A 16-year-old Hopkins boy has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree homicide in connection with the fatal shooting of Billy Ray Robles, a 19-year-old St. Paul man shot Saturday in Inver Grove Heights during a fight between two groups of party bus passengers.

The suspect was arrested Monday night after an interview with investigators, Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Paul Schnell said Tuesday. The teen, who has past connections to St. Paul, went to the Inver Grove Heights police station with his father, whom he was living with in Hopkins, Schnell said.

The suspect’s name was not released Tuesday because an investigation is continuing and the Dakota County attorney’s office is considering criminal charges, Schnell said. The teen remained at the Dakota County Juvenile Center on Tuesday.

Schnell would not say how the suspect was involved in the shooting. He said the investigation was in the “early stages” and includes forensic testing of evidence collected at the scene.

Evidence shows multiple guns were fired, but it’s unclear if the shots came from one group of people or both, Schnell said. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the foot and later released from Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

“We had probable cause to believe that he had involvement in this incident and we still have evidence to sort through,” Schnell said of the suspect in custody.

Investigators are looking for at least one other person of interest, Schnell said.

Investigators have determined that the fight and shooting followed a dispute between two groups of teens and young men on the party bus. Some witnesses have said rival gang affiliation was the motive, Schnell said.

Inver Grove Heights police were called to the parking lot of the AMC Showplace 16 on Bishop Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Saturday on a report of a fight and shots fired. When officers arrived, they encountered what they reported as a “chaotic scene” of 40 to 50 people where a party bus was dropping off passengers.

Officers found Robles unresponsive with a gunshot wound. A 16-year-old boy had facial injuries from a physical assault. Both were transported to Regions Hospital, where Robles was pronounced dead.

The 16-year-old gunshot victim was found in a vehicle stopped by police on U.S. 52, near Butler Avenue in West St. Paul, shortly after the shooting.

Robles was described by his cousin as an aspiring rapper who grew up on St. Paul’s West Side and had attended Humboldt High School.

The northbound lanes of U.S. 52 in West St. Paul were blocked for nearly a half-hour Monday night while police arrested at gunpoint five teenage boys who were suspected of using force to rob a Verizon Wireless store in Inver Grove Heights.

Police later learned the teens, ages 16 and 17, had allegedly grabbed an iPad and iPhone from the store and assaulted a customer who tried to stop one of them, Police Chief Paul Schnell said.

Police were called to the Cellular Connection, at the northeast corner of Concord Boulevard and Cahill Avenue, at 6:45 p.m. by a store clerk reporting a robbery in progress. The clerk feared it was a stickup because some of the teens had sweatshirt hoods pulled over their heads to hide their faces, Schnell said.

As the teens ran from the store, a 27-year-old Inver Grove Heights man grabbed one of them in an attempt to stop him from leaving, Schnell said. Another of the teens ran back into the store and hit the man, who let go of the teen he was holding.

Officers from Inver Grove Heights, West St. Paul and South St. Paul, as well as the Minnesota State Patrol, stopped the suspects’ car a short time later on northbound U.S. 52, near the Butler Avenue exit in West St. Paul, and arrested them without incident. Charges are pending, Schnell said.

In August, the store was the scene of a stickup in which a clerk shot and critically wounded a robbery suspect, 32-year-old Jamaal Marquie Mays. Mays and his alleged accomplice, Jaquon Keshawn Moman, 25, were charged with federal crimes.

As a party bus drove around for several hours late Friday, an argument between two groups of teens festered.

When the bus pulled over in Inver Grove Heights to drop off passengers early Saturday, a punch was thrown, according to criminal charges. Shots were fired, leaving 19-year-old Billy Ray Robles dead and wounding a 16-year-old boy.

On Wednesday, two teens were charged with first-degree riot and second-degree assault for firing shots outside the party bus. Daunte Maurice Martin, 16, of St. Paul, and Trashaun Nij Morris, 17, address unknown, were charged as juveniles in Dakota County District Court. Motions have been filed to prosecute them as adults.

The investigation continues to determine who fired the fatal shot that killed Robles, an aspiring rapper from St. Paul.

Murder charges are possible, according to the Dakota County attorney’s office.

The bus was rented by a 21-year-old woman for her younger sister’s birthday party, Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Paul Schnell said. Many of the passengers had been drinking alcohol, which played a part in the “mayhem,” he said.

According to a criminal complaint, the bus  left the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16 on Bishop Avenue and drove around the metro area. Some of the passengers were members of what were described as “east side” and “west side” groups, which argued throughout the night.

When the bus returned to the parking lot around 1:30 a.m., the nearly 50 partygoers filed out of the bus. At some point, a fight broke out on the stairs of the bus. Someone was punched in the face.

One witness told investigators that he and Robles and other teens chased after members of the east side group.

Another witness said he saw a person from the east side group, known as “Tre Tre,” shoot toward the west side group, according to the charges.

Another member of the east side group stood off to the side of the parking lot and fired shots, a witness told police.

Officers found Robles unresponsive with two gunshot wounds. A 16-year-old boy had facial injuries from a physical assault. Both were transported to Regions Hospital, where Robles died of a gun shot wound to his chest.

The pink-colored bus was being rented through Rent My Party Bus, which is out of Minneapolis. The driver has cooperated with investigators.

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Aleksey Silenko, director of Rent My Party Bus, said he would not comment about the shooting. In an emailed statement, he said the company is cooperating with investigators.

“I want to express my deepest sympathy to the victims and their families,” he added.

Inver Grove Heights again is considering what to do with River Heights Park, which was to be sold for residential development last summer before neighbors helped persuade city officials otherwise.

The city’s parks and recreation advisory commission tonight will consider whether to recommend to the city council that the 7.5-acre park be divided into three 2.5-acre lots and sold for single-family homes. The council is scheduled to discuss the matter at its May 7 work session.

In August, the city tabled the idea of selling all or part of the park, which is at 8780 Inver Grove Trail. The decision came after a petition opposing the idea was signed by 140 residents and presented to the parks commission, which then recommended to the council that the park be taken off a list of city properties that could be sold.

At the time, the nonprofit Friends of the Mississippi River also noted that the park lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

On Tuesday, Eric Carlson, parks and recreation director, cited four reasons for recommending that River Heights Park be sold:

• The park is undeveloped, made up of grass, trees and a looping half-mile dirt trail.
• It is surrounded by 2.5-acre lots.
• Pine Bend Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area is just south of the park.
• Among the city’s 28 parks, River Heights has the second-lowest number of people — 254 — who live within a 10-minute walk.

Carlson said talk of River Heights’ future was resurrected recently by the council, which has not heard both sides of the issue in a formal meeting.

River Heights Park is among 10 city-owned properties the council deemed “excess” land in 2016. Two additional parks — Marcott Woods, which is 14 acres, and Dehrer, 5.5 acres — also are on the list.

The last time the city sold parkland was in 2009, when Cameron Warehouse Liquors moved to a 1.3-acre park across the street as part of reconstruction and widening of Concord Boulevard.

Carlson said selling the park is just one of the options. Others, he said, include developing it with park amenities, a parking lot and a sign; selling it to a private party that would protect it as open space; and doing nothing.

Whatever city officials decide, they can expect more support to save the park. Of the 13 residents who attended a public information meeting the city held last week, Carlson said, none were in favor of selling it for homes or developing it.

One of the two accused shooters charged in connection with last month’s killing of a 19-year-old St. Paul man outside a party bus in Inver Grove Heights is still at large.

The whereabouts of Trashaun Nij Morris, 17, is unknown despite a national arrest warrant and manhunt that involves local, state and federal agencies as well as law enforcement from outside Minnesota, said Paul Schnell, Inver Grove Heights police chief.

Morris and Daunte Maurice Martin, 16, of St. Paul, were charged March 28 with first-degree riot and second-degree assault in the March 24 killing of Billy Robles, which happened in the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16 during a fight between two groups of party bus passengers.

Morris, whose last known address was at his mother’s house on St. Paul’s West Side, has not been in contact with authorities since he fled the scene of the shooting, Schnell said.

The search for Morris has been complicated, Schnell said, because of “claims of affiliation with different kinds of gang cliques. But this is not completely atypical, and we have all the confidence that we’ll find him.”

Because of the alleged gang ties, some people may not be cooperating fully out of loyalty, while others may not want to talk out of fear, Schnell said.

“What we will also look at is who aided him in evading detention,” he said. “And we would pursue criminal charges against who we find is aiding his evasion of this warrant, because there’s no doubt he knows he’s wanted; his family members know he’s wanted.”

Martin, who has connections to St. Paul and Hopkins, remains in custody at the Dakota County Juvenile Services Center in Hastings. He was arrested March 26 after an interview with investigators.

Schnell said the investigation continues in order to determine who fired the fatal shot that killed Robles, an aspiring rapper from St. Paul’s West Side who had attended Humboldt High School.

Investigators have recovered guns and are trying to determine whether they are connected to the shooting, Schnell said.

Witnesses identified Martin and Morris in photo lineups as the shooters, according to a criminal complaint.

Martin and Morris were charged as juveniles in Dakota County District Court; however, motions have been filed to prosecute them as adults. Murder charges are possible, according to the Dakota County attorney’s office.

The investigation is just beginning into underage drinking on the party bus and it will include who provided the alcohol and who may have allowed it, Schnell said.

“It still remains secondary to the homicide, obviously, but nonetheless those things were certainly contributing factors,” he said. “And there is law that governs that and there needs to be some level of accountability.”

A third teen has been charged in connection with last month’s killing of a 19-year-old St. Paul man outside a party bus in Inver Grove Heights.

Samson Chu, 16, of St. Paul, was charged last week with first-degree riot and second-degree assault in the March 24 killing of Billy Robles, which happened in the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16 during a fight between two gangs that had been on the party bus.

The Dakota County attorney’s office announced the charges this week, without naming Chu, citing its policy of not releasing the names of juveniles charged with felonies until they are certified to stand trial as adults.

Court documents identify Chu as a shooting suspect, as well as Trashaun Nij Morris, 17, and Daunte Maurice Martin, 16, both of St. Paul, who were charged March 28 with the same two crimes.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday arrested Morris in Minneapolis. He had been on the lam since the shooting, despite a national arrest warrant and manhunt.

Chu was arrested Thursday and made an initial court appearance Monday, the Dakota County attorney’s office said.

Chu, Martin and Morris remained in custody at the Dakota County Juvenile Services Center in Hastings late Tuesday.

Authorities say the investigation continues to determine who fired the fatal shot that killed Robles, a rapper from St. Paul’s West Side who performed in videos under the moniker BillyThaKidd. Guns have been recovered, according to police.

According to a criminal complaint against Chu:

Chu was shot in his leg and rushed from the scene in a car that police soon pulled over on U.S. 52, near Butler Avenue in West St. Paul. He was treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul and released.

Chu told investigators that members of the “East Side” and “West Side” groups had been arguing on the party bus throughout the night. He said he was affiliated with the West Side group.

When the bus returned to the movie theater parking lot, members of the East Side group exited first, followed by the West Side group. The West Side group then started chasing the East Side group.

Chu said he saw two members of the East Side group turn and fire at the West Side group. The shooters were later identified as Morris and Martin.

A witness told investigators that Chu fell to the ground, pulled out a gun and fired three times toward a male that was shooting at him.

Another witness said that when Chu fired his gun, it jammed, but he was able to clear it and shoot again. The witness estimated that Chu shot eight or nine rounds.

Detectives have obtained a cell phone video that shows Chu holding a handgun in his right hand and Morris holding a handgun wrapped in a white cloth.

Witnesses also identified Martin and Morris in photo lineups as shooters, according to the criminal complaint.

According to court documents, St. Paul police identify Chu as being with West Side gangs and he was recently arrested for terroristic threats in connection with an armed robbery. He has a history of felony offenses and gross misdemeanor credit card fraud and is on probation in Ramsey County.

Chu is at risk for retaliation from gang members, and accusations of “snitching” have been made on both sides, a court document read.

“According to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department, threats of physical harm and death have been publicly made toward members of both gangs in reference to any person suspected of providing information to law enforcement in regard to the criminal investigation of (Robles’) death,” a court document read.

Chu, Martin and Morris have been charged as juveniles in Dakota County District Court; however, motions have been filed to prosecute them as adults. Murder charges are possible, the Dakota County attorney’s office said.

A plan to reuse 2 million gallons of wastewater a day will be discussed at upcoming meetings in Rosemount.

The Metropolitan Council is considering supplying a proposed garbage-to-ethanol plant with recycled wastewater from a sewage treatment plant.

The water from the Empire Township treatment plant in Farmington would be cleaned, then piped to a proposed Enerkem waste-to-ethanol plant in Inver Grove Heights.

The Enerkem plant would be the first in the nation to process domestic garbage into ethanol for use in vehicles.

The Met Council informational meeting will be May 21; and a public hearing will be May 31. Both will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rosemount Community Center, 13885 S. Robert Trail.

For information, including instructions for sending written comments to the Met Council, visit metrocouncil.org/wastewater-reuse.

A second 16-year-old St. Paul boy has received a five-year stayed juvenile prison sentence after pleading guilty to his role in the shooting death of a 19-year-old man outside an Inver Grove Heights movie theater.

Samson Chu pleaded guilty to first-degree riot in connection with the March 24 shooting of rapper Billy Ray Robles in the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16 following a fight between two gangs after they stepped off a party bus.

In exchange for the guilty plea, charges of attempted murder and second-degree assault were dismissed.

Earlier this month, Daunte Maurice Martin, 16, of St. Paul, also pleaded guilty to first-degree riot and received a 48-month sentence, which was stayed until age 21.

Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said Tuesday that both teens could serve their sentences as adults if they violate terms or conditions imposed by juvenile court.

Backstrom said evidence shows that Chu fired a gun, but not the shots that killed Robles. Martin had a gun but did not shoot it, Backstrom said.

The attorney’s office this month also added an attempted-murder charge against 17-year-old Trashaun Nij Morris and have filed a motion to certify him as an adult. He was previously charged with first-degree riot and second-degree assault.

“Investigators are doing their best to sort out the facts and hope to find sufficient evidence to prove who fired the fatal shot,” Backstrom said.

Meanwhile, Taishawn Taquan Smith, 18, of Crystal, has been charged with second-degree riot.

River Heights Park in Inver Grove Heights is no longer for sale.

The city council unanimously voted this week to keep the 7.5-acre natural area and directed city staff to work with neighborhood residents and the Friends of the Mississippi River to enhance it with signs and make it more accessible.

Splitting up the park, which is pretty much just grass, trees and a looping half-mile dirt trail, and selling three lots for single-family homes was one of the options on the council’s table. Others included selling it to a private party that would protect it as open space, and doing nothing.

The idea to sell the land was met with opposition from neighbors and the nonprofit Friends of the Mississippi River, which noted how it lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area and the river’s flyway bird migration route.

Last summer, the city considered and then tabled the idea of selling all or part of the park, which is at 8780 Inver Grove Trail. The decision came after a petition opposing the idea was signed by 140 residents.

In exchange for prime-time hours of ice to rent, the City of Rosemount and the Rosemount Area Hockey Association will pay for nearly $900,000 in improvements to an arena in neighboring Inver Grove Heights.

The Rosemount City Council this week gave Inver Grove Heights the go-ahead to make repairs to the city’s west rink at Veterans Memorial Community Center Ice Arena.

Under a 10-year deal, Rosemount and the hockey association will split the cost of 90 percent of the project, which includes a new rink floor, dasher boards and a new ice resurfacer.

In turn, the hockey association will be guaranteed 550 “peak hours” of ice to rent each year — generally, weeknight evenings and weekend days and nights, November through February. That’s about double what the association currently rents in Inver Grove Heights.

Rosemount’s one arena and the privately-owned “Pond” — a three-on-three rink — do not have enough available hours for the association, which is growing in numbers and would like to add more teams, said Dan Schultz, the city’s parks and recreation director.

A body found in the Mississippi River near Inver Grove Heights last week has been identified as that of a St. Paul man, officials say.

The body of Der Yang, 29, was pulled from the river Friday afternoon by Dakota County sheriff’s deputies, according to a news release issued Sunday by the Hennepin County medical examiner.

The cause and manner of his death remain under investigation, the news release said.

A St. Paul teenager is accused of firing the shot that killed an aspiring rapper in March outside an Inver Grove Heights movie theater.

Trashaun Nij Morris, 17, was charged Tuesday with three counts of murder in the death of 19-year-old Billy Ray Robles, according to documents filed Tuesday in Dakota County District Court.

Robles was killed on March 24 during an exchange of gunfire between rival teenage gang members after they stepped off a party bus in the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16. While two of the teens are known to have fired guns that night, investigators believe it was Morris who fired the fatal shot, the charging documents say.

Two 16-year-olds have already pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the incident. Samson Chu, the other shooter, and Daunte Martin both received suspended sentences in May.

Witnesses told investigators that Morris shot first in the parking lot that night, and that Chu returned fire from less than 20 feet away, according to court documents. Cellphone video suggests Robles was standing near Chu when he was struck in the chest, the charges say.

Bullets and a bullet fragment found lodged in parked vehicles behind where Robles was standing matched the caliber of the gun witnesses say Morris fired that night, according to court documents.

Morris was arrested in Minneapolis in April by the U.S. Marshals Service after spending nearly a month on the run from police.

A motion to try Morris as an adult is pending in juvenile court, according to a news release issued by the Dakota County attorney’s office. Morris was already facing riot and assault charges stemming from the fight.

Robles, a rapper from St. Paul’s West Side, performed in videos under the moniker BillyThaKidd.

Inver Grove Heights has picked a community development director to succeed Tom Link, who is retiring Aug. 17 after three decades on the job.

The city council this month approved the hiring of Janice Gundlach, who since 2014 has been New Brighton’s planning director and assistant director of community assets and development. For 12 years prior, she was New Brighton’s city planner.

Gundlach, who starts her new job Monday, will also oversee the planning, zoning, building inspections and economic development departments.

When Link was hired in November 1986, he filled a brand new position in a second-ring St. Paul suburb on the cusp of a residential and commercial development boom.

“It’s changed tremendously,” Link, 65, said this week of the city, which is now home to just over 35,000 residents and is preparing to further open its vast northwest area to residential development. “It’s been a really a good experience, I’ve enjoyed it.”

Prosecutors believe Joseph Paul Czeck knew that a massive boulder fell off his dump truck and caused a crash Monday in Rosemount.

But Czeck, 33, of Hastings drove away and did not return to the scene of the crash. A Shoreview mother and daughter died when the boulder slammed into their vehicle.

On Friday, Czeck made his first appearance in Dakota County District Court and was charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide — two for alleged gross negligence, two for allegedly causing the collision and leaving the scene. Czeck was released from Dakota County jail after posting $30,000 bond.

Surveillance video captured from businesses before the crash show that his load was not secure, prosecutors say.

“This was a senseless and avoidable tragedy that claimed two lives,” Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said in a statement. “Anyone involved in a vehicle crash must remain at the scene and contact law enforcement. Failure to do so could result in a felony.”

Czeck, who was arrested Wednesday, has declined to give a statement to police.

Chief Deputy Dakota County Attorney Phil Prokopowicz said that Czeck’s behavior after the accident helps support the office’s assertion that Czeck knew the rock had caused it.

“There’s evidence that shows he did stop within a short distance of the accident and had been there for a while and maybe even had heard or saw the first responders coming,” Prokopowicz said.

The boulder — now estimated to weigh more than 1,100 pounds — became dislodged from Czeck’s truck after he crossed over railroad tracks while driving south on Rich Valley Boulevard, near 125th Street, just after 4:30 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.

It bounced along the road, crossed the center lane and crashed through the windshield of a Toyota Avalon headed north on Rich Valley Boulevard, according to the complaint.

The driver, 67-year-old Karen Christiansen, and her 32-year-old daughter Jena Christiansen, a front-seat passenger, both died at the scene from blunt force head trauma.

Surveillance video showed that Czeck drove away but stopped within a mile and parked in a driveway on the west side of Rich Valley Boulevard, the complaint said.

After sitting in the truck for about two minutes, he moved to another nearby spot and remained there for about five minutes, according to the complaint. At one point, the video shows Czeck walking around the outside of the truck.

Czeck drove away before stopping nearby for about two more minutes and proceeding south on Rich Valley Boulevard, the complaint said.

“While the truck was parked in the driveway, a witness drove by and saw a male outside of the truck strapping a large boulder down in the back of the truck,” the complaint said. “Surveillance video prior to the crash appears to show the truck carrying unstrapped boulders.”

Investigators visited construction sites in the area. At a site off Minnesota 3 in the Inver Grove Heights-Eagan area, a contractor identified the truck as belonging to Czeck Services, a landscaping company, and said Czeck had been there Monday picking up boulders, according to the complaint.

The contractor said he had loaded a large boulder into Czeck’s truck about two hours before the accident, the complaint said. When shown a photo of the truck from the surveillance video, the contractor said it was the truck he loaded the boulder into.

The contractor also said that the truck driver — “Joe” — was going to return around 5 p.m. and pick up more rocks, but he never showed up, according to the complaint.

“The contractor stated he called Joe around 5:30 p.m. and Joe told him a rock had fallen out of the back of his truck and he would not be coming back that day,” the complaint read.

Investigators executed a search warrant at a home in Inver Grove Heights that belongs to a relative of Czeck and found him inside. His truck was located in a locked building on the property.

According to data with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, dated through June 29, the company had no reported crashes on record and one safety violation, for failure to wear a seat belt. The company had two registered vehicles and only one driver, presumably Czeck.

Minnesota court records show Czeck has been convicted of six moving violations since 2003, including speeding in Dakota County in 2013.

Beginning Tuesday and through this fall, motorists will encounter construction-related delays on westbound Interstate 494 between U.S. 61 in Newport and Blaine Avenue in Inver Grove Heights, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, work crews will begin shifting traffic to the outside lanes of I-494 over the Wakota Bridge. Three lanes of westbound I-494 will remain open, but the Concord Street and Maxwell Avenue ramps will close.

The work is part of a nearly $19 million project of I-494 in which crews will widen, resurface and replace bridge joints on the Concord Street bridge; build auxiliary lanes on westbound I-494 between Hardman Avenue to west of Fifth Avenue; improve drainage; and build noise walls.

Inver Grove Heights is moving toward being the next city to put body cameras on its police officers, perhaps as soon as November.

Police Chief Paul Schnell brought the idea to the city council at a work session this week, noting that — after 2019 — it would cost about $70,000 annually for licensing and video storage.

Funding the body-worn cameras from this November through next year would be covered by about $135,000 already set aside by the city to upgrade squad car video systems and the storage server, Schnell said. A new video system would also be installed in the police interview room.

According to a 2016 state law, elected officials or governing bodies do not have to approve a body camera policy, but they do — of course — have a say on funding, Schnell said.

Next week, the city will publish a draft of a body-worn camera policy on the city’s website, allowing residents to comment as required by state law. A public-input session is scheduled for the council’s Oct. 22 meeting.

The number of Minnesota law enforcement agencies with body-worn cameras totals at least 40 — and is growing, according to the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. Burnsville police in 2010 became the first in the state to use body-worn cameras.

Inver Grove Heights would be the fourth Dakota County city with the cameras, joining Burnsville, Farmington and Hastings.

Voters on Tuesday narrowed the field for two seats on the Washington County board, choosing two candidates in each race to advance to the Nov. 6 general election, and voted in four municipal elections in Dakota County.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

In District 4, Cottage Grove City Council member Wayne Johnson and St. Paul Park City Council member Jeff Swenson will face off in the November election.

Johnson, 53, who previously served on the city’s planning commission, received 24 percent of the vote. He owns two businesses, Furnace Doctors and Dust Doctors, both in Little Canada.

Swenson, who previously said he was no longer seeking the seat because of a change in his job status, received 24 percent of the vote.

John Thorson, of Cottage Grove, received 23 percent of the vote; Newport City Council member Bill Sumner received 16 percent, and Marvin Taylor, chairman of Newport’s planning commission, received 13 percent.

District 4 is currently represented by Jack Lavold of Cottage Grove, who was chosen to fill the vacancy created by Karla Bigham’s election to the state Senate earlier this year. The district includes Cottage Grove, Newport, St. Paul Park, Denmark Township, Grey Cloud Island Township, and parts of Woodbury and Hastings.

In District 2, Woodbury City Council member Julie Ohs will challenge county commissioner Stan Karwoski in the November election.

Karwoski, 61, is the former Oakdale mayor and city council member who won a special 2016 election to fill the District 2 seat after commissioner Ted Bearth died. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, he had received 52 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Ohs, 56, who has served on the Woodbury City Council since 2006, received 36 percent of the vote.

Retired physics and science teacher Joe Delaney, of Oakdale, received 12 percent.

The district includes Oakdale, Mahtomedi, Willernie, Pine Springs, Birchwood Village, Landfall, and parts of Woodbury and White Bear Lake.

DAKOTA COUNTY

In Dakota County, four municipal elections were held to narrow the field of candidates for city council to just two for each seat.

WEST ST. PAUL

In Ward 3, political newcomer Wendy Berry and former mayor and council member David Meisinger emerged from a field of four candidates to advance to the general election.

Berry, who has spoken out against alleged sexism at West St. Paul City Hall and who works in human resources, won 43 percent of the vote.

Meisinger, who owns a home-based residential and light-commercial contracting business, received 26 percent of the vote.

A third candidate, Lisa Eng-Sarne, who worked at the Minnesota Senate, received 20 percent of the vote, and John Ramsay, a former member of the city’s development advisory board, received 11 percent.

Council member John Bellows decided not to seek re-election.

BURNSVILLE

Four candidates will vie for the two open seats on the Burnsville City Council in November.

Those advancing were: City Council member Dan Kealey, who received 28 percent of the vote; Vince Workman, a member of the city’s planning commission, received 22 percent; Jim Bradrick, a member of the city’s planning commission, received 21 percent, and Ryan Fagan received 12 percent.

Two other candidates, Adam Clapp and Kevin Grass, split the remaining votes with 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS

In the mayoral race, challenger Jonathan Weber will take on Mayor George Tourville in the November election.

Tourville received 50 percent of the vote; Weber, a member of the city’s planning commission, received 20 percent.

Three other challengers — Dave Casto, Jarid Friese and Greg Grover — received 5 percent, 17 percent and 7 percent of the vote, respectively.

Two city council members Paul Hark and Rosemary Piekarski Krech are seeking re-election and advanced to the general election. Hark received 21 percent of the vote; Krech received 24 percent.

The two other candidates running in November are: Brenda Dietrich, chairwoman of the River Heights Chamber of Commerce board, who received 22 percent of the vote, and Todd Kruse, who received 12 percent.

SOUTH ST. PAUL

A crowded field of 10 candidates for the three open seats on the South St. Paul City Council was narrowed to six on Tuesday.

Terms are ending for council member Marilyn Rothecker, Todd Podgorski and Tom Seaberg, and only Seaberg decided to seeking re-election.

Seaberg, who has been a council member for 31 years, received 17 percent of the vote and will advance to the November election.

The other candidates who will be on the ballot in the general election are: Sharon Dewey, who received 15 percent of the vote; Joanne Rothecker-Woods, received 14 percent; Joe Kaliszewski, who also received 14 percent; Isaac Contreras received 10 percent, and Bernie Beermann, who received 8 percent.

Four other candidates split the rest of the votes. Max Wallin, whose name was on the ballot, but who had announced he could not accept the seat due to a new job with the city, received 6 percent. Adam Bossert also received 6 percent; Michael Zellmer received 5 percent, and Thomas Miller Jr. received 4 percent.

Terry Gerten, an Inver Grove Heights fixture who owned and ran Gerten’s Farm Market for more than three decades, died in his sleep Saturday. He was 69.

“His business was absolutely everything to him,” said Katie Gerten, Terry’s daughter. “He worked six months straight without a day off from January to June for the last 35 years. Hardest working man you’d ever meet.”

Terry Gerten was a lifelong resident of Inver Grove Heights who had family ties to the larger Gertens garden store. He grew up on a farm with his parents and nine siblings, where they grew vegetables and sold them to local grocery stores.

He later served in the Air Force and worked as an air traffic controller. In 1981, Gerten was among more than 11,000 air traffic controllers who were fired by then-President Ronald Reagan for going on strike.

“After that, he didn’t know what else to do but get back to growing. That’s when he found the land at Inver Grove and bought the acre that the farm market sits on now,” Katie Gerten said.

He opened Gerten’s Farm Market on April 14, 1983 — the day a historic blizzard dumped 13.6 inches of snow on the Twin Cities.

“There weren’t very many customers,” joked Inver Grove Heights City Council Member Rosemary Piekarski Krech, who drove Gerten to the store that day with her husband.

The icy opening didn’t deter Gerten, who would go on to dedicate his life to the business.

He started Gerten’s Farm Market as a traditional farmers market, selling fresh produce such as berries and eggs. As years passed, Gerten converted the store into a garden center, mainly focusing on flowers and vegetable and perennial plants.

Gerten built a loyal customer base in Inver Grove Heights. He was known for selling a quality product at a reasonable price and for his kindness and quick wit.

“He was a very hardworking, honest businessman,” Piekarski Krech said. “And (he) was always willing to help people with their gardening issues and give advice on what needed to happen.”

In his free time, Gerten enjoyed golfing, gambling and playing card games with his family.

Katie Gerten said she’ll miss her father’s guidance and “no-nonsense attitude” most. She and her two siblings, Tony Gerten and Melissa Goski, will now run Gerten’s Farm Market. The three worked the business with their father since they were children.

Terry Gerten is survived by his children Katie Gerten, Melissa Goski, Tony Gerten, Krista Tessier and Sarah Tessier; siblings Kathy Tlougan, Mike Gerten, Jean Rolow, Peg Hill, Phil Gerten, Mark Gerten, Rose DeGuilo, Joe Gerten and Lori DeLong; former wife Paulette Gerten; and seven grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial was planned for Friday morning.

Candidates vying to represent District 2 on the Dakota County Board of Commissioners will square off Wednesday at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Dakota County.

The forum will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at West St. Paul City Hall, 1616 Humboldt Ave.

The candidates are Incumbent Kathleen Gaylord and Todd Podgorski, a South St. Paul City Council member since 2010. District 2 includes South St. Paul, West St. Paul, Sunfish Lake and part of Inver Grove Heights.

Questions will be accepted in writing both during the forum and in advance by emailing lwvdakotacty@lwvmn.org. The forum will be broadcast live on cable by Town Square TV and at townsquare.tv, where it also will be available on demand afterward.

The Canadian Mounties always get their man, but will Inver Grove Heights police officers get their goat?

That’s the question after the suburban Dakota County police department reported that an adult goat has been roaming around the city, even standing at residents’ front doors.

Police don’t know where the goat came from, and they’re concerned about it being a traffic hazard.

In a Sunday post to its Facebook page, the police department said it urges anyone who spots the goat to call 911.

“We’ve been talking with folks about where we’ll secure him once captured. We need to get this billy goat gruff off of Inver Grove Heights bluffs.”

The police department also has another “GOAT” in its sights — Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, known in Wisconsin, at least, as “The Greatest of All Time.”

Rodgers and the Packers play the Vikings on Sunday in Green Bay.