Home Care In Chaska, MN

The Aug. 21 Chaska City Council Meeting kicked off with the graduation of 2023 Growth through Opportunity cadets Christian Meyer and Wesley Parker.

The two spent the summer working in every city department. Meyer and Parker both identified working with the electric department as a favorite of their eight-week program.

“I just want to thank you guys for choosing me to do this, and whoever does this next year, I hope they have as much fun as I did,” Meyer said in the meeting.

Speakeasy

The city approved financing for a fire sprinkler system for Red Bench Bakery, which is located at 500 Chestnut Street North in Downtown Chaska and owned by Lyle and Terry Aske.

“The business, Red Bench Bakery, is moving forward with adding a Speakeasy in addition to their bakery,” reads the request for action document. “This improvement will expand the occupancy of the building as it builds out new areas, which therefore require the addition of a fire protection system.”

The bakery petitioned the city to finance the private fire protection system under Minnesota State Statute 429. The city’s document goes on to state that the project fits in with the council’s strategic vision for a vibrant downtown.

The estimated cost of the improvement is $114,300.

“Upon total completion of the project and upon certification of completion by the Chaska Fire Marshal, the City shall pay the Property Owner the remaining amounts not yet paid for completion of the Improvements,” reads the city document.

“I think that that’s exciting and another way to draw people down at different times of the day,” Mayor Mark Windschitl said at the meeting.

Costco update

City Administrator Matt Podhradsky shared in the meeting’s agenda packet that the Costco project and adjacent road work is on schedule. The Peavy Road/Highway 41 roundabout is set to be complete in late September and everything north of the roundabout to be completed in early October.

“We have now completed our permit review of plans for the project and released the completed building permit to Costco as of (Aug. 16),” reads Podhradsky’s biweekly report. “With that now being issued, we do expect to see the sitework completed within the next couple of weeks with work on the building starting shortly thereafter when Costco has the site released to them.”

The project remains on schedule to be completed and open in spring 2024.

CHASKA, Minn. -- A Chaska children's boutique's high-profile drag queen story time drew a supportive crowd Saturday morning in spite of protests.

The event drew attention after the store's owner posted a video on Tik Tok of an angry customer arguing that it promoted sexual entertainment for children. The video received more than 500,000 likes and thousands of comments supporting Little Roos.

Darcie Baumann, who helped run the event, said in part due to these types of threats, the store was prepared when members of the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys showed up on Saturday and shouted at attendees.

Police and members of Minneapolis-based security team Sequeerity helped keep the peace, Baumann said.

“We're very lucky to be on private property and have the support of the property manager, and we were not going to engage,” Baumann said. “Any attention that we give them is just fueling that fire.”

But what wasn't expected was the 200-strong crowd that packed the store to create colorful chalk art and hear drag queen Miz Diagnosis read two children's books. Little Roos owner Marissa Held-Nordling said they weren't able to fit everyone in the store.

“There were a lot more people here than we were anticipating. But we were lucky to have a lot of volunteers to help crowd control and keep the traffic flowing,” Held-Nordling said. “We had so many tiny fingers here, drawing everywhere, leaving great messages.”

Baumann added the event's success shows progress in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“We have always been in your community,” Baumann said. “It used to be that if you came out, you moved to the city. They want to stay where they've grown up, and they should be able to. And to have this and to know that adults are around that support them is wonderful.”

Held-Nordling said Little Roos plans to host more drag queen story time events in the near future.

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CHASKA, MN — Minnesota-based MyPillow is selling off shipping and manufacturing equipment amid slumping sales.

The company is being forced to consolidate operations after major retailers began to distance themselves from CEO Mike Lindell, a prominent 2020 election denier.

Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Slumberland Furniture removed MyPillow products from shelves following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"It was a massive, massive cancellation," Lindell told the Star Tribune on Monday. "We lost $100 million from attacks by the box stores, the shopping networks, the shopping channels, all of them did cancel culture on us."

MyPillow is auctioning off trucks, forklifts, sewing machines, case erectors, and other manufacturing equipment on K-Bid.

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Adding to potential financial woes, Lindell and MyPillow face a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion back in February 2021.

"After hitting the jackpot with Donald Trump’s endorsement for MyPillow and after a million-dollar bet on Fox News ads had paid out handsome returns, Michael Lindell exploited another chance to boost sales: marketing MyPillow to people who would tune in and attend rallies to hear Lindell tell the 'Big Lie' that Dominion had stolen the 2020 election," the lawsuit states.

"MyPillow’s defamatory marketing campaign — with promo codes like 'FightforTrump,' '45,' 'Proof,' and 'QAnon' — has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues duping people into redirecting their election-lie outrage into pillow purchases."

Dominion CEO John Poulos said that despite repeated warnings and efforts to share the facts with him in the months after the 2020 election, Lindell continued to maliciously spread false claims about the voting systems company.

"These claims have caused irreparable harm to Dominion’s good reputation and threatened the safety of our employees and customers," said Poulos. "Moreover, Mr. Lindell's lies have undermined trust in American democracy and tarnished the hard work of local election officials."

Dominion's legal counsel, Megan Meier noted that "Mr. Lindell advertised 'absolute proof,' but he delivered absolute nonsense and fake documents sourced from the dark corners of the internet."

Meier added that the "cartoonish evidence" Lindell offered "cannot be reconciled with any level of logic or truth."

It’s one of those musicals where the cast and support teams have as much fun, maybe more, than the audience.

“I love how funny it is. It’s really nice to do a comedy show,” said Olivia Hatfield, stage manager for the Chaska High School production of “Spamalot: School Edition,” which opens Nov. 10, the first of six performance dates.

“I love just being involved with everything: the lights, sound, tech and acting; watching it all come together to make a beautiful show,” she added. “Being a Monty Python show, a lot of people are excited about it.”

Senior Joel Jobirra has been in other school performances, but says this one “is the biggest and most crazy. I’ve never been in a show that requires this much dancing and singing over acting. I think people will get a good laugh out of it.”

Jobirra plays the character “Patsy,” who serves King Arthur, largely by trying to cheer him up.

“There’s so much to the show,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun for those of us in it and we think it will be great for everyone who sees it.”

Jennifer Farrell, the show’s director and English teacher at Chaska High School, said “Spamalot” “has been on the top of my list for years. I love the comedy of it and this is absolutely the right group of kids to take on that silliness.”

The show is drawn from the legendary tale of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail and inspired by the comedy film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” The musical also features dancing girls, flatulent Frenchmen and killer rabbits. Other characters include: Lady of the Lake, Prince Herbert, Tim the Enchanter, Knights who say Ni, and Not Dead Fred.

There are about 100 students involved in the production, including about 35 in the cast, 20-30 in the pit band and 30-40 on the tech crews, Farrell said.

“There are actors in this group who have a great sense for comic timing and that’s not always something you can teach, so when you find it, you tend to glom onto it,” Farrell said. “Plus, they have a propensity for silliness themselves and that’s a really nice fit for this show.”

An alumni night for those involved with past productions is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 17.

Costco Wholesale Corp. is moving ahead with plans for a new location in the Twin Cities near Chaska's Hazeltine National Golf Club.

The Issaquah, Wash.-based company (NASDAQ: COST) paid $8 million earlier this month for land for its new location, which will include a liquor store. The store is expected to open late next fall.

Costco is a members-only, warehouse-retail store known for selling items in bulk at a discount. It has Twin Cities locations in Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park Eagan, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Minneapolis and Woodbury.

The new Costco store will reach approximately 164,500 square feet. It will have nearly 780 parking stalls, as well as a fuel station with 24 pumps on the northeast corner of the property. The fuel station was designed to allow for future expansions of the facility, according to a staff report on the development.

Plans for a Costco on the site first emerged in September 2020 and work was anticipated to start on the store in 2021, according to Business Journal reporting.

Costco declined to comment and instead directed the Business Journal to its website where it has a list of new locations coming soon. Chaska was not on the list, which only includes openings up to March 2023.

The Costco location was approved as part of a larger development that will also bring rental town houses to a roughly 67-acre site called Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is located next to the Oak Ridge Hotel and Conference Center, a 199,000-square-foot building that was constructed in the late 1980s for use as the IDS Learning Center.

Developer Bobby Atkinson and a group of investors bought Oak Ridge and 123 acres of land from Ameriprise Financial Inc. in 2019. Some of this land was sold for the Costco and town house project, according to public filings with the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Site preparations, including mass grading, of the Oak Ridge site have already started, said Nate Kabat, Chaska’s community development director.

Other development plans are also moving forward on the Oak Ridge site. Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Continental Properties Co. Inc. recently broke ground on a 280-unit town house apartment complex, called Springs at McKnight Lake. It's located immediately southwest of the future Costco.

The units would be located across 14 residential buildings that reach two stories. Units will range from studios to three-bedroom apartments, with private entrances and/or attached garages, according to a news release from the company.

Amenities will include a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, conference room, dog park and more.

The apartments are expected to begin opening as early as next fall, the release said.

“Springs at McKnight Lake will truly bring value to the local community,” Heather Riggs, Continental’s vice president of multifamily operations, said in the release.

Continental acquired land for this development earlier this month, paying just under $8 million for its site, according to a filing with the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

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