Star Tribune
Petition aims to move Eastern Carver County graduations from Grace Church
If Eli Frost has his way, the Chaska High class of 2024 will have a different graduation venue than the one the suburban school has used for more than a decade.
The southwest metro district, which enrolls about 9,300 students, has for years held its commencement ceremonies for Chaska and Chanhassen high schools at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. In late May, Frost, a Chaska High sophomore, petitioned the school board to consider a change, arguing it’s a matter of separating church and state to make sure everyone feels welcome.
In the petition that’s since garnered more than 400 signatures, Frost objects to the church’s opposition to divorce and asserts that the church leaders have espoused anti-LGBTQ views.
“I know I and many other people didn’t want it to be held at a church, period,” Frost said.
Troy Dobbs, senior pastor, declined an interview, but in a statement said that although Grace Church does “affirm the teaching of the Bible regarding gender, marriage, and divorce,” it does not discriminate against anyone.
“We welcome everyone,” he wrote.
It’s not unusual for districts with several high schools or large high schools to host their graduation ceremonies off-campus, especially when enrollment tops 1,200 per building. The Anoka-Hennepin and Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan districts have hosted some ceremonies at the Maturi Pavilion at the University of Minnesota.
Other districts have contracted with Minneapolis Convention Center, Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Target Center or U.S. Bank Stadium.
But it is rare for metro-area districts to host graduations at a place of worship. The Eastern Carver County and Shakopee districts have both contracted with Grace Church this year.
Shakopee district officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Eastern Carver County Schools officials say some parents and students have complained in the past about the church as a graduation venue. But the opposition has been more pronounced since Frost’s petition.
“It wasn’t on this level before,” said Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams.
The church in Eden Prairie checks several boxes that district officials and the school board consider when choosing a venue for commencement ceremonies. Grace Church’s auditorium seats about 7,000 — about three times the capacity of Chanhassen High’s football stadium, the largest venue in the district.
That means students can invite as many friends and family as they’d like.
“To see whole families wrap around their graduates, that’s huge,” Sayles-Adams said.
The facility is also air-conditioned. And because the church already broadcasts its services, the auditorium is set up to easily livestream the commencement ceremony for friends and family who can’t make it.
The church’s centralized location — it’s less than a 15-minute drive from both of the district’s high schools — also means the whole Eastern Carver County district can celebrate together with graduations on the same day, back-to-back.
District spokeswoman Celi Haga said students enjoy seeing peers they went to elementary and middle school with, but were then separated from for high school, between commencements.
“There aren’t a whole lot of school districts that do it all on the same day, so trying to keep the community together is a big thing,” Haga said.
But Frost said those amenities aren’t worth it when the venue may alienate some students and families of different faiths who don’t agree with the church’s teachings.
He understands that it might be more expensive to contract with another venue and that moving commencement to Minneapolis would extend the drive for Chaska and Chanhassen residents.
“That’s a worthwhile tradeoff,” Frost maintains.
District officials say they’ve heard from several community members who agree with Frost. They’ve also received emails from students and community members who want Grace Church to continue hosting the district’s graduation ceremonies.
The district will pay nearly $28,000 to use the church this year, Haga said. That includes $11,250 to rent the auditorium and $16,400 for traffic control, security, video production and language translation, among other things.
Eastern Carver County Schools’ contract with the venue comes up every year, Sayles-Adams said. And Frost’s petition has officials ready to consider whether to renew it.
“As a district, you listen and if necessary you make adjustments,” Sayles-Adams said.
A 20-year-old St. Paul man is now facing three murder charges in separate killings in Minneapolis in recent years.
Albert Jerome Lucas was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Antonio Vernon Harper, of Minneapolis, on Nov. 6, 2023, in Minneapolis in the 3300 block of Dupont Avenue N.
Lucas, who has been jailed since May and remains held in lieu of $2 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court early Thursday afternoon. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court records for this latest charge.
According to Wednesday’s criminal complaint, which charges Lucas with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder:
Officers arrived to the scene and saw Harper on the ground suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
A witness told police that she saw three males “hugging” the side of home and looking toward Harper and two of his friends. Gunfire from Lucas erupted, hitting Harper, and the suspects fled in a car. One of Harper’s friends shared with officers that the shooting was gang-related.
Officers saw the vehicle two days later and determined it had been stolen in St. Paul. The driver fled police, but officers soon found the vehicle. DNA on a cigar wrapper inside the vehicle was tested and came back as a match for Lucas.
Star Tribune
Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza killed 15
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in northern Gaza on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who had gathered at the Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza where Israel has been waging a major air and ground operation for more than a week.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of the ministry’s emergency unit in northern Gaza, confirmed the toll and said dozens of people were wounded. He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the casualties.
“Many women and children are in critical condition,” he said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command center run by both militant groups inside the school. It provided a list of around a dozen names of people it identified as militants who were present when the strike was called in. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.
Israel has repeatedly struck tent camps and schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza. The Israeli military says it carries out precise strikes on militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its strikes often kill women and children.
Hamas-led militants triggered the war when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Some 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.
Twin Amur tigers born at Como Zoo in August now have names — Marisa and Maks.
Two long-time volunteers who have worked with zookeepers to care for and teach the public about the zoo’s big cats came up with the names, the first to be born at the St. Paul zoo in more than 40 years.
Marisa, a name that the volunteers found to mean “spirited and tenacious,” call that a perfect reflection of her personality. The name also carries special significance for the Como Zoo community, as it honors a retired zookeeper of the same name who was instrumental in the care of large cats during her 43 years at the zoo, Como Zoo and Conservatory Director Michelle Furrer said.
The male cub has been named Maks, which is associated with meanings like “the greatest” or “strength and leadership.” The volunteers felt this was an apt description of the male cub’s confident demeanor and growing sense of leadership, Furrer said.
“Marisa and Maks aren’t just names; they’re a fun reminder of the passion and care that keep us committed to protecting wildlife every day,” Furrer said.
The newborns and their first-time mother, 7-year-old Bernadette, remain off view to allow for more bonding time, zoo officials said. The cubs’ father, 11-year-old Tsar, has been a Como resident since February 2019 and remains on view.
Fewer than 500 Amur tigers — also known as Siberian tigers — remain in the wild as they face critical threats from habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, the zoo said.
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