Staff Writer Katrina Styx has taken a job at the Hastings Star Gazette. Today is her last day in the downtown Jordan office.

"In the past 1-1/2 years, I’ve learned about Jordan and all of you who live here," she wrote in her column for this week's print edition. "More importantly, I’ve learned from you, and those are lessons I will never forget."

Styx covered police, schools, and other general assignments for your local newspaper.

Read Styx's column in the March 18 print edition of the Jordan Independent.

At 11:12 a.m. March 1, officers and a K-9 unit conducted a drug search at a school in the 600 block of Sunset Drive. Two students were charged with possession and also face disciplinary action from the school.

Read more about what incidents the Jordan Police Department handles on page 13 of the March 11 print edition of the Jordan Independent.

Listen to public safety incidents as they happen by tuning in to the police scanner online at www.jordannews.com/crimebeat.

Shannon Fiecke of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

Funding to complete a local training center for police and firefighters has been left on the cutting room floor, but Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee, predicts the project could re-emerge in the final negotiated bonding bill.

Here's what Jordan City Administrator Ed Shukle said about the city's recent agreement with AFSCME:

“This is the same basic terms that LELS received.”

In recent years, raises for most city employees followed the lead of Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS), Local No. 318, the police sergeant and patrol officers' union. The police union has more leverage than the employees in administration or in Jordan Public Works, because LELS is the only union that has the right to force arbitration.

At 11:57 a.m. Feb. 23, an officer received a call regarding damage to a vehicle that occurred while parked at a business in the 600 block of W. Second St. The locks on both the driver and passenger sides had been broken out and numerous tools had been stolen from a toolbox on the side of the truck. Total damage and theft is estimated at $5,000. Police took information for a report.

Jordan Middle School hosted the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program graduation ceremony last Thursday. More than 120 students from Jordan Middle School and St. John the Baptist Catholic School received certificates of completion for their efforts in the program. See some photos of the ceremony staff writer Katrina Styx took as well as a shot of each student who received a certificate.

Each Jordan's city employee received a 1 percent raise, as contracts were finalized tonight.

In recent years, raises for most city employees followed the lead of Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS), Local No. 318, the police sergeant and patrol officers' union. The police union has more leverage than the employees in administration or Jordan Public Works, because LELS is the only union that has the right to go to arbitration.

Shawn Hogendorf of the Prior Lake American reports:

PRIOR LAKE -- A jury trial involving officer misconduct allegations against former Prior Lake police officer Michael Alan Ficken is set to begin next week in Scott County District Court in Shakopee.

Ficken, 34, of Savage was charged by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office in June of last year with officer misconduct, fifth-degree assault, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. He has pleaded not guilty.