A second man has pleaded guilty to last year’s armed robbery attempt at a Verizon Wireless store in Inver Grove Heights.

Jamaal Marquie Mays, 33, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to robbery and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, the U.S. attorney’s office said. His alleged accomplice, Jaquon Keshawn Moman, 26, pleaded guilty to the same charges last month.

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2017, Mays and Moman entered The Cellular Connection, at the northeast corner of Concord Boulevard and Cahill Avenue, federal charges said. Mays pointed a .45-caliber handgun at the clerk’s head and told him to “make it easy on me,” but the clerk drew his own gun and shot Mays twice, according to earlier charges filed in Dakota County.

Mays was critically injured and spent several days at Regions Hospital in St. Paul recovering from his wounds.

Moman fled the Verizon store in a minivan. The federal indictment did not say how he was eventually apprehended.

The case was investigated by the Inver Grove Heights Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Dakota County prosecutors have filed murder charges against a 17-year-old St. Paul boy who allegedly fired the shot that killed a 19-year-old man outside an Inver Grove Heights movie theater.

Trashaun Nij Morris on Monday was charged as an adult with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder in connection with the March 24 killing of Billy Ray Robles, a rapper who was shot in the parking lot of AMC Showplace 16 following a fight between two gangs after they stepped off a party bus.

Morris was previously charged with attempted murder, as well as first-degree riot and second-degree assault.

The upgraded murder charges follow a decision Friday by Dakota County District Court Judge Joseph Carter to certify Morris to stand trial as an adult.

Morris made his first court appearance on the new charges Monday, and Judge Richelle Wahi set bail at $500,000 without conditions, $350,000 with conditions. Morris remained jailed Monday night.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 18.

Robles died of a gunshot wound to his chest. Evidence from the scene shows multiple guns were fired, and investigators have spent months trying to determine who fired the fatal shot. In a criminal complaint, prosecutors cite forensic analysis of spent casings and witness statements as why it was Morris.

In May, two 16-year-old St. Paul teens were sentenced for their roles in the killing after pleading guilty to first-degree riot.

Samson Chu received a five-year stayed juvenile prison. In exchange for the guilty plea, charges of attempted murder and second-degree assault were dismissed. Evidence shows that Chu fired a gun, but not the shots that killed Robles, according to prosecutors.

Daunte Maurice Martin was given a 48-month sentence, which was stayed until age 21.

According to a criminal complaint, the party 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.

Robles had attended Humboldt High School, where he played football and baseball. In YouTube videos dating back to 2016, Robles can be seen rapping under the moniker BillyThaKidd, often about growing up in poverty in St. Paul, marijuana and gun violence.

The suburban sprawl of the craft brewing movement continues, this time with a brew pub planned for a former Ruby Tuesday building in Inver Grove Heights.

The owners of Lakeville Brewing closed on the building last week, and are beginning to formulate plans for a 165-seat brew pub (which includes a full menu and full bar) with an eventual patio to add more space.

The operation will be similar to Lakeville Brewing in a few key ways, including the possible addition of wood-fired pizzas.

Because they just closed on the property, owners Megan and Don Seiler and Kate and Glen Bruestle said they can’t commit to a timeline, but that the city of Inver Grove Heights has been supportive of their effort.

They are planning an addition to the building to accommodate the brewhouse, which will take a while to be built and shipped from Nebraska.

The owners said they are “99 percent sure” the name of the new venture will be Inver Grove Brewing.

The city administrator of Inver Grove Heights has been suspended for three days without pay for insulting a co-worker and making an offensive comment about her dress.

Joe Lynch, city administrator since 2006, has been at the center of an investigation since August, when the city worker filed a complaint that contained several allegations.

The city council handed down the suspension Monday, on a unanimous vote after a closed-door meeting. A week earlier council members reviewed the report by a law firm hired to investigate the allegations.

Lynch did not return calls this week for comment. As the city’s top worker, Lynch oversees 165 full-time employees, including six department heads, and numerous part-time employees.

The investigation by Everett & VanderWielm, a Rosemount law firm, found that Lynch violated the city’s Respectful Workplace Policy on two occasions.

The council determined other allegations that either were in the complaint or were addressed in the 65-page report were “not substantiated” or had “insufficient evidence.”

Lynch’s three-day suspension must happen before Feb. 28, with the exact dates to be determined by Lynch.

WHAT HAPPENED

According to a redacted copy of the report released to the Pioneer Press, the first violation happened shortly after Lynch gave the co-worker a private memo on March 30 about reassigning a member of her staff. She told the investigator that when she gave Lynch her own memo on April 4 to convey her concerns he called her a “child” and told her to “grow up.”

The next day, she said, Lynch came to her office and told her he was sorry she was emotional. She told him she did not understand why he was unhappy with her.

She told the investigator that Lynch’s “anger came out of nowhere again” and that he again told her to “grow up” and called her a “teenager” before “stubbornly” walking out of the office.

Lynch told an investigator that he was frustrated with her because for several days she had been “complaining that she did not feel supported and that he was being unfair,” the report read. He admitted to telling her that she was acting “like a child” and a “teenager” and to “grow up.”

Lynch’s use of “child” and “teenager” was “disrespectful” and violated the city’s policy, which prohibits offensive behavior — defined as inappropriate comments, name calling and disrespectful language, according to the report.

“Calling an employee a ‘child’ and a ‘teenager’ is an insult — it is belittling because it implies that a person is immature or personally deficient,” the report read. “Telling an employee that he or she needs to grow up is also disrespectful.”

THE SECOND VIOLATION

Lynch’s second violation was a “sexual innuendo” he made to the co-worker, according to the report.

On July 9, shortly before a council meeting, Lynch approached the co-worker in the presence of another co-worker and complimented her on a dress she was wearing. He asked her if she was going on a date that night. She said she did have a date, but was going to take the dress off — meaning that she planned to change beforehand, according to the report.

Although Lynch admitted he knew what she meant, the report said, he responded with “something along the lines of ‘You’re going to take your dress off for your date already?'”

According to Lynch, she said, “That’s not what I meant” and he countered with, “I know, but that’s what you said.” After another co-worker approached the group, Lynch repeated that the woman intended to take her dress off for the date.

She told an investigator she was “completely mortified. He sexually harassed me and to make it worse he included another male co-worker. He made me feel disrespected because I wore a dress. And he twisted my words to make them sound sexual.”

According to the report, the comments were “objectively offensive” and “carried the unmistakable implication that (she) intended to engage in sexual activities while on her date.”

HIRED IN 2006

Lynch’s career in city administration spans three decades.

Lynch came to Inver Grove Heights in November 2006 from North Branch, where he had been the city administrator for three years. Before that, he was the city administrator in Arden Hills for three years. He was fired from that position after a change in council leadership, a fairly common occurrence for administrators.

Lynch also was the city administrator in Long Lake for five years and in Chisago City for three years, and the administrator of White Bear Township.

Lynch has one other complaint in his work file, Inver Grove Heights City Attorney Tim Kuntz said Wednesday. A complaint was filed against Lynch in May 2014, but the council voted 5-0 that discipline was not warranted.

Lynch is being paid a little more than $153,000 this year. His salary for 2019 is yet to be determined, Kuntz said.

Lynch is also the girls basketball coach at Hastings High School. He joined the program in November after coaching Cretin-Derham Hall to the consolation trophy in the Class 4A state tournament.

For sale: private island in the Mississippi River, sandy beach, artsy driftwood, grove of mature native trees, going for the bargain price of $2,200.

But buyer beware: this 2.3-acre diamond-in-the-rough could also be described as a clump of trees on a sandbar that floods during high-water season.

However you see it, the purchase would still come with the bragging rights of owning a private island.

Just east of the Pine Bend bluffs in Inver Grove Heights and west of Lower Grey Cloud Island, the property has been a ward of the state since 1987 when its owner, Pine Bend Development Co., failed to pay its property taxes for six years and had to forfeit it.

State law prevented counties from selling property next to public waters, so the island sat in limbo until the rule changed in 2016, said Michael Johnson, Dakota County deputy director for property taxation and records.

“It would have taken an actual bill to give a county the ability to sell,” he said. “It was pretty commonplace for these parcels to sit.”

New legislation loosened the restrictions, so the island made it onto the county’s auction list along with 40 other parcels. No date has been set for the auction, but Johnson estimates it will happen on a weekend either at the end of January or beginning of February in the county board room in Hastings. He recommends watching the Dakota County website or a Hastings newspaper for the auction date.

An interested buyer would just need to show up and fill out some paperwork.

And, it’s possible the island will sell for less than market value, Johnson said.

The market value price “is not necessarily reflective of the bid price,” he said. “Typically it’s lower than that. Our goal is never to make money, but to get (land) back on the tax rolls.”

The unnamed island simply goes by its property identification number 20-03500-26-010. Its pending sale has generated some online buzz. County Commissioner Joe Atkin’s post about it generated almost 100 comments. Atkins joked that it would be a perfect Christmas gift for that person who is hard to buy for.

Boaters and duck hunters seem most interested. A couple of folks were familiar with it.

“Currently this island is used by recreational boaters for beaching and partying,” said commenter Victoria Sheehan. “There is also an extensive sandbar that trails off the south end which comes and goes with the river depth. Over the years, boaters have created trails, camping areas, and fire pits in the center of the island. There was once a volleyball pit in there as well.”

Commenter Jeffrey Thompson Sr. said he remembered boating out to the island in the 70s to set up a duck blind.

“The hunting was ok and there were some makeshift shelters on the island,” he said.

As of Saturday, there were no shelters standing on the island. The bluffs create a barrier to noise, so at least in winter, the island is a quiet retreat, populated only by ducks and the occasional bald eagle.

Summer may be a different story.

“It would appear it is a pretty well known spot for boaters in the summer,” Johnson said.

Although it remains the property of the state, the county holds it in trust on behalf of the state. The profit from the sale would be split between the county, the city and the school district using a specific formula, he said.

The Department of Natural Resources looked it over and could still intercede before the sale, as could the city or any other county office, he said, though it’s unlikely since it’s been unwanted for over 30 years.

The driver who struck and killed a 55-year-old Inver Grove Heights grandmother turned herself in after seeing a post on social media about the incident Sunday, police said.

Police say that Haimanot Gebremedhin, 55, of Inver Grove Heights was struck and killed shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday on 80th street east of Blaine Avenue in Inver Grove Heights.

At about 12:45 p.m. Sunday, Breyona Cotton, 30, of Inver Grove Heights turned herself into the police, telling investigators she was the driver.

“Cotton stated she saw a social media post this morning and decided to turn herself in and tell her version of events,” police said in a release.

Cotton was booked and released to her attorney. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the Dakota County Attorney’s office for a charging decision, police said.

Because it was such a nice evening Saturday, Gebremedhin and her husband of 38 years had walked to the community center near their home, according to her daughter-in-law, Krystle Aschenaki.

Her mother-in-law was a walker and was taking advantage of the warmer weather Saturday, she said.

Gebremedhin left early to walk home, and she was fatally struck by a vehicle, Aschenaki said.

Gebremedhin had four children and two grandchildren and was beloved by family and members of the Inver Grove Heights community where she had been an active citizen for 30 years, her daughter-in-law said.

She worked as a housekeeper and was very active in her church.

“We just want to know what happened. We want answers,” Aschenaki said. “This tragedy doesn’t make any sense. It should never happen to anyone.”

The Minnesota State Patrol is assisting with reconstruction of the collision.

A rash of east metro crashes involving vehicles striking pedestrians — including four fatalities — has prompted warnings from police officials for both drivers and pedestrians to be hyper-aware of their surroundings.

This crisis began Thursday night when a man and woman crossing Larpenteur Avenue in Roseville were struck and killed. Police later made an arrest in the case.

The next night, Friday, two St. Paul women were crossing McKnight Street in St. Paul when they were struck. One woman died and the other was seriously injured.

Then, on Saturday night, a 55-year-old woman was out walking near her home in Inver Grove Heights when a hit-and-run driver fatally struck her and fled. A suspect was later arrested.

Three other people were struck and injured early Sunday morning in St. Paul when a car hit them and then crashed into the Hunan Garden restaurant on Cedar Avenue.

Preventing pedestrian deaths is something the city is working on with its Pedestrian Plan, said St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders.

Roseville Police Chief Mathwig and Linders both cited the combination of warmer weather — prompting people to be outside walking more — and the darker and shorter days as possible factors in the increase in pedestrians being struck by vehicles.

An hour after the Roseville crash, the area was dark, with few street lights.

“I wouldn’t say this particular area is prone to pedestrian crashes,” Mathwig said. “But it is just off a well-lit area, which is Rice and Larpenteur. As you travel away you are going to have less lights and less area for people to be seen, so we would just ask people, especially at this time of night when the sun is going down, to be extra careful as they are driving along the road.”

“It comes down to drivers have to be aware and pedestrians have to be aware,” Linders said. “We all need to work together to keep safe. No one wants to be hit by a vehicle and no driver wants to hit someone. Drivers need to slow down and everyone needs to take an extra second or two to be aware of their surroundings. If we look out for one another we can hopefully keep this type of tragedy from happening again.”

In 2018, there were 148 pedestrians hit by vehicles in St. Paul. Of those, 126 people were injured and three died, Linders said.

“We take pedestrian safety very seriously in the city of St. Paul,” he said. “We have a ‘Stop for Me’ campaign where we’re out trying to get people to be aware … to educate pedestrians as well as drivers on what the crosswalk laws are.”

BIKE SAFETY

Andy Singer, co-chair for the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition, said that the city, county, and state Department of Transportation needs to take a deeper look at date where these types of crashes are happening frequently and put both time and money into engineering solutions.

“Pedestrians and non-motorized users need to be made a priority,” he said. “The city’s plan does that on paper, but the city, county, and MnDOT need to put the money behind it.”

Some of these incidents are happening on what are being called “four-lane death roads,” Singer said, noting that these four-lane roads, such as University, Larpenteur, Snelling,Seventh Street, Rice Street and Dale Street in St. Paul have high volumes of vehicles, high speeds and lots of places pedestrians need to cross.

For instance, Singer said, there are roads next to major universities or places where people need to board buses that have two-mile stretches between intersections with crosswalks and it would be “ridiculous,” he said, to expect people to walk two miles one way and back to cross at the intersection.

The bottom line is that money and energy needs to be spent to fix the engineering problems, he said.

“MnDot spends nothing on bikes and pedestrians but spends billions on automotive stuff,” he said.

Here are details about the recent incidents:

THURSDAY-ROSEVILLE

Two Roseville residents, Robert Blake Buxton, 47, of Roseville, and Meridith Nypree Aikens, 45, were fatally struck around 5:30 p.m. Thursday while crossing Larpenteur Avenue. While the driver, John Michael Rickey, 72, of St. Paul, did pull over and is cooperating, police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to assist them in finding out what happened.

Over the weekend police arrested a 61-year-old Roseville man who they say was driving a sedan that fled the scene of the accident. That vehicle struck at least one of the victims, both of whom were initially struck by a pick-up truck.

The sedan driver was arrested after leaving a St. Paul bar on Saturday. Police say he was under the influence of alcohol and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. A search warrant was executed for a blood sample.

The suspect’s vehicle, a Chrysler LeBaron, had “fresh damage” and “additional evidence linking him to the crash,” police said.

Roseville police are still asking any witnesses or anyone with information related on the accident to call them at at (651) 767-0640. On-line tips may be submitted at: https://www.cityofroseville. com/3194/Crime-Tips.

The Minnesota State Patrol’s crash reconstruction specialists are assisting in the investigation.

FRIDAY-ST. PAUL

A 19-year-old woman was hit and killed and her friend was critically injured about 5:45 p.m. Friday when they were struck by a vehicle while crossing McKnight Street.

Zahra Mohamed and her friend, Hanan Farah, 22, had been volunteering at a nearby school, had gotten bored and decided to go for a walk north on McKnight Street, according to Hanan Farha’s father, Amin Farah.

Mohamed, a student at the University of Minnesota, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Farah was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with a broken right femur, a broken pelvic bone, broken ribs and a bleeding kidney, her father told reporters Saturday.

The women were crossing McKnight Street near the Villages on McKnight apartments when the driver of a Honda Pilot, heading south, struck them.

There were four people in the Honda Pilot at the time, two adults and two juveniles. The driver stopped immediately and is cooperating with the authorities. Alcohol or drugs do not appear to be factors in the crash, police said.

SATURDAY – INVER GROVE HEIGHTS

A driver who struck and killed 55-year-old Inver Grove resident Haimanot Gebremedhin turned herself in Sunday after seeing posts on social media about the incident.

Because it was such a nice evening Saturday, Gebremedhin and her husband of 38 years had walked to the community center near their home, according to her daughter-in-law, Krystle Aschenaki.

Gebremedhin, a mother of four and grandmother of two, was fatally struck walking home from the community center on 80th Street, east of Blaine Avenue around 5:52 p.m.

The driver, Breyona Cotton, 30, of Inver Grove Heights turned herself into police Sunday afternoon around 12:43 p.m.

SUNDAY-ST. PAUL

Linders noted that St. Paul had three more people struck and injured by a vehicle early Sunday morning. Shortly before 2 a.m., a 28-year-old man struck three people on the sidewalk in the 300 block of Cedar and then plowed into the wall of the Hunan Garden restaurant, he said.

The pedestrians — a woman and two men — were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.

“In this case the driver appeared to be impaired but further testing will determine whether or not that’s the case,” Linders said. “That’s the other thing — don’t drive impaired. Thankfully nobody  was seriously injured this morning, but it could have been much worse.”

The driver who is suspected of striking and killing a 55-year-old Inver Grove Heights grandmother Saturday told investigators she thought she had hit a deer.

Breyona Cotton, 30, went to the Inver Grove Heights police station with her attorney about 12:45 p.m. Sunday — 19 hours after the crash — and said she was the driver and that “she believed she struck a deer,” according to an application for a search warrant filed this week in Dakota County District Court.

Haimanot Gebremedhin of Inver Grove Heights was found dead on the north side of 80th Street, east of Blaine Avenue, about 5:45 p.m. Saturday. She had injuries to her face and hand, and her body “was positioned in a way that indicated she had been struck by a vehicle,” the court document read.

In the police interview, Cotton, who lives in Inver Grove Heights, said she was driving west on 80th Street when she hit something and continued a bit before turning north on Blaine Avenue and pulling over.

She said she did not get out of her vehicle, but “looked around expecting to see a deer running away,” the document read. “She did not see anything, so she continued on her way home.”

During the interview, Cotton indicated on a map the approximate location of the crash, which was about 100 feet from where Gebremedhin was found.

Cotton said she only went to police Sunday after seeing a social media post about the crash and realizing that she had been in the area.

Cotton had driven her car — a 2013 Hyundai Sonata — to the police station, and officers found significant damage to the car’s front, hood and windshield consistent with the crash, according to the court document.

Cotton was booked into Inver Grove Heights jail on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, and released to her attorney.

Neither Cotton nor her attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Inver Grove Heights police Cmdr. Josh Otis said Tuesday that investigators are awaiting a crash reconstruction report from the Minnesota State Patrol before sending the case to the Dakota County attorney’s office for possible charges.

Inver Grove investigators executed a search of Cotton’s car on Monday and swabbed DNA found on the hood and windshield, where hair was also found, according to the court document.

Investigators also obtained a search warrant to examine Cotton’s cellphone for evidence, including call logs and text messages. The Dakota County Electronic Crimes Unit will conduct the phone analysis.

Otis, who conducted the interview with Cotton, said, “At this time, we suspect there was no impairment involved.”

A search warrant to obtain a blood sample from Cotton was not pursued, according to Otis, “because I thought we didn’t have probable cause for a search of somebody’s blood of impairment at that time, 19 hours after a crash.”

It is yet unclear exactly where Gebremedhin was when struck, Otis said. She was found lying on the boulevard grass on the north side of 80th Street, near the sidewalk. There are sidewalks on either side of the road, which has a 40 mph posted speed limit.

Before the crash, Gebremedhin was working out with her husband at the city’s community center. She decided to leave early and was walking home alone when she was hit about four blocks east of the community center.

After the collision, her husband called her cellphone, looking for her, Otis said. An officer answered and told him what had happened. He was picked up and brought to the crash scene.

“It was an unfortunate, tragic event,” Otis said.

According to Minnesota court records, Cotton was convicted of gross misdemeanor driving while impaired (refuse to submit to chemical test) in November 2010 in Washington County District Court. She was convicted of driving without a license in 2006.

A 29-year-old man has died after the car he was a passenger in was rear-ended in Inver Grove Heights Friday night.

Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed of Minneapolis was a passenger in a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am traveling westbound on Minnesota 62 at about 9:30 p.m. when it reportedly came to a stop in the right lane west of Robert Trail, according the Minnesota State Patrol.

The car was then struck by a 2016 Dodge Ram driven by Jamey Scott Ralph Strand, 37, of Brooklyn Center. He was taken to Regions Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The driver of the Pontiac, Anwar Ibrahim Yahia Abdiwahed, 25, of Minneapolis, and another passenger in the car were also taken to Regions with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The State Patrol said drugs appear to be a factor in the crash.

Madison Doffing was born after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but the annual photos of the airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center had made her fearful of flying.

“I’d be afraid that we would crash,” she said.

On Saturday she put that fear to rest when William “Bill” Steier took her up in his Cessna 172 Skyhawk as part of the Young Eagles program which introduces children to aviation. It was a big day for Steier, too, as he passed a significant milestone. He has taken over 600 students on free flights since joining the program in 1997. Madison, 13, and her brother Tyler, 12, of Cottage Grove were numbers 627 and 628.

After a pre-flight check and a few instructions, Steier, the siblings and their dad Jason hopped in the red-and-white four-seater and headed down the runway at Fleming Field Municipal Airport in South St. Paul. Their flight path took them along the south side of the Mississippi River to Hastings to see where the St. Croix River mixes with the Mississippi. From there, they flew over Prescott, Wis. and looked west to see the Twin Cities skyline.

It took about 30 minutes, but it may have changed Madison’s life.

“It was fun,” she said excitedly. “There was some turbulence, but I think it was awesome.” She said she is now thinking about a career as a flight attendant.

Steier listened to her describe the flight and nodded, grinning from ear to ear. That’s exactly why he does this, he said, to pass along his passion for flying to the next generation.

AVIATION FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

The Young Eagles program was launched in 1992 by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) following a a survey of EAA members on the priorities of the organization’s future. Over 90 percent said it was imperative to introduce young people to the world of aviation, so the Young Eagles was initiated with the goal of giving kids ages 8 to 17 an explanation of the safe operation of airplanes, a brief description of the principles of flight and a demonstration in the air.

The worldwide organization is run by more than 50,000 volunteers who donate their time and aircraft. Through the efforts of its 200,000 members, over 2 million young people have had the chance to fly.

The trip ends with the student signing his or her name into what the organization calls the “World’s Largest Logbook,” which is on display at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wis., and online. Finally, the participant is given information on how to get a pilot’s license.

FLYING IS A FAMILY AFFAIR

Steier, 57, of Inver Grove Heights was bitten by the flying bug early in life.

“I was just 5 years old,” he said of his first ride. “I could barely see over the seat.”

His dad and older brother bought an airplane, as did many of his relatives.

“It’s kind of in the family,” he said.

He got his pilot’s license at age 17 and later went into aircraft mechanics, maintaining planes for Northwest Airlines and other Twin Cities corporations.

As a pilot, he joined EAA, so the Young Eagles program was a natural transition. His chapter, 1229, is based in Fleming Field and has about 60 members. He and his wife Julie are Young Eagles coordinators.

THE BRAVE, THE SCARED AND THE SICK

In the early days the chapter would host large groups, as big as 200 at a time. Now the majority of Young Eagle flights take place during the chapter’s spring and fall breakfast fundraisers. Otherwise, individuals find the group online, as the Doffings did, and set up an appointment.

Then they come to his hangar, which looks more like a home with couches, a foosball table and a kitchen, except for the two airplanes parked inside.

Over the years Steier has had all kinds of kids in his Cessna. Some barely said a word during the trip, others babbled excitedly. Some joked around with friends and others sang songs.

“I’ve had a few of them get sick, but those are usually the parents,” he said. “There was only one time I turned the airplane around.”

During that trip, a boy about 11 years old became so frightened, Steier said, he felt he needed to take him back to the hangar. His buddies, unhappy to have their flight cut short, gave him such a hard time on the trip back that Steier told them they were done for the day.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A few of his participants went on to become pilots themselves. He’s not sure how many but knows a couple of them work for local airlines.

The EAA did a study in 2011 to see if its efforts to encourage kids into aviation careers was working. It found that program participants are 5.4 times more likely to become a pilot, that 9 percent of those new pilots are female and that the odds of them choosing to fly went up the older the participant was.

Of all the kids whom Steier has encouraged over the years, he laughs when asked about his own. Neither his son nor his daughter became pilots.

“I really tried hard not to push them,” he said.

The recently suspended city administrator of Inver Grove Heights has been given a to-do list of things meant to “grow professionalism” and build trust with city workers.

The city council met last month behind closed doors to evaluate the job performance of Joe Lynch, who was investigated after a female coworker he supervises filed a complaint with the city in August, alleging that he made a sexually suggestive remark and called her names.

The investigation by a city-hired law firm concluded that Lynch violated the city’s Respectful Workplace Policy on two occasions. The council handed down a three-day, unpaid suspension Dec. 19.

City Attorney Tim Kuntz said this week that the council’s recent evaluation of Lynch focused on “increasing communication in the administration department. They felt that communication could be enhanced, improved.”

During the meeting, the council decided that the administration department ‘s supervisory structure should remain unchanged, Kuntz said.

As the city’s top worker, Lynch oversees 165 full-time employees, including six department heads, and several part-time employees. Lynch, city administrator since 2006, did not return calls for comment.

At the meeting, the council gave Lynch, who was in attendance, guidelines, directions and suggestions, according to summary written afterward by Kuntz. They include:

• Lynch should increase communication channels with those he supervises, including through weekly meetings.
• Lynch and department members should “strive to create an atmosphere of trust building and positive interactions and engage in professional relationship building.” Lynch must keep the council informed on progress.
• An independent consultant acting as a facilitator should train and coach Lynch and department staff on additional steps that can be taken to “build trust and foster positive interactions by building professional relationships.”

Kuntz said this week the consultant has not yet been hired and that he was unsure what it could cost the city.

According to a 65-page report of the investigation by Everett & VanderWielm, a Rosemount law firm, Lynch admitted to telling his coworker that she was acting “like a child” and a “teenager” and to “grow up.” The name-calling, which took place over two days in early April, came after she objected to Lynch reassigning a member of her staff.

Lynch’s use of “child” and “teenager” was disrespectful and violated workplace policy, which prohibits offensive behavior — defined as inappropriate comments, name-calling and disrespectful language, according to the report.

Lynch’s second violation was a “sexual innuendo” he made to the co-worker, according to the report.

On July 9, shortly before a council meeting, Lynch approached the co-worker in the presence of another employee and complimented her on a dress she was wearing. He asked her if she was going on a date that night. She said she did have a date, but was going to take the dress off — meaning that she planned to change beforehand, according to the report.

Although Lynch admitted he knew what she meant, the report said, he responded with “something along the lines of, ‘You’re going to take your dress off for your date already?’ ”

According to the report, the comments were “objectively offensive” and “carried the unmistakable implication that (she) intended to engage in sexual activities while on her date.”

The council determined other allegations that either were in the complaint or addressed in the report were either “not substantiated” or had “insufficient evidence.”

Lynch was paid a little more than $153,000 last year. His salary for 2019 has yet to be determined, Kuntz said.

Everett & VanderWielm charged the city about $45,000 to investigate the woman’s claims, according to city records.

Dakota County has zeroed in on a spot for its public safety training center.

The county and Inver Grove Heights have agreed on a nearly $1.1 million purchase price for a 6.3-acre city-owned site — south of Minnesota 55 and U.S. 52 and west of Concord Boulevard — where the SMART (Safety and Mental Health Alternative Response Training) Center would be built.

The county board last week authorized signing a purchase agreement; the city council is expected to consider doing the same Monday night.

The 35,000-square-foot center will provide space for training law enforcement and other first responders from across the state in crisis intervention, as well as house Dakota County’s drug task force and electronic-crimes unit, which needs room to handle more cases and requests from departments outside the county.

The SMART Center will be operated by the county, which will split the $13 million cost with the state. Last year, the county received $6.6 million in state bond funds for the planning, design, land acquisition and construction of the center.

The site is the leftover part of 11.7 acres the city bought for $1.93 million in 2017 for a new fire station, which is under construction. At the time, city officials said they planned to sell the excess land, possibly for commercial development.

The county looked for land in Inver Grove Heights because of the city’s proximity to Interstate 494 and other highways, said Taud Hoopingarner, operations management director. Land that is part of Inver Hills Community College was also considered.

Last summer, city officials approached the county to gauge interest in their site.

“We do believe that this property will meet our needs for current design and construction of the facility and future growth,” Hoopingarner told the county board last week. “It’ll be very visible, it’ll sit up high on top of that hill as a two-story building, so you’ll be able to see it pretty easily from Highway 55/52. And it’s easily accessible off of Concord Avenue with the exit right at that location as well.”

The purchase price falls within the county’s appraised value of the property, he said.

One condition of the deal did not go over well with county board Commissioner Mary Liz Holberg. The city asked for sporadic use of the facility’s large meeting room, with terms to be detailed in a memorandum of understanding.

Hoopingarner said the city made the request because staff does not have a space for large meetings.

Holberg, noting that the center will be built with state and county funds, said she was “very concerned about setting aside a special deal for one community.”

“I think it sets a bad precedent for future county buildings and cities,” she said.

Commissioners agreed to take the provision out of the purchase agreement and send it back to the city for approval.

“I don’t think it will be a deal-breaker in terms of going back to them and saying, ‘Hey, we can accommodate all the conditions and that we’ll make every effort to try and accommodate your request for use of space as we would any other city out there,’ ” Hoopingarner said. “And I think they’d be open to that.”

Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said the SMART Center will be the only one like it in the state.

The main tenant will be the Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team, a nonprofit that trains law enforcement, corrections officers and mental health providers in using verbal de-escalation skills before using force when confronting a mental health crisis. It was founded in 2006 by retired local police officers.

“They use professional actors to do role-playing,” Leslie said. “They’re the go-to for law enforcement and first responders when they want to get up to speed on the latest techniques to talk to people who are in crisis.”

The center is projected to open in the spring of 2021.

Sam Erb made Republicans seem like the worst self-hating psychos on the planet.

“We are racist, homophobic, sexist, deplorable, Islamo-phobic and any other kind of phobic there is,” said Erb, a dedicated Republican from Minneapolis.

But then, listening to Beth Varro, it seemed like Democrats were the monsters of humanity.

“We are baby killers,” announced Varro, a Democrat, as she made a list on a poster-board. “We think we are the elites, the intellectuals. We want open borders. We are anti-business.”

The self-flagellation face-off was set up by Better Angels, a group formed after the 2016 election to encourage civil conversations between Democrats and Republicans. It began in South Lebanon, Ohio, and now organizes workshops and conversations nationwide. The meetings have become more common around the Twin Cities as of late.

The group allowed the Pioneer Press to attend a Jan. 26 session in an Inver Grove Heights library for a peek into the emotional discussions. Afterward, it didn’t seem like anyone was ready to change sides — yet there was a dramatic thawing between the two groups.

“This is encouraging,” said Paul Kirst, a New Brighton Democrat. “This is what we need to get back to good government.”

START BY DECLARING YOUR POLITICS

In most social gatherings, people hide their political leanings. But at the Better Angels meeting, they wore them on their chests — by picking a red or blue name-tag designating Republican or Democrat.

RELATED: Talking politics with the “other” side? A few tips

Moderator Kim Martinson said Democrats dominate the metro-area meetings, because the region usually leans blue. “In Ohio, they have a hard time finding blues,” she said.

Red name-tagged Emily Helgeson of Eagan explained why Republicans shy away from public exposure.

“We reds run into so much anti-conservative behavior. There are only so many times you can be called a racist and sexist,” said Helgeson.

She was among six Republicans who joined seven Democrats as the Inver Grove Heights meeting began.

The group split in two, so members of each party could air prejudices they had experienced.

In the red group, the stereotypes tumbled out of every mouth.

They felt attacked and accused of being pro-gun “and pro-violence,” unconcerned about the environment or the plight of minorities.

The Democrats’ meeting was similar, with different stereotypes.

They felt attacked and accused of being soft on crime, wasteful of taxpayer money, and eager to demand government help for minorities.

NOW PRESENT YOUR CASE

Then, the next phase of the workshop: Discussing why each party was best for the nation.

Each group sat in a circle to talk as the other group listened — at times visibly struggling not to interrupt.

The reds went first.

They wanted to show that they were not enemies of various groups — only that they opposed government programs to give those groups special treatment.

“Just because we don’t want the welfare state doesn’t mean we hate the poor,” said Helgeson.

Lisa Sinna, Stacy, said liberals make the mistake of seeing people as members of groups rather than as individuals. “That stifles their personal growth,” said Sinna.

Another Republican added: “If you have a problem, you fix it yourself. That’s how you grow as a person.”

Conservatives resent paying taxes for programs they see as futile. “The government doesn’t know how to spend my money better than I do,” said Erb.

Then Democrats circled up to formulate their message to America.

Alexandra Atrubin, of Minneapolis, said a winning issue for Democrats was climate change. “Without taking the long view on that, all of this is moot,” she said.

Several responded to what they had just heard from the Republicans. America’s past treatment of  minorities, said Atrubin, should be considered along with individual expectations.

Most Democrats linked conservative positions to President Donald Trump, which is something the Republicans did not do. For example, Democrats tied the issue of border security to Trump’s proposed wall — which Democrats consistently opposed.

Kirst said Democrats should send a message of restoring civility in political language. “Right now, if you believe differently from me, I hate you. That’s terrible,” said Kirst.

Democrats, he said, will combat a tendency to seek extremes. “Politicians define issues in polarizing ways,” he said.

THE PAYOFF: REUNITING DIVIDED GROUPS

In the final phase of the workshop, the groups reunited in one big circle. Several of them — this was the payoff for the entire session — spoke with members of the opposite party.

Republican Sinna said she was surprised to hear that Democrats don’t want open borders — allowing anyone, for any reason, to enter the U.S. from Mexico.

“That is not what you want?” she asked the Democrats. “Well, that’s what I hear. That’s what people are campaigning on — open borders.”

Several Republicans nodded in agreement.

When it was over, Democrat Atrubin applauded the Better Angels format. “This entire workshop is worth it,” she said.

Republican Erb hung around, chatting with Democrats.

“I am having a great time,” he said.

IF YOU GO

Better Angels sponsors free events to encourage conversations between Republicans and Democrats. To register, email Heather.Stephenson@co.dakota.mn.us. The group encourages — but doesn’t require — attendance at both the Skills Workshops and the Red/Blue Workshops. The workshops can last several hours.

For more information, visit www.better-angels.org/Minnesota.

Upcoming events include:

• Eagan, Wescott Library, 1340 Wescott Road — Red/Blue Workshop, 1 p.m., Feb. 24.
• Burnsville, Burnhaven Library, 1101 West County Road 42 — Red/Blue Workshop, 1 p.m., March 3; Skills Workshop, 10:30 a.m., March 9.
• Apple Valley, Galaxie Library, 14955 Galaxie Ave. — Skills Workshop, 5 p.m., April 16; Red/Blue Workshop, 1 p.m., April 27.
• West St. Paul, Wentworth Library, 199 E. Wentworth Ave. — Skills Workshop, 5 p.m., May 9; Red/Blue Workshop, 10 a.m., May 18.

The armed robber shot by a clerk during a 2017 robbery of a Verizon store in Inver Grove Heights was sentenced this week to 15 years in  prison.

Jamaal Marquie Mays, 34, of Crystal, pleaded guilty this past fall to charges of armed robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime. On Wednesday, U.S. District Chief Judge John Tunheim sentenced him to 15 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.

Mays’ accomplice, Jaquon Keshawn Moman, 26, was sentenced in January to six years in prison on the same charges for the robbery, which ended in a shootout at a busy strip mall. One of the bullets grazed an employee of a nearby restaurant.

“Such brazen acts of violence will not be tolerated in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said in a prepared statement announcing Mays’ sentence.

‘MAKE IT EASY ON ME’

Mays and Moman entered the Verizon Wireless store at about 11 a.m. on August 17, 2017, and pretended to browse until customers left, according to court documents. That is when they approached the store’s employee asking about phones stored in a back room.

After retrieving several phones, the employee was met by Mays pointing a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol at his head, court records said.

“Make it easy on me,” Mays told the employee and demanded cellphones and cash.

SHOTS RING OUT

The store’s clerk had his own idea, and his own gun.

As the employee pretended to comply, he drew a licensed firearm and fired three times in self-defense — striking Mays twice. Mays shot back, but missed and fell to the ground wounded.

A stray bullet from the shootout pierced a wall before grazing the lower back of a worker at the adjacent Super Wok restaurant. She was treated at a local clinic.

Mays was critically injured and spent several days at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

Moman ran away but investigators later arrested him.

Finalists hoping to be the next Inver Grove Heights police chief again include internal candidates Sean Folmar and Joshua Otis — both of whom were finalists for the job in 2017.

The city received 30 applications last month, and five finalists were picked this week. They will be interviewed by city officials Thursday.

Folmar was named the department’s interim chief in January after former chief Paul Schnell was appointed commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Folmar started with the police department in 1995 as a patrol officer, rose through the ranks and became deputy chief in 2018.

Otis has a similar career. He became a patrol officer in Inver Grove in 2001, an investigator in 2005 and sergeant in 2007. He was a lieutenant from 2012 to 2018, when he was given a commander job.

The other finalists are:

• Brian Wicke, a commander in neighboring South St. Paul since 2012. Wicke started his career as a Washington County deputy in 1997 and joined South St. Paul police in 2002 as a canine handler.
• Melissa Chiodo, a commander for Minneapolis police since 2016 who has also been an officer, sergeant and lieutenant during her nearly 23 years with the department.
• Mark Elliot, police chief in Prior Lake from 2015 to 2018. He was a commander for Bloomington police from 1993 to 2015.

Melissa Chiodo, a commander for Minneapolis police since 2016 who has spent nearly 23 years with the department, has been tapped to be police chief in Inver Grove Heights.

The city council on Thursday unanimously authorized city staff to begin employment discussions with Chiodo, who was one of four finalists interviewed earlier in the day.

Chiodo did not immediately return a call Thursday for comment.

Chiodo would replace former chief Paul Schnell, who in January was appointed commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

She also would be the city’s first female police chief. The St. Paul suburb of about 35,000 also has a female fire chief, Judy Thill, who was hired in 2007.

“She comes with a lot of good references and a lot of experience,” Mayor George Tourville said Thursday of Chiodo. “We were a little concerned about the jump from Minneapolis to Inver Grove Heights — there are big differences — but she assured us she’s absolutely excited about it.”

If negotiations are successful, Tourville said, the city council could appoint Chiodo as soon as next month.

Among the five finalists were two longtime Inver Grove Heights police veterans, Sean Folmar and Joshua Otis, who also were finalists in 2017 when Schnell was hired. Brian Wicke, a commander in neighboring South St. Paul since 2012, was the fourth finalist interviewed Thursday.

A fifth finalist, Mark Elliot, who was the police chief in Prior Lake from 2015 to 2018, withdrew from the running this week, Tourville said.

Bridget Cronin, who served on the Inver Grove Heights school board for a decade, was an advocate for children with autism and helped veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, has died after apparently falling at her Summit Avenue apartment. She was 50.

Cronin was found injured Saturday by her kids after she “apparently fell in her bathroom,” her ex-husband, Tony Sutton, said Monday in a telephone interview. “According to the doctor, she had massive head trauma. That’s all we know.” She died the next day at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

Funeral services are pending.

“I’m stunned, my kids are stunned,” Sutton said. “I’m on my way out to meet with her sister and her mother to plan the funeral. I’m in a state of shock.”

Cronin and Sutton, a former state GOP chairman, divorced in 2014. They had four children, ages 23 to nine.

“Nothing was more important to her then her children,” Sutton wrote in a Facebook post this week.

Cronin was smart, creative and “fierce about the causes she believed in,” Sutton wrote.

One of those was the Ars Bellum Foundation, a nonprofit that Cronin and others formed in 2014 to provide art therapy programs to veterans and military family members dealing with PTSD and related mental health conditions due to service-related trauma, loss and grief.

Cronin served as executive director of the St. Paul nonprofit.

“Her father was a veteran, and she had a real soft spot for veterans,” Sutton said. “And she was more enthusiastic about that than anything I’ve ever seen her do.”

In 2001, Cronin became the advocacy and fundraising leader for a parent group called Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) and successfully won state recognition and funding for intensive early intervention behavior therapy for young children with autism. Her son was diagnosed with autism in 2000.

Cronin served as an elected board member for Inver Grove Heights Schools from January 2004 to August 2014, when she resigned prior to moving to St. Paul.

In the mid-2000s, Cronin and Sutton co-owned several Baja Sol Tortilla Grill locations in the Twin Cities and elsewhere.

Add Inver Grove Heights to the growing list of metro-area cities with the ash-tree killing bug.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has confirmed an emerald ash borer infestation in three trees in the northwest corner of the city. Another 11 trees are showing symptoms, said Eric Carlson, the city’s parks and recreation director.

The trees are in the public right-of-way and in an area north of Upper 55th Street, he said.

The city is investigating the infestation and encouraging residents to look for signs of the beetle, especially now that trees are still bare.

Dakota County has been under a state-imposed quarantine since December 2014, when the pest was found in Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan. Since, it has also been found in Apple Valley, Burnsville, Hastings, Lakeville, Mendota Heights, Mendota and West St. Paul.

In Minnesota, it was first discovered in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul in May 2009 and in Minneapolis a year later.

Emerald ash borer larvae kill trees by tunneling into the wood and feeding on the tree’s nutrients. It’s estimated that Minnesota has more than 1 billion ash trees, the most of any state in the nation.

Two metro pilots are still flying high after beating out eight contenders last week to claim a national soaring championship.

Richard Andrews, 70, of Hastings and Barry Jaeger, 62, of Inver Grove Heights placed first overall after four days of racing Jaeger’s Arcus M two-seater glider around multiple courses ranging up to 200 miles in the Soaring Society of America’s 20 Meter Multi-Seat Nationals in Albert Lea, Minn.

Barry Jaeger, 62, of Inver Grove Heights and Richard Andrews, 70, of Hastings won the Soaring Society of America’s 20 Meter Multi-Seat Nationals in Albert Lea, Minn on Friday, May 17, 2019. (Courtesy of Barry Jaeger)”We’re both in shock that we were able to do this,” said Jaeger, who owns a construction company in Mendota Heights.

The sport involves maneuvering an engine-less glider with a nearly 66-foot wingspan through the air. Jaeger’s glider is self-launching, which means it has a small motor in it to get it off the ground, but most gliders must be towed airborne by a motorized airplane.

The contest, which ran May 11-18 at the Albert Lea Municipal Airport, was scheduled to have seven flights but was pared down to four because of weather. Of those four flights, the two men came in third, first, third and first (after the second-place team had to land early), ending with the highest overall points.

“I never expected we’d win,” said Andrews, a retired physician. “This really came as a total surprise. I still can’t believe it. I’m still flying high with what’s happened in the last few days.”

ALL ABOUT THE POINTS

Stephen Nesser, president of the Minnesota Soaring Club, thinks their title might be a first for Minnesota.

“I can’t think of a single Minnesotan who’s ever been in the world championships,” he said.

Jaeger and Andrews said they would love to attend the World Air Sports Federation Championship in Prievidza, Slovakia, in July, but Jaeger said it’s more complicated than winning one national contest.

“We would need to do well in at least one more race to have a chance to make it there,” he said. “It’s about the maximum points you can get.”

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

The two men hadn’t flown together much but said working together was easy.

“We just hit a very good chemistry, a similar mind-set about competition,” Andrews explained. “He’s had more experiences, I’ve had more hours. The two of us worked very well together.”

They also think home-court advantage had something to do with their win against pilots from warmer states who fly year-round and have won multiple national championships.

“We were very familiar with the territory,” said Andrews, who’s been flying gliders for 35 years.

He remembers when he had to develop camera film in a darkroom to prove he’d flown the route. Now a GPS keeps track of his location.

“It has changed so dramatically,” he said.

RISING WITH THE HOT AIR

In all his experience, Andrews said he’s only had one time he considers a close call.

“I got low over a forested area and scared myself real good,” he said. “As I was getting down lower and lower over this huge forest, there was no place to go. I said out loud to myself that I’m gonna die.”

He prayed for help. It was then that he noticed the forest was sloping, so he followed it downhill, hoping to buy himself some time. Suddenly he saw a road cut through the woods that led to a field where he was able to land.

“God gave me a nudge,” he said.

Pilots of gliders rely on rising warm air — thermals — to keep them flying. They look for hints, such as small clouds or dark patches of land where the temperature might be higher, to show them where the thermals are. They adjust their heading by moving spoilers on the wings.

“You’re in harmony with the elements you’re flying in,” Andrews said. “It’s such an incredible thing to be up in the sky playing for hours without an engine.”

A formerly polluted rail yard site has gone to the dogs.

Inver Grove Heights will open up its only off-leash dog park — a 10-acre pooch playground, with one acre set aside for small breed dogs — during a public event from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Supporters of the site say it is long overdue and goes a long way toward building up Heritage Village Park, a railroad site along the Mississippi River that is pegged for passive recreation but has been slow to be developed.

The city acquired the park’s land from the Rock Island Railroad after the property went into tax forfeiture about 20 years ago. In 2008, the process of top-filling the polluted land with clean soil began.

The idea of a dog park has been discussed for years, yet never gained enough traction. About two years ago dog park supporters organized and formed a group called “Friends of IGH Dog Park.”

The group has been instrumental in making it a reality, said Eric Carlson, parks and recreation director.

“I don’t think it would have happened without them,” he said. “For projects like this, it takes interest from the community to convince the city council that this is something the community really wants. Projects like this have to come from the community, not staff.”

The dog park cost just under $900,000, a total that includes a parking lot, lighting, fencing, benches, drinking fountains and stormwater treatment, Carlson said. The city paid two-thirds of the cost, with a state grant picking up the rest.

One unique feature Carlson expects to be popular with people looking to snap pictures with their pooch is a big limestone sculpture of a bone at the park entrance that was donated by Charlotte Svobodny, a member of “Friends of IGH Dog Park.”

Svobodny said the bone — just over 7 feet long and weighing 4,000 pounds — is made from the stone from part of the Rock Island Swing Bridge that was torn down many years ago. A remaining part of the bridge, which is just steps from the dog park, now serves as a public pier, stretching more than 650 feet into the river.

Annual passes are mandatory to enter the  dog park, which is at 4321 65th St., just east of Concord Boulevard. Passes cost $20 for residents, $30 for non-residents, and will go toward general park maintenance.

Tuesday’s grand-opening event includes a demonstration by K9 officer Kato, free hot dogs by Hometown Meats, a rabies vaccination clinic and dog-friendly vendors. If there is rainy weather, the event will be 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

Passes will also be sold Tuesday. They can also be bought through the city’s website or at the community center. Daily passes are not available. For more details, go to invergroveheights.org/dogpark.