Washington County briefs: 14-year-old receives lifesaving award

A 14-year-old Cottage Grove boy, Jesse Galloway, has received the Citizen Life Saving Award for performing CPR on his father who went into cardiac arrest on May 11.

Galloway, who had only recently learned hands-only CPR at a church, saw that his father was unresponsive and immediately began chest compressions while his mother called 911.

"I'm so proud of you," Mayor Myron Bailey said before presenting the award to Galloway on behalf of Cottage Grove Public Safety, Fire and City Council at the July 17 council meeting.

"This young man learned CPR in only 30 minutes," said Rick Redenius, the city's fire chief. "This is a perfect example of why everyone should know CPR."

The Fire Department offers free hands-only CPR training at its annual open house event held during Fire Prevention Week in October.

The Ramsey/Washington County Resource Recovery Project has launched BizRecycling, a new program that provides resources and free assistance to east-metro businesses and agencies that want to learn more about recycling paper, bottles, cans, food and organic waste.

BizRecycling provides access to resources for schools, restaurants, health care businesses and others at a new website, LessTrash.com. The site shows how to save money by diverting recyclable material from the waste stream and highlights success stories. Tools and resources to get started are available on the site, as well as access to free consulting advice.

The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in Washington County will celebrate World Breast-feeding Week Aug. 1-7.

It will give a breast-feeding support magnet to pregnant and breast-feeding moms, have coloring sheets for children, put up breast-feeding displays in WIC clinics and have a "Breast-feeding Wall of Honor" where moms can share their breast-feeding experiences.

"In Washington County, 80 percent of women who participate in WIC start off breast-feeding their babies, and WIC staff members are excited about supporting moms to help them reach their breast-feeding goals," said Blair Haesly, Washington County WIC breast-feeding coordinator.

WIC provides individual counseling to pregnant and breast-feeding mothers and works with public health nurses to provide breast-feeding discussion groups for pregnant women.

For more on breast-feeding or the WIC program, contact the Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment by phone at 651-430-6655, by e-mail at PHE@co.washington.mn.us or www.startribune.com/a2371.

The program features 10 award categories: green building, green remodeling, waste reduction and recycling, water conservation, energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable or alternative energy, sustainable business practices, environmental education and awareness, innovative stormwater management practices and youth leadership.

Nominees must operate or live in Woodbury and can nominate themselves. Completed nominations are due at City Hall by Aug. 30. A nomination form is on the Environmental Excellence Awards page, via www.startribune.com/a2373. Applications also are at City Hall, 8301 Valley Creek Road.

Awards will be presented by Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens at a City Council meeting.

The Lake Elmo Park Reserve public boat launch will close Aug. 2-4 to allow the Minneapolis Rowing Club to conduct the 110th Annual North Western International Rowing Association Championship Regatta.

The club estimates the regatta will attract 400 competitors from the United States and Canada for 512 rowing events. Rowing clubs in Hudson, St. Paul, Eden Prairie, Long Lake and the University of St. Thomas will assist the Minneapolis club in hosting the event.

Special Olympics Minnesota needs volunteers to assist 1,200 Fall Games athletes who will participate in bocce, equestrian, golf and softball. The Fall Games will take place Aug. 16-18 in North Branch, Oak Park Heights and Woodbury.

Volunteers help with scorekeeping, handing out awards, staging competitions, preparing for lunch, setting up, tearing down and more. All volunteers receive a T-shirt and must be at least 15 years old.

Volunteers can register at www.startribune.com/a2372. For more, contact Jay Pedersen at jay.pedersen@somn.org or at 800-783-7732, ext. 274.

Century College is one of six colleges in the country that have been awarded a federal grant to help train veterans and military families for jobs in the transportation industry.

Veterans and spouses will participate in Century's four-week Commercial Driver's License training program at the college's Transportation Training Center in Afton. The program provides 180 hours of classroom education, hands-on practice and individual over-the-road training. Students receive job-placement services to connect them with jobs in the trucking industry.

Century plans to train 30 current or former members of the military and their spouses during the 2013-14 academic year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists commercial trucking as a high-demand job, with more than 300,000 additional positions expected by 2020. The median average wage for truck drivers in Minnesota is $18.72 an hour, according to a 2012 report by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

For more information, call Velvet Walker at 651-779-3926 or e-mail her at velvet.walker@century.edu.