Members of the Burnsville defense get fired up during a four-one-four drill against the offense at practice on Aug. 18. The Blaze will open the season on Aug. 29 at home versus Eastview in a Lake Conference game at 7 p.m. Burnsville is hoping to rebound from last year's 1-8 record under second-year coach Mark Riggs.

Savage Mayor Janet Williams (right) and Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz made comments Thursday morning during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new surface water treatment plan near the Kraemer Quarry in northeastern Burnsville. Savage and Burnsville are contributing financially to the project, which also received some bonding money from the state of Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Amy Barnett, city of Savage)

Sophomore Lauren Smith and Burnsville girls tennis team will open its season on Saturday, Aug. 16 when it plays at Cannon Falls in a non-conference match at 8:30 a.m. Smith is one of seven returning varsity players from last year. The other six are junior captain Brooke Selisker and senior captain Hailey Robb, along with juniors Amy Gluth and Megan Raden and sophomores Ellen Cocchiarella and Jillian Dotas.

The Savage Chamber Ambassadors including Greg VanGompel, Watkins Independent Associates; Robin West, Ambience Massage; Chris Frykman,Vibrant Potential; Nick Atkinson, American Family Insurance; Tracy Bergland, Sterling State Bank and Trish Schmucker,Savage Pacer visited Aspen Academy, 15033 Hwy. 13, a public charter school serving kindergarteners through third-graders. (Submitted photo)

Middle school students from both Hidden Oaks and Twin Oaks performed a summer band concert at Twin Oaks on Aug. 5. (Submitted photo)

Allie Stroup celebrated her first birthday at a National Night Out celebration on Preserve Court. She arrived on Aug. 7, 2007, which was when National Night Out 2007 was celebrated last year. Some 85 residents of Preserve Court, Maggie Lane and Independence Avenue came together on Tuesday night for the annual celebration that promotes crime prevention. Over 80 other neighborhoods in the city also participated. (Photo courtesy of Allen and Lisa Larson)

Savage City Administrator Barry Stock (left) is one of many city and county officials who will be out tonight visiting neighborhoods that have signed up for National Night Out. Neighborhoods that have registered for a visit can expect a group to drop by between 6 and 9 p.m. tonight. (File photo)

Brianna Kloetzke of Burnsville plays a drumline drum after the Burnsville High School drumline made a guest appearance at a summer music camp called “Join the Parade.” The camp, which met Tuesdays during July, was presented by Kindermusik of the Valley and was attended children ages 3–6 years old.  Each week the students learned about a different world culture and its music and each camp session ended with a small parade of some type.