ROSEMOUNT

The city is looking for residents to join the planning, utility and parks and recreation commissions.

City council members will interview candidates on March 12 and then make appointments to three-year terms that begin in April. The commissions meet once or twice a month and members receive a $35 stipend for each meeting they attend.

The parks and recreation commission meets the fourth Monday of every month to recommend policies and evaluate the needs of the parks system. The utility commission, which supervises Rosemount's publicly owned water, sewer and storm water utilities, meets the second Monday of the month. The planning commission meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month to evaluate development proposals and work on comprehensive and capital plans.

Interested residents can find application forms at City Hall or online at www.ci.rosemount.mn.us. For more information, contact the city clerk's office at 651-322-2003. Applications are due Feb. 27.

BURNSVILLE

The nonprofit Community Action Council has opened a new office and gathering place on Hwy. 13 in Burnsville.

The old administrative office in Lakeville will continue to house Community Action Council staff and serve as a family resource center and food pantry.

The new office at 501 E. Hwy. 13, Suite 102, across from Burnsville High School, houses Community Action Council administration and has space available for gatherings of volunteers, families and the community to discuss problem solving at the community level. There are conference rooms, more intimate meeting spaces and a kitchen.

Visitors are welcome to drop by during business hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or attend an after-hours ribbon cutting and open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on March 5.

The Community Action Council aims to prevent violence, ensure school success and promote long-term self-sufficiency. To learn more about the organization, call 952-985-5300 see www.community actioncouncil.org.

The 18th annual "Bite of Burnsville," which features fare of area restaurants, is set for Feb. 19 and will include a live auction "featuring many hard to get and one-of-a-kind items," said Travis Martinson, program and events manager for the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce.

The event is 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. A live auction will begin at 8:15, immediately followed by a one-man show by Bob Stromberg of Triple Espresso.

"This is a huge event and I am really proud of it," said Sue Luikens, the Bite's auction chairwoman. "There will be a great selection in both auctions and we will be certain to provide items in all price ranges so that every guest has an opportunity to bid."

Some of the items to be offered in the auctions include four Britney Spears/PussyCat Dolls VIP tickets; a Twin Cities pub crawl, replete with a party bus, food and beverages; a hog roast by Divine Swine Catering; autographed Vikings pictures and framed prints; a Marco Island getaway with a one-week condo stay and airfare voucher, and a patio bar.

Burnsville's "State of the City" address is 11 a.m. today at the city's new performing arts center.

The event, which is open to the public, is presented annually by the city of Burnsville and the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce. Registration is available through the Chamber of Commerce website at www.burnsvillechamber.com. Call 952-435-6000 with questions.

The Burnsville Performing Arts Center is at 12600 Nicollet Av. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with the event completed by 1 p.m.

PRIOR LAKE

Next week's meeting of the Prior Lake City Council will feature Mayor Jack Haugen's eighth "state of the city address." The meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall, 4646 SE. Dakota St. Haugen plans to address the city's efforts to realize the vision of its 2030 strategic plan and deal with various challenges. Residents can watch it live on PLTV-15, the government access cable channel. The speech will be shown again in February and March on cable, and it will be available online the next day at the city's website, www.cityofpriorlake.com.

DAKOTA COUNTY

If playing in the sparkling snow beneath a starry sky is your thing, try the "Trails by Candlelight" event at Lebanon Hills Regional Park.

The park will be open for cross-country skiing, ice skating, hiking and snowshoeing by candlelight on Feb. 21. The visitors center will be open for those who need to warm up.

Skis and snowshoes will be available for rental, but participants need to bring their own ice skates.

The cost is $5 per person if registered online at www.dakotacounty.us/parks by Feb. 20. At the door, participants will pay $8. Kids 5 years old and under are free.

A grant from the Bremer Emergency Fund of the Otto Bremer Foundation will make $100,000 available to Dakota County residents in need of emergency assistance.

The money will be distributed by the county's employment and economic assistance department to residents with urgent financial needs. It can be used for basic needs including food, shelter, utilities, health care and transportation. In the first nine months of 2008, the county served about 145 individuals or families each month, many of them looking for help to keep utilities on or prevent homelessness.

The grant money will supplement the county's $1.5 million annual budget for emergency financial assistance, allowing the county to serve about 100 more individuals or families.

To qualify for the financial assistance, residents must meet eligibility and income requirements and the assistance must solve the financial problem by itself or when combined with other funding. The income requirement, based on federal poverty guidelines, is $53,000 or less for a family of four and $44,000 or less for a family of three.

The Otto Bremer Foundation gave out $4,155,578 to 81 agencies across Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.

LAKEVILLE

Mark Katz, an author and founder of Mentors and Violence Prevention, will be the keynote speaker at the 24th Annual Domestic Abuse Awareness Luncheon sponsored by the Community Action Council and the Lakeville Police Department on Friday.

Katz has examined gender-violence prevention education with men and boys, focusing on sports culture and the military. He founded Mentors in Violence Prevention to recruit high school, collegiate and professional athletes to fight men's violence against women. He is also the author of "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help."

The event will be held in the Grand Facile Ballroom of the Holiday Inn & Suites in Lakeville beginning at 11 a.m. with registration. Lunch and the program will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Katz will be signing books, which can be purchased on site after the luncheon.

The cost is $30 per person and seating is limited. Call the Community Action Council at 952-985-5300 to register.

The reading groups of the Dakota County Heritage Library have selected "The Florist's Daughter" by Patricia Hampl as their next book for discussion. In this memoir, Hampl tells of growing up in mid-20th century St .Paul.

The Heritage Library offers two reading groups. The evening group meets at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 and the afternoon group on March 5 at noon in the library meeting room.

The groups' next pick is "Curse of Chalion" by Lois McMaster Bujold. The dates for these discussions will be March 25 and April 2.

The reading groups are free and open to anyone. New attendees are welcome and no registration is necessary. The library is at 20085 Heritage Drive. For more information, call 952-891-0360 or see www.dakotacounty.us/library.

SOUTH METRO AREA

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., recognized his nominees to the U.S. service academies last week at a ceremony in his Burnsville office.

"I take a great deal of pride in the young men and women who serve our country," Kline, a retired Marine colonel, said in a news release.

His south-metro nominees were:

Apple Valley: Sean Maguire (Naval Academy); Joel Bertelsen (Naval Academy); Michael Danley (West Point); Ryan Price (West Point); Mark Pohl (West Point); and Scott Tangen (Naval Academy and West Point).

Burnsville: Margaret Puch (Naval Academy).

Eagan: Jeffrey Finnegan (Air Force Academy); John Lamey (West Point); and Robert Kreyer (Naval Academy).

Lakeville: Joshua Williams (Naval Academy) and Paul Young (Air Force Academy).

Shakopee: Elliot Unseth (Air Force Academy).

The Air Force, Army (West Point), Naval, and Merchant Marine academies require that applicants receive a nomination from their member of Congress, their senator, the vice president or the president. Students interested in applying for a 2010 nomination can see kline.house.gov for more information or call Kline's office at 952-808-1213.

KATIE HUMPHREY, JOY POWELL AND DYLAN BELDEN