North/east metro news briefs: Anoka County election officials find another turnout error

Anoka County election officials have discovered another voter turnout error in totals reported for a St. Francis public schools bonding referendum held in late May.

However, county officials said the errors did not have any effect on the referendum, where voters rejected a $92 million bond issue to upgrade school facilities.

The county originally reported that 5,270 voters had participated in the May 23 special election, a total that school board members verified at a May 26 meeting.

Election staffers then discovered a transcription error and revised the total to 4,606 voters, prompting the school board to call a second special meeting June 2 to canvass the updated returns.

But that revised total was also incorrect, according to a June 12 memo sent from the county to a district official. In correcting the original error, staffers made an additional mistake by double counting election-day registrants, according to Cindy Reichert, the county's elections manager.

County officials now say the number of voters who turned out was 4,522, not 4,606.

"Though these errors did not result in changed vote totals, they are unacceptable," Reichert wrote.

The school district reported that it paid about $6,000 to Anoka County to run its election.

Hannah Covington

East metro officials hope to shift riders from a major overcrowded park-and-ride to a new and underused station not too far away.

Metro Transit is now offering service from the little-used Newport Transit Station to downtown Minneapolis, via Route 365. That route serves the Cottage Grove and Lower Afton park-and-rides, but three trips soon will be rerouted to serve the Newport station.

Metro Transit had announced it was reducing service to Lower Afton due to overcrowding in the parking area. Newport has plenty of room, but officials said that commuters were sticking with Lower Afton through sheer force of habit.

But minds have changed: Metro Transit will no longer reduce service at Lower Afton.

The changes will kick in Aug. 21, with more details available that month, officials said. They called it a "demonstration service" and said that its future depends on evidence of how well it works.

David Peterson

Columbia Heights Police Chief Scott Nadeau has been named Maplewood's new director of public safety.

Maplewood officials chose Nadeau late last month over about 20 applicants. He will be replacing Paul Schnell, who recently retired, and will begin his new job Aug. 7.

Nadeau has been the police chief in Columbia Heights since 2008. He previously worked in the Brooklyn Center Police Department.

"Maplewood is a really progressive community," Nadeau said, offering "new challenges and new growth opportunities."

Hannah Covington

The Spring Lake Park School District named a principal for its new elementary school under construction in Blaine.

Mike Callahan, the district's director of student services, has accepted the position, according to a recent announcement by Superintendent Jeff Ronneberg.

Callahan served as principal at Northpoint Elementary School in Blaine for six years and has worked at other schools, according to a news release.

The new school will be located near the corner of 105th Avenue NE. and Davenport Street, close to the National Sports Center. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018.

Hannah Covington

A German firm will occupy a new facility on a4-acre site in New Brighton that officials expect will add $5 million to the city's tax base.

Ryan Cos. is starting work at the New Brighton Exchange redevelopment area on a 37,000-square-foot building for TUV SUD, a Germany-based firm specializing in electromagnetic interference testing.

The firm now leases space at another location in New Brighton and employs about 50 people there.

The New Brighton Exchange, where Interstates 694 and 35W meet, is the largest redevelopment project in the city's history and dates back to the 1980s. It seeks to clean up environmental contamination from industries that used to be there while creating jobs and housing.

David Peterson

Lumberjack Days, Stillwater's summer festival, kicks off July 20 with an ice cream social on the lawn of the Washington County Historic Courthouse.

The social will include live music by Scrapegoat Skin & Bones and Blue Groove Bluegrass, a petting zoo, children's games and activities, the first Medallion Hunt clue reading, a Civil War exhibit in the courthouse and jail tours.

The event, free and open to the public, will run from 5 to 9 p.m. at the corner of Pine and 3rd streets. In the event of rain, it will move indoors.

Lumberjack Days, to be held July 21-23, includes lumberjack shows, concerts on the shore of the St. Croix River and a parade. Details of the festival, including a list of events and their times, are available at lumberjackdays.com.

Kevin Giles