The Scott County Fair opened Wednesday at the fairgrounds at 7151 190th St. W. in St. Lawrence Township near Jordan Wednesday for a five-day run that ends Sunday.

Music, entertainment, food and livestock shows take place all weekend. Merriam’s Midway will also be open selected hours.

Grandstand events start at 7 p.m. through Saturday and include a motorcycle Supercross, truck and tractor pull and demo derby. New this year is an Autocross event Friday evening.

Shawn Hogendorf of the Prior Lake American reports:

Scott County prosecutors and defense attorneys for Charles Anthony Maddox Jr. faced a barrage of questions from three Minnesota Court of Appeals judges Wednesday morning in St. Paul.

For about 35 minutes, the judges asked attorneys for details and case law supporting their arguments regarding the admissibility of expert testimony about acute stress disorder, hearsay and e-mail evidence relating to the second-degree murder case against Maddox.

Thirty years ago, a sidewalk along Hillside and Sunset drives was proposed to cost less than $215,000.

To learn more about Jordan's history, read the Looking Back column in the July 29 print edition of the Jordan Independent or go to jordannews.com/news/looking-back.   

For the past several years, the city of Jordan has applied for and received a Safe and Sober grant, allowing officers to work overtime shifts to enforce traffic safety within the town.

Jordan, along with other cities and Scott County, apply for the grant as a coalition.

The Jordan City Council authorized the city administrator to enter into an agreement with the state.

No matching funds are necessary for the state-funded grant.

Those looking to hold block parties for National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 3 should request street closures by Wednesday, July 28.

Currently, the Jordan Police Department has not received any notification of parties looking to close streets, though the Valley Green manufactured home community is planning to host a party for residents there.

To request a street closure, contact the police department at 952-492-2009.

From today's print edition

James Rud could possibly live the rest of his life in the same locked state facility that houses hundreds of other high-risk sexual predators.

Scott County District Judge Caroline Lennon has opted to indefinitely commit the notorious Jordan sex-abuser to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program rather than let him try to serve his probation out in an alternative program.

Shawn Hogendorf of the Prior Lake American reports:

The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear arguments Wednesday, July 28 about three motions prosecutors filed in Scott County District Court just prior to the start of Charles Anthony Maddox Jr.’s jury trial for the alleged murder of his estranged wife and Shakopee Valley News reporter, Ruth Anne Maddox.

National Night Out won’t be coordinated by the Jordan Police Department this year, but officers will still show up at block parties that evening.

“The police department will be unable to coordinate this year’s National Night Out event on Tuesday, Aug. 3,” Police Chief Bob Malz wrote in a memorandum to the city council this week. “Budget and staff cuts have forced the department to prioritize resources and to scale back in a number of areas. Unfortunately, this is one of the programs that are affected.”

By Shannon Fiecke, Correspondent

Police thought they had their man following a bank robbery Friday afternoon at the TCF Bank in Cub Foods in Shakopee.

A witness recognized the camouflaged hat-wearing robber, who was also picked out of a photo lineup by bank employees. He was arrested, but later released.

“He looked just like the guy,” said Shakopee police Capt. Craig Robson.