Town briefs

ANOKA COUNTY

First-time home buyers in Anoka County may qualify for low-interest loans through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA).

Loans can be used to buy a new or existing home valued at up to $298,125 anywhere in the county. Other funds may be available to help with closing costs and down payments. Buyers must use an MHFA-approved lender.

To participate, potential home buyers must meet income limits (a maximum gross income of $64,800 for a household of up to four people, for example) and other requirements. To receive an information packet, call the Anoka County Community Development office at 763-323-5764.

On your mark, get set -- network!

The Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce is holding its Speed Networking Lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Courtyards of Andover, 13545 Martin St.

The event starts with a registration and an hors d'oeuvres lunch from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. To make reservations, call the chamber at 763-421-7130 or send an e-mail to mail@ anokaareachamber.com.

Take Heart Anoka County, a community effort to boost survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest, will receive more than $250,000 from the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation. The money was raised at the seventh-annual Crystal Ball last month at the Courtyards of Andover.

An estimated 350,000 Americans die each year from sudden cardiac arrest, and Take Heart Anoka County hopes to increase the survival rate from 5 percent to 33 percent. For more information, go to www.takeheartanoka.org.

COLUMBUS

Bus commuters in the north metro area have 300 more parking spaces with the opening Monday of the Running Aces Park-and-Ride.

The park-and-ride, located at the Running Aces Harness Park at Lake Drive and Zurich Street in Columbus, will largely serve commuters headed south on Interstate 35. It's also expected to relieve some congestion at the 95th Avenue Park-and-Ride in Blaine, Metro Transit said in a news release.

Also this week, Route 288, which serves both park-and-rides, added another express trip in the morning, and the afternoon shuttle from the 95th Avenue Park-and-Ride was replaced by an express trip leaving downtown Minneapolis after 5:30 p.m. Commuters should call Metro Transit's Transit Information Center for schedule information at 612-373-3333.

NORTH METRO AREA

Worried that you are at risk of losing your home to foreclosure? The Minnesota Home Ownership Center is holding a free open house and workshop from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Anoka Technical College in Anoka.

Homeowners can learn about the foreclosure process and their rights and ask confidential questions of mortgage lenders and nonprofit foreclosure specialists.

The event will be held in Auditorium A on the second floor of the college at 1355 W. Hwy. 10. For more information about the workshop, call the Minnesota Home Ownership Center at 651-659-9336.

Several north-metro students are among the 72 local soon-to-be-graduates awarded a total of $78,000 in scholarship money from the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The winners include:

Brooklyn Center High School: Ridwan Itabiyl, Chalonne Wilson

Robbinsdale Armstrong High School: Justin Ancier, Courtney Czerniak, Nathaniel Ewert, Laine Ferrara, Katherine Holton, Patrick Kissling, Elizabeth McQuiston, Nicole Napiwocki, Matthew Rathlisberger, Vincent Thielke

Robbinsdale Cooper High School: Rachel Brady, Alisa Christensen, Heidi Gunderson, Katheryn Hannaford, Rebecca Larson, Colleen Mans, Suttida Meeboon, Uyen Phan, Alyssa Ringdal, Mark Sohsen, Kathryn Talmadge, Hlee Yang

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

Storytelling fun will be in the mix at the Columbia Heights Public Library -- with the help of a big rolling pin, a 4-foot whisk, a giant muffin pan and a huge mixing bowl.

Mike the Baker, a.k.a. professional storyteller and former baker Mike Mann, will be on hand at 3:30 p.m. May 15 to invite children to join his Bakery Bowl Band. The program is free. The library is at 820 40th Av. NE.

ELK RIVER

Take a trip back to Minnesota's birth as a state through "Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Zabee Theater in Elk River.

Warren Nelson and the Big Top Chautauqua Orchestra will tell the history of Minnesota at the time of statehood through songs, historic readings, dramatic reenactments and dancing. The event will also feature large-scale historic photos from the Minnesota Historical Society collection. The Minnesota sesquicentennial celebration is presented by the Elk River Arts Alliance.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and arts alliance members, and $7 for youths. Tickets can be purchased by calling 763-441-4725 or online at www.elkriverart.org.

ARDEN HILLS

The city is looking for volunteers to join a committee to plan the Celebrating Arden Hills Festival. The City Council would like to hold a festival next year but needs a volunteer committee to work with the city's parks and recreation department to organize and run the event.

The deadline to apply is June 1. Call Michelle Olson, parks and recreation manager, at 651-792-7848 for further information.

NEW BRIGHTON

Community members of all ages are encouraged to see how firefighters do their work at the city's first "Fire in the Park" series.

Firefighters will perform search-and-rescue activities, conduct ground ladder and aerial operations, and put out fires using hoses and extinguishers. There will be hands-on opportunities for attendees to join in.

The New Brighton Department of Public Safety Fire Division is holding the series of events, starting at 7:30 p.m., on the second Monday of each month through August. The schedule is:

Monday: Freedom Park, 2121 NW. 14th St.

June 9: Sunny Square Park, 2200 Sunnyside Terrace

July 14: Totem Pole Park, 1111 Foss Road

Aug. 11: Hansen Park, 1555 NW. 5th St.

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