Metro briefs: Minneapolis looking at bird-safe skyways

Under the proposal, building materials for new skyway additions would have to use a bird-safe glazing treatment. Existing skyways would not have to be retrofitted.

The plan, from Council Members Cam Gordon and Linea Palmisano, was prompted by expressed concerns that birds might fly into the mirror-like glass on U.S. Bank Stadium.

Gordon said a University of Minnesota study on bird deaths found that skyways can pose a particular problem. Jerry Bahls, president of the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis, said that's likely because birds often cruise along the openings carved for streets, where skyways cross.

"There aren't a lot of [new skyways] being planned, but it's something we can do to set the tone for new construction coming up in the future," Bahls said.

The issue will be considered Aug. 15 by the Planning Commission.

Officials have agreed to study the stadium glass issue and make recommendations by 2019.

ERIN GOLDEN

New galleries, a new box office and another entrance on the museum's skyway level all are set to open. Forces at Play will be the first of 10 new permanent exhibits to open, on Aug. 27, offering a series of activities using air and water.

To celebrate the final weeks of the Habitot, Earth World and World Works exhibits, the museum is giving away three lifetime memberships. Museum officials are asking visitors to share photos of their family experiencing those exhibits on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #PlayMoreMN, and tag the museum through Aug. 14. Winners will be randomly selected each week.

The Children's Museum, which opened in 1981 and moved to downtown St. Paul in 1995, draws more than 460,000 visitors annually to its locations in St. Paul and Rochester.

JAMES WALSH

Jodi Johnston suggested to a neighbor that it might be nice to make some yard signs supporting local police. Before long she was in her garage, assembling and handing out signs.

"I'm thinking, 'I was just throwing out the idea!' But I guess I'm committed to it now," Johnston said.

The signs, which read "Thank You SLP Police Department," are popping up across the city, especially in Johnston's Lenox neighborhood.

Johnston is asking $5 per sign to cover production costs. When the first run of 150 is gone, she hopes there's enough demand for another order.

For more information, call her at 952-215-6932.

JOHN REINAN

Funded by the federal Tiger Grant program, the project was one of 40 selected from a pool of 585 applications nationwide, according to an announcement Friday from Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

Billed as a "freight mobility project," the $56.1 million project will include a grade-separated interchange to reduce delays and crashes on Hwy. 169.

The highway is a major artery for moving aggregate materials and grain by trucks from southern Minnesota to the Twin Cities.

The Tiger Grant is expected to leverage state, local and private funds for the new interchange.