Chanhassen Villager - Police - Comments

from:

rcraw — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:41:56 -0500

MARSHALL, MINN.: Andy Wiersma, a former Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball player, was killed Sunday afternoon in a two-car accident east of Balaton, Minn.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Wiersma was a passenger in a 1998 Chevrolet Astro van that collided with a 2002 Jeep Liberty about 3:05 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of County Road 7 and U.S. Hwy. 14 east of Balaton in Lyon County.

Current SMSU softball player Amanda Johnson, a senior-to-be from Fremont, Neb., was also a passenger in the van and is currently at Avera McKenna hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., with non-life threatening injuries.

Originally from Chanhassen, Minn., Wiersma, 26, played five seasons for the Mustang men’s basketball team from 2001-06. Following a redshirt season in 2001-02, he played in 112 career games making 36 starts. He scored 418 points while grabbing 237 rebounds in his four-year career. He shot 42.6 percent from the field (135-of-317) including 37.7 percent from three-point range (69-of-183).

Following his playing career in 2006 the SMSU men’s basketball program honored Wiersma by renaming its “Mustang Award” the “Andy Wiersma Mustang Award”. The award is given each year to an SMSU men’s basketball player who exemplifies the qualities of being a Mustang men’s basketball student-athlete.

“Andy was a wonderful person and was a willing and committed servant to God,” SMSU men’s basketball head coach Greg Stemen said. “Andy’s presence in our program touched every teammate he came in contact with, and every coach who was fortunate enough to coach him, in an extremely positive way. While we were blessed to have him in our basketball program, the rest of the SMSU campus and the Marshall community also had the special opportunity to experience his impact in many ways. Andy Wiersma will always be the standard for how we want our program represented and we will miss him dearly.”

A 2006 graduate of SMSU with a degree in mathematics, Wiersma was employed as the Student Ministries Pastor at Evangelical Free Church in Marshall.

“We are saddened to hear of this tragedy,” SMSU director of athletics Chris Hmielewski said. “Andy was a well respected representative of Southwest Minnesota State University and its athletic program and always exhibited great character and leadership abilities.”

Funeral arrangements will be released Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Johnson is a three-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year and three-time all-region honoree for SMSU. The Daktronics 2008 North Central Region Pitcher of the Year, Johnson finished last season 28-6 with five saves while recording a 1.67 ERA and leading SMSU to its third straight NSIC championship.

Note: Wiersma graduated from Bethany Academy High School in Bloomington.

The driver of the Acura,

FAdams — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:48:31 -0500

The driver of the Acura, Michael Jordan Strommen, is being held on $20,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint against him, "The defendant had blood shot, watery eyes and slurred speech" at the time of his arrest.

At the SLMPD he refused to give a second breath sample. "Instead of giving the sample, he told the offer than he should be dealing with drug dealers and not his DWI," according to the complaint.

UPDATE: The incident

Miss Mollee — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:25:18 -0500

UPDATE: The incident occurred just before 7 a.m. when an SUV driver westbound on Highway 212 struck and killed a flagger.

According to the State Patrol, the flagger was holding a stop sign at the time of the crash.

The State Patrol has yet to identify the driver or the victim but other media sources are reporting that the driver was 73 years old and the flagger was a 47-year-old contract employee for MnDOT.

Undercover police actions

buttler — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:53:58 -0500

Undercover police actions have always yielded great results. I wonder how many undercover agents we need to end this drug problem? I am guessing that there would be millions of them.
Drug rehab

The final arrangements have

rcraw — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:30:38 -0600

The final arrangements have been made for Andrew Jackson's reviewal and funeral.

The time of the reviewal is 5-8 p.m. Thursday, December 6, 2007.

The reviewal will be at:

Huber Funeral Homes

16394 Glory Lane

Eden Prairie, MN 55344

952-949-4970

The funeral is set for 2:00 p.m. Friday, December 7, 2007.

The funeral will be at:

St. Hubert Catholic Community

8201 Main Street

Chanhassen, MN 55317

There has been a memorial fund established for Andrew at Wells Fargo Bank. Contributions can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank, or mailed directly to:

Andrew T. Jackson Memorial Fund

c/o Wells Fargo Bank

P.O. Box 849

Chanhassen, MN 55317

According to media and

ChanHawk — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:19:28 -0600

According to media and Purdue University reports, Chaska High School graduate and former Hawk hockey player Kurt Radermacher, also a member of the Boilermakers' hockey team, was injured in the crash.Andrew Jackson

The players, coaches and team manager were traveling in three vans when the crash occurred, en route to the arena in Danville, Ill. where the Boilermakers practice.

Purdue’s ice hockey team competes at the club level.

Radermacher, a sophomore in business, had four goals and an assist in six games to start the season.

Jackson, a freshman engineering student, had a pair of scores and three assists in eight games.

Purdue’s hockey team competes at the club level. The Boilermakers won their first six games this season, and were 9-2 as of Nov. 2.

The game against Holy Cross in Danville, Ill. was the team’s final contest before a break for finals. The next games are set for Jan. 11-12 against Robert Morris College in Bensenville, Ill.Kurt Radermacher

Tim McGovern, Chanhassen Villager Sports Editor

Well you can say this again,

gordman — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:24:52 -0600

Well you can say this again, teenagers face many risks and dangers in our society, I am just sorry that these things are getting harder and harder to control and the victim number keeps rising. There are too many teenagers in drug rehab...

Always be aware there are

FAdams — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:58:59 -0500

Always be aware there are cheats and liars wherever you go.

Jeremy Brooks, charged with

FAdams — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:57:36 -0500

Jeremy Brooks, charged with murder in Minnesota and attempted murder in Louisiana, has been captured in central North Dakota, authorities said Thursday morning.

I'm not a motorcycle rider.

FAdams — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:29:03 -0500

I'm not a motorcycle rider. I have a mountain bike.

You are obviously not a

dorisd333 — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 15:46:06 -0500

You are obviously not a motorcycle rider. LOL

I see plenty of motorcycle

FAdams — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:55:21 -0500

I see plenty of motorcycle riders cruising around without a helmet. Where is the motorcycle helmet lobby?

Do we know how long Humphrey

Mathias Baden — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:10:54 -0600

Do we know how long Humphrey was there before the snowplow driver found him? Do you know the driver's name?

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

This seems very odd. For

markaweber — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 09:34:19 -0500

This seems very odd. For teenagers or others to go to this length in an attempt to produce a hallucinogen seems a bit far-fetched, but mind you I'm age 51 and not in law enforcement and so am probably out of touch.