RAMSEY COUNTY
Last hearing on future of sheriff's position The Charter Commission will hold its fourth and final hearing on whether county residents should be allowed to vote on electing or appointing their sheriff this November. Currently, it's an elected position.
The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ramsey County Court House, 15 W. Kellogg Blvd.
The commission will likely vote on the matter in May.
The proposal would eliminate the elected office of sheriff in January 2011 and allow the county manager to appoint a sheriff to a four-year term. The appointment would need the County Board's approval.
CHRIS HAVENS
ST. PAUL
Youth job programs Applications for St. Paul's Youth Job Corps program are now available on the city's website, www.stpaul.gov.
The program is for St. Paul residents ages 14 to 21, and the paid jobs provide community services during the summer at sites around the city. Applicants must have a household income at or below 80 percent of the metro-area median income.
Applications for First Place, a jobs program that helps low-income youth explore career interests in professional settings, are also available. That program is open to St. Paul residents ages 16 to 21 and pays from $7 to more than $10 an hour.
CHRIS HAVENS
WASHINGTON COUNTY
County may take over maintenance of roads The cities of Stillwater and Oak Park Heights no longer would maintain roads leading to the Washington County Government Center under a proposal that county commissioners approved recently.
Don Thiesen, who heads the county's public works department, said the county should take responsibility to rebuild the roads after extensive construction work at the government center is completed in 2009.
"These roads aren't in good shape now," he told commissioners.
The county will need to strike an agreement with the cities, Thiesen said.
At issue are 62nd Street N. from Osgood Avenue (County Road 24) to Panama Avenue and Oxboro Avenue from 62nd Street N. to the Hwy. 36 frontage road. The county campus, in Stillwater, is situated at the border with Oak Park Heights.
KEVIN GILES
WASHINGTON COUNTY
A look at daily life in the olden days Attention, history buffs.
Experts from several of the county's historic groups will be available at a special event Sunday to talk about the history behind the area's sawmills, homes, one-room schoolhouses and farms.
"History in Your Back Yard" will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Washington County Historic Courthouse, 101 W. Pine St., Stillwater.
Scheduled organizations include: the Afton Historical Society, Arcola Mills, the Gammelgarden Museum, the Oakdale/Lake Elmo Historical Society, the Washington County Historical Society, the Stillwater Library, the Stone House Museum, Washington County Parks and the Woodbury Heritage Society.
Demonstrations will be held throughout the afternoon featuring quilting, needlework, spinning, bread making, old-fashioned toys and more. A mock trial of a suspected chicken thief will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the old courtroom.
Attendees also will be able to tour the old county jail and the current exhibit "Stitches in Time" that features quilts by the Monday Morning Courthouse Quilters.
For more information, call 651-275-7075 or visit www.co.washington.mn.us/hc.
ALLIE SHAH
WOODBURY
Meet the Raptors The city's new high school, which will open with about 1,200 students in 2009, now has a nickname, colors, a song and an academic insignia.
Teams at East Ridge High School will be known as the Raptors. "It's the bird, not the dinosaurs," said South Washington County Schools spokeswoman Barb Brown. School colors will be navy, red and white, with red being the predominant color. A proposed song -- the Ohio State fight song -- is being checked for copyright concerns, but the District 833 school board in recent action approved the academic insignia, which resembles a coat of arms with a torch in the middle.
More than 70 students, school employees and volunteers participated on a selection committee. More than 1,400 people commented in an online survey.
East Ridge is being built next to the city's Bielenberg Sports Center at Bailey Road and Radio Drive in south Woodbury. It would be the district's third high school.
KEVIN GILES