South metro town briefs

City police collecting gifts for Toys for TotsToys can be dropped off for the police Toys for Tots drive at city offices beginning Friday and continuing through Dec. 22.

New unwrapped toys can be left at City Hall, 20195 Holyoke Av.; the police station, 9237 183rd St.; the city water treatment plant, 18400 Ipava Av.; or the central maintenance building, 7570 179th St. W.

Monetary donations also will be accepted at these locations. Checks may be written to "Toys for Tots Twin Cities."

For more information, call Lakeville Police at 952-985-2800.

Victorian holidays at the LeDuc mansionVictorian holiday tours will be offered at the elegantly decorated LeDuc mansion in Hastings on Dec. 4-5 and 11-12. Tours will begin at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, and at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission is $3 to $6, but free for children age 5 and younger. Admittance to the gift shop is free.

For more information, go to www.dakotahistory.org.

The Carriage Hills Park area, in north-central Prior Lake, had 11 break-ins during the night hours between Sunday, Nov. 14 and Monday, Nov. 15. All of them involved garages, and some residences as well. The intruders got into vehicles parked outside, both locked and unlocked. If you know anything about this, please contact Detective Darcy White at 952-447-9872 or 952-440-3555.

Sign-up for police alerts is availableIf you'd like to keep abreast of police alerts in Shakopee, via e-mail or text messages, there's a place to sign up online.

Visit the city's website, www.ci.shakopee.mn.us, for a link to this service. You'll be asked if you are part of a business in the city that wants to get alerts aimed at the business community.

A whole new Hwy. 101 is coming next yearScott County aims to start the makeover of a key thoroughfare, Hwy. 101 from Marschall Road to Fuller Street, by spring and complete it by fall, the city of Shakopee says. The goal is to turn a sagging area into a sparkling one that will attract upgrades and move traffic more efficiently.

The roadway will become five lanes -- two in each direction plus a turn lane -- with no median. New street lighting will be installed as well as "decorative" sidewalks and boulevards.

Residents at the senior-care center created memory tiles with the help of artist Anne Krocak during the week of Nov. 8. The event will include speakers from the library, the care center and the Minnesota Creative Arts & Aging Network.

The celebration is 11 a.m. to noon at the library, 508 Third St. Also at the library that day are the Dakota Valley Arts Council's annual holiday show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a family holiday movie from 3-4 p.m.

For more information, contact the library at 651-438-0250 or www.dakotacounty.us/lib rary.

Arboretum holiday sale set next Dec. 4-5The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's annual holiday sale is scheduled Dec. 4-5, with a special preview sale set for Dec. 2.

Hours of the sale are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 4 and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 5. The preview sale event, which will include wine and hors d'oeuvres, runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Snyder Building at the Arboretum, at 3675 Arboretum Drive in Chanhassen. Tickets for the preview are $25; call 952-448-1608 for reservations. For more information, go to www.arboretum.umn.edu.