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CENTENNIAL DANCE: Kicking off Outback Bowl. PAGE 14
Circle Pines fire budget increases BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER
Awazi lives in Spring Lake Park and had been commuting by bus or with friends to Plymouth for a medical assembly operator job, which he was close to losing due to not being able to get there easily. And it wouldn’t have been the first time. “I lost two jobs because I couldn’t drive,” he said. Awazi had purchased a car previously but had to return it after two months when the bank told him he didn’t have enough credit. Now his family of four, including a 4-year-old son and an 11-month-old
CIRCLE PINES — Circle Pines will be paying out an additional $77,387 in 2016 to cover Lino Lakes’ split from the Centennial Fire District, a 39.5 percent increase from the amount it paid for fire in 2015. In 2015 Circle Pines paid $196,000 to the Centennial Fire District and fire services accounted for 9 percent of its general fund budget. In 2016 it will be paying $273,387 and fire will account for 11 percent of its general fund budget. The city expects to cover $150,000 per year for the Centennial Fire District come 2017, if nothing else changes. The 2016 general fund budget adopted on Dec. 8 in the amount of $2,568,233, was a 2 percent overall increase. The general fund budget in 2015 was $2,519,102, a difference of $49,131. The 2016 property tax levy, also adopted Dec. 8, is a total of $2,335,318, a 3.5 percent increase from the 2015 levy of $2,256,471. The breakdown for 2016: $2,012,362 to the general fund, $72,946 for the police station and $250,000 street debt. In 2015 the numbers were: $1,982,832 general fund, $73,639 police station, and $200,000 street debt. “A significant amount of the levy is for the city’s share of street construction,” said Jim Keinath, city administrator. A total of $29,560 of the increase in the levy will go to the general fund, while $50,000 is going towards street debt. A
SEE FREE RIDE, PAGE 3
SEE CIRCLE PINES, PAGE 3
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Shoppers line up to be the first into the new ALDI store at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and I-35W in Blaine as Matt Lilla, vice president of the store’s Midwest division — headquartered in Fairbault — watches the ribbon-cutting Dec. 10.
ALDI opens on Lexington Avenue BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER
BLAINE — $1.29 raspberries. A new ALDI grocery store opened Dec. 10 at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and I-35W. It is the division’s 60th store, said Matt Lilla, vice president of the
division covering Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. ALDI prides itself on its low prices. The store chain keeps prices lean by keeping operations lean. It doesn’t provide plastic shopping bags, it corrals its carts by using a quarter rental system from
customers, it has no store phone numbers, it is open only during prime shopping hours, it purchases small plots of land and builds small buildings, and controls its own freight costs through distribution centers. “Everything is designed to keep our prices as low as
possible,” said Lilla. New LED lighting in the Lexington Avenue store will even cut energy costs. At the same time, ALDI has been expanding its options. Last year it implemented USDA Choice grade beef. It recently introduced a gluten-free product
line. “People are finding more and more here,” said Lilla. “The selection keeps getting better.” ALDI likes to locate in the vicinity of other grocery stores, knowing that while they offer some of the SEE ALDI, PAGE 2
Immigrant gets a free ride BY SARA MARIE MOORE STAFF WRITER
STEPHANIE SZEREMETA |SUBMITTED
Jimmy Awazi sits ready to drive the first car he has truly owned, thanks to Cars for Neighbors.
BLAINE — Jimmy Awazi and his family of four are all set with four wheels for their second winter in Minnesota. Awazi received a car from Blainebased Cars for Neighbors, which provides donated cars to those in need across Anoka County. Awazi and his wife immigrated to the U.S. from Congo in 2014 after winning the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery. Each year the program offers 50,000 permanent resident visas to native of countries with low immigration rates to the U.S.
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