MINNEAPOLIS — A website operated by a group fighting to keep a popular Minneapolis lake named Lake Calhoun appears to have been hacked.
Log on to www.savelakecalhoun.com and instead of seeing information on the group's legal effort, you see an empty, white page with a simple message: "It's Bde Maka Ska."
The apparent website hack follows Monday's high-profile decision by the state Court of Appeals that the Department of Natural Resources ((DNR) did not have the authority to change the name of Lake Calhoun, near the Uptown area.
KARE 11 reached out to one of Save Lake Calhoun's founders for reaction, but have not received a response yet.
DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr last year ordered the lake's name changed to its original Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska, a decision strongly supported by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Signs around the lake were switched, and the new name started gaining traction in conversations and the daily lives of many who use the lake.
But some nearby property owners challenged the change through their organization, called Save Lake Calhoun, and a three-judge appellate panel ruled that because the lake name had existed for more than 40 years, authority to change it rested with the Legislature and not the DNR.
Right now the DNR has a 30-day window to challenge the Appeals Court ruling, and take the matter to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
