program for a long time in the state. They run a veer option attack, which we are familiar with because of playing Tri-City United and St. Peter, who run similar offenses. The kids know we need our best week of practice and I expect we will be ready to go
The Belle Plaine Vets Club is hosting its annual Vets Day dinner Friday evening (Nov. 11) at the Vets Club in downtown Belle Plaine. The event includes dinner (chicken or beef). A former military police officer who served the United States Army for 25 years will be the guest speaker. The event will include introduction of Belle Plaine VFW, American Legion, Auxiliary and Sons of American Legion officers. The guest speaker is Lt. Col. David Thompson (U.S. Army, retired), the police chief in Howard Lake, Minn. He served in the U.S. Army from 1988 through 2013. He began his career in the infantry and completed Army Ranger training. His presentation will include information about the history of Veterans Day and how it is different, but often associated with Memorial Day, a day to remember the fallen, Thompson said. “Veterans Day is about honor-
catered by Chef Craig at 7 p.m. Tickets are $11 in advance, $12 at the door. People can RSVP through today (Nov. 9) to 8734583, 873-4135 or (952) 8469700. The Belle Plaine Vets Club is located at 221 Meridian Street N. in downtown Belle Plaine.
Program Set for Friday Morning at Oak Crest
Friday morning (Nov. 11, 9:15 a.m.), a Veterans Day program will be held at Oak Crest Elementary School. ing those who served,” he said. Thompson plans to tell some stories about the soldiers he served with and how a person’s attitude and effort can make up for shortcomings. The Veterans Day event is open to anyone in the community and begins with a 6 p.m. social hour followed by dinner
Vets Club Update
The inaugural fund-raiser for the Vets Club last month raised about $13,700 after expenses. Revised plans call for improvements to both restrooms at the Vets Club, said Kris Otto, a member of the auxiliary. If the two restrooms are completed before available funding is exhausted, improvements in the kitchen or elsewhere in the club may be contemplated.
Back to State
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The First Couple The first two people in line to vote at Belle Plaine City Hall Tuesday morning were wife and husband Deborah Wernau-Smith and Ron Smith. They said they arrived at 6:30 a.m., which was early enough to make them first. Minutes later, however, the line began to lengthen, and by the time the polls opened at 7 a.m., dozens of people were in line. Less than 20 minutes later, most of the early-to-rise voters made their marks and were on their way to work or home. As of noon Tuesday, over 1,200 people had cast their ballot with eight hours to go. For last night’s local and area election results, visit the Herald’s Facebook and Twitter (@bpherald) pages.
Council Okays Purchase of Device to Analyze Cellular Phones Locally A Mini Downtown Park in the Making Workers from the Belle Plaine Public Works Department, at the park board’s request, are constructing a small park on the city-owned property next to the library, which is being reserved for future expansion of the library. There will be a small concrete area with four benches for sitting and an 8-by-8-foot chess board. Public works is supplying the labor for the landscape work, including the concrete. Public Works Superintendent Al Fahey recently sought and received the council’s permission to do the project for a not to exceed amount of $7,500, which will come from the city’s park dedication fund.
Highway 19 East of Henderson to Reopen by Nov. 12 Highway 19 east of Henderson is expected to open by Nov. 12. The Highway 19 bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad will be completed and the detour removed if all goes as planned, according the officials at the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Traffic has been detoured to 75 years. Highways 93 and 169 since For statewide travel informaMay 2. tion, visit www.511mn.org. Zenith Tech, Incorporated of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded the bridge project with a bid of $5,241,732. The new structure should be in place for the next
by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine Police Department received unanimous approval from the city council Monday night to purchase a device that will make it possible for local police investigators to review and retrieve data from cellular telephones. Police Chief Tom Stolee reported that the department recently received a grant towards the purchase of a “Secure View Mobile Field Command Forensic Testing” component, the total cost of which is $12,390. The grant reduces the city’s cost to $4,999. “The Mobile Field Command Forensic Testing component will allow the police department to forensically analyze cellular telephones that are relevant to ongoing investigations,” Stolee reported. “Currently, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department
is the only agency in the area to possess the ability to review and retrieve data from cellular devises that the Belle Plaine Police Department would need to have forensically analyzed. “It prolongs this portion of our investigation due to the delay in processing by another agency,” continued Stolee, adding that the device “will allow for better efficiency and more thorough investigations in a timely manner.” Stolee said funds are available in the department’s forfeiture fund (seized assets from drugand alcohol-related offenses) to cover the city’s share of the cost. In other business Monday night, City Engineer Joe Duncan reported that municipal water and sanitary sewer utility work at West Commerce Drive in conjunction with the
Ridgeview Medical Center/ Lutheran Home project has been completed, and that modifications to West Commerce Drive in association with the project will be completed later this month. The modifications include a westbound turn lane and a median cut to provide full access to the development. *Unanimously authorized staff to advertise for candidates for the city’s planning and zoning commission and design committee. There is one seat expiring on the planning commission (Ashton Pankonin) and two seats on the design committee (Rick Krant and Kathy Joerg). All three of the above positions are for four-year terms. Applications will be forwarded to the council in January for in-
Council
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