Aundrea Kinney

DFL state Sen. Susan Kent is battling Republican challenger Sharna Wahlgren in the Senate District 53 race.

District 53 is made up of Landfall and parts of Maplewood, Oakdale and Woodbury.

Several state legislative seats are open this year including the House District 53A seat, which is currently held by DFL-endorsed JoAnn Ward. She has held the seat since 2012.

Both District 2 candidates favor Gold Line BRT

State Senate District 43 has a busy race this election cycle, with three candidates vying for the seat. Candidates include Independence Party-endorsed Chris Belflower, DFL-endorsed incumbent Chuck Wiger and Republican-endorsed Bob Zick.

At least one new face will soon be on the Oakdale City Council. Five candidates are vying for the two open Oakdale council seats that are currently held by Kristen Cici and Paul Reinke, though only Cici is running for another term.

At least one new council member will be chosen in Lake Elmo’s upcoming local election, though on Nov. 8 voters will be asked to make three selections in the city portion of their ballot.

Trystan Toivola, 9, gets a feel for what firefighters do, dragging a body to safety, at the open house for the new East Metro Public Safety Training Facility on Oct. 9.

Former supermarket transforming into entertainment venue

The Big Thrill Factory, a Minnetonka-based family entertainment business, is opening a second location in Oakdale. 

Krawczyk known for ‘building family’

Resident now faces two felony charges

It's not even Halloween yet, and creepy clowns have been making the news. As if that weren't enough, apparently North St. Paul residents also need to be wary of zombies -- and zombie hunters.