The Scott County Board last week raised the salary of its top employee by 4 percent.

County Administrator Dave Unmacht will now earn $136,245, as well as a continuance of his $300-per-month car allowance.

Last year, he received a 5.7-percent raise.

By Mathias Baden, Correspondent 

Six-foot-high flames leapt from the burner, and temperatures rose by hundreds of degrees, simulating a fire at a warehouse or a big-box retail store. But a person standing upright at the entrance to the concrete and iron tower in Sand Creek Township, near Jordan, wouldn’t necessarily know.

City to sell project bonds

Prior Lake City Council members will meet on Monday, April 28 to approve the sale of $1.3 million in general obligation improvement bonds to finance the Ida Circle city utility and the first phase of Brooksville Hills street reconstruction.

The Scott County Law Enforcement Memorial Scholarship Committee, which honors local peace officers who died during their careers, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

By Shannon Fiecke, Correspondent 

An important step in the migration to digital emergency radio communication in Scott County is nearly complete.

Prior Lake officials have received word that the bonding bill approved by Gov. Tim Pawlenty includes $1 million in state funding for the second phase of the Scott County Public Safety Training Center.

The center, already partially built with local and state funding and ready to begin operations, wasn't part of the governor's bonding proposal. It was only included in the Senate's bonding legislation but still made it into the final bill agreed to by the House and Senate. The center is located at the historic Mudbaden site in Sand Creek Township.

From the Prior Lake Association 

The fastest-growing user of underground water in Minnesota is ethanol plants. As of 2007, Minnesota had 17 ethanol facilities.

Pat Minelli of our sister paper, the Shakopee Valley News, reports:

A Shakopee man convicted in the alcohol-related crash that killed Timberwolves guard Malik Sealy was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of drunken driving.

Souksangouane Phengsene, 51, was booked into the Hennepin County Jail around 2 a.m. State Patrol spokesman Mark Peterson said Phengsene is likely to face a felony DWI charge.

The Scott County Watershed Management Organization will help to fund rain gardens in the Prior Lake neighborhood of Brooksville Hills.

The city of Prior Lake requested funding for eight rain gardens to be constructed along with a road reconstruction project this year.

By Nancy Huddleston, Correspondent 

Members of the Savage Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Commission created their own definition of what Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board members previously called a “win-win situation” in regard to removing 6 acres of rare woods above Prior Lake High School.