Star Tribune
New Bayport school plans draw complaints from church community
When public opposition to placing a school on Barker’s Alps Park came up, the 100-member church met with school district officials and, after several negotiations, agreed in principle to sell its land. The church sold its 10-acre parcel for $850,000, or about $150,000 less than its appraised value; church members said they agreed to the deal because it included stipulations that they wanted, including the use of the outdoor classroom space for church gatherings. The space could be used by the public as well, according to church members.
“We’re proud that we sold our land to the school,” Spilseth said Monday night. “It’s for the kids.”
The new Andersen Elementary school will be built on the parcel located south of 5th Avenue North and east of Stagecoach Trail is in Baytown Township. The new school plan calls for a 96,000 square-foot, two-story elementary school for 600 students and 100 staff. There’s no plan yet for the future use of the existing Andersen elementary building.
A request for comment was sent to the Stillwater school district Tuesday morning.
The new school could open in two years, according to materials included in Monday night’s agenda.
A new federal lawsuit alleges that a Woodbury man sustained a traumatic brain injury after being shot with a rubber bullet by Minneapolis police while peacefully protesting the killing of George Floyd outside the Third Precinct in 2020.
The ordeal left Mason Hermann, of Woodbury, with short-term memory loss, headaches and fatigue, the lawsuit contends.
Attorney Jeff Storms filed the 29-page lawsuit in court last week. It seeks unspecified damages from the city of Minneapolis for violating Hermann’s First Amendment rights.
Minneapolis has paid nearly $50 million to settle claims of police brutality or officer misconduct since Floyd’s murder. Many hefty payouts went to journalists and bystanders injured by law enforcement officials during the unrest, actions that have since been described as a pattern of unconstitutional behavior by the U.S. Department of Justice.
City spokesman Allen Henry acknowledged that the city has been served with the lawsuit, but declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Hermann, then 20, joined a growing crowd of protesters on Lake Street on May 27, 2020, to criticize MPD’s actions. No curfew restrictions were in place at that time.
Officers in tactical gear were perched on the Third Precinct’s roof and outside its barricaded entrance for hours, where some armed with 40-mm “less lethal” rounds fired upon the crowd. At approximately 6:50 p.m., according to the lawsuit, a rubber bullet struck the left side of Hermann’s head, without warning or provocation. No commands were given prior to that use of force.
The unidentified officer “shot Hermann with the projectile in retaliation for and to chill Hermann’s further speech,” the lawsuit says, adding that Hermann “never displayed any aggression” toward police.
The St. Paul nonprofit drew from successes in the Chicago area, including a Living Room in suburban La Grange, Ill., where operators reported that they prevented 218 ER visits in their first year. That saved an estimated $550,000 for the state of Illinois because many of the visitors otherwise would have used state-funded Medicaid insurance for ER visits.
But Vance has been doing debate prep sessions where he’s been joined by his wife, Usha Vance, Miller, senior Vance aides, and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who has played Walz, according to a person familiar with his preparations who requested anonymity to discuss strategy. Moderating their mock debates was Monica Crowley, who served in the Trump administration, hosts a podcast and contributed to Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for remaking government that Trump claims he knows ” nothing about.”
”JD Vance is prepared to wipe the floor with Tim Walz and expose him for the radical liberal he is,” Emmer told reporters on Monday.
Walz’s debate prep has included sessions hunkered down in a Minneapolis hotel, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg standing in for Vance, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign’s internal dynamics. Others helping in the preparations include Rob Friedlander and Zayn Siddique, who helped Harris prepare for her debate with Trump, along with other aides to Walz and the campaign.
Klobuchar said Walz will show the American people ”a real person” who brings ”buoyancy” and positivity to the debate stage that will contrast with Vance, but ”he is not going to be shy about pointing out the problems.”
”Just because he’s an optimistic, positive person doesn’t mean he’s a pushover,” she said.
