NEWS RELEASE

St. Paul, MN -- Metro Mobility’s first hybrid electric vehicles are now on the road.

The 15 new buses, purchased with federal stimulus dollars, replace 15 high-mileage diesel vehicles in the existing fleet.  Metro Mobility is a public transportation service for people with disabilities and is operated by the Metropolitan Council.

Here's one of the new Metro Mobility vehicles that has been added to the fleet. The buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts and other safety features and cost $110,000 each. (Photo submitted)

Read more: New Metro Mobility buses sport a new look, new technology

NEWS RELEASE

Saint Paul, MN – Property tax levies will increase an average of 3.5 percent statewide if proposed local tax levies are adopted later this year, the Minnesota Department of Revenue announced today (Thursday, Nov. 19). This compares to last year’s increase of 5.6 percent and an average increase of 6.9 percent during the past three years

Read more: Proposed property tax levies increase 3.5% statewide

The proposed Northern Lights Express (NLX) high speed passenger rail project between Minneapolis and Duluth is gaining momentum.

The Minneapolis-Duluth/Superior Passenger Rail Alliance is working with community partners to explore options for renewing passenger rail in the 155-mile corridor.

Read more: Northern Lights Express high speed passenger rail under study

by T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) officials indicated yesterday (Wednesday, Nov. 18) that retail store Santas will have to wait like everybody else to get vaccinated for H1N1 until people at greater risk get theirs.

“We have heard about Santa’s request,” said MDH Director of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Kristen Ehresmann.

Read more: Santa must wait, say state health department officials

Brian Kubicki hopes his  son, Kenneth Mark, is as fascinated by frogs as he was as a kid.  But it’s too soon to tell if his five-month-old with wife, Aura Reyes, will follow in dad’s footsteps.

Even as an adult, Kubicki, a 1993 graduate of Forest Lake High School, admits, “I’ve just always been crazy for critters.” His fondness for cold-blooded vertebrates lead Kubicki into founding the privately owned and operated Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center (C.R.A.R.C.) in 2002. See more in Jennifer Larson's feature story in the Forest Lake Times.

A passion for critters led Forest Lake High School graduate Brian Kubicki, pictured at left with wife, Aura Reyes, to found the Costa Rican Amphibian Center in 2002.

(Photo Submitted)

The Little Falls swimming and diving team accomplished its preseason goal of finishing third place in the section with a strong showing Saturday at the Section 6A Championships in Sartell.

The Flyers overtook Sauk Centre this season, scoring 265 points to the Mainstreeters' 240. Sartell finished first with a dominant 438-point performance. See more in Morrison County Record sports story.

Dakota County Public Health is holding two H1N1 walk-in flu vaccination clinics from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 21.

The flu mist nasal vaccine will be administered to healthy children ages 2 through 9 on a first-come, first-served basis. See more in Laura Adelmann's ThisweekLive story.

An Iraq War veteran who lives in Apple Valley has been charged with a felony after a four-hour stand-off with police on Veterans Day ended without incident.

According to the criminal complaint: Police were called to the home of Robert James Dunnum, 44, at 1:05 a.m. Nov. 11 regarding a domestic dispute. See more in ThisweekLive story.

Allie, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, is expecting a calf in the summer of 2010. The pregnancy was confirmed during an ultrasound Nov. 13.

Twenty-two-year-old Allie arrived at the zoo in January 2008 and is on loan from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Father-to-be Semo has been at the zoo since 1991, and at age 45 is thought to be one of the oldest male dolphins in human care. See more in ThisweekLive story.

Allie, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo, is expecting a calf in the summer of 2010. (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo)

The Ham Lake Senior Center’s annual lutefisk and meatball dinner is Friday, Nov. 20 from 4 to 7 p.m.

The Ham Lake Senior Center is located at 15544 Central Ave. N.E. See more in story by Eric Hagen in ABC Newspapers.