Headlines – Page 61 – North Metro TV

PLAYGROUNDS REFRESHED AT BLAINE PARKS

The playgrounds at Northwood, Fort Lion, Hidden Ponds and Centennial parks will all be replaced this year.

SEARCH IS ON FOR STOLEN HANDICAPPED VAN

Blaine police said someone stole the 2007 maroon Toyota Sierra van from an underground parking garage earlier this month. The van was specially outfitted with a wheelchair ramp.

ANOKA COUNTY LIBRARY TO GET NEW APP FOR DIGITAL CHECKOUTS

A change is coming for library users of who like ebooks and audiobooks. Anoka County Library is in the process of changing the app it uses to provide the ebooks.

DRAMATIC INCREASE IN GUN SALES CONTINUES

“We’re probably still doing twice the volume we did the prior year,” said Monson. That’s in line with a big increase in permits to carry. Many are first time buyers. “Because of the huge influx of all these new first time gun buyers, we had a high demand for people to learn how to shoot […]

CENTENNIAL FOOD SHELF GETS UPGRADES

A partnership that included the city and Connexus Energy replaced outdate florescent lighting with a modern L-E-D lighting upgrade. Donations helped cut the cost in half, allowing the food shelf to spend more money on food.

LINO LAKES PUBLIC SAFETY RE-EXAMINING FIREFIGHTING MODEL AS CROSS-TRAINED OFFICER NUMBERS DWINDLE

When Lino Lakes abandoned the Centennial Fire District (that also included Centerville and Circle Pines) several years ago, one big selling point for taxpayers was that the city would cross-train police officers as firefighters and pay them a stipend. In the years since, that trend has dwindled. Now, the city is looking at ways to improve response times for daytime weekday hours–including a possible plan to work more closely with Centennial.

ANOKA COUNTY ANNOUNCES COVID-19 VACCINE OPPORTUNITY FOR RESIDENTS 65+

Anoka County Public Health is offering a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines for residents age 65 and over.

BOAT SALES BOOMING

The National Marine Manufacturers Association says sales of freshwater fishing and pontoon boats climbed by 12 percent in 2020. The organization points to smaller, versatile boats as the most popular with people looking to escape pandemic stress.

RECONSTRUCTION PLANNED TO IMPROVE SAFETY AND MOBILITY ON BIRCH STREET

With more than 12,000 vehicles a day using Birch Street, the morning and evening rush hours can be challenging for pedestrians who want to cross, and traffic trying to make left turns. County engineers say part of the answer for the next 20 years will be two traffic roundabouts.

WELL SEALING GRANTS AVAILABLE

A large portion of Anoka County is on a municipal water supply, but many of these properties used to use private wells. The Anoka Conservation District wants homeowners to seal these unused wells to our drinking water supply clean and safe, and the conservation district is likely to pay for most of the cost.