LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS

The third annual Brainerd Lakes Downhill Drags Soap Box Derby race of the season will be 11 a.m. Aug. 18 at the Brainerd Area Civic Center parking lot.

Any child wishing to race one of the loaner cars may call the Brainerd Parks and Recreation Department at 828-2320 before Aug. 15.

New racers must be at the civic center race track at 8:30 a.m. and take two practice runs off the starting gate to make sure they can drive the car and have the feel of the starting gate before race time. Racers must be 7 or older. Participants must be pre-registered and may call the Parks and Recreation office. There is a $5 registration fee for each participant.

Little Falls Wal-Mart Supercenter to open Wednesday

LITTLE FALLS - The Wal-Mart Supercenter in Little Falls opens at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The 210,434-square-foot supercenter, which includes a Subway restaurant, hair salon, tire and lube express, among other areas, expects to employ about 400 people. The store, at 15091 18th St. N.E., is across the street from Little Fall's original Wal-Mart that opened 16 years ago.

Store manager is Craig Warren. At the opening, Warren will announce $23,700 in grants. One $10,000 grant, will go toward renovating St. Gabriel's Hospital. The store also is donating $5,000 to the Minnesota Military Family Foundation, which will go toward families of deployed soldiers in the area.

Conservation district meeting changed

The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisor's regular September meeting has been moved to 9 a.m. Aug. 9 at the USDA Service Center conference room at 7118 Clearwater Road in Baxter.

The SWCD Board meetings will revert to its normal schedule in September. Regular meetings of the Crow Wing SWCD are at 9 a.m. the third Tuesday of each month in the Ag Service Center.

August proclaimed DAV Forget Me Not Month

Brainerd Mayor James Wallin has proclaimed August as DAV Forget Me Not Month in the city of Brainerd.

The Disabled American Veterans and DAV Auxiliary will be offering Forget Me Not flowers as a good faith gesture to citizens and businesses and accepting donations for support of local veterans' programs.