Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) celebrated its annual meeting and fifth anniversary on Monday, Oct. 20, with staff, freelance contributors and volunteers, advertisers, local government representatives and members of the public gathering at the Preserve Barn for an evening of desserts, conversation, and reflections on the importance of local news.

EPLN’s Publisher and CEO, Mark H. Weber, new to the role as of September 2025, discussed his personal relationship with local news. Not only has Weber himself held previous publisher, marketing and sales positions at Minnesota and Colorado media organizations, but his grandmother Margaret Block was a long-time columnist for the “Le Sueur News-Herald.”

Weber recalled his grandmother’s column’s mention of his marriage to his wife, Cynthia, as well as other newspaper chronicles over the years of family life, including his daughter’s appearance in local theater productions. This kind of coverage, Weber said, creates connections among the community, and is the strength of local newspapers, whether print or online, like Eden Prairie Local News.

Keynote speakers Erik Hansen and Erica Schulte King echoed Weber’s comments on the importance of local news to a community. Hansen is the CEO and Schulte King the chief operating officer of SouthWest Transit. The transit agency is one of three advertising sponsors, along with Security Bank & Trust and Washburn-McReavy, who have supported EPLN since its inception in 2020. 

Hansen, a former mayor and councilmember in the city of Thornton, Colorado, recalled how, at the beginning of the decade he served there, a reporter was always in attendance at the city council meetings. By the time he left, there were none. Such losses of local government reporting, Hansen said, meant residents of the area were less informed about what was happening.

Comparing such losses of journalistic coverage through such things as the closures of local newspapers, Hansen contrasted “what these communities have lost” to “what you have gained” as the Eden Prairie community served by EPLN. 

EPLN regularly reports on the city council and other government entities, and local government coverage is among the award-winning journalism mentioned by EPLN Managing Editor Joanna Werch Takes during the evening’s presentations.

EPLN’s journalism, five-year celebration

Schulte King described her role at SouthWest Transit as focused on serving the entire community and said supporting partnerships with community organizations like EPLN is one way to achieve that goal. She has a background in community service and nonprofit organizations focused on areas such as women and the environment.

EPLN Editor-in-Chief Stuart Sudak cited environmental coverage, such as the ongoing Sustainability in Action series, as he discussed the journalism produced by EPLN in the past year. Sudak also recognized the contributions of reporters Rachel Hoppe and Maddie Robinson. 

Both joined EPLN in July 2025. Hoppe, a general assignment reporter, has covered city government, business development and more. Sudak mentioned pieces she has written on Eden Prairie-based nonprofit Helping Paws’ establishment of a fund to honor slain former state legislator Melissa Hortman, husband Mark and their dog, Gilbert; the city’s efforts to name a THC gummy; and collection of water at Fredrick-Miller Spring.

Sudak also cited education beat reporter Robinson’s contributions, such as a story on an app to track Eden Prairie Schools’ activity buses, an article on the LIVIN Foundation suicide prevention nonprofit and other coverage of Eden Prairie’s schools and students. 

Stories such as Sudak’s own piece on a third grader who donated his life savings to help animals were highlighted in EPLN’s Annual Impact Report. Printed copies were available at the Monday evening event, and a digital copy is available for download. This type of story highlighting community members,  Sudak said, demonstrates EPLN’s role in telling Eden Prairie “the story of us.”

Projects such as the printed Voter Guide EPLN produces in general election years like 2024  – and 2026, which will see city council and school board seats up for election – are also part of EPLN’s service to the community. The 2024 Voter Guide was recognized in the 2025 Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists awards.  

Werch Takes noted that EPLN has also received other statewide and national recognition this year, including being listed as a finalist in the Institute for Nonprofit News’ INNovator Award for the “Prairie Pulse” events newsletter. Launched in March 2025, the weekly email newsletter highlights events and things to do in Eden Prairie for the coming week. The idea, Werch Takes said, came from EPLN readers.

As a nonprofit organization, EPLN relies on those readers for subscriptions to its free email newsletters, story ideas and suggestions, financial donations, and volunteer contributions. 

The 2025 annual meeting provided an opportunity to share with the community a celebration of five years of EPLN’s local news coverage. This included servings of birthday cake; pie bites from local cottage bakery Pieway to Heaven, a regular advertiser in the “Prairie Pulse” events newsletter; and cookies from local baker Sergeant Shortbread. 

Lindahl, Strate, Weber retire as EPLN board members

Nancy Tyra-Lukens, chair of EPLN’s board of directors, and publisher Weber also recognized additional contributors to EPLN. Freelance journalists and photographers contribute content on a volunteer basis or for a stipend that is well below market rate; volunteers staff booths at outreach and tabling events; graphic designers contribute their skills; and more. 

The EPLN board of directors is also a volunteer, working board. On Monday, three new board members – Molly Lyons, Dan Ness, and David Teigland – began their terms. These three replace retiring board members David Lindahl, Jeff Strate, and Mark A. Weber.

The three retiring board members have been involved since EPLN’s beginnings in 2020 in response to the closure of the former print publication, purchased by a profit-focused hedge fund. 

At the time, Weber, a reporter and publisher in Eden Prairie from 1979 to 2013, was the executive director of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation (EPCF). The Foundation served as EPLN’s fiscal sponsor until the news organization gained its own nonprofit status. In addition to his board service, Weber has also contributed to EPLN as a writer, often covering city government as well as other topics, such as an award finalist piece on the history of Eden Prairie’s lakeshores. He has also served as project lead for efforts such as the 2024 Voter Guide and for NewsMatch, an end-of-year fundraising campaign coordinated by the Institute for Nonprofit News that provides matching dollars to local contributions.

Strate is a writer, journalist and television producer who has worked in the Twin Cities and on the East Coast of the U.S. Strate’s contributions of photos and written content to EPLN have included stories chronicling the removal of buckthorn from areas like Birch Island Woods and Bryant Lake Regional Park, as well as a currently running series on the health of Eden Prairie’s waters. The videos he has produced for EPLN include “This is Eden Prairie Local News,” which won a 2024 Hometown Media Award. Strate is also the producer of “Democratic Visions,” via Southwest Community Television public access television. The program has featured EPLN several times, including the October 2025 edition, “Eden Prairie Local News is 5 years old,” featuring interviews with current and former publishers, Mark H. Weber and Steve Schewe.

Lindahl, currently the economic development director for the City of Eden Prairie, has served on EPLN’s advertising committee, coordinated meeting space for in-person board meetings, and contributed to board discussions and decisions, including the 2021 decision to join the Institute for Nonprofit News. Lindahl has appeared in EPLN’s digital pages as the emcee for the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce’s annual economic development bus tour, and as an advocate before the Minnesota legislature for changes in tax increment financing legislation to benefit possible redevelopment of the Eden Prairie Center mall. Lindahl will retire from his position with the city next week. 

As these three retire from their volunteer roles on the EPLN board, a newer EPLN volunteer, Diana van Deusen, commented after the annual meeting and fifth anniversary celebration, “I came home full of stories and positive energy.”