South metro briefs: Are back-yard chickens coming to Shakopee?

Folks who moved to Shakopee to live the rural lifestyle may soon come closer to that ideal than they anticipated. The city is exploring whether to join many others in permitting back-yard chickens.

A proposal advanced by high school students is "working its way through boards and commissions and will hopefully get back to us in the next few months," Mayor Brad Tabke reports on his blog.

The concept is no more than three hens, no roosters, with neighbor consent and other conditions.

"I grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa with chickens, hogs, cattle, sheep, turkeys, dogs, cats and everything that comes with it," Tabke adds. "A lot of communities have struggled with urban chickens, but I haven't seen any real-world, logical data saying chickens would cause any more problems than dogs or cats."

In Minneapolis, the only problem is with roosters crowing, he says.

He's inviting public response at this early stage.

Pub crawl recalls brewery past Scott County's brewery pub crawl is back.

The brewery sites are in Shakopee, Jordan, Belle Plaine and New Prague. A bus leaves the Scott County Historical Society in Shakopee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 each, or $25 for society members.

To register or learn more, call 952-445-0378, e-mail adrtina @scottcountyhistory.org or visit www.scottcounty history.org.

Donate school supplies for kids Employees of the city of Savage are seeking donated school supplies for children in Scott and Carver counties.

Dropoff points through Aug. 8 include:

• Savage City Hall, 6000 McColl Dr., 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

• Dan Patch Liquor, 4425 W. 123rd St., 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Items sought include new blue, black and red pens, colored pencils, crayons, dry-erase markers, blunt-edged scissors, pencils, markers, pencil cases, erasers, rulers, folders, glue, loose-leaf paper, spiral notebooks and scientific calculators.

Don't waste water, city warns Prior Lake will be aggressively enforcing its watering ordinance the remainder of this summer and early fall, city officials say.

Sprinkling using city water is banned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 1. Violators will be warned first and then fines start at $50 and double after that.

Watering may be done earlier or later on odd or even dates depending on property address. Some exceptions are made. People needing a permit to water new lawns or needing information on using private wells or pumping from a lake should call 952- 447-9830.

DFL nominee and former state legislator Mike Obermueller, of Eagan, reports that in two months since his endorsement in April, he raised just over $250,000, a notable haul for a challenger in a district that has tilted heavily GOP.

Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline has raised far more over the whole election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which gathers such data: just over $1.7 million, with about $1.3 million unspent -- unusually high numbers for him as well.

Kline chairs the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the center reports that people and entities tied to education are leading contributors.