It's been a blast, St. Louis Park Patch, but alas, I'm moving on. I'm writing to announce that this is my last day as editor of St. Louis Park Patch. Come Monday, I will be starting as a communications specialist for the city of St. Louis Park. So, I won't be going far! I've truly enjoyed getting to know this community, which is why the job with the city has me so excited. It's been an honor to get to know so many of you, and I'd love to stay in touch. You can reach me anytime at my personal email, mike.rose87@gmail.com. But just because I'm leaving doesn't mean St. Louis Park Patch is going …

Hooray, Minnesota Freeze! The local Australian rules football team—sponsored by St. Louis Park craft beer store The Four Firkins—captured a club team national championship last weekend, knocking off the Los Angeles Dragons 13-3 in the final. I got to see the team at practice a few weeks back (and did this story), and I can say that these guys are truly dedicated to this sport. While hugely popular in Australia, "footy" is more of a niche game here, so it's really neat to see such a passionate group find success in the Twin Cities. (You can see video of the Freeze above) The Freeze has now won…

Beekeeping—specifically whether St. Louis Park residents should be allowed to do it—has been an interesting issue the past few months. And there are still a few developments worth watching. Last night, City Council discussed specifically what regulations could/should be added to an ordinance that would formally OK the practice locally. Currently, the practice is OK by default, because city code is mum on residential beekeeping. Council members were split on the regulations issue. Steve Hallfin, Anne Mavity, Jake Spano, Sue Santa and Julia Ross (who was absent, but sent a note to council) …

It's a pretty regular topic in newsrooms across the country: How to handle photographs of the dead and dying. This week, the issue was front and center on the New York Times website. The Times chose to run a photo of Chris Stevens—the American ambassador who was killed in Libya on Tuesday—as he lay (reportedly) unconscious, presumably moments before his death. The photo (which can be seen here, if you want. It is slide 10) is jarring and uncomfortable, showing in one image what more than a million words could ever relay about death and destruction and chaos. Naturally, many people have …

Perhaps we can all learn something from St. Louis Park's religious leaders. On Tuesday, people from throughout the local faith community—pastors, a rabbi and others—gathered for an open-form meeting to discuss important issues. There was no set agenda. Those in attendance were all asked to jot down issues that were important to them—these became the talking points for smaller groups, which intermingled and mixed as the morning progressed. In one session, religious leaders discussed the problem of youth homelessness, which impacts an estimated 2,500 kids—or more—per night across Minnesota. …

Other than the squad cars with lights flashing and the Secret Service agents, it was a pretty normal night in Shorewood, MN. Sure, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was in town for a fundraiser at the home of Marty Davis. But unlike earlier in the evening—when protesters rallied outside Romney's first Minnesota stop, the Lafayette Club—things were fairly quiet in this neck of the woods. I was there, helping James Warden, editor of Hopkins Patch, cover this for the west metro Patch sites. Over the course of a few hours, James and I spoke more to each other than to …

St. Louis Park isn't the only place where the proper ratio of food-to-booze sales is a hot topic. Edina City Councilman Josh Sprague recently told Edina Patch that Edina’s 60-40 ordinance will be discussed at a work session on Dec. 4. The ordinance requires restaurants to have at least 60 percent of their sales come from food and non-alcoholic beverages. Sound familiar? It should—St. Louis Park requires a 50-50 split. The SLP ordinance drew attention last year when Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill missed the mark by a wide margin. The local establishment has closed the gap but, as of …

Two months ago, I introduced you to Asa Goldstein, a soon-to-be sophomore at St. Louis Park High School who is trying to launch a pop music career. We also worked together on his first music video. Now, the floppy-haired 15-year-old has a song inspired by floppy-eared animals. Goldstein recently released "Dancing With Rabbits," a melodic tune with hints of "Alice in Wonderland." You can listen to the track on Goldstein's website.

$18,000. That's the reported cost of three months of therapy in Courage Center's ABLE Program, which is an innovative option for people living with paralysis or neurological conditions that stimulates muscles and nerves to promote a greater degree of neuro recovery. Jack Jablonski, the Benilde-St. Margaret's hockey player who sustained a severe spinal cord injury in a game last December, has been in the program the last two months—and with great results. "It's crucial to his rehab and his recovery," his mother, Leslie Jablonski, said Thursday during a press conference before a star-studded …

I drove by the St. Louis Park High School Stadium today and got a good look at the progress being made on the new turf field. From the looks of it, a good chunk of the synthetic FieldTurf carpet has been laid, but there are still some strips along the side that need to be finished. The roughly $1 million project should be complete in time for the first-ever "All Class Reunion" on Aug. 25, as well as the fall football season. For more, see this story from April, when the school board accepted a bid on the project.

Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand was playing on special teams on Oct. 16, 2010, when his life changed forever. The junior defensive tackle collided with another player and remained motionless on the turf. He had broken his C3 and C4 vertebrae and was left paralyzed from the neck down. It was a similarly frightening scene to what Benilde-St. Margaret's hockey fans saw on Dec. 30 of last year, when Jack Jablonski was checked into the boards from behind and he too lay motionless. Last night, however, LeGrand rose above the fear and uncertainty on a very public stage. He received the Jimmy V …

When news broke two weeks ago that Derrick Keller—an 18-year-old former St. Louis Park baseball star—had died after a long battle with leukemia, it seemed only fitting to do something for the family. So, starting today, I'll have a giant card at the Rec Center that all in the community can sign. The card (you can see a photo of it to the right) will eventually be given to the Keller family. I'll be at the Rec today from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., so feel free to swing by, say hi, and sign the card. I'll also be collecting donations for the Derrick Keller Fund—cash and checks will both be accepted. …

Have an old class photo you've been dying to share? Or maybe you just want to reminisce about a trip to the Lincoln Del? A new—and rapidly growing—Facebook group is here to help. Nearly 5,000 people have joined "Flashbacks of St. Louis Park," a group that is described as such: "A fun place to add photos, reminisce, and share your memories of the past in St Louis Park." A combination of pop culture memories, old class photos and plenty of lively banter, the group has clearly struck a chord with many Parkites. For instance, Gary Perna, one of the group's seven administrators, recently posted…

Yesterday, I wrote about the buzz in St. Louis Park (sorry, bee puns are just too much fun) surrounding residential beekeeping. City code currently says nothing on the matter one way or the other, but City Council wants to change that. Naturally, a good question to ask first is: What do our neighbors do? I did some research on how the cities of Edina, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Minnetonka and Plymouth address (or don't address) residential beekeeping. Here's what I found: Edina: Not allowed  Golden Valley: Generally not allowed Hopkins: Not specifically addressed  Minneapolis: …

If St. Louis Park's Asa Goldstein does make it big, at least I can say I helped him with his very first music video. You can watch the 15-year-old perform "Restless"—the title track from the album he recently released online—above. Asa did the editing, and yours truly shot the footage. If you missed the story yesterday, Asa is a soon-to-be-sophomore who is hoping to make a splash in the music industry. He plays guitar and piano, and writes his own songs. We'd love to hear what you think of the video in the comments below!

Derrick Keller is leukemia-free, his family is reporting via CaringBridge. If you haven't been following his story, Keller is a former St. Louis Park baseball player who was diagnosed with the disease last summer, as he was playing town ball following his senior year at the high school. “I was in shock,” Keller said. “I’ve been healthy all my life. How could this happen to me?” Rather than let the diagnosis get him down, Keller took on an aggressive, fighter's mentality. The motto around town became "Help DK KO Luke," a nod to Keller's father having a history in boxing. Keller kept battling, …

I still vividly remember the first Jack Jablonski press conference, held on Jan. 2 at the Hennepin County Medical Center. It was one of the more somber things I've covered in my young career. As the cliche goes, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. It was the type of story no reporter wants to cover, because it's the type of thing no one wants to see happen. Three days earlier, Jablonski had been left paralyzed by a hit he took during a junior varsity game at the Rec Center. The game was part of a holiday tournament, but now, the Jablonski family was spending their New Year's …

On Monday night, Craig Panning was recognized at City Hall, but the longtime St. Louis Park employee is most known for spending his time at another city building—the Rec Center. Panning, who is currently the parks and recreation department's manager of buildings and structures, is retiring in May after 37 years with the city. When Rec Center construction began in the early 1970s, Panning supervised the project. Over the next three plus decades, he spent countless hours in the building. Councilman Steve Hallfin, who was hired by Panning in 1985 as a warming house attendant, said of his former …

Ah, April Fools' Day. One of the truly underappreciated days on the calendar. This Sunday is the annual holiday for pranksters and practical jokers, a time when messing with a friend or loved one isn't just OK, it's encouraged (at least by me). I'm a big fan of gag humor and find it to be an underused form of fun. Maybe too many people are just too uptight these days, but a good prank should show all of us that life really is short—and short on laughs. So when the salt is in the pepper shaker and vice versa, it's worth a chuckle, not a conniption. Speaking of mixing up the salt and pepper, …

St. Louis Park now has company in the west metro when it comes to cities opposing the state's proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. Edina passed a resolution in opposition to the amendment on March 20. The vote was unanimous, Edina Patch reports. "I think we're doing ourselves a great favor as a city to send the message out to potential businesses, potential residents that we foster a climate of tolerance," councilman Josh Sprague told Patch. "We accept you as you are in this city and we welcome you." St. Louis Park City Council passed a similar resolution on March 5, also by a …