We’re putting out this thicker-than-normal edition of the Northeaster – jam-packed with all sorts of goodies for readers. Then we’ll scatter for various vacations again. As we did about a month ago, at least one of us will be around in stay-cation mode, checking on the office, mail and email […]

Five candidates have filed for the District 2 Hennepin County Commissioner seat: Timothy Bildsoe, Irene Fernando, Natalie Johnson Lee, Iyob Waldsmayate, and Blong Yang. Current Commissioner Linda Higgins is not running. Because more than two candidates have filed, there will be a primary vote on August 14, and it is a non-partisan office. Voters vote for one, the top two advance to the November 6 general election.

The East of the River Parks project team raised a bit of a ruckus on social media shortly after they posted a link to maps of the concepts for the 33 parks. One concept for Columbia Park included a housing development on the south end of the park, near the Canadian Pacific railyard. One person wrote, “Why would you put apartments on polluted land?” Another countered, “Why not use vacant land for affordable housing?”

A celebration of life in memory of Niles R. Schulz will be held on Sunday, August 12, in the Edison High School auditorium, followed by a gathering at Solar Arts Building. Schulz died on Tuesday July 10, 2018 in a canoeing accident in the BWCA. He was canoeing and camping with his grandson Richard and his friends John Vandermyde Sr and John Vandermyde Jr. and Alex Vandermyde. They were introducing their 8-year-old grandsons / sons to a place they loved.

The Columbia Heights City Council chambers were stuffed and overflowing the evening of July 17 when four candidates for mayor shared their ideas with the public. One candidate, Jeff Harstad, was unable to attend, and Gary Peterson dropped out of the race. That left Connie Buesgens, Sean P. Clerkin, incumbent Donna Schmitt and Joseph Sturdevant to answer questions from the crowd.

It’s a quaker parrot (also called a quaker parakeet or monk parakeet), about 10 -12 inches from head to tail, with a bright green back and cream-colored breast. It’s been visiting the Olsons’ feeders pretty much daily since June 23 and also eating the mulberries in a neighbor’s yard.

The battle lines are drawn, and later this month, the Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR), the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) and Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) will begin a campaign to rid Nicollet Island of a host of alien invaders – buckthorn, Siberian elm, honeysuckle and garlic mustard, to name just a few. The goal is to restore the island’s native prairie ecology and forests.

Seven people have filed for three openings on the Columbia Heights School Board. The field includes three incumbents: Hala Asamarai, who works as an instructional specialist; Molly Lewis, a social worker for Hennepin County; and Laura Palmer, a custom art framer. The four challengers are William Gauthier, Janet Kendall, Mike Novitsky and Joanna Stark. Army veterans Gauthier and Kendall are retired. Gauthier was a fleet maintenance manager. Kendall worked in account management. Novitsky owns an auto recycling company. Stark works full time and is a parent volunteer for sports and scouting groups.