ST. LOUIS PARK

Edina officers recognized for preventing suicide

Two Edina police officers have been commended for saving a suicidal woman on a highway bridge last fall. Detective Kenna Dick and Officer Morgan Piper received a commendation from the St. Louis Park Police Department for their successful crisis negotiation. "I admire them both for their skill and dedication," said St. Louis Park Sgt. Mike Garland, leader of the city's crisis negotiations team. Piper and Dick negotiated with the woman on the Excelsior Boulevard bridge over Hwy. 100 for more than two hours in October before successfully talking her down.

JOHN REINAN

Greenway trail construction goes on

Construction of the Northwest Greenway trail system will continue in 2016, linking a mile-long stretch built last year to the Plymouth Dog Park.

The City Council approved last week advertising bids for construction, which is expected to start in mid-March and finish in September. The trail is estimated to cost $900,000 while the pedestrian bridge is estimated at $1.6 million.

The trail system, which will snake through wooded areas in a 350-acre nature preserve, is the culmination of some 15 years of planning and acquiring land.

The greenway, which is being built in phases, will stretch from Wayzata High School and the Elm Creek playfield to Camelot Park, and connect to the Medicine Lake Regional Trail.

In 2006, voters approved a $9 million referendum to buy 2.5 miles of wetlands and trees and build the trail. Every year, the city added more land either by buying properties or acquiring land as a byproduct of new development. Construction started last summer on a mile-long, 12-foot-wide asphalt trail between Vicksburg and Juneau lanes.

Now the trail will be extended from between Upland Lane North and 57th Place North to the Plymouth Dog Park. Also this year, crews will build a pedestrian bridge over Vicksburg Lane.

KELLY SMITH

Hennepin County

Medical examiner reappointed

Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker was appointed last week to a fourth term by the County Board.

Baker, who started as the chief medical examiner in 2004, will begin his new four-year term June 12. He's only the third chief medical examiner since Hennepin County switched from the coroner system in 1963.

Since he was first appointed, Baker was reappointed in 2008 and again in 2012.

Kelly Smith

BLOOMINGTON

Artistry to open show with Native female artists

"Sinew: Female Native Artists of the Twin Cities," a multidisciplinary group exhibition curated by Dyani White Hawk Polk and presented by Artistry, will kick off a seven-week run starting Feb. 12 in the Inez Greenberg Gallery at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road.

The show features works by Carolyn Anderson, Julie Buffalohead, Andrea Carlson, Maggie Thompson, and the creative team of Heid and Louise Erdrich and Elizabeth Day.

The show will open with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 12. A panel discussion with participating artists will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1 at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. The exhibition and all related activities are free of charge.

JOHN REINAN

HOPKINS

Tax prep, health info sessions offered

The Hopkins Activity Center is offering free tax preparation and information sessions on Medicare supplemental health plans.

BeginningFeb. 1 free tax preparation will be offered from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Monday and Tuesday by AARP volunteers. The sessions end April 12. No appointment is necessary.

Appointments are required for the one-on-one information sessions on Medicare health plan supplements, held only on the first Monday of each month. Call 952-939-1333 to make an appointment. The Activity Center is at 33 N. 14th Av.

JOHN REINAN