Big Thrills, Apartments with Frills and a 30-Year Sentence for a Man Who Killed: Pick of Our Patches

Editor’s Note: Every week we will bring you a sampling of stories from Patch sites in the west metro: Edina, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Lake Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Richfield, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, Fridley and St. Michael.

Officer Mike Helman was injured while on duty last December when he was assaulted by a St. Michael man, and remains on leave. He talks about his injuries and ongoing recovery with Patch.

After pleading guilty to the shooting of middle school teacher Timothy Larson, 46, last July, Delbert Huber was given the maximum sentence by a judge in Kandiyohi County last Tuesday morning.

The former Kmart on Highway 101 and County Road 7 in Minnetonka may soon become home to a new recreation center complete with bowling, bumper cars, laser tag, an arcade and redemption center, climbing walls and a mini golf course. The Big Thrill Factory will be a multipurpose recreational facility with 33,750 square feet indoors and space outside for trampolines, mini golf, slides, spider climbs and jousting contests. Developers plan to open The Big Thrill Factory this December.

Republican 5th District Challenger Chris Fields is attacking Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison’s portrayal of the GOP as “bigoted” in an article Thursday. The incumbent told Mother Jones that a part of the Republican Party platform alluding that the United States is threatened by Islamic Shariah law “is an expression of bigotry.”

Edina's  is one of the best schools in the nation—for a second time—according to the U.S. Department of Education. The French immersion school is among 269 institutions across the country announced as Blue Ribbon Schools for 2012, including seven from Minnesota. The award honors public and private K-12 schools with high achievement rates and those who have made progress in closing achievement gaps.

Minneapolis' neighborhood groups can have a strong voice in many local development projects, killing at least one of the four proposed in Southwest Minneapolis over the last year, and a columnist is claiming that they are putting the brakes on construction that's needed to keep the city vibrant and property taxes down. Where do you stand?

Edina Public Schools is apologizing for its  that belongs to .

Deb Nelson and her two daughters, Tali and Mikayla Walton, l and after a t.

A new luxury apartment going up in St. Louis Park is seeking lease applications as it nears completion. 36 Park is expected to open in March. The 10-story, 192-unit apartment complex near the corner of 36th and Park Center Boulevard has one-bedroom apartments available for between $1,350 and $2,045 per month.

The first-term state senator, who represents part of Fridley, is one of 11 Republican state senators fined $75 each for precinct-caucus fliers that a panel of judges ruled were campaign materials, not constituent communication.

New To You Thriftique contributes 100 percent of its profits to the scholarship program at Calvin Christian Schools--a private chain of schools with a high school in and Kindergarten through eighth grade schools in and Blaine.