West news briefs: Bloomington rates in top 10 for retirement

Bloomington was ranked among the top 10 destinations for retirement among small American cities by the financial website NerdWallet.

Its survey sought to balance affordability with quality of life. Bloomington ranked No. 9 among more than 970 cities considered, getting high marks for affordability, economic strength and access to quality health care. The top spot in the survey went to Fort Lee, N.J.

Chaska's free annual community celebration, River City Days, will take place July 24-26 in City Square Park.

This year marks the 40th year of the celebration, which includes an art and craft fair, ice cream social, live music and theater performances, sidewalk sales and more. For a full schedule, go to chaskarivercitydays.com.

The 7 p.m. July 25 Capri Big Band performance has been canceled. But north Minneapolis artists' work will now be on display at the Capri from noon to 5 p.m. July 25 during the FLOW Northside Arts Crawl. For more information about the event, go to northmpls.org/flow2015.

The Capri Theater is located at 2027 W. Broadway Ave., in Minneapolis.

The band Rhino will headline the Aquatennial Ambassador's public dance party July 24 at the Renaissance Minneapolis Depot Hotel.

Plymouth will hold Kids Fest, an event open to the public, on July 29.

The event will start at 6 p.m. at the Hilde Performance Center, 3500 Plymouth Blvd. It includes inflatables, games, prizes, entertainment, face painting, eco-friendly activities and a kid-friendly performance, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. For more information, go to plymouthmn.gov.

Allina Health and Abbott Northwestern — WestHealth celebrated the opening of Interlude Restorative Suites last week.

The suites, located at the WestHealth's Plymouth campus, will give post-hospital medical care in a "spalike environment." The upscale transitional care is a collaboration between Presbyterian Homes & Services, Allina Health and Benedictine Health System, with locations now in Fridley and Plymouth. For more information, go to interluderestorativesuites.org.

Victoria is looking for candidates to fill the vacancy of council member Joe Pavelko, who recently resigned due to a move out of the city.

Residents who want to be nominated can contact O'Connor or a council member, e-mail the council at council@ci.victoria.mn.us or contact City Manager Laurie Hokkanen at lhokkanen@ci.victoria.mn.us or 952-443-4211.

A free forum, "Dispelling Myths and Spreading Awareness: One Family's Experience Raising a Transgender Child," will be held 7 p.m. July 29 at Gethsemane Lutheran Church.

Speaker Leslie Lagerstrom is the mother of two children, a writer and an advocate. She is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and also shares her family's story with audiences across the nation on her blog, Transparenthood, at http://transparenthood.net. Gethsemane is at 715 Minnetonka Mills Road, Hopkins. For more details, go to glconline.org or call 952-935-1753.