East town briefs

Former firefighter is city's new emergency chief Mayor Chris Coleman has appointed a former suburban firefighter and emergency planning consultant as the city's new director of emergency management.

Rick Larkin will fill the post left vacant when Tim Butler was tapped to be chief of the St. Paul Fire Department.

Larkin has spent 20 years responding to emergencies. He began as a firefighter in Bloomington, rising to acting district chief, and also worked for the Burnsville department.

In 2005, he founded Larkin and Associates, a company that helps public and private entities with emergency planning, training and response. He served as an adviser to the city of Minneapolis when the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed, and he teaches a graduate-level public safety administration course.

CHRIS HAVENS

Some county libraries are now open longer hours The Ramsey County library system has added hours at some branches. The Shoreview, Maplewood and Roseville libraries are open on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Two hours were added Tuesdays and Thursdays at the North St. Paul library, which is open 1 to 8 p.m. The White Bear Lake library added three hours on Monday evenings, so its hours are now 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

STAFF REPORT

The South Washington County food shelf distributed more than 48,000 pounds of USDA commodities to needy people in 2007. This was the ninth-highest level of need in Minnesota, according to Hunger Solutions. The food shelf provided 46 pounds of food per person at each visit, well above the state average of 22 pounds.

Demand on food shelves statewide is higher than ever, said Colleen Moriarty, HSM's executive director. "Poor economic conditions for low-income Minnesotans result in unprecedented demands for service," she said. Food shelf visits since 2000 increased 60 percent to 1.9 million, she said.

The Blue Ribbon Food Shelf Initiative was started to recognize food shelves that offer excellent service to their communities, HSM said.

"At Friends in Need, our goal is to make everyone, no matter their situation, feel welcome and respected when they come to us," said Executive Director Michelle Rageth. "We are seeing so many middle class families who have been devastated by job loss or a health crisis in the family. Many people who had previously donated food to us are now finding themselves in need of our services. We hope that we can help them during their time of need and that they will be back on their feet again in the future. It's all about being there for our neighbors."

Donations can be sent to Friends in Need, P.O. Box 6, Cottage Grove, MN, 55016.

Council raises its pay Farmington City Council members gave themselves a pay raise last week, approving a bump of $250 to their monthly checks.

Council members now make $335 a month, with the mayor earning $420. That's well below the average of nearly $550 for council members and $700 for mayors that city staff members tabulated from a survey of 35 metro-area cities, said City Administrator Peter Herlofsky.

The pay raise won't take effect until Jan. 1, 2009, after the fall election in which three of five council members -- including Mayor Kevan Soderberg -- are up for re-election.

STAFF REPORT

Referendum on athletic complex set for April 22 Rosemount residents will vote April 22 on an $8 million bond issue to build an outdoor athletic complex and upgrade the former St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

About $1 million of the money would go toward code and accessibility upgrades to the former Catholic church, which the city bought in 2005 and wants to renovate for community events.

STAFF REPORT

Dinner theater fundraiser for Rosemount arts group Tickets are on sale for the first fundraiser of the newly formed Rosemount Area Arts Council, a community spinoff of the city task force that studied future uses of the former St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Local actors will perform March 7 in "Caribbean Cruise Conspiracy," a dinner theater mystery, at the Rosemount Community Center. Doors open at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m.

The deadline to reserve tickets, which are $37, is Thursday. To buy them or find out more about the group, go to www.rosemountaac.org or call 952-484-7274.

STAFF REPORT

The city will let Frontier put equipment on municipal facilities and use city rights of way to build the wireless network. Frontier customers in Rosemount will have the option of adding wireless to the phone, video and Internet services they already receive for $10 a month, while casual users can tap into the network for $10 a day.

Frontier reached a similar deal with Burnsville in 2006. The company has wireless up and running in some parts of the city and has pledged to serve 90 percent of Burnsville by the end of this year, said Frontier spokesman Terry Kucera. The company also hopes to bring the service to Farmington, Lakeville and Apple Valley.