North metro town briefs

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Two-for-one cat offer at Humane Society The Animal Humane Society is resuming its "Double the Love" cat adoption program that it offered last year.

Starting this week, customers can adopt one cat or kitten at the regular adoption fee and get a second cat with the fees waived. All cats and kittens are sterilized before adoption.

When the society made the same offer last year, more than 350 adopters took advantage of it to give more than 700 cats new homes during a four-month period.

"We see this as an opportunity for the public and community to respond to the crisis of cat overpopulation," said Cindy Johnson, the society's director of customer service. Nearly 20,000 cats a year pass through the society's animal shelters.

The Double the Love program is available at all five Animal Humane Society locations, in Buffalo, Coon Rapids, Golden Valley, St. Paul and Woodbury. Customers may select one cat or kitten of any age, but the second cat must be one year old or older. The cats must be adopted at the same time.

For more details, go to www .animalhumanesociety.org .

Representatives from about 30 local youth sports and other organizations will be available from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to explain their programs and offerings. The free event will also feature carnival games, inexpensive refreshments, DJ music and door prizes. Parents are welcome.

Volunteer opportunities will be explained by officials of the Police and Fire Explorers, American Red Cross, and Off- Broadway Musical Theatre. Program information will be offered by the YMCA, Three Rivers Parks and others.

The event is sponsored by the New Hope, Crystal, Golden Valley and Robbinsdale parks and recreation departments and Robbinsdale Area Schools Community Education.

For more information, call the New Hope Parks and Recreation Department at 763-531-5151.

Health clinic opens at high school A Health Resource Clinic opened last week at Brooklyn Center High School. The clinic, at 6500 Humboldt Av. N., provides free medical care to children, from infancy through high school age, who live or attend public or private school in Brooklyn Center.

"We are committed to reducing or eliminating barriers that prevent children from getting the service they need," said Dr. Chris Johnson of the Park Nicollet Foundation, the major clinic sponsor.

For clinic hours, call 763-561-2120, ext. 5100.

Robbinsdale students put art on display Art by students from throughout the Robbinsdale Area Schools will be on display at the Spring Art Show at the Brookdale Hennepin Area Library through April 6. The annual show is put together by art and classroom teachers in Robbinsdale Area Schools and includes work by students in grades 1-12.

Works include jewelry, ceramics, paintings, drawing, mixed media and computer-generated drawings. For more information, contact Paul Preimesberger at 763-504-8106.

Breakfast will raise funds for Explorers The Brooklyn Park Police Explorers Post will hold a fund-raising breakfast on Saturday at Applebee's restaurant in Brooklyn Park.

Proceeds will benefit the Explorers Post, made up of high school students interested in a career in law enforcement.

The post hopes to raise enough to compete in the National Police Explorer competition in Atlanta this July. To do that, the group has to raise between $8,000 and $10,000.

Author to speak on Hmong memoir Kao Kalia Yang, author of the Hmong family memoir "The Latehomecomer," will speak at Century College at 7 p.m. today in the West Campus Theatre. Yang also will address students at 10 a.m. on Thursday in the theater. Both events are free and open to the public.

Yang's book tells of her family's struggles while weaving in Hmong folklore and culture. It won a Minnesota Book Award for Creative Nonfiction in 2009.

Yang was born in Thailand's Ban Vinai Refugee Camp and immigrated at age 6 with her family to St. Paul. They lived in the McDonough housing project. Books from the St. Paul Public Library bookmobile fed her imagination.

Choirboys to hold breakfast fundraiser The Land of Lakes Choirboys will hold a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Land of Lakes Choirboys building at 6437 Norris Lake Road, 4 miles southwest of St. Francis. For more information, call 763-213-8105.

Film set on first woman in Congress Northwest Neighbors for Peace is presenting the film, "A Single Woman," on the life of Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States Congress.

Rankin, who also was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, was a lifelong pacifist and the only person in Congress to vote against entering both World War I and World War II.

The film will be shown at 6:45 p.m. March 11 at the Parish Community of St. Joseph's, 8701 36th Av. N. in New Hope.

Clair Dulgan of North Peace will lead the discussionafter the film. All are welcome at the free program.