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Children’s book sensation Junie B. comes to Lakeville stage. See Thisweekend Page 10A.
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville DECEMBER 9, 2011
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VOLUME 32, NO. 41
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Lawsuit alleges excessive force by police officers Farmington woman, 61, claims physical, emotional suffering by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The city of Farmington, Police Chief Brian Lindquist and three Farmington police officers have been named in a federal lawsuit that claims the officers used excessive force. The plaintiff, Barbara Menoch, 61, of Farmington, is seeking punitive damages and compensation in excess of $150,000 and reimbursement of attorney fees. According to the federal complaint filed Nov. 22, Farmington police officers Andy Bellows, Matthew Hendrickson and Casandra Johnson “assaulted and battered� Menoch when they entered the Farmington home she was living in on June 17, 2011. Menoch claims she was not informed of the reason the police entered her home, and that they kicked
and struck her “numerous times.� According to her attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, officers were dispatched to Menoch’s house to check on her welfare, after Menoch wrote a text message during a disagreement with family members in which she indicated that if she killed herself everyone would be happy. Shortly after that exchange, Udoibok said officers arrived, repeatedly asking Menoch if she knew why they were there; she kept telling them she didn’t know why they had come to her home. A supplement document completed by Hendrickson states that when he arrived, Bellows and Johnson were on the scene and Menoch was screaming and uncooperative. Udoibok said Menoch kept asking for an explanaSee Force, 11A
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Santa Claus makes his rounds Santa posed for photos with Colin and Devyn Betts of Lakeville at the annual Holiday on Main in downtown Lakeville on Dec. 2. Along with Santa, music from Lakeville North singers, stories with Mrs. Claus, craft and bake sale, and horse cart rides were all apart of the kickoff for the downtown holiday season. For more photos, go online at www.ThisweekLive.com. Photos by Rick Orndorf
Photo by Rick Orndorf
He knows when you’ve been sleeping and he knows when you’re awake, as Santa visits with Noah (from left), Ava, Brenna, and Kyla Vogel of New Prague at Christmas in the Village at Dakota City on the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington on Dec. 3. Many of the buildings had costumed volunteer guides, and were opened and decorated for the holidays. For more photos, go online at www.ThisweekLive.com.
District 194 experiments with high-tech Lakeville South High School pilot program a hit with students
Council votes to outsource electrical inspections Vote lays off current in-house position, starts contract with outside party
by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
There’s a certain bustle of activity in this classroom that far exceeds that of a typical, lecture-based environment. Students with open laptops use Google’s cloudbased Apps program to take a quiz. Lakeville South High School AP chemistry teacher Jason Just, also behind a computer, sees the results instantly. Afterward, students collaborate to figure out complex problems. Just interrupts occasionally to check in on them and to implore the teens to “check your Gmail� accounts for more information, announcements and other classroom materials. So when does he introduce new lessons to this spirited group of students learning college-level material? He records lectures and distributes them as video podcasts, which he said allows students to “attend� his lectures at flexible hours. “It was different at first,� said junior Cash Rodamaker, “but now I think it’s a lot more helpful.� This is called the “reverse classroom,� and it is part of a pilot program that Lakeville School District 194 has initiated as a gateway to a more connected, tech-savvy learning experience that district officials say will better prepare students for the postsecondary and working worlds. In a presentation before
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by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Aaron Vehling
AP chemistry teacher Jason Just checks real-time results of an online quiz his students take via Google Apps as part of a high-tech pilot program at Lakeville South High School. the School Board, Superintendent Lisa Snyder discussed a number of measures that would go into a comprehensive district technology plan, including improving Wifi access in school buildings, providing free cloud-based computing via Google (which Just and his class use for email and quizzes) and tailoring classes to the immediate learning styles of today’s students. Students nowadays are “collaborative learners,� Snyder said. In addition, they “like immediate answers.� Hence the real-time quizzes and cloud-based crowd-sourcing. “Our overall job as educators is to create conditions for learning to occur,� Snyder said. “The highest form of learning now is creating. We must
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challenge our students to become these creators.� The district doesn’t want students to have to wait until a specific media center hour or until they get home to do such research, she said. Providing the tools to match learning styles is a must. “That’s the kind of learning environment we have to create for students,� she said. To ensure students are actually watching his lectures at home, Just checks their notes. One lesson Just teaches them is that “the most important thing you own is your time.� “If you choose to spend time learning something, you can watch the lecture at any time and take notes on that,� he said. But which is better: the traditional “lecture and
listen� or the reverse classroom?
As the 2012 budget vote approaches this month, the Lakeville City Council affirmed one part of its reduced expenditures: the outsourcing of electrical inspections. The council approved in a 4-1 vote Monday, Dec. 5, contracting for electrical inspection services with an outside party, effectively laying off the person serving an in-house role. The move toward contracting with Steven Kletschka, who currently does inspections for Faribault, Minn., will save
Split vote passes 2012 budget
Learning effects That question nagged Just, too. So he conducted a scientific study to discover the answer. He compared a traditional lecture class with a high-tech pilot program class. The quantitative data (the numeric statistics) suggested that the difference was negligible. The students did not do better or worse. But that does not mean the students were unaffected. Just said when he asked students how they felt about the new method, they were quite supportive. “Ninety percent said they liked the reverse classroom better,� he said. Count Rodamaker was one of those students. See High-tech, 5A
the city about $77,000 over the next two years, Finance Director Dennis Feller said. Declining permit revenue and the need for trimming the budget led city staff and the council to explore this option. Council Member Matt Little was the dissenting vote, citing a concern about compromised customer service and public safety associated with the move. “This looks like savings,� Little said, “but it’s not necessarily savings. There are cost shifts here.� Mayor Mark Bellows said the decision is a matSee Inspections, 3A
Decision meant to send state a message: Don’t burden cities by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The Farmington City Council’s 2012 budget is meant to make a statement to Minnesota legislators: quit balancing the state’s budget on the backs of local government. On a 3-2 vote Dec. 5, the council passed a levy of $8,565,982, the same amount levied in 2011, and rejected a plan to decrease the levy by 1.65 percent. Instead, the council eliminated the $141,192 proposed levy cut and will use the money for a contingency fund. City Administrator David McKnight said on Tuesday that money may help
fill some of the funding gap that exists in 2013. The gap will occur because the council is using one-time fiscal disparities funds of $367,258 to give taxpayers relief in 2012. Council Member Christy Jo Fogarty suggested the city not cut property taxes and leave the city’s budget unchanged for 2012. “Cities can’t continue to make up for what the state does,� Fogarty said. She said that if the city maintains its 2011 levy, citizens will know 100 percent of their property tax increase is attributable to state actions. City Finance Director See Budget, 12A
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