Metro briefs: Special election planned to fill Anoka County Board seat

A special election will be held in coming months to fill the seat of Anoka County Board Chairwoman Rhonda Sivarajah, who last week was appointed county administrator by the board to replace the retiring Jerry Soma.

Candidates interested in running for the Sixth District seat can file for office beginning July 30. If there are more than two candidates, a primary election will be held in November to narrow the field for a special election in February; if no primary is needed, the special election could be held in November instead.

The Sixth District spans eastern Anoka County from Linwood Township to Lino Lakes. Sivarajah will move into her new position on May 31.

Hannah Covington

The Championship 18 golf course opened Saturday to the public, completing the last phase of Edina's two-year, $7.5 million renovation at Braemar Golf Course.

With open fairways, six tee boxes per hole and new bunker designs, Championship is "going to be a fun course for all ages and abilities," said General Manager Joe Abood. Officials said it's the first new public 18-hole course in Minnesota in more than a decade.

Braemar closed in October 2016 for the makeover. The course had been scheduled to reopen late last summer, but an exceptionally wet summer and fall in 2017 delayed seeding.

Kevin Duchschere

Eagan officials hope that a regional movie theater chain will breathe new life into an aging multiplex cinema with the addition of liquor service and indoor ax-throwing.

Northwoods Entertainment, which does business under the name Emagine, got approval from the City Council to renovate the 20-year-old Regal Cinemas 16 on Cliff Road near Interstate 35E.

Emagine's plans call for fewer seats in the theater and eventual division of the 10-acre property into four separate retail or commercial businesses. The development will feature on-sale liquor, patio dining and new signage.

Ax-throwing, typically a team sport, has become an increasingly popular activity in the Twin Cities. There are at least four ax-throwing venues in the metro area, some of them offering leagues. Not all of them have a liquor license.

Construction will keep the lift span on the Stillwater Lift Bridge locked in the raised position for several weeks just as the boating season gets underway, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The bridge, which no longer accepts motor vehicles, is being turned into a bike and pedestrian crossing as part of a 5-mile loop trail that connects Stillwater with Houlton, Wis., and extends downriver to the new St. Croix Crossing bridge.

Marine traffic will be unimpeded during the repair work, both while the raised span is locked and later when it's lowered and a span is floated out to make an opening in the bridge. Boats should follow signs through the no-wake zone.