South metro town briefs

Save the date: Attack on buckthorn is set for Oct. 24 in Spring Lake Regional Park More than 50 volunteers are expected to attack the buckthorn invasion that is threatening to ruin parkland that Scott County is holding for future public use.

The land, in Spring Lake Regional Park in Prior Lake, includes 30 acres of buckthorn and other invasive species. The date is the morning of Oct. 24.

Scott County owns as parkland 200 of the 7,500 acres of maple-basswood forest left in the 260,000-acre county, experts say, and buckthorn has invaded portions, while ruining adjacent areas.

Next month's event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The site is on County Road 81 (Howard Lake Road) between County Roads 82 and 12.

The effort is co-sponsored by Great River Greening and the county. Contacts include Wayne Ostlie, 651-665-9500, ext. 19; and Patricia Freeman, 952-496-8752.

Winter draw-down at Lake Byllesby begins this week The water level in Lake Byllesby will begin to drop toward winter levels this week.

County officials draw down the lake -- a reservoir of the Cannon River upstream of the Byllesby Dam -- each winter. Based on recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the lake will drop about half an inch a day, from 856.7 feet to 853.7 feet over 60 days, starting Thursday.

DARTS fundraiser offers rug-cleaning specialists Clean a rug and help a senior citizen.

DARTS, a nonprofit that provides a variety of services for senior citizens and their families in Dakota County, is partnering with Ultimate Carpet and Upholstery for an "Ultimate Clean-A-Thon" on Oct. 9 and 10.

People can drop off rugs at DARTS, 1645 Marthaler Lane in West St. Paul, between 4:30 p.m. Oct. 9 and 4:30 p.m. Oct. 10. They will be cleaned for a suggested donation.

For a 5-by-8 rug, for example, the suggested donation is $40. All proceeds will go to DARTS. The goal is to clean 500 items and raise $10,000.

During the fundraising event, the cleaners will not accept heirloom-quality rugs or other textiles that require special treatment, but other rugs and vehicle floor mats are welcome.

Lights, camera, action await at the E-TV studios E-TV, Eagan's Community Television channels, invite residents to an open house from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 8 and from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 10.

"Not only is it a good opportunity to tour E-TV's studios and talk to the Emmy award-winning staff, but visitors can also learn all that E-TV has to offer citizens," the city said in a news release. "If you've ever thought that you wanted to get involved in the world of television or video production, now is the time."

E-TV training covers videography, lighting, directing, editing and more, with the equipment and studios free of charge. To be eligible, residents must complete a couple of required classes.

"Our video volunteers tell us it's fun and rewarding," E-TV studio supervisor Jeff Ongstad said. "You meet people who share an interest in video or your passion for a topic and want to work with you to produce programming of interest to the Eagan Community."

The new studios are in the lower level of the Thomson Reuters campus in Eagan at 610 Opperman Road. Park in the visitors parking and ask for E-TV at the front desk. For more information, go online at www.eagan-tv.com, or call 651-848-4696.

It turned out that tent stakes had pierced a natural gas line in several places in the Faithful Shepherd parking lot, he said. The tent was used for the school's Septemberfest function that was held over the previous weekend.

All 530 children at the building were evacuated by school staff, and nobody was injured, Scott said.

The school remained evacuated through the end of the normal school day. Fire and police crews stayed on the scene for several hours and helped staff members find an alternative location for buses and parents to pick up their children. The gas company pronounced the school building safe to occupy again at 6 p.m. that Monday, and school was back in session the next day.

Rotary Club puts out call for civic-minded requests The Rotary Club of Eagan is calling on community organizations and agencies to submit requests for the funding of human-service, civic and cultural projects and programs that will benefit people in the city and the surrounding area. Eagan Rotary's community service chairman, Roy Wallace, said that the club wants to focus on programs or activities that are aimed at improving the quality of life in the city.

The deadline is Oct. 16. Applicants must be nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)3 classification, and may not be religious or political organizations.

An exception to the 10 percent limit may occur in the case of start-ups, in which case the maximum would be 50 percent.

Proposals should include a half-page description of the organization's purpose, a description of the project for which funds are being requested, information about how the project will affect Eagan residents, names and addresses of the current members of the board of directors, and a copy of the current annual report and budget for the current year.

For more information, contact Wallace at 651-452-9800, or at roy@wallacegroup.com.

Food, tours and a real firehouse dog at open house The Rosemount Fire Department is inviting residents to learn about fire safety during an open house scheduled for Oct. 11.

There will be tours of the station, its firetrucks and equipment and the educational smokehouse. There also will be demonstrations of air bags and a rescue by extrication from a vehicle, including a landing by the North Memorial air ambulance helicopter at 12:30 p.m., unless it is called into emergency service.

The event is free and will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rosemount Fire Station No. 1, 14700 Shannon Pkwy.