Animal relief efforts after Minneapolis tornadoes | Animal Humane Society.

Animal Humane Society is currently standing by to support the animal relief efforts of the American Red Cross Twin Cities Chapter and Minneapolis Animal Care & Control after the tornadoes that moved through Minneapolis yesterday. When called upon, AHS will provide food, shelter and comfort to animals displaced by yesterday’s tragedy.

If you have been displaced by the storm and need assistance with housing your pets please contact Minneapolis Animal Care & Control (dial 311). If you have lost or found a pet, the Animal Humane Society online Lost and Found Bulletin Board can be a great resource to help reunite you and your family with your lost pets —http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/lostandfound.

AHS is a member of the Minnesota Animal Disaster Coalition, along with the American Red Cross, Twin Cities and MACC. The coalition was formed in recent years to manage animal care and provide safe refuge for animals displaced after local tragedies.

While one of the tornadoes came close to our Golden Valley facility, our shelter received no damage and all animals in our care remain safe.

‘Damage Control’ headed to global finals | Hopkins School District #270.

Hopkins Public Schools will be represented by high school team “Damage Control” at the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals, May 25-28 in Knoxville, TN. The Global Finals will include 14,000 participants from the United States and more than 30 countries

ESPN RISE high school basketball – ESPN RISE | HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS RANKINGS, RESULTS, TRAINING, PERFORMANCE, COLLEGE RECRUITING | HOW TO WIN.

Ken Novak, Hopkins High School basketball coach, is ESPN’s National High School Coach of the Year. Novak is a Hopkins graduate whose career as a basketball coach spans 29 years. His current record is 652 and 121. He has brought the boys’ basketball team to six state championships since 2002, and most recently achieved three consecutive state championships. Novak teaches social studies at Hopkins High School.

He’s the first coach from Minnesota to earn the national honor, which dates back to 1970.

Novak started his coaching career at Blaine where he served three years as an assistant before assuming the head coaching job for seven seasons.

Compiled from various sources including Hopkins High School, ESPN

Car found in pond off Highway 169 in Hopkins | kare11.com.

HOPKINS, Minn. — The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a vehicle found upside down in a pond off an exit at Highway 169 and Minnetonka Boulevard in Hopkins.

Traffic cameras showed troopers looking at the vehicle before a tow truck pulled it out of the water. There is no word as of noon whether or not there was someone inside, although response at the scene did not appear urgent.

Just because something is buried underground, doesn’t mean it is safe for you or the environment.  Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems (SSTS), also known as septic systems, can cause significant problems when they begin to fail.  They can allow disease-causing pathogens to enter surface or ground water, making it unsafe for consumption or recreation. They also can contribute to algae and plant growth in nearby lakes and streams, adversely impacting recreation and habitat for fish and wildlife.
The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) is making grants available to landowners to address this environmental and health threat.  Qualifying applicants may receive up to $2,000 for the voluntary replacement of failing septic systems.

“We applaud the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District for making failing septic systems a priority in its work to protect the region’s water resources,” said Carver County Commissioner Randy Maluchnik.  Carver County has been a leader in the effort to identify and fix SSTS that are no longer working properly.  “These grants will help resolve this issue, which is a major threat to water quality in the area,” said Maluchnik.

Priority for grants under the SSTS Cost Share Program will be given to systems that are discharging untreated sewage directly into a lake, stream, ditch or any other water body.

Because of saturated ground or other conditions, even systems that appear to be working well may allow nutrients or pathogens to enter surface or ground water.  As a result, the only way to determine if a septic system is providing effective treatment is to have it examined by an expert.
View the SSTS Cost share factsheet
For more information on the SSTS Cost Share Program, contact MCWD Cost Share Specialist Aldis Kurmis at 952-641-4523 or akurmis@minnehahacreek.org.

Trails near and around Minnehaha creek in the Big Willow Park area are closed and underwater as of today.   Please be careful when attempting to traverse moving water!   Only a few inches of moving water can move an automobile….imagine what it can do to you or your bicycle!

Headwaters Policy and Operating Procedures.

To effectively respond to high lake levels, rapidly increasing lake levels and/or changing creek conditions the maximum allowable discharge rate is required whenever the lake level is within the elevation range of 929.6 to 930.0.

The maximum allowable discharge rate will vary. It is defined to be that rate of discharge when combined with direct runoff and other inflows to the creek downstream, that will achieve but not exceed the carrying capacity of the creek. The carrying capacity of the creek is considered to be the maximum flow that can occur without substantial overbank flow.

The control gates will be operated to maintain flow rates in the creek below the maximum creek carrying capacity to the extent feasible. Since the contributing flow rates to the creek is a complex variable consisting of inflow from the lake as well as other sources downstream, the creek flows cannot always be affected by the operation of the control gates.

The maximum allowable discharge rate will be maintained as necessary until the lake level has receded below elevation 929.6.

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-4 Cities With Steep Housing Discounts.

4 Cities With Steep Housing Discounts
Buyers can find plenty of deals in housing across the country. CNNMoney.com recently offered a list of a few cities that have had the steepest price drops over the past six months.

Here are four cities that are offering some of the biggest discounts on housing.

1. Atlanta
Rising foreclosures have hit the Atlanta housing market hard: Foreclosure filings in 2010 rose 22 percent after jumping more than 40 percent the year before. The last six months of 2010 housing prices dropped about 6 percent. Homes in Atlanta typically average 65 days on the market before getting a price cut, according to Trulia.

2. Seattle
Seattle’s housing market at first seemed immune to the housing slump compared to other West coast cities. But after hitting a price high in May 2007, prices started headed down and have dropped 5.2 percent in the past six months alone. Seattle housing prices are 28 percent off their peak. Homes in Seattle spend an average of 54 days on the market before getting the first price cut, which is about 6 percent, according to Trulia. With hiring picking up at some of Seattle’s major companies, like Boeing and Amazon, analysts are forecasting a rebound in the Seattle real estate market.

3. Minneapolis
Despite only seeing moderate gains during the housing boom, Minneapolis has still felt the housing slump like other markets. Since peaking in April 2006, housing values in Minneapolis have dropped 34 percent–8 percent of that loss alone has come over the last six months. Homes in Minneapolis spend an average of 45 days on the market before getting the first price cut, which averages about 9 percent, according to Trulia.

4. Detroit
With a population drop in the last decade of 25 percent, Detroit’s economic and housing woes are nothing new. However, the auto industry has stabilized, which is offering a hopeful sign to the city’s housing market.

“Consumer confidence is up and conditions are great for buying a home,” says real estate broker John North with Coldwell Banker in Birmingham, Mich. “We’ve probably reached the bottom and things should take off during the spring buying season — but not like a rocket.”