Ex-teacher’s aide sentenced
Lakers edge Sabers in finals
Michelle Chlan gets 90 days for sex with Shakopee student
For second-straight year, wrestlers denied trip to state
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
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REDISTRICTING PLAN
New clout for largest cities in Scott County BY SHAKOPEE FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
Prior Lake, Savage and Shakopee each gain their own House district in the redistricting decision released Tuesday by a Minnesota Supreme Court panel. Prior Lake and most of Shakopee, which currently share a state representative, will now be split from each other, although the cities will continue to share a Senate district. Most of Shakopee is now paired with Louisville and Jackson townships in a House district called 55A. These rural Shakopee townships were formerly combined with a Carver County legislative district.
Prior Lake will now be paired instead with Jordan in House District 55B, which also contains the far southern chunk of Shakopee, in addition to St. Lawrence, Sand Creek, Spring Lake and Credit River townships. Savage, in which all but one precinct formerly shared a Senate district with northern Scott County and the House district with Jordan, is now part of a Senate District 56 that includes Burnsville. “From my quick take, it couldn’t be better for our communities,” said Senate District 35 DFL chair Bruce Barron of Savage, who believes the new districts contain natural constituencies. “If politics is really lo-
cal, it gives people that run for office really the ability to focus on their neighbors.” Elko New Market, which also previously shared a Senate district with northern Scott County, is now thrown in with the rest of the southern Scott County strip (bordered on the north by County Road 8) in new Senate District 20, which also contains Le Sueur and Rice counties. The new lines split Scott County in fewer parts. Before, the county was represented by six state representatives, although only two had House districts solely in the county, and four state sena-
New House districts in Scott County 55A 55B 56A remainder of district
Jackson
Shakopee Savage
(rest in Burnsville) 20A remainder of district (rest in Le Sueur County)
Louisville
Sand Creek
Jordan St. Lawrence
Prior Lake
Spring Lake
Credit River
Belle Plaine Blakeley
Belle Plaine Belle Plaine
Helena
Cedar Lake
Elko New Market
New Prague
Redistricting to page A7 ®
New Market
Source: Minnesota Supreme Court
Graphic by Traci Zellmann
Crooks reflects Longtime tribal council member ready for vacation BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com PHOTOS BY KRISTIN HOLTZ / REPRINTS AT PHOTOS.SHAKOPEENEWS.COM
Sweeney Elementary Minnesota Reading Corps volunteer Mari Miyagi works with Sweeney fi rst-grader Myles Dillon-Parks on developing sound awareness by identifying words with the same ending. It’s an important skill for reading fluency, said the fulltime literacy tutor.
Reading by third grade AmeriCorps program giving Shakopee kids a reading boost BY KRISTIN HOLTZ kholtz@swpub.com
Sweeney Elementary first-grader Myles Dillon-Parks taps his chin as he considers each option: hawk, look, nest. His task: Decide which words have the same end sound. It might sound simple enough to a fluent fourth-grade reader, but it’s a building block for developing sound awareness. T wo S h a ko p e e e l e m e nt a r y schools are tapping into the Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) as way to give their struggling readers a little extra boost on their way to literacy. This is the first year Shakopee has a participated in the AmeriCorps tutoring program, which aims at getting all students reading fluently by grade three. Today, nearly one in four Minnesota third-
graders does not read at grade level, said Anna Peters, MRC recruitment and outreach manager. Sweeney and Eagle Creek Elementary each have a full-time MRC tutor who works one-on-one with kindergarten- through thirdgraders to improve their speed, fluency and comprehension. Unlike programs aimed at the most struggling students, MRC targets “bubble kids” who fall just below reading proficiency, said Eagle Creek’s MRC tutor Colleen Callahan. They tend to be students who do not qualify for special education or Title I services but would benefit from one-on-one help. “We’re finding those are the kiddos that need just a little nudge,” said Sweeney Literacy Coordinator Stephanie Blad.
Reading to page A11 ®
P
erhaps it’s fitting that the candy jar, popular with tribal employees, was among the last to go as Glynn Crooks packed up his office last month at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community’s government center. Despite leading one of the most successful tribes in the nation, Crooks doesn’t seem to have changed all that much from when he graduated from Shakopee High School in 1969, the same year the tribe was formally recognized. At that time, jobs were scarce for young men, and life on the reservation was a struggle. Outgoing and personal, Crooks was known as the kind of boss who attended the funeral of an employee’s parent and played music over the intercom on afternoons when the tribal chairman, his cousin Stanley, happened to be away. “Country music is my favorite,” he said. Although second-in-command during his 16 years as vice chairman, Crooks was certainly the most visible of the tribe’s business council in public. Trained in Native American regalia, Crooks was often front-andcenter in traditional attire at local and national events, as well the face of the tribe at everything from donation photos to local government meetings to dinners at the White House. Crooks, who left office in January, doubled as the tribe’s 20-
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON DAKOTA COMMUNITY
Crooks has been to the White House several times and has a replica of the Oval Office in his home. year powwow chairman, a role he continues. He follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Amos Crooks, the tribe’s first vice chairman. Both his parents were Dakota dancers. “It was important for me to carry on the traditions I learned,” he said. Like his dad, who served in World War II and in Korea, Crooks also spent time in the military. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school, serving as a “yeoman,” an administrative clerk, during the Vietnam War. He served aboard five U.S. Navy ships, the first being the USS New Jersey battleship — highlight of his six-year Naval career. A room of military memorabilia is on display at his museum-like
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house, which he opens to visitors at Christmas and Presidents Day. “Honoring our veterans is important to me,” he said. Crooks also collects Native American artifacts and has an exact replica of the Oval Office. “Every Christmas I decorate my house and the Oval Office is the hit of everyone’s visit,” he said. Crooks has always been fascinated by history and the U.S. presidency. He has met President Barack Obama more than once and was honored to represent the tribe in regalia at the lying in state of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
Crooks to page A11 ®
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