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From YouTube: Bloomington Today: October 5, 2011
Description
On this episode of Bloomington Today, we'll check out three major expansion projects at Normandale Community College, take a look at how the City plans to celebrate National Fire Prevention Week, and give residents an opportunity to learn some new gardening tips for next season.
A
B
Welcome
to
bloomington
today,
I'm
kaylen
cockriel
thanks
for
joining
us,
a
bloomington
college
is
celebrating
several
significant
expansion
projects
expected
to
improve
student
services
and
overall
experience.
We
were
on
site
for
the
ceremony,
which
highlighted
updates
already
made,
as
well
as
future
projects
planned
for
the
school.
C
B
On
thursday
september
29th,
representatives
from
normandale
community
college
gathered
students,
staff
and
community
leaders
to
celebrate
three
major
expansion
projects.
One
feature
was
the
opening
of
the
newly
remodeled
copp
student
center,
the
center
opened
in
late
august
and
cost
14.5
million
dollars
to
update.
Now
the
school
is
on
to
another
endeavor.
C
We're
very
excited
about
the
approval
by
the
governor
and
the
legislature
of
the
23
million
dollar
academic
partnership
center,
which,
for
those
of
you
are
not
familiar
with.
It,
is
a
very
large
classroom
building
to
deal
with
some
of
our
classroom
shortages
it'll
be
25
classrooms,
2
engineering,
labs
and
faculty
spaces
meeting
spaces
for
students.
That
project
is
underway.
Actually
they've
already
begun
preliminary
work
on
that
project
and
that
will
be
concluded
in
january
of
2013.
So
about
15
months.
B
B
D
B
B
Those
improvements
are
primarily
funded
by
student
fees.
Bloomington
is
home
to
many
beautiful
bodies
of
water
and
in
an
effort
to
keep
them
that
way.
City
engineers
carefully
monitor
the
aquatic
vegetation
levels
in
area
lakes.
Bush
lake,
located
on
the
west
side
of
bloomington,
is
considered
a
gem
of
the
metro
area.
The
lake
is
home
to
several
species
of
fish,
a
clean,
safe
beach
environment
and
newly
reconstructed
trail
systems
spanning
three-fourths
of
the
lake,
but
with
the
spread
of
two
invasive
aquatic
species.
E
B
E
This
is
the
eurasian
milfoil
and
the
best
way
to
identify
it
is
pulling
a
by
pulling
a
leaflet
off,
and
you
count
the
leaflets
one
two
three
and
if
there's,
if
there's
11
or
more,
then
it's
eurasian
water
milfoil
a
lot
of
times.
Milfoil
will
be
growing
just
along
the
bot
along
the
bottom
of
the
lake
like
this,
and
it
shoots
out
different
routes
from
you
know
from
underneath.
So
when
you
pull
it
up,
there's
there
would
be
a
bunch
of
roots
hanging
from
underneath
and
that's
kind
of
how
it
spreads.
E
We
want
to
have
a
a
diverse
native
plant
population
in
order
to
help
stabilize
the
sediments
and
also
provide
a
food
source
for
for
wildlife
and
when
the
invasives
come
in,
they
have
a
tendency
to
out
compete
and
and
basically
drown
out
the
native
species.
When
and
then
in
turn,
we
end
up
with
just
a
couple
species
of
plants
in
the
lake.
E
E
B
B
B
The
radisson
blue
hotel
at
the
mall
of
america
will
be
attractive
to
both
upscale
shoppers,
as
well
as
to
business
travelers.
Looking
for
a
luxury
hotel
close
to
the
airport,
the
hotel
will
feature
a
full
spa
health
club,
swimming
pool
and
light
rail
links
to
both
airport
terminals
and
to
downtown
minneapolis.
B
The
in
the
loop
segment
is
meant
to
keep
residents
up
to
date
on
news
and
events
happening
within
bloomington's
south
loop
district.
That's
the
area
spanning
from
I-494
to
trunk
highway
77
continue
to
tune
into
bloomington
today,
where
we'll
keep
you
in
the
loop
and
in
other
construction
news,
mndot
is
asking
the
question:
are
you
roundabout
ready,
if
not
they've,
got
a
solution
for
you?
On
saturday
october,
15th
join
mndot
representatives
for
a
public
information
event,
specifically
focusing
on
proper
ways
to
maneuver
roundabouts.
B
The
event
runs
from
9am
to
1pm
at
braemar
golf
course
in
edina.
This
event
comes
after
concerns
were
expressed
regarding
the
six
roundabouts
that
will
be
installed
on
the
169
I-494
frontage
road
system.
There
will
be
project
information,
available,
proper
maneuver
directions
and
even
a
golf
cart,
ready
roundabout,
where
residents
can
hop
in
and
actually
experience
navigating
through
a
roundabout.
B
A
few
weeks
ago,
on
bloomington
today,
mndot
public
affairs
coordinator,
brie
mcgee
gave
us
some
helpful
tips
on
properly
maneuvering,
a
roundabout
with
the
most
common
mistakes
being
that
roundabouts,
always
move
counterclockwise,
so
never
drive
in
and
go
left
in.
A
roundabout
also
keep
in
mind
that
people
inside
the
roundabout
have
the
right
of
way
and
you
must
yield
for
them.
B
Civic
plaza
will
be
the
polling
place
for
absentee
ballots
every
saturday
in
october,
as
well
as
the
first
saturday
in
november,
from
10
a.m
to
1
p.m.
There
will
also
be
additional
voting
hours
on
monday
november,
7th
from
8
a.m.
To
5
pm
residents,
who
will
be
voting
on
november
8th
during
the
general
election
must
be
registered
by
october
18th
at
5
p.m.
Applications
can
be
picked
up
at
civic
plaza
and
must
contain
the
original
signatures.
B
F
B
Welcome
back
to
bloomington
today
we
are
now
joined
by
maxine.
Pigours
maxine
has
been
on
the
city
of
bloomington's
disability
employment
awareness
month,
planning
committee
for
many
years
now
welcome,
maxine
thanks
for
being
here
today.
Thank
you.
So
much
I'm
pleased
to
be
here
well
in
the
city
of
bloomington.
Providing
ample
job
opportunities
to
all
residents
is
very
important.
Why
don't
you
give
us
a
bit
of
background
regarding
disability,
employment?
B
G
G
So
it
is
both
a
national
as
well
as
a
local
effort,
and
so
we're
very
excited
last
night
to
be
at
the
city
council
meeting
when
we
received
the
mayor's
proclamation
declaring
this
to
be
disability
employment
awareness
month
in
the
city
of
bloomington,
to
observe
special
efforts
on
the
part
of
employers
to
provide
opportunities
for
people
with
disabilities,
and
so
actually,
historically,
here
in
bloomington,
the
month
has
been
observed
in
a
number
of
ways.
We
have
held
workshops
for
people
with
disabilities
and
tried
to
bring
some
tools
to
them.
B
Well
perfect:
well,
you
know
it
does
seem
like
bloomington
is,
is
right
there
with
the
curve,
if
not
ahead
of
it.
Well,
let's
talk
now
about
the
the
actual
workshop.
It's
it's
basically
a
workshop.
That's
urging
people
to
open
their
minds
and
open
their
doors,
and
this
was
created
several
years
ago
to
promote
the
employment
of
disabled
people.
Tell
us
a
bit
about
this
year's
event.
Well,.
G
Thank
you.
Yes,
it's
a
great
opportunity
for
employers
to
come
in
and
get
some
good
tools
and
resources
for
how
to
get
started.
If
they're,
not
really
sure
you
know
how
do
I
actually
go
about
employing
someone
with
a
disability?
I
am
myself
a
small
business
person.
I
don't
have
employees,
but
if
I
did
you
know,
I
might
feel
a
little
hesitant.
You
know
how
do
I
actually
get
started
with
this?
So
our
open
your
mind,
open
your
door.
Disability
employment
workshop
will
be
on
october
26th.
G
G
We
have
a
keynote
speaker,
the
vp
of
diversity
from
wells,
fargo,
philharmina,
morrissey
sater,
who
is
just
been
really
a
leader
in
this
area
for
many
years,
and
we
have
a
technical
expert
panel
people
from
the
provider
side
who
actually
worked
with
individuals
in
employment,
as
well
as
a
number
of
employers
who
will
come
and
tell
the
success
stories
of
how
they've
employed
people
with
disabilities
here
in
bloomington.
So
we're
very
excited.
G
Them
exactly,
this
is
a
great
resource
event
for
employers,
and
so
there
will
be
information
provided
on
how
this
has
worked
for
other
employers
kind
of
from
the
viewpoint
of
what
are
the
technical
aspects
of
employing
someone.
What
are
the
things
that
employers
need
to
know
and,
and
then,
of
course,
you
know
how
can
they
get
started
with
actually
linking
with
some
of
those
resources?
Absolutely.
B
Yes,
well,
as
you
had
said,
you
know
there
will
be
employers
there
who
have
worked
with
different
disabled
people
in
the
past,
telling
their
success
stories
and
what
a
great
way
to
get
more
people
involved.
But
I
have
you
know
being
on
the
board
for
eight
years,
any
past
success
stories
that
ring
a
bell
in
your
mind,
stuck
with
you.
A
G
G
So
over
the
years
I've
kept
some
of
the
letters
where
people
have
nominated
employers
for
those
awards
and
so
there's
many
wonderful
stories.
One
of
my
favorites
is
from
rei.
You
know
one
of
our
great
retail
stores
here
in
bloomington,
very
successful
stores.
I
think
they're
in
the
top
five
in
the
country
for
their
brand
and
they
have
a
team
of.
I
believe
it's
around
five
individuals
that
have
worked
in
the
store
going
back,
15
20
years
that
come
in
every
day
and
provide
stocking.
A
G
So
these
people
are
a
really
important
part
of
the
backbone
of
the
store,
and
this
letter
was
written
by
the
the
letter.
It
was
written
by
the
manager
of
the
store
who
has
since
retired,
but
just
said
that,
what
an
opportunity
to
work
with
successful
people
it
felt
like
the
right
thing
to
do,
but
it
was
absolutely
a
wonderful
solution
for
the
store
wow.
So
it
was
it
moved
far
beyond
feeling.
Like
you
know,
this
is
something
to
do
for
society.
G
It
was
actually
the
appreciation
that
they
brought
to
the
workplace
and
to
the
team
and
their
dedication
to
getting
the
work
done
was
just
unsurpassed,
and
this
thing
she
said
in
here
the
spirit
of
the
entire
rei
staff
is
uplifted
by
their
presence.
So
that
was
one
another.
One
was
abm,
janitorial
services
and
they
have
about
15
workers
from
lifeworks
one
of
our
local
providers,
and
they
come
in
monday
through
sunday
early
morning
to
late
evening.
They
wash
windows,
they
vacuum,
they
clean
bathrooms.
You
know
these
are
not.
G
B
G
F
A
B
B
All
six
of
bloomington's
fire
stations
will
be
hosting
open
houses
on
saturday
october
15th
from
10
a.m.
To
1pm
highlights
of
this
year's
fire
prevention.
Open
houses
include
the
bloomington
bomb
squad,
k9
units
smoke,
detector,
raffles,
car
seat
inspections
by
appointment
and
so
much
more.
There
will
also
be
free
t-shirts,
coloring
books
and
temporary
tattoos
for
the
kids
firefighter
tom
sharrup
offers
more
reasons.
Residents
should
attend
an
open
house
like
this.
H
It's
a
very
community-based
town
we
live
in,
and
firefighters
are
all
residents
of
the
city
just
like
the
residents
are
coming
to.
Our
events
are
so
we're
all
neighbors
friends
get
to
learn
the
equipment
that
the
city
has.
You
know
we
are
very
well
equipped
in
the
city
of
bloomington
for
fire
equipment
stations.
B
To
find
out
which
events
will
be
at
what
station
log
onto
the
city's
website
keyword,
search,
fireweek
to
see
a
full
list
of
events
and
locations,
city,
public
works,
staff,
fire
and
police
personnel
will
be
at
various
stations
to
answer
questions
and
talk
to
patrons
about
the
importance
of
fire
prevention
and
in
other
fire
safety
news.
One
city
employee
is
being
honored
for
his
exceptional
emergency
management
contribution.
B
A
congratulations
is
in
order
for
bloomington's
fire
chief
and
emergency
management,
director
julie
seal.
He
was
honored
with
the
prestigious
president's
award
from
the
association
of
minnesota
emergency
managers
at
the
annual
training
conference
in
late
september
association
president
says,
chief
seal
was
cited
for
his
selfless
dedication
to
emergency
management
and
for
his
positive
influence
on
others.
B
The
first
of
the
two
workshops
will
focus
on
vegetables
and
common
problems
gardeners
face
during
the
season,
whether
it's
wilted
shriveled
squash
black
tomatoes,
ants
in
your
plants
and
so
forth.
On
tuesday
october
11th
from
6
30
to
8,
30
pm
at
civic
plaza
join
other
gardeners
for
what's
happening
to
my
veggies.
A
40-year.
Gardening
veteran
will
teach
you
how
to
prepare
your
garden
for
next
season,
using
proper
soil
weed
control,
optimal
plant
placement
and
fertilizer.
B
The
next
workshop
gotta
garden.
Now
what
will
be
held
on
thursday
october
27th
from
6
30
to
8
30
pm
at
saint
stephen's,
lutheran
church
in
bloomington?
This
workshop
focuses
on
planning
your
garden
for
sustainability
and
future
success
once
you've
already
established
a
garden
prior
registration
is
required
for
both
fall
garden.
Education
courses,
log
on
to
the
city's
website,
keyword,
search
garden
workshop
there.
B
You
can
download
the
flyer
and
get
registered
for
one
or
both
of
the
workshops,
and
that's
all
the
time
we
have
for
today
to
get
more
information
on
city
projects,
parks,
road
construction
and
events
visit.
The
city's
website
to
check
out
past
bloomington
today
shows
or
other
city
productions
visit,
bloomington's
youtube,
channel,
accessible
right
from
the
city's
homepage.
That
and
so
much
more
is
online
right
now,
at
www.ci.bloomington.mn.us.