Inver Grove Heights Week In Review March 20-26

Early this week Patch, interviewed District 39 Sen. Jim Metzen about that would increase the term limits for state representatives and senators by two years. The amendment would give newly elected members of the legislature more time to learn the ropes of their offices before worrying about re-election and free up veteran legislators to focus on the issues and bills important to them, Metzen said.

Patch dug into the numbers this week, when we tackled a on the growth of the school district's free and reduced lunch program. At a time when the total enrollment for the district is decreasing, district officials say the number of students using the program has risen significantly.

Patch also Simley High School student Heather Ostertag, who won a $500 scholarship and had some of her art featured in a gallery as part of the St. Paul Jaycee’s Les Farrington Best 100 Juried Art Exhibition.

Sandbagging in Inver Grove Heights started on Tuesday. Faced with a quickly rising Mississippi River, city crews used over-sized sandbags to plug a gap in the levee along 64th Street in Inver Grove Heights and set up four water pumps to clear rain- and melt-water that is already accumulating behind the dike. The city is also allowing property owners whose homes may be threatened by the river to use some of the 5,000 sandbags the city purchased to protect their property. Expect more flood-related coverage early this week, when the river is expected to crest.

Dakota County officials are planning a new, 456-acre regional park on a pristine tract of land in Empire Township, and Patch got . If all goes according to plan, the park could come before the Dakota County Board of Commissioners and the Metropolitan Council later this year for approval.

Patch wrapped up the week with a video of students performing as part of the Simley High School talent show.