Ramsey Co. - Maplewood Review News

Bikers and pedestrians in Ramsey County now have 1.5 new miles of trail to enjoy in Battle Creek Regional Park. Construction is complete on an addition to the Lower Afton Trail that extends the trail from McKnight Road to and along Battle Creek Park Entrance Road, formerly known as Point Douglas Road.

A set of local beer aficionados have expressed interest in expanding their enterprise to include a tap room and microbrewery, and North St. Paul is one of the lucky cities that have piqued their interest.
The individuals, whose names could not be disclosed, toured two downtown locations in Stillwater in addition to two facilities in North St. Paul—space subleased from Aetrium on Helen Street and a building near the Gateway State Trail on 2nd Street.

After a quick three-month hiring process and two interviews, North St. Paul has chosen its new city manager: Maple Plain city administrator Jason Ziemer.
At a special meeting held at City Hall on Wednesday, July 17, council members grilled Ziemer about his leadership and communication styles, experience with municipal utilities and opinion on performance evaluations.
Ziemer handled the questions adeptly, detailing his interactions with taxpayers, city staff and city council members in his current city of Maple Plain, a western Hennepin County community with a total area of about 1.1 square miles and a population of about 1,800, according to the 2010 census.

Representatives from several state and local government agencies gathered Wednesday, July 17, at an open house to answer questions about possible State Highway 36 construction project designs at two busy intersections.
And the questions flowed — more than 100 residents and business owners came to the event armed with their opinions about redesigning the intersections at Highway 120 and Hadley Avenue. They are the only remaining signalized intersections on Highway 36 west of Interstate 694.

In an unusual step, the owners of two Maplewood properties submitted a petition last week to the North St. Paul City Council asking for the council’s support for annexation.
Laurie Ehlers-Johnson and Dave Johnson, 2587 Lydia Ave. E, and Roxanne and Anthony Berwald, 2573 Lydia Ave. E, want to detach their residential properties from the city of Maplewood and become part of North St. Paul.
They say that although they reside in Maplewood, the majority of their utilities — water, sewer and electrical power — come from North St. Paul. Their main concern, however, is the amount of time it takes for emergency services to reach their homes, which are north of Silver Lake and west of Joy Park.

Meet Kevin Wolff, principal at Maplewood Middle School, Meet Angela LaBounty, assistant principal at Maplewood Middle SchoolMeet Pangjua Xiong, principal at Weaver Elementary School, Meet Jaysen Anderson, assistant principal at North High School

If you’ve never attended the Silver Lake Splash fundraiser in North St. Paul, make this year your first! The annual event is back and better than ever, with activities all day for the whole family.
The fundraiser, now in its fourth year, was started after the city cut funding for lifeguards at Silver Lake beach. However, after a community outcry, the council re-opened the beach and the Silver Lake Splash fundraiser was born.
Residents Ingrid Koller, Mary Kvaal and Lynnette Olsen banded together with their neighbors in 2010 to organize the first fundraiser, which has been going strong ever since.

At a plea hearing July 10, Maplewood resident Steven E. Lewis, 27, told Ramsey Court District Judge Margaret Marrinan he only meant to rob a man, not kill him.
Lewis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree robbery charges after fatally shooting a St. Paul man last year. Lewis told Marrinan that he “never intended to kill” Aung Thu Bo, 19; his goal was to rob Bo and his girlfriend.
In August 2012, Lewis placed an ad on Craigslist.com saying he wanted to sell an iPhone 4S for $250. Bo responded to the ad, and agreed to meet Aug. 10 with Lewis outside Leo’s Chow Mein on Hudson Road in St. Paul.

At a plea hearing July 10, Maplewood resident Steven E. Lewis, 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree robbery charges after fatally shooting a St. Paul man last year. Lewis told Ramsey County District Judge Margaret Marrinan that he “never intended to kill” Aung Thu Bo, 19; he meant to rob him and Bo’s girlfriend, who was present at the time.
In August 2012, Lewis placed an ad on Craigslist.com saying he wanted to sell an iPhone 4S for $250. Bo responded to the ad, and agreed to meet up on Aug. 10 with Lewis outside of Leo’s Chow Mein on Hudson Road in St. Paul.

After just a few special city council work sessions with department heads, North St. Paul appears to have chosen its prime city manager candidate from a field of five finalists.
Only one finalist is scheduled for a last interview with the council Wednesday. As of 3 p.m. Friday, city staff had not responded to the Review's request for the candidate's name.