Happy Fourth of July!

It is the anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Celebrating the day became common only after the War of 1812.

From ushistory.org.:

A 21-year-old man from Savage is charged with breaking into a Burnsville home through the kitchen window on Monday and caused a 9-month-old child to fall and hit her head, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The Dakota County Attorney's office charged Abdiaziz Bashir Abdikadir with first-degree burglary and terroristic threats, both felonies, and fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

By Mollee Francisco, Correspondent 

There are no bullet holes left as proof that notorious gangster John Dillinger once inhabited Apartment 303 at the Lincoln Court Apartments in St. Paul.

Seventy-five years after his 12-day stint at the corner of Lexington Parkway and Lincoln Avenue, there is only the occasional stop, by local gangster tours, to serve as a reminder that the quiet building in the tree-lined neighborhood was once the site of an infamous shootout between Dillinger and the FBI. 

Boy band Select Three, which was featured in the Shakopee Valley News last December, has made it to the second round of Fox 9 Television’s 2009 Battle of the Bands competition. 

By Shannon Fiecke, Staff Writer

Five people from Shakopee and Savage are among 18 charged today in federal court in connection with a Twin Cities indoor marijuana growing ring called “one of the largest drug operations of its kind in Minnesota” by Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek.

Shakopee was among the metropolitan-area leaders in residential building permits issued in June, and is the regional leader in the first six months of the year, according to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities.

Students from the Emergency Medical Service program at Hennepin Technical College practiced triage skills and Shakopee firefighters worked to extricate victims from vehicles during a mock accident scene, involving three cars, on June 25, 2009.

Scott County motorists will face enhanced speed enforcement patrols throughout July.

With the 2009 construction season well under way, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is urging motorists to be aware of highway construction throughout the state.