Local briefs

CROSSLAKE - The second annual Tour of Colors Bicycle Ride will be conducted on Sept. 26. The ride will begin and end at the Crosslake Community Center. Three ride choices of 12, 25 and 40 miles are offered through the scenic Crosslake area.

Rest stops with food and beverages will be located on each ride. Registration will be open until the time of the ride. However, if the registration is received before Sept. 11, riders will be given a T-shirt. Check-in on the ride day will be from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Crosslake Community Center on Daggett Pine Road. The cost of the ride is $25.

Registration forms are available on the Pequot Lakes school Web site: http://pequotlakes.k12.mn.us

Interested persons should click on District Wide; click on Patriot Foundation; and click on Tour of Colors Registration.

The ride is scheduled as one of the Crosslake Days events. The event is sponsored by the Patriot Foundation. Funds are used to support student academia, art, culture and social growth activities in the Pequot Lakes School District.

Questions may be addressed to Ray Niemann at (218) 543-6448 or Jim Oraskovich at (218) 568-4774.

Immunization clinic planned

Crow Wing County Health Department will offer a walk-in school immunization clinic from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Crow Wing County Health Department, 204 Laurel St., Suite 12, Brainerd. This clinic is for kindergarten to 12th graders in need of vaccinations in order to attend school.

Shots are $5 each; however, no one is denied access due to inability to pay. Medical Assistance or Minnesota Care is also accepted as payment so bring your cards. If your health insurance pays for vaccinations, you must be seen by your home medical clinic.

A parent or legal guardian and a complete shot record is required to accompany the student or shots may not be given.

For more information, call Margie Young at Crow Wing County Health at 824-1098.

Bernick's Beverages and Vending announce grant deadline

The Central Minnesota Community Foundation and Bernick's Beverages and Vending Inc. announce the next deadline to apply for community grants through the Bernick's corporate fund.

The Community Foundation administers the Bernick's Beverages and Vending Fund. The Community Foundation provides grant making services to Bernick's for the company's six markets in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including; Brainerd, Bemidji, Duluth, St. Cloud, Willmar, and Dresser, Wis.

Bernick's Beverages and Vending Fund will support two key focus areas: youth and education, and health and fitness. Funding may go toward capital projects, strategic investments in operations and new or expanded programs.

Organizations applying for a grant must be nonprofits, schools, government entities, or charitable organizations designated as 501(c) (3) by the IRS. Multi-year requests will be considered. Learn more about the application process at www.communitygiving.org.

The fund will award grants to qualifying organizations that are based in at least one of the six markets Bernick's serves. The deadline for receiving letters of inquiry is Tuesday.

For more grant information, e-mail Janet McConkey at JMcConkey@communitygiving.org at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation, or call toll free at (877) 253-4380 or (320) 253-4380.

YMCA home school gym and swim program starts in September

The Brainerd Family YMCA will offer a home school gym and swim program. The class information is available at the YMCA and on the Web at brainerdlakesymca.org.

The session begins the week of Sept. 14 and meets once a week for six weeks. These school-age classes are taught by trained instructors. Families can begin registering for classes Tuesday. Contact the Brainerd Family YMCA at 829-4767 or stop by at 602 Oak St. in Brainerd to register.

Crosslake to meet in special session Wednesday

CROSSLAKE - The Crosslake City Council will meet in a special session at 9 a.m. Wednesday at city hall for a final review of the preliminary budget, review a recommendation from the Personnel Committee regarding the hiring for the position of clerk/treasurer and approval of bills for payment.

Crosslake Chautauqua on energy planned Sept. 9

CROSSLAKE - The September Crosslake Chautauqua is "Shocking the Grid: Cutting Edge Electrical Energy Projects from Around the World."

The program is planned from 1:30-3 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Crosslake Community Center. The presenter, C. Robert White, is a retired electrical engineer who once designed and built electricity generating plants. He will explain several out-of-the-box electricity generation projects now under way in Australia, Iceland, Africa, Palestine and the U.S. White will highlight two little known but historically significant marvels from the distant past. These projects are certainly unconventional, even outrageous, but some may prove to be winners in the search for inexpensive, secure and environmentally responsible energy.

Lane closures planned in Brainerd Monday

Beginning Monday morning crews will be installing new loop detectors for the signals at the intersections of Oak and Quince streets in Brainerd in preparation for the Highway 371 Business, also known as South Sixth Street, resurfacing project scheduled to begin the following week.

This work is being done this week in an effort to minimize the impacts to traffic in the area after classes begin at the high school, the Minnesota Department of Transportation reported.

Motorists should expect intermittent lane closures at each of the intersections where crews are working.

Federal grant awarded to Ninth Judicial District drug court

Rep. John Ward, DFL-Brainerd, announced that the Ninth Judicial District has received a grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, to provide additional services to DWI and drug courts in the district. The total funding is $200,000 between Sept. 1, 2009, and Aug. 31, 2111, to pay for the following:

Volunteer Driver Program - reimburse mileage at current IRS rate to transport unlicensed drug/DWI court participants to treatment, support group meetings, drug/DWI court sessions, work/school.

Mental Health and Dental Care Costs - for those participants who do not have insurance and do not qualify for assistance.

Commissioner Training - one day training in Bemidji for commissioners on current research and feasibility of funding drug/DWI courts.

"I visit the Crow Wing County Drug Court often and it is always a great experience to see the lives of people changing for the better through this remarkable and proven program," Ward said.