North metro briefs: Fife & drums featured in Civil War series

Fife and drum music as played by the Union army during the Civil War will be the subject of a presentation at 7 p.m. on April 2 at the Anoka County History Center, 2135 Third Av. N., Anoka.

John Guthmann and Jim Moffet, members of the First Minnesote Volunteer Infantry reenacting unit, will demonstrate the instruments and play the calls that soldiers would have heard.

The program is free and open to the public. No registration is required, but seating is limited.

Anoka County's two compost sites will open for the season on Wednesday, April 1, The sites are at Bunker Hills Regional Park, 13285 Hanson Blvd., Coon Rapids, and Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Regional Park, 7701 Main St., Lino Lakes.

Hours will be:

• Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (or sunset, if it's earlier)

• Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The drop-off fee is $5 per vehicle for up to four cubic yards of yard waste (leaves, grass clippings, garden wastes, weeds, pumpkins, pine cones) and 50 cents for each cubic yard after that. The county says about eight lawn bags equal one yard.

The fee for tree waste depends on the size and amount of brush, logs or stumps.

Free, unscreened compost is available at both sites.

For further information, go to AnokaCounty.us/recycle or contact Anoka County Integrated Waste Management at recycle@co.anoka.mn.us or 763-323-5730.

The wetland sanctuary that Blaine is creating will be the subject of an open house on Thursday, March 26, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall atrium, 10801 Town Square Dr. NE.

The open house will give residents a chance to see designs, learn about the project's parts and phases, and provide input. A formal presentation will begin at 6:45 p.m.

The Blaine Police Federation will host the inaugural Cops vs. Kids Hockey Game on Saturday, March 28, at 12:40 p.m. at the Schwan Super Rink.

Officers from Blaine, with an assist from other local agencies, will take on players from the Blaine Youth Hockey Association in what's intended to become an annual event.

In addition to the game, there will be a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle to help raise funds for the federation and to give a donation to Blaine Youth Hockey families in need.

The silent auction will start about one hour before game time and bidding will end at the end of the second period.

With the planning and design of a new library in the early stages, Columbia Heights will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the training room of the city's Public Safety Building, 825 41st Av. Voters approved funds for the new library in November.

The open house will begin with a look at project materials, information boards, and a 3-D scale model of the building. The project design team and Library Design Task Force will be on hand for discussion and questions.

At 6:45 p.m., city staff and the architect/engineer will give a formal presentation covering the design process, project schedule, schematic design and budget. A question-and-answer session will follow.

Springbrook Nature Center will be the site for an electronics recycling and paper shredding event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28. The center is located at 100 85th Av. NE., Fridley.

Computers, keyboards, cellphones, batteries and other electronics will be accepted free of charge.

The event is open to residential customers only.

Televisions and computer monitors can be recycled for a small fee, the city says. Twenty-five percent of those fees will be donated to Springbrook, which is undergoing a major expansion that will be paid largely, but not solely, by state bonding money. Contributions to the center also are encouraged.

Items that won't be accepted include humidifiers, dishwashers, water heaters, space heaters, washers and dryers, and refrigerators and freezers.

The Anoka-Hennepin, Osseo and Mounds View school districts are among 388 nationwide that have been recognized as Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants. The Best Communities program evaluates schools and districts on the basis of funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards and access to music instruction, the association says. Researchers at the Center for Public Partnerships & Research at the University of Kansas led the selection.

A prostate cancer support group will meet from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, at North Memorial Medical Center, 3300 Oakdale Av. N., Robbinsdale. Andrew Ruppert, a radiologist at North Memorial, will discuss which imaging tests are used to detect where prostate cancer may lie within the body. The meeting will take place in the Vance de Mong classroom in the main hospital building.

Several administrative changes for the 2015-16 school year were recently approved by the Robbinsdale Area School Board, including the appointment of new principals at FAIR Crystal and Cooper High School.

Current Cooper Principal Christina Hester will become the principal at FAIR Crystal. In addition to being a high school principal at Cooper, Hester also has served as a principal at two middle schools.

"I'm very excited about this new opportunity," she said. "This is right in my wheelhouse."

Frank Herman, now the assistant principal at Highview Learning Center, will become the new Cooper High School principal. He worked at Cooper before his time at Highview, and has also been the principal at a comprehensive high school and alternative high school. He will continue to head the district's career and college readiness efforts while in his new role.

"It's really exciting for me to be going back to Cooper," Herman said. "Four years ago, I started at Cooper, and I fell in love with what it all stood for, with its students, talented staff and community."

"I feel very excited about this opportunity, particularly to build relationships with students and families at

Highview," she said. "There are innovations I feel are possible for all students."

Each of the changes will go into effect July 1.

STAFF REPORTS