New church organ, Wildlife Center responds to avian influenza, SeaQuest's legal troubles, golf simulator, and more Roseville news
Roseville in the News, January 2025
The District 40B special election kerfuffle isn’t the only Roseville story in regional media this month. Read on for stories about plans for a new organ at Roseville Lutheran Church, a new door-to-door Metro Transit service, Roseville-based Minnesota Wildlife Center’s response to the Avian influenza, an update on next steps for the License Center, the legal troubles of SeaQuest Aquariums, the battle in the MN House, a new St. Thomas hockey coach with Roseville roots, and a profile on the couple behind a new golf simulator business.
The following stories were all published in January 2025. The quotes are from the original articles and the headlines are linked to the original source. Some articles may be behind a paywall if you aren’t already a subscriber to that publication.
Roseville church unveils plans for huge new organ (Bring Me the News, Jan. 4, 2025)
“It was given a helping hand by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Ala., which is getting an upgrade of its own and was willing to part with its Holtkamp for free, as long as the Roseville congregation could pick up the organ. Though, that's no small feat.”
And here’s a video of the old organ’s last performance at Roseville Lutheran Church:
Metro Transit launches ‘Metro micro’ bus service in Roseville, Woodbury (Pioneer Press, Jan. 7, 2025)
“Metro micro uses ADA-accessible minibuses that allow door-to-door trips connecting to fixed Metro Transit routes, according to the transportation agency. The new service is now available to riders in the designated Roseville and Woodbury areas and has been available to North Minneapolis residents since September 2022.”
As avian flu hits Minnesota's wild birds, here's what to watch for and how to help (MPR News, Jan. 9, 2025)
“Bird flu, or avian influenza, has spread far beyond commercial and backyard poultry flocks, and is now affecting other animals like cows and humans. The virus is now also sickening wild birds. As a result, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota is sounding the alarm.
The center said on social media that it’s admitting multiple wild birds sick with the flu every week — sometimes several in a day.”
Roseville licensing center is always crowded, but voters rejected a sales tax to fix it. What’s next? (Minnesota Star Tribune, Jan. 16, 2025)
“The public will get to weigh in on the License and Passport Center’s future, along with the rest of the city’s Civic Campus Master Plan. The city expects to name an advisory group later this year made up of local residents, a City Council member, and members of various city commissions.
The 10-member Civic Campus Final Design Stakeholder Group could be chosen this spring or summer, Trudgeon said.”
Troubled chain of SeaQuest aquariums wants bankruptcy judge to approve $80,000 sale (Minnesota Star Tribune, Jan. 21, 2025)
“SeaQuest filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after closing five locations amid reports of animal abuse and neglect, dangerous human-animal interactions and filthy conditions came to light. The Roseville SeaQuest aquarium had failed five inspections due to many of those problems, according to reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.”
House Democrats, Secretary of State are suing House GOP lawmakers. Here’s what you need to know. (Minnesota Reformer, Jan. 23, 2025)
“To complicate matters further, the Supreme Court last week ruled that Gov. Tim Walz wrongly called a special election for the Roseville-area District 40B seat that Johnson was forced to surrender. Minnesota Solicitor General Liz Kramer, in a brief submitted Wednesday, wrote that the court’s ruling calls into question whether there was a vacancy when Simon presided over the session on the first day.”
New St. Thomas women’s hockey coach Bethany Brausen has Roseville and Gophers roots (Minnesota Star Tribune, Jan. 27, 2025)
“She said she has played for too many coaches who have influenced her to mention. She did mention the influence of legendary Winny Brodt, the former Gopher who grew up in Roseville just down the way from Brausen’s Little Canada home.
‘She pretty much raised me as a player,’ Brausen said.”
Meet the Roseville couple determined to bring people together through golf (Minnesota Star Tribune, Jan. 31, 2025)
“Each week, Jackson hosts golfers of all backgrounds and skill sets. He said he’s not the avid golfer some might presume he is, but he does hope his venture can appeal to both experienced golfers and those who are new to the sport.
Jackson said he never imagined he would get into the growing golf-simulator business, especially because of the sport’s history.
‘My father wasn’t allowed to play golf,’ he said.”