West metro town briefs

Edina trail meeting Three Rivers Park District and the city of Edina will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday at Edina City Hall to discuss options for the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail.

This is the second community meeting this year to identify and assess possible trail routes through Edina.

The 17-mile bike and walking path will run through Hopkins, Edina and Richfield. Two goals for the trail within Edina are to connect with the Edina High School campus and the Edina Promenade near Centennial Lakes.

Several routes are under consideration to meet these goals, including alignments adjacent to roads and the creek. A recommended route could be chosen this summer.

Panel to discuss civil rights activism "Civil Rights Then and Now: Actions and Legacies" will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Brookdale Library, 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy., Brooklyn Center.

Speakers include community organizer and former University of Minnesota Regent Josie Johnson, retired Judge LaJune Thomas Lange, and 1960s Freedom Rider and lawyer and journalist Peter Ackerberg. The program is free.

For more information, call 952-847-5600.

Residents can submit their ideas on the county website at www.hennepin.us/Suggestions. Suggestion boxes also are being set up at 41 county libraries and at the seven county service centers.

Questions that the county is asking include whether there are more cost-effective ways to deliver services, whether there are services or programs that could be cut or modified, and what the county's priorities should be.

Residents' suggestions will be reported back to the board and updates will be available on the county's website.

Libraries host variety of programs for teens The Hennepin County Library is offering a wide range of programs for teens at its suburban and Minneapolis city libraries. Here's a sampling:

• Teen Book Club, 4 p.m. Monday at Brookdale Library, 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy., Brooklyn Center. For teens in grade 7 and up to gather and talk about great books. 952-847-5600.

• Teen Foreign Film Festival on Thursdays, March 12-April 30 (except April 9). All shows are 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Franklin Library, 1314 E. Franklin Av., Minneapolis. For grades 6 and up, an eight-week series of critically acclaimed films from other countries. March films include "Run Lola Run" (Germany) on March 12; "Dare Mo Shiranai" ("Nobody Knows," from Japan) on March 19; and "Cave of the Yellow Dog" (Mongolia), March 26. Call 612-630-6800.

For more on these and dozens of other programs at Hennepin County's 41 libraries, go to www.hclib.org.

Community groups win grants The Community Foundation for Carver County has awarded grants to two organizations:

• $2,000 to S.A.F.E.R. of Carver County, which conducts searches for people who have a tendency to wander, such as those with autism, Alzheimer's or traumatic brain injury. S.A.F.E.R. -- which stands for "Search and Find Emergency Responders" -- works with emergency services to provide tracking equipment, training, education and other support. It also maintains a trained group of volunteers.

• $5,000 to the Community Engagement Action Team of the Carver County Health Partnership to help with its efforts to keep people "connected with a sense of belonging."

High school band joins JazzMN in concert The Minnetonka High School Jazz Ensemble and the JazzMN Big Band will perform 7 p.m. Thursday at the Arts Center on 7, 18285 Hwy. 7, Minnetonka.

Tickets for the event, sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society and the Minnetonka High music department, are $5 for students, $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and Twin Cities Jazz Society members.

For tickets or more information, call 952-401-5898 or go to www.jazzmn.org.

Free mammograms and other services Buffalo Hospital Foundation is sponsoring an event that includes free mammograms from 1 to 5 p.m. March 21 at Buffalo Hospital, 303 Catlin St., Buffalo.

The American Cancer Society recommends that women age 40 and older get a yearly mammogram. To encourage women to come in for mammograms, Buffalo Hospital and Buffalo Clinic also are offering massages, facial skin analysis and care, computer-generated hair styles, heart-healthy appetizers and gift bags. Allina Medical Clinic and Buffalo Clinic staff also will discuss menopause and health care needs as you age, with workshops on nutrition and exercise.

Seminar will focus on career networking Crossroads Career Network will present a seminar on Strategies for Successful Networking at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, 9301 Eden Prairie Road. The seminar is scheduled for 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Room M209. Jon Nelson, divisional director of development with the Salvation Army, will lead the discussion.

Crossroads sponsors free monthly meetings at Grace Church for people in various stages of career transition.

Have lunch, take the handmade bowl home The annual Soup Bowl Sale at Normandale Community College is set for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today in the Ceramics Studio at the college, 9700 France Av. S., Bloomington.

Visitors can purchase soup in a handmade bowl thrown by pottery students and take the bowl home. There will be a bowl preview session from 10 to 11 a.m., when the best selection of bowls will be available.

Proceeds will go to VEAP (Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People) in Bloomington. The event is sponsored by Normandale's Pottery Club and Continental Clay and it is open to the public.

MARY JANE SMETANKA, LAURIE BLAKE

Twin Cities chocolatiers compete, you just enjoy The 14th Annual Taste of Chocolate Midwest Dessert Competition benefitting the Bloomington Fine Arts Council is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington.

The event, which also features a noon early-bird admission, includes dessert tasting, entertainment, a silent auction, a chocolate competition and a raffle drawing. Chocolatiers from around the Twins Cities area will be participating. Guests will be able to vote on the "People's Choice Award" for the best chocolate in the show.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and $10 extra for early-bird admission.

Call 952-563-8575 or go to www.tasteofchocolate.org.

Ritchie will participate in a community discussion on issues related to elections in Minnesota. The program is part of the State of Democracy Project, whose goal is to assess the heath of democracy in Minnesota.