New Brighton - Mounds View Bulletin News

A feathered friend has taken up residence outside the store
When a wild turkey first showed up at Beisswenger’s Hardware and Garden Store on Old Highway 8 in New Brighton over a month ago, store employees felt sorry for the underweight animal that had become estranged from its rafter and was suffering from a chest wound.

The city of New Brighton has earned the first place national award for its participation in National Night Out (NNO) activities for 2013. Nationally, over 16,000 communities took part in NNO last year on Aug. 6.
Last year marked the third year in the past ten that the city has received the prestigious first place national award from the National Association of Town Watch for cities with populations of 15,000 to 49,000 residents.

Two Oak Hill Montessori School students were recently honored for their writing skills.
Freddy Keillor and Johanna Schmidt received 2012-2013 Lillian Wright Awards for Creative Writing from COMPAS. COMPAS Arts Education Program published the students’ work in its 34th annual student writing anthology, this year titled “Universal Community.” Keillor won the award for “Best Writing in Grades 6-7” for his poem “A Photo,” while Schmidt won the award for “Best Writing in Grades 8-12” for her poem “Declaration Dysfunction.”

Due to bitterly cold temperatures -- caused by what the National Weather Service has dubbed as “polar vortices”  -- several local school districts are scheduling makeup days for students after five days of school cancellations in January.
Under state statutes, school districts must provide a minimum of 1,020 hours of instructional time per school year, or 165 days.  School districts vary, however, in how many extra days are added to each school calendar year to act as a buffer for weather-related cancellations.

St. Paul police horse retires
Black Jack, the St. Paul Police Mounted Patrol's longest-serving horse, retired on Jan. 31 after 14 years of service.
Black Jack, or BJ as he is affectionately known, will return to live with his previous owners, the Grannis family, in Inver Grove Heights.

Should Arden Hills add an Xcel Energy  “franchise fee” -- which would be tacked onto residents’ gas and electric bills -- to boost funding for street, park and trail improvements?
The Arden Hills City Council has been studying the pros and cons of that idea and has scheduled public hearings next month to further discuss the issue with residents.

The Mounds View School District has begun relocating education programs to make way for the transition to free all-day kindergarten next school year.
The relocation of programs at the Snail Lake and Pike Lake education centers are necessary to make room for two kindergarten centers. The district’s six elementary schools will house first through fifth grades starting this fall, and all the district’s kindergarteners will attend classes at the two new centers.