The West St. Paul City Council has approved up to $12,000 for the city's Loop circulator buses in 2016.
The fixed-route bus service provides transportation to older adults looking to shop on Robert Street and avoid driving through the street's construction zone.
The circulator bus is a partnership between Dakota County's Communities for a Lifetime initiative and Living Longer and Stronger in West St. Paul.
Two buses offer rides between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesdays each month. About 20 riders hop on the buses each Wednesday.
The city is also looking for private donations to help finance the bus service, which began last May.
"This is the least that we can do for our businesses and residences under the circumstances of the street being torn up," Council Member Ed Iago said.
BEATRICE DUPUY
Jordan
City Council appoints Velishek as mayor
Jordan City Council members appointed Tanya Velishek as the city's new mayor at a Feb. 1 meeting. Velishek succeeds Mike Shaw, who died of cancer on Jan. 16.
Velishek had been acting mayor for several months and will serve the remaining 10 months of Shaw's term until a new mayor is elected next fall.
Shaw had served as mayor since 2012 and was also a longtime City Council member.
The council will vote Tuesday to appoint a new council member to fill Velishek's spot through the rest of 2016.
Erin Adler
PRIOR LAKE, BURNSVILLE
Polar Plunges to raise money for charity
Two annual Polar Plunges, in which brave souls raise money for the Special Olympics by submerging in frigid lake water, will take place this month in the south metro.
The Prior Lake plunge will be at noon Feb. 20 at Sand Point Beach on Prior Lake. Plungers can also participate in the South Metro plunge at 1 p.m. Feb. 27 at Crystal Beach on Crystal Lake in Burnsville.
