West news briefs: Edina residents urged to watch pets during coyote mating season

Residents are urged to watch pets during coyote mating seasonThis is the beginning of coyote mating season, and Edina police are asking residents to watch pets and secure and close all garbage cans in a time when food is scarce for coyotes.

Coytes are naturally aggressive at this time of year and even large dogs should not be left unattended outside because they are seen as competition for food, police say.

Police also are advising residents to haze coyotes, making as much noise as possible to frighten them and using projectiles like sticks, small rocks, cans and tennis balls to scare them. If the coyote does not leave, residents are encouraged to chase them away.

For more information, contact Animal Control Officer Tim Hunter at 952-826-0494 or visit www.edinamn.gov/police.

Crime prevention grants awardedThe Bloomington Crime Prevention Association has presented 23 community organizations with a total of $120,000 to fund crime prevention initiatives. The association's major fundraiser is the Book'Em Used Book Sale, which was held in June for the 20th year and is one of the biggest used-book sales in the state.

Twenty-three organizations received grants for student-parent education programs, after-school programs, violence prevention for high-risk families, open gym times after school, national night out and neighborhood watch programs, legal and crime awareness education for new Americans, community emergency response teams and law enforcement scholarships at Normandale Community College.

The Bloomington Crime Prevention Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to financially supporting crime prevention initiatives in Bloomington. More information is available at www.bcpamn.org.

The event is free, but bring your own skis.

Other events coming up at the arboretum include:

• "Weekend Family Fun: Wintergreen Mysteries," from noon-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in January. Discover evergreens at the arboretum and take home an evergreen keepsake.

• "Books in the Garden: Flowers and Gardens in Shakespeare," from noon-1:30 p.m. Jan. 9 and also Feb. 13, March 13, April 10, May 8 and June 12. Cost is $77 for arboretum members and $89 for non-members. The series will be taught by Toni McNaron, U of M professor emeritus of English. Call 952-443-1422 or visit www.arboretum.umn.edu/learn.aspx to sign up.

For more details on what's going on at the arboretum, go to www.arboretum.umn.edu or call 952-443-1400.

The shelter takes in women and children for up to six months while women receive counseling, skills development and empowerment training.

The Cape Town Rotary in South Africa and City of Lakes Rotary in Minneapolis also support the project. The funds donated to St. Anne's Home were used to purchase beds for mothers and their children.

Rotary International is a volunteer organization that provides humanitarian service around the world. The Rotary Club of Edina meets Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. at the Edina Country Club, 5100 Wooddale Av. For more information about the Rotary Club of Edina, visit www.EdinaRotary.org.

Free holiday tree disposal offeredUntil Jan. 11, city public works crews will collect holiday trees free of charge from Hopkins residential refuse customers. Residents can place their trees on the boulevard and it will be picked up.

Residents are asked to make sure trees have been stripped of all decorations and that nothing else is on the tree.

Read-A-Story Theater will perform on Jan. 25 and Feb. 15 and on other Fridays nature documentaries will play in the auditorium by the fireplace. Call Wood Lake at 612-861-9365 to check trail conditions. The nature center is at 6710 Lake Shore Drive.

Christmas trees can be recycled for freeYou're free to drop off your Christmas tree this year for free.

The Shakopee tribe is inviting folks to drop off up to three real Christmas trees at its compost center after the holidays. They must be "free of tinsel, flocking, and other non-compostable material," the tribe's announcement cautions.

The facility is located off County Road 83, at 1905 Canterbury Road.

Hours for tree drops: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Jan. 11, plus two Saturdays: Jan. 5 and Jan. 12, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Benefit concert will honor Tony DolskiTwelve bands will perform on Saturday in a benefit concert to honor Tony Dolski and raise money to help support individuals struggling with chemical dependency at The Garage youth recreation center, 100 Civic Center Pkwy. in Burnsville.

Last year's show brought in nearly 700 people and raised more than $6,000 for the Kinnic Falls alcohol and drug abuse center in River Falls, Wis.

Proceeds from this year's show will go toward the To The Bridge Foundation, a newly created foundation formed by Dolski's family and friends.

Tony Dolski, of Chaska, died of complications from substance abuse in 2011.

Among the bands scheduled to play are MY My Misfire, This Is Breathing, the Still Sound, Hope Country and Damietta.

3 climate change discussions setThe public is invited to hear University of California-Berkeley Prof. Robb Willer discuss how differences in perspective can affect views on climate change on Saturday from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Willer will be speaking on a national conference call to Citizens Climate Lobby events at the Wayzata Community Library, 620 Rice St.; Southdale Library at 7001 York Av. S. in Edina; and Linden Hills Park Building at W. 43rd Street and Xerxes Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Willer is an associate professor of sociology and psychology who has written about how understanding differences is the key to communicating about the urgency of climate change. For more information about this event, call Chuck Prentice at 612-965-8284.