Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 11

INDEX Columnists Page B2 Faces Places Page B5 Obituaries Pages B4-5 Weather Page B6 Monday JUNE 17, 1996 SECTION Starfribune I RB 0 No. 33 and 34 Minneapolis police re' Despite studies showing need for route, it is far from solvent Bus routes tap new market Bus service began this spring along two new routes in the southern suburbs. The service is unusual because it is a suburb-to-suburb express route for commuters. Study after study has shown there is a market for this kind of service. The new routes will test the demand two latest shooting victims in unrelated weekend Ho micides.

Turn to BS. An uncommon "People are becoming more and more aware of the wear and tear on their personal vehicles. And the waits at the metered ramps are backing up and the bus uses the bus-carpool lane and just whips right by." Audrey Swartz, assistant administrator of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority. retirement Judge Richard Hopper is resigning at 47 to take on new challenges at home and abroad. See INSIGHT on B3.

The columnists Suspect for a day A Thunder Bay woman on a cheap getaway to the Twin Cities found out that many middle-aged white women kind of look alike. See DOUG GROW on B2. But when parking is free and the drive is short, what will motivate Burnsville residents to take a bus to work in the next suburb? Transit officials are counting on growing suburban traffic congestion and the cost of driving a car to make the bus an attractive alternative. "People are becoming more and more aware of the wear and tear on their personal vehicles," Swartz said. "And the waits at the metered ramps are backing up and the bus uses the HOV bus-carpool lane and just whips right by," she said.

Some people are drawn to the bus because it gives them a few minutes to relax, she added: "I've had a lot of people comment to me that they like to sleep on the bus." Turn to BUSES on B2 By Laurie Blake Star Tribune Staff Writer A new express bus route for people who live in one suburb and work in another has been launched in the Twin Cities and, after a month of service, ridership is a whopping six passengers. Running from the Burnsville Transit Station to businesses along Interstate Hwy. 494 in Bloomington and Edina, two 20-passenger buses follow the path of the most common home-to-work trip made on Interstate Hwy. 35W from Burnsville. The question for the fledgling service, initiated by the suburban Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, is whether it can capture enough of that car-wedded commuter flow to become solvent.

The same route offered years ago by the old Metropolitan Transit Commission was a failure. I 1 I I 3 I i i a 1 gl. X.iin Hni it i I 1 MINNE0US -5 1 la -f i i Enlarged The only other suburb-to-suburb commuter express in the Twin Cities today runs from Burnsville to the popular destinations of the Mall of America, the Minneapo-lis-St. Paul International Airport and the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center. That route has been operating for more than a year and it still attracts only 18 passengers or fewer on several daily runs.

Minnesota Valley started the two routes from Burnsville up Interstate Hwy. 35W to Blooming- ton and Edina on May 16. The buses cater to commuters and to college students at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. Demand is there The goal is to meet a demand that study after study has said is there for suburb-to-suburb bus service and to lighten the load on crowded I-35W and 1-494, said Audrey Swartz, assistant administrator of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority. FYI Source: Minnesota Valley Transit Authority 3 Mimiesora 1 Hitvr 3 Star Tribune graphic T.

BURNSVILLE 4 rffiJ The Kiiuiickiirnic is a rare kind of riven a superb trout stream at the edge of a major metropolitan area. But ''thermal pollution" from storm-water runoff in River Falls is warming the Wisconsin stream and could be thinning its fish population. 7 3i roject sums protect 1 linnickinnt rout stream i Star Tribune Photos by Charles Bjorgen Members of the Buffalo Soldiers Ninth and 10th Horse Cavalry Association, representing St Paul and Minneapolis respectively, lead ralliers Sunday from the St Paul Cathedral to the State Capitol In a march to reaffirm the Importance of fatherhood. The Buffalo Soldiers are wearing post-CMI War army uniforms. 'athers efforts The mail is above average, too To the infinite list of things that are better in Minnesota than lots of other places, we can now add overnight first-class mail delivery.

This spring, 91 percent of the first-class mail dropped off in central, south central and southeast Minnesota showed up at destinations within those areas the next day. The average for 96 locations across the country i tracked by Price Waterhouse was 90 percent. The Twin Cities' figure last year was 87 percent. And if your quality of life depends on first-class mail delivery, where could you do better? Wichita, Kan. (96 percent), for starters.

But you'd want to avoid San 1 Juan, Puerto Rico (81 percent), and the Virgin Islands (78 percent). It's your choice. Time capsule French explorers Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette paddled from the Wisconsin River onto the "Mechassippi" June 17, 1673, the first Europeans to reach the upper Mississippi On June 18, 1838, the Joseph Nicollet expedition set out to map the region between the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Peter Popovich was named the Minnesota Supreme Court's new chief justice on that day in 1988 by Gov. Rudy Perpich.

That same week, Minneapolis and St. Paul officials considered banning lawn-sprinkling as the Midwest suffered through a crippling drought, reminiscent in some areas of the Dust Bowl. On a drizzly June 18, 1993, a blind deejay threw the first pitch toward the dugout as the St. Paul Saints brought outdoor professional baseball back to the Twin Cities The first University of Minnesota commencement was held June 19, 1873. Two diplomas were granted.

St. Croix Meadows greyhound racing track opened June 20, 1991. The Minnesota Strikers professional soccer team called it quits June 2, 1988. A tornado hit Fergus Falls, on that day in 1919, killing almost 60 people and injuring about 200. The Leif Erickson, a 1 replica of a Viking ship, reached Duluth June 23,: 1927, after a perilous journey from Norway.

Some of this week's Minnesota birthdays: Tuesday: Einmy-winning actor E.G. Marshall, in Owatonna, 1910. Friday: Actress Jane Rus1-sell, in Bemidji, 1921. Saturday: Movie producer Mike Todd, who won the 1956 Best Picture Academy Award for "Around the World in 80 Days," in Minneapolis, 1909. Catherine Preus, Staff Writer foster community St.

Paul rally, march encourage 7 mw mi hwiupm 'Wiu wwni.w'ii.i.u.wiiuwiiiwiwwii By Dean Rebuffonl Star Tribune Staff Writer Private and public conservationists are trying to determine if an influx of warm water is harming the Kinnickinnic River in western Wisconsin, one of the most popular trout streams in the Twin Cities region. The project, part of a larger conservation effort throughout the Kinnickinnic's watershed, focuses on the runoff of warm storm water from River Falls, the only city on the river. Such thermal pollution, as it's known to scientists, could be affecting the river's aquatic life. "Thermal pollution might be the single most serious threat to the river," said Kent Johnson, an angler and environmental scientist who is monitoring the river's water temperatures. "We need to know how much of a thermal input the river will tolerate before reaching that critical level where trout cannot survive." The Kinnickinnic or "Kinni," as it is widely known is an increasingly rare resource: a top-notch trout stream at the edge of a major metropolitan area.

The river's large, self-sustaining population of brown trout makes it a magnet for anglers, perhaps half of whom are Minnesotans. But that resource faces multiple threats, not the least of which is urbanization of the Kinni's watershed, which covers portions of Pierce and St. Croix counties. For example, the population of River Falls, now about 1 1,000, is expected to increase by as much as 60 percent over the next 25 years. Elsewhere in the watershed, houses and highways are replacing farm fields, and the pressure to develop is unlikely to slacken.

To buffer against development, several agencies and private groups are endeavoring to preserve and enhance natural resources. Turn to RIVER on B5 for: Falling fish population River Falls has a plan. Also on B5: A warning about warming. uuud iu tu inurw UIJJCI VIILC By Laurie Blake ther's Day to those at the gathering and said that fathers must be fun yet loving, protective yet liberating, and "instill in us by word and example the importance of community and family involvement." Speaker after speaker told of the importance that fathering has on children and community. Several mentioned strong fathering as important in the fight to quell violence.

Yusef Mgeni, president of the Urban Coalition of the Twin Cities, urged adults to notice and commend young people for positive contributions. Star Tribune Staff Writer In celebration of fathers and their day, black community leaders Sunday led a group of about 70 people in a march and rally promoting fatherhood as a personal and social responsibility. Starting at the St. Paul Cathedral and moving to the rotunda of the State Capitol, the group opened its rally with songs and prayers and then listened to the reading of a letter from President Clinton, who commended their efforts to promote family and community unity. Clinton wished a happy Fa Tom Johnson, Minneapolis, helps his daughter, Summer Ralnsong, 1, negotiate the Capitol steps during the Father's Day rally In St Paul.

Turn to FATHERS on B3 Woman wants to start one-teacher holistic school the envelope, maybe even bending the law, to give up to 25 students something different: a public school built on holism, "a belief in the idea that all things are connected." Among other things, students would "analyze personal environments that impede the development and expansion of beauty, joy and state's Enrollment Options Committee. But count Board President Jeanne Kling among the skeptics. At Monday's board meeting, Kling called Schmidt "a woman of peace and serenity." Turn to SCHOOL on B3: Also on B3: Plan for school While many state officials zealously promote charter schools experimental schools run by parents and teachers as a way of breaking the mold, Schmidt's plan raises tough questions. Most basically: What do you do if the teacher gets sick? Some board members are clearly excited by the plan, which has already won approval by the periment under Minnesota's pioneering charter-school law. Schmidt, the school's founder and director, would be the "master teacher." She promises to facilitate "learning experiences" in reading, writing, math, social sciences, health, physical sciences, physical education, art and music.

She admits she'll be pushing By Rob Hotakalnen Star Tribune Staff Writer If Barbara Schmidt can persuade the state Board of Education to take a risk, a new public school will open in downtown Minneapolis this fall that will be unlike any other in the state. For starters, it would be a one-teacher high school, the latest ex.