Roseville, MN -- As construction of the new Highway 610 segment gets underway, Hemlock Lane and Revere Lane will close early Monday, Nov. 16 and motorists will need to follow a detour.

Both roads will be closed until late June 2010 as crews construct bridges to carry traffic over new Highway 610 in Maple Grove.

Read more: Highway 610 construction closures begin Monday, Nov. 16

NEWS RELEASE

St. Paul, MN -- The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced that unemployment insurance benefits have been extended by up to 14 weeks under federal legislation signed into law on Nov. 6.

The additional benefits mean that some unemployed workers will be eligible for up to 86 weeks of benefits in Minnesota when combined with earlier compensation extensions. These weeks of benefits are payable beginning this week.

Read more: Minnesotans gain extra 14 weeks of UI benefits

Approximately 180 eighth graders from Isanti Middle School and the year-round Minnesota Center experienced a slice of college life last week through a unique program offered by the University of Minnesota.

Taking part in the University’s expanding U Connects Kids on Campus program, the pre-high schoolers on Friday morning, Nov. 6 learned about the importance of making people connections, pursuing a college education and its impact on the future as well as life in general.

See more in Editor Jon Tatting's Isanti County News story.

Sitting 10 to a table, IMS eighth grade students numbering around 180 experienced the fine dining luncheon under the high ceilings and a huge decorative globe of the state-of-the-art Carlson School building.

(Photo by Jon Tatting)

Washington County’s Department of Public Health and Environment is conducting H1N1 flu vaccination clinics for children 4 through 9 years of age from 9 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday, Nov. 21, at the following three locations: 1) Washington County Government Center, 14949 62nd St. N., Stillwater; 2) Cottage Grove Service Center, 13000 Ravine Parkway S., Cottage Grove; 3) Headwaters Forest Lake Service Center, 19955 Forest Road N., Forest Lake.

There is no charge for the vaccination. Due to the continued limited supply of vaccine, changes to clinic operations Nov. 21 may occur. See more in Forest Lake Times.

Joe Nathan Column -- Mike Rose writes about Anthony with honor and humility. Anthony is one of the many students we learn about in Rose’s remarkable, eloquent, brief book, “Why School?”

Rose is a 40-year teacher who has won several national awards. But he comes across as quite humble and human. Though less than 170 pages, “Why School” is one of the most insightful, challenging, honest, helpful and encouraging books I’ve read in many years.

Read more: Anthony and others help explain, "Why School?"

NEWS RELEASE

St. Paul, MN -- A bipartisan delegation of state senators and staff will be visiting several potential capital-investment projects throughout the metro area’s north suburbs, Minneapolis, and St. Paul in the coming days. Anoka Ramsey Community College is on the tour.

Led by state Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, the chair of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, the group will get a firsthand look at anumber of projects seeking state funding in the 2010 Legislative Session.  Among the communities and sites included on the Nov. 16-18 tour will be Oak Park Heights, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Arden Hills, Brooklyn Park, Ramsey, Coon Rapids, and several sites in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Read more: Anoka Ramsey on Senate Capital Investment Committee tour

Deep in the bowels of the USS Sangamon, 19-year-old machinist’s mate Evertt Snetsinger of Minneapolis felt the escort carrier shudder as a Japanese kamikaze pilot, and the bomb he dropped first, made a direct hit in the middle of the ship about 7:30 p.m.

The date was May 4, 1945, and the Sangamon was in the South Pacific south of Okinawa. The explosion rocked the 550-foot escort carrier and Snetsinger, working in the pump room, said it shook the whole ship. See more in story by Luther Dorr in Princeton Union-Eagle.

Everett Snetsinger has kept this piece of the Japanese plane that hit the ship he was on 64 years ago. (Photo by Luther Dorr)

NEWS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Johanns (R-NE), and Patty Murray (D-WA) this week introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans’ Job Training Act to include job training and apprenticeship opportunities for post-9/11 veterans.

Eighteen percent of veterans who have left service in the past one to three years are unemployed, almost double the unemployment rate.

Read more: Klobuchar, Johanns, Murray help get jobs for soldiers

NEWS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. -- Delays in the production and distribution of the H1N1 flu vaccine have caused public frustration, raising questions about the government’s capacity to quickly develop and produce a vaccine when a pandemic strikes.  Last week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told a Congressional committee that the current wave of H1N1 flu is likely to wane before the shortage of vaccine is filled.

To avoid the same problems in the future, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar will hold a roundtable with Minnesota public health experts to identify recommendations for improving the nation’s planning and preparedness for a pandemic, including new and faster technology for producing vaccines.

Read more: Klobuchar to hold roundtable on flu vaccinne issues

District 48 Sen. Mike Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, announced yesterday (Wednesday, Nov. 11) that he is withdrawing from the 2010 gubernatorial race due to fund-raising issues. He says he will seek re-election to his state senate seat. He has been elected to two four year-terms.

Jungbauer is the ranking minority member of the Transportation Committee and is also a member of the Transportation Budget and Policy Division, Capital Investment, Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications, state Government Vudget Division and Transit Subdivision. He is a waste water treatment designer by occupation.