St. Paul: Snelling Bus Rapid Transit open houses set for July

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Metro Transit will host three open houses in July regarding the design for the upcoming Snelling Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), slated to open in late 2015.The project will bring enhanced bus service and stations to Snelling Avenue, Ford Parkway and 46th Street between Rosedale Center and the 46th Street Station on the METRO Blue Line. The public open houses will address specific bus routes.The schedule is listed below:Routes 84 and 87: Tuesday, July 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
at Hamline University
 Klas Center, Kay Fredericks Room,
 1536 Hewitt Ave.Routes 23, 70, 84, 87 and 134: Monday, July 15, 5-7 p.m.,
 Hillcrest Recreational Center, gymnasium,
 1978 Ford Parkway.Routes 63 and 84: Wednesday, July 17, 12:30-2:30 p.m.,
 Macalester College,
 Weyerhaeuser Hall boardroom,
 62 Macalester St.For more information about Snelling Bus Rapid Transit, visit metrotransit.org/snelling-brt or email brtprojects@metrotransit.org. CORRECTION: Byline should read “Staff.” Continue Reading

Summertime in Bugleland: Activities in St. Anthony, Como Park, Falcon Heights and Lauderdale

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Looking for some local warm-weather fun? Read on.Something for everyone at Como PoolIf you haven’t visited Como Pool, get over there.After four years of no local pool, this neighborhood amenity reopened at 1150 Como Ave. last year, and it features a little something for everyone.The pool has a 400-foot lazy river, a zip line, a diving well, a rock climbing wall, a six-lane lap pool, a splash pool for the little ones, and open and lap swim times. Find the pool’s schedule by calling 651-489-0378 or go to stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=2672.Music and more at Como pavilionComo Lakeside Pavilion, 1360 N. Lexington Parkway, has something musical or theatrical happening almost every summer night. Rosetown Playhouse will present the musical “Annie” for two weekends, July 11-13 and July 18-20. Continue Reading

Getting to work: By car, foot, bike or the Internet

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Like any seasoned computer professional, Sue Hakomaki, a senior business analyst at UnitedHealthcare, knows that the best time to start a large computer run is early in the morning when Internet traffic is at its lightest. But getting to the office early for Hakomaki can involve a grueling battle with morning traffic as she drives from her St. Anthony Park home to work in the distant western suburbs.Her solution? Once a week, Hakomaki can set her clock early, get up, and walk a few feet to her home computer, where she can launch her calculation before her fellow workers have even reached the on-ramp to the freeway.For Como Park resident Amy Schoch, a program manager at the American Academy of Neurology in Minneapolis, telecommuting two days a week means that she can schedule conference calls or difficult one-on-one communications for the “peaceful and comfortable” atmosphere of home, far from the distractions of the open plan work space of her downtown office.Katja Rowell, a family physician-turned-childhood-feeding-specialist, prizes the flexibility and low overhead costs built in to her St. Anthony Park home-based business. Continue Reading

Chelsea Heights: The village that built a St. Paul playground

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Chelsea Heights Elementary School students will see a new playground erected outside their school windows on May 1 and 2.The project will be celebrated on Thursday, May 2, at noon with a ribbon cutting and press conference. After nearly four years of fundraising by the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), the school, which is located at 1557 Huron St., will get new playground equipment, a naturescape surrounding the area and a new tot lot for preschoolers.“We’re really excited,” said Ann Smith, PTO vice president. “It’s going to be great.”A teardown of the old playground equipment will begin the last week of April. The entire project should be finished by the Chelsea Heights spring carnival on Friday, May 17, Smith said.The project has received funding from a variety of sources but began with the PTO, which has raised nearly $60,000 through donations from Chelsea Heights families and neighbors. The PTO’s efforts made the project eligible for a school district match of $15,000. Continue Reading

Ted Blank named St. Paul District 10 administrator

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Ted Blank has been named District 10 Como Community Council’s administrator and coordinator, the main staff position in the district.Blank, who had served on the District 10 Community Council Board for two and a half years, most recently as board treasurer, brings with him a strong background in marketing. Blank stepped down as treasurer to assume the staff position.Administrating an independent nonprofit like District 10, “is an area where I wanted to gain more experience,” Blank said. The timing was good, “and I can walk to work.” Blank and his partner, Chad, have been homeowners in the Como Park neighborhood for 10 years.A native of Lacrosse, Wis., Blank came to Minnesota to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield. He went on to St. Continue Reading

All St. Anthony Park Transition Festival will showcase Transition Town effort

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If the words “smaller footprint” and “stronger community” sing to you, mark April 20 on your calendar for the All St. Anthony Park Transition Festival. That’s when Transition Town ASAP (an effort initiated by the District 12 Energy Resilience Group) will showcase an ambitious community venture that organizers hope will start moving the neighborhood toward less dependence on fossil fuel.The festival will be held that Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church, 2323 Como Ave., and will feature local musicians and children’s crafts and activities, but most important, information on how to get involved.The Energy Resilience Group, a subcommittee of the district’s Environment Committee, held community meetings in January and February to gauge interest in helping St. Anthony Park become a Transition Town, a movement started in 2005 by Rob Hopkins, a British instructor of ecological design. Continue Reading

Remodeling project will close St. Anthony Park Library for six weeks this spring

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The first floor of the St. Anthony Park Library will be closed for remodeling for about six weeks starting in May. At least that’s the ballpark estimate, according to library manager Susan Henry.Bids for the project went out at press time, so the project’s schedule was not determined. What Henry does know is that the main floor of the library will be closed for at least a month and a half once the project starts. When the main floor reopens, it will have a number of new features, including an automated self-check-in kiosk where the compact disks and periodicals are now shelved, a counter area with laptop outlets and a lounge area with periodicals where the current office area is, and a new service desk in the area where the Xerox machine now sits.The library’s Summer Reading program will not be affected by the work, as the lower level will remain open during the remodeling. Continue Reading

Avalon School tackles bullying, in partnership with St. Paul Public Library

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When the St. Paul Public Library put out the call for a citywide group read of the young adult novel Everybody Sees the Antsby A.S. King, the staff and students at Avalon School answered.The public charter school’s decision to have its students spend 30 minutes a day in small groups reading a book that addresses bullying, violence against women and the Vietnam War has created a whirlwind of media attention at Avalon.The library’s Read Brave project—a collaboration between the library, author A.S. King and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation—challenged teens with a contest to create public service announcements, poetry, music, one-act plays, posters or any other project inspired by the themes of the book.Avalon students stepped up to the plate and a number of them won tickets to Lady Gaga’s concert on Feb. 6 in Minneapolis and VIP passes to her Born Brave Bus outside the Excel Energy Center the day of the concert.The only school to participate in the St. Paul Public Library’s program, Avalon invited local media into the school to learn more about the program. Esme Murphy’s visit resulted in a report that ran on WCCO News on Feb. Continue Reading

South Como boundary change heading to St. Paul City Council

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What does it take to change a neighborhood?Community council members in St. Paul’s Planning Districts 6 and 10 will find out in the coming months if the City Council approves a Jan. 24 recommendation from the city’s Department of Planning and Economic Development (PED) to allow the South Como neighborhood to secede from District 6 and move into District 10.If the boundary change is given a green light, the two planning councils will hold public meetings in regard to the changes and begin the tasks of rewriting bylaws and district 10-year plans, adjusting board sizes and budgets, and more.The PED’s recommendation came just two weeks after hosting a meeting on Jan. 9 at the Como Lakeside Pavilion, where nearly 170 people filled the second floor to discuss moving the 3,537 South Como residents who live on the southern and western borders of Como Regional Park into District 10.Most of the participants— 123—were South Como residents, many of whom were there to champion the boundary change so they could have a voice closer to home about parking, traffic and other issues that come with living next to Como Regional Park. The meeting included a map-dot exercise where participants were asked to indicate where they lived and their position on the boundary change. Continue Reading

St. Paul teacher’s ’27 Acts of Kindness’ project honors victims of Newtown, CT shooting

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In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December, Como Park Senior High School counselor Molly McCurdy found herself searching for some way to help students at her school address the tragedy.In mid-January, she launched the 27 Acts of Kindness project to honor the 27 people killed by the Newtown, Conn., shooter. The project challenges Como’s staff and students to do 27 kind things through the year and make a record of it. An Act of Kindness board has been put up in the school’s Commons and the school community is being encouraged to write down their kind acts on the board.Senior Joe Krivit has helped get the news out on the school’s morning television show by interviewing students who are participating. His first interview was with junior Leandre Benion (aka “Rev”) who recently helped his mom by paying for his sister’s birthday party.Benion works at Cub Foods and spent his own money to buy a cake and presents for his sister’s golden birthday on Jan. 14. Continue Reading