West metro briefs: Bloomington eases barbecue restrictions

JOHN REINAN

Plymouth will hold a family-friendly New Year's Eve event on Dec. 31. It will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Plymouth Ice Center and Life Time Fitness and will include swimming, food, an open gym, music, inflatables, skating and entertainment.

The cost is $10 per person if you preregister by Dec. 31, or $13 at the door; the price includes a meal of pizza or hot dogs and a beverage. Children age 2 and younger will be admitted at no charge.

To preregister, call 763-509-5200 or go to plymouthmn.gov.

Minnesota state parks and trails will host 35 candlelight events this winter, including one in Plymouth on Jan. 1.

The event, which will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. on the Luce Line State Trail in Plymouth, includes a 1-mile trail lit by candles or luminarias, a bonfire and hot beverages. For more information, call 651-259-5875 or go to mndnr.gov.

Wayzata will host a community meeting Jan. 12 to discuss design ideas for its lakefront improvement project.

The Lake Effect project, which was approved in March 2014, is a 10-year concept plan for revitalizing Wayzata's lakefront on Lake Minnetonka. The city's downtown is cut off from the Twin Cities' busiest lake by BNSF railroad tracks, so it's working to make the area more accessible and safer for boaters, bikers and other visitors, hoping to boost revenue and tourism.

For more information, go to wayzatalakeeffect.com.

Arctic Fever, the free winter festival hosted by the cities of Shorewood, Tonka Bay and Excelsior, will take place Jan. 15-17.

The annual festival, which began in 2006, includes events each day in each of the three cities, including human bowling on the ice, dog sled rides, ice skating and bonfires. For a schedule of events and details, go to arcticfever.net.

Several west metro police departments have issued warnings about increases in break-ins of unlocked cars and garages.

Police warned residents not to leave garage door openers in plain sight in a car and to keep car windows and doors locked.

Orono police issued a similar warning at the end of November after police received nine reports of thefts of valuable items from unlocked cars in Mound. Police also reminded residents not to leave items inside cars, and to lock vehicles.

The same happened in Eden Prairie last summer and fall, with police getting reports of nearly 40 car break-ins and garage burglaries.

New Orleans-style jazz musicians are coming to Hopkins High School's BOOST community speaker series in January to talk about the music industry — one part of an ongoing program that gets students thinking about future careers.

Tony Balluff and Charlie DeVore are both local performers — Balluff is a clarinet player with the Minneapolis-based Southside Aces and DeVore is a cornet player with local group Hall Brothers Band.

BOOST is funded by the Hopkins Education Foundation. Previous speakers have included U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and Hennepin County Medical Center Emergency Physician Stephen Dunlop.

The presentations run from 9:09 to 9:49 a.m. during high schoolers' advisory time.