Metro briefs: Maple Grove offers free rides to and from COVID-19 vaccines

Maple Grove Transit is offering free round-trip rides on its on-demand MY RIDE service to people getting COVID-19 vaccinations through June 30.

The offer is good for anybody who lives within the service zone and is going to a state-approved vaccination site for their first or second shot.

Trips must be booked by phone at 763-493-2200.

Tim Harlow

Seven candidates will be on the ballot when Brooklyn Park holds a primary election April 13 to choose its next mayor. Finalists will advance to a general election Aug. 10.

Former Mayor Jeff Lunde resigned to serve as Hennepin County commissioner for District One — which includes Brooklyn Park — prompting the special election. Lunde, who served as mayor from 2011 to 2020, had two years left in his term.

Candidates in the primary runoff include Lisa Jacobson, Yelena Kurdyumova, Mark Mata, Boyd Morson, Benjamin Osemenam, Wynfred Russell and Hollies Winston.

The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) is offering a new east-west bus route. Route 447, which began service Feb. 20, runs every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. It mainly serves the Hwy. 42 corridor and passes through Prior Lake, Savage, Burnsville and Apple Valley.

Stops include Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, County Road 21 and Main Avenue in Prior Lake, the Savage Park and Ride at 14121 Huntington Av., the Sears Auto at Burnsville Center and the Apple Valley Transit Station.

"As a whole we have a lack of east–west connections in the south metro," said Luther Wynder, MVTA chief executive.

Wynder said the timing was right to add the route because of the transportation needs of local riders, including front-line workers.

Route 495, for instance, which serves Mystic Lake and Amazon from the Hwy. 13 corridor, has retained 80% of its prepandemic ridership, he said, among the highest levels in the region.

ERIN ADLER

Bloomington's Muslim Community Center has donated hundreds of N95 masks to the city — and is calling on other organizations to do the same.

Shahid Aziz, a board member at the center, recently donated 250 masks to Amanda Crombie, human services program coordinator for the city.

"The idea is to help fight this enemy that we have, the pandemic, and get back to normal as soon as possible," Aziz said in a city video highlighting the donation. "We want other community organizations to imitate. And we also like to imitate others in doing good. It is OK to compete in doing goodness."

The Muslim Community Center offers a free health clinic on Saturday mornings as well as a food shelf.