LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS

BAXTER - State Patrol troopers want St. Patrick's Day celebrants to plan for a sober ride home and buckle their seat belts to avoid what historically can be a deadly period on the road.

Along with the State Patrol, numerous agencies and regions of law enforcement in Minnesota will be targeting select roadways and areas around the state looking for impaired drivers as well as unbuckled motorists.

Statewide on St. Patrick's Day from 2006-2008, alcohol-related crashes accounted for seven of 14 traffic deaths and five of those deaths were unbelted. During that same time period, 1,567 drivers were arrested for DWI. Each year, alcohol-related crashes account for up to 200 deaths and 3,000 serious injuries in Minnesota. In 2008 alone, there were 4,245 crashes that were known to be alcohol involved. Of those crashes there were 163 deaths and 2,896 injuries.

Redistricting will be aired at March 18 League of Women Voters meeting

The League of Women Voters of the Brainerd Lakes Area will present a discussion on "Redistricting" at 6 p.m. March 18 at the Brainerd Public Library. The meeting is open to the public.

Florence Hedeena, a member of League of Women Voters in Park Rapids, will lead the discussion. Redistricting is a significant topic in view of Census 2010. Redistricting is the process of redrawing the lines of the legislative districts. The eight congressional districts for Minnesota may be realigned based on the population distribution found by the 2010 Census.

Hedeena was a committee member in researching, writing and publishing the "Redistricting" briefing paper for the LWV for Minnesota. As state membership co-chair she is on the LWVMN board. She is the liaison to LWV Brainerd Lakes Area and is the state membership chair.

Hedeena has been selected as one of 12 LWVUS Ruth S. Shur Fellows. As a national fellow, she will be trained to offer coaching support to help state and local LWVs attract new members and leaders.

American Red Cross training classes planned

STAPLES - The Staples Community Center will offer the following American Red Cross training classes: Lifeguard training, weekends of April 12 and 19, cost is $175; and water safety instructor, weekends of May 7 and 14, cost is $210.

There are pre-requisites for these classes.

For more information, call the Staples Community Center at (218) 894-2553.

Local Toastmasters win speech contests

The Paul Bunyan Toastmasters Club of Brainerd recently advanced two spring speech contest winners to the Toastmasters International Area 62 contest in St. Cloud. Crystal Anderson of Brainerd represented the club and took top honors in the "Tall Tales" contest. Kim Nagle of Laporte won first place in the International Speech Contest which advances winners to successive levels all the way to the World Championship of Public Speaking.

Anderson's tall tale entitled "I Survived" kept the audience in suspense until the last minute with a fictitious tale of snowmobiling. Crystal, who is employed by Ascensus, is a relatively new member of Paul Bunyan Toastmasters (June 2009). Nagle's more serious speech, "Make the World Go Away!" discussed the importance of asking for help when times get tough. A Toastmaster for 17 years, Nagle joined Paul Bunyan Toastmasters when she was hired for the grant writing position at Central Lakes College in September 2009.

Anderson and Nagle now advance to the Prairie Division contest on Saturday in Albertville. They will compete with contestants from the six other areas to the north and west of the Twin Cities.

For more information or questions contact Rich at (218) 792-5881 or go to paulbunyan. freetoasthost.biz.