St. Paul Citizen's Police Academy (CPA)

Applications are being accepted for 25 openings for the St. Paul Citizen's Police Academy.  Classes will be held on Wednesday evenings from 6:30p.m to 9:30p.m.  Classes start December 19, 2012 and will continue through February 27, 2013.  Applicants must be a resident of St. Paul or own a business within city limits. Must be 21 years of age or older. Have no criminal history.  Applications and more information are available by calling the CPA Coordinator Don Luna at 651-266-5583.  Applications must be submitted by October 15, 2012.

Workshop on Help for Homeowners and Buyers

All are invited to attend Wells Fargo’s upcoming NeighborhoodLIFT event in the Twin Cities on Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8, 10 am - 7 pm, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Hall A, 1301 Second Ave South.  The two-day event will offer access to down payment assistance grants for qualified borrowers up to $15,000, home and renovation financing, and resources for prospective homeowners, such as homebuyer education sessions and tours of residential properties that are available for sale in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Attached are flyers for the event in English and Spanish. Event is free of charge, but registration is required.  For additional information and registration, go to https://www.wfhmconsumerevents.com/aspx/Events/Brochure.aspx?t=1&EventID=6080  .

Special Ops Training in St. Paul

Members of United States Special Operations Command will continue routine, urban-environment training in Saint Paul through next week. Members of the Saint Paul Police Department have been training with the U.S. Special Operations Command since August 19 and will continue to do so through September 1. 

The training, which has been conducted in locations not easily seen by the public, may become more visible to community members beginning August 26 when helicopters begin supporting the training. Residents may see or hear low-flying, military, transport helicopters -- Black Hawks and smaller Hughes 500s -- in Saint Paul between 7 p.m. and midnight.

All flights and routes are coordinated with local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration with appropriate safety precautions in place.

For safety reasons, exact training times and locations are not being released.

Submitted by the St. Paul Police Dept.

(Comment - really? until midnight at low elevation??)

Free Lead Screenings

UCare at the Minnesota State Fair will be offering free lead screenings and educational sessions for children and pregnant women at the UCare information booth located in the Health Fair 11/Crossroads Building.

Eastside Favorite Businesses in D1

Congratulations to the following District 1 businesses that were named as Readers' Choice Awardees in the Eastside Review:
Los Ocampo
The Little Oven
The Tea House
The Cherry Pit (technically in D2, but...)
Health Source Chiropractic
Sedation and Implant Dentistry
Byerly's
Cub Foods
Big Steer Meats
New Horizon Academy
Holiday Inn East
AnyTime Fitness
St. Pascal Baylon School

St. Paul Schools offers Free Breakfasts

Battle Creek Middle School in D1

Saint Paul Public Schools is again offering the free breakfast program to all schools and programs for the 2012-2013 school year. The Breakfast to Go (B2G) program allows students to choose their breakfast favorites and bring them to class before the start of the school day. Nutrition Services prepares and serves such healthy choices as whole grain muffins, egg and cheese tortillas, omelets, yogurt, low sugar cereals, fresh cut fruit, juice and skim or 1% milk. Check out the menus at ns.spps.org

"Breakfast is one of the most cost effective investments we can make in students because its link to academic success is well documented," said Valeria Silva, Superintendent of SP Public Schools.

The following schools in District 1 will continue with breakfast at no charge:
Battle Creek Environmental Magnet
Battle Creek Middle School
Eastern Heights Elementary School
Harding High School
Highwood Hills Elementary School

(All SPPS are included in the program...)

Submitted by SPPS

Money to be Available for Home Improvements

Local homeownership center Community Neighborhood Housing Services (CNHS) has received the maximum possible grant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI.)  The $1,453,806 will be used primarily as lending capital to help Twin Cities homeowners make repairs and necessary improvements.  As a nonprofit homeownership center, CNHS makes funds available often at rates well below the market.

“We are thrilled to have received this grant and bring these funds to the Twin Cities to support sustainable homeownership,” said Jason Peterson, Executive Director of CNHS. “With this additional support for our organization we will be able to serve an estimated 70 households through home improvement lending, down payment assistance, and rehab loans to improve our housing and stabilize neighborhoods.”

Homeowners interested in applying for home improvement or repair loans should begin by calling Community Neighborhood Housing Services at 651-292-8710. Help is available for families with incomes at or below 120% of  median income ($108,000 for family of four).

Community Neighborhood Housing Services is a community based nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul, MN.  Specializing in foreclosure prevention, home improvement loans, and new homeowner education, CNHS serves the seven-county metro area with special program emphasis in the city of Saint Paul.    The organization currently provides services in English and in Hmong.  More information is available atwww.communitynhs.org

National Night Out at Conway

SP Parks brought their climbing wall!

SunRay Library had books to give away....

We had a wonderful turn-out at our NNO event at Conway Rec Center. After checking in with our partners, we estimate that 500 people came together for Fun, Food and Friends on August 7. There were games, a climbing wall, bouncy castles, food to eat, food to take home, FreePhoneMN was giving out cell phones, Allina Health was doing free health assessments, SunRay library was giving away books, local businesses were highlighting what they do, there were demonstrations of rec activities, a great sound track, and people were having FUN!!


We had a great team of partners who worked on planning this event. Faith Alliance Church has been doing a community event for years and they joined with Grace Lutheran Church, Conway Rec Center, Bradley House Apartments, and community members from District 1 Community Council to pull this together. Besides their planning and monetary support, we had additional monetary contributions from Hillsberry 94 and Heritage Estate Apartments, Pawn America, and individuals. We had donations of food from Bruegger's Bagels, Culvers Restaurant, Ho Ho Gourmet Restaurant and the Little Oven. And we had donations from SunRay Library, SunRay Lanes, Great Clips, Pawn America, D1 staff, AnyTime Fitness and Easy Tanning, the Dari-Ette, Target and other individuals for our drawing. A special thanks to all the volunteers who kept things happening that night!

This was truly a community effort to make this event happen for all of us. It was all about Neighbors Meeting Neighbors - we hope the spirit of the event carries into the fall!  Like they say at the Saints games -- Fun is Good!!

Burns Overlook to close Monday August 13

Final restoration of the historic Burns Avenue Overlook along Highway 61 at Burns Avenue just southeast of Interstate 94 in St. Paul begins Monday, August 13. The overlook will close for approximately two months, with completion of the work in late September.

            The final restoration will address reconstruction of the following:

·         the driveway

·         parking areas

·         walking paths

·         storm sewer/drainage and

·         boulevard

            The manual gate will be replaced with an automatic gate to limit motor vehicle access during the night time, although pedestrian and bicycle access will be allowed.

            All work will be done in accordance with the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historic Properties, ensuring that the historic elements, including the walls, curbs and other original features will be retained and preserved. 

            Earlier restoration last year repaired the stone walls and pavement adjacent to the overlook, installed improved picnic tables and trash receptacles, and upgraded the landscaping.