Active Events in the South Lake Area

The recent Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon which concluded in Excelsior reminded me of the many upcoming active events that occur in our backyard.

In case you are interested in participating or spectating, here is a listing for the near future:

Lake Minnetonka Triathlon, June 20. Registration is long full, but it is still a great spectator event.

Wenmark's Legends ALARC Run, June 6. Fun family event, recognizes running legends after the race. Can also include breakfast. Deephaven.

4th of July Firecracker Run, July 4. 2 mile or 10K run on the morning of the 4th. Downtown Excelsior. A very popular event.

Tour de Tonka, August 1. Bike ride with choice of 16, 38, or 62 mile ride. Becoming a major statewide draw for cyclists, a great event.

Much Ado About Wenmark

A story that has gotten alot of press lately is that of School Board Candidate Bill Wenmark's educational history. The Lakeshore Weekly News, Sun Sailor, Chanhassen Villager, and now the Star Tribune have all reported that Wenmark didn't attend the US Naval Academy as a cadet, but instead served there during his military involvement. Statistics have also been provided regarding his attendance at meeting and workgroups which has been lower than his peers.

While the authors of this blog don't know Wenmark personally and have not endorsed any candidates, we find the fact that this has made the Star Tribune unfortunate. It reminds us of the shallow national politics aired on Fox News or MSNBC -- digging up an inconsistency in what someone said once, and then make that the entire story. While we have seven candidates campaigning on the issues for four school board seats, the main story a week before the election is about how one individual classified an experience that occured 35 years ago. Does this type of story really make the top people in our community want to run for office?

We also are curious if the same diligence was placed on validating claims from the other candidates, or if Wenmark was singled out.

The meeting attendance point, in our view, is more germane and something voters ought to be able to factor in to their consideration.

We aren't saying you should vote for Wenmark or should not. We're simply saying it is unfortunate that here, a week before an important local election, a personal story about one candidate has somehow become the news, just like seems to happen in national elections.

Website for Bill Wenmark, SD 276 Incumbent

The website for Bill Wenmark is now up-and-running at www.billwenmark.com

By our research, that leaves Alice Everett as the only candidate without an active website, although she has been involved in all forums and is actively campaigning.

If anyone knows of a website for Everett that is eluding us, please let us know.