Former Cooper Hockey Coach Sentenced For Sexual Misconduct

This update from KSTP-TV (with video at link):

A former Robbinsdale Cooper girls’ hockey coach was sentenced Wednesday to one-year in the workhouse after pleading guilty to third degree sexual conduct.

Nathan Paul Antrim, 35, of Rogers, is accused of having sex with a now 17-year-old female player, sending her suggestive text messages and buying her gifts such as a cell phone and an iPod.

Antrim has already served 53 days of his prison sentence.

The victim’s father was in the Hennepin County courtroom at the sentencing and talked about the impact this situation has had on his daughter. He said she has been asked not to return to her hockey team and is depressed feeling like she let down her family.

Antrim apologized to the victim’s family in court, saying this has changed his entire life. He said he is seeking treatment for drug and alcohol issues.

The judge could’ve imposed a $30,000 fine on Antrim, but instead said that restitution should be paid to the family to help cover the teen’s counseling costs. That amount has not yet been determined.

Editorials: Time For A Change & Board Is Out Of Touch

More 281 residents are speaking up against the current leadership and another proposed referendum in our school district. From the MN Sun-Post July 2:

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Time for a change?

To the editor:

Strong leaders can pull a community together. Superintendent Stan Mack does the opposite on all school issues in Robbinsdale District 281.

In the fundraising effort by parents to keep ninth- and 10th-grade sports programs intact, Mr. Mack chose to make a statement that said, “Armstrong parents are better at raising money than Cooper parents are.”

This is totally unacceptable language that Mr. Mack has shown by this type of statement.

A real leader does not put schools versus schools, parents versus parents and even teachers versus teachers. This type of leadership only puts hostility back into the whole school community.

Hopkins School District 270 made the right choice a few years ago to put in a new leader.

Now it’s time for School District 281 to do the same thing.

Jeffrey Beck
Golden Valley

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The following letter appears in the printed Sun-Post, but is not offered to view online (however a Vote Yes letter is online). I’ve transcribed it below:

Board is out of touch

To the editor:

Do you find it interesting that the District 281 School Board is begging for money again for the last two years in a row?

The voters rejected their request by a large margin last fall, but he School Board is determined to put their referendum back on the ballot again despite the message we sent them last year.

Aren’t you getting a little tired of public officials ignoring the wishes of the people they represent and stubbornly pushing ahead with their own special interests? I certainly am.

Can they possibly be calling for another huge tax increase at a time when our state unemployment rate is at a 17-year high, energy costs are going through the roof, gasoline is over $4 a gallon, foreclosures are at record levels and the housing market is depressed?

I realize there is no good time to raise our taxes, but some times are better than others, and I can’t think of a worse time than now.

The School Board request may have some merit, but their timing is terrible and the fact that they appear to be so out of touch with what is happening in the economy is troubling indeed.

Could it be that they are so caught up in their own agenda that they couldn’t care less about the problems of those of us who pay their bills?

I wonder what color the sky is in the School Board’s world.

Richard Moon
Golden Valley