We Have a Race for City Council!: Today in Hopkins

The two Hopkins city councilwomen up for re-election didn’t waste any time filing for office. On the first day of filing, both Kristi Halverson and Cheryl Youakim submitted the paperwork to run for the two City Council seats up for election in 2013. Just two days later, three-year resident Mark Kociemba threw his name in the hat—and with that, Hopkins had a race for City Council.

The race for mayor has been slower to develop. Mayor Gene Maxwell has filed for another term in office, but so far no one has sought to challenge him.

That’s also the case in the Hopkins School Board election. Three seats are up for election this year, but only incumbent Director Betsy Scheurer Anderson has filed to run. The other incumbents, Susan Wootten and Warren Goodroad, have not yet submitted the paperwork to seek another term on the board.

The Aug. 13 filing deadline is still almost a week away, though. That’s ample time for others to launch a campaign. (Go here for more details.) Patch will keep you updated on all the twists and turns.

Other news you should know about:

• Rep. Steve Simon is running for secretary of state: Speaking of elections, Hopkins resident and state Rep. Steve Simon announced Tuesday that he’d be seeking the DFL nomination for secretary of state. Simon’s job as House elections chairman this year puts him as a prime contender for the nomination.
• How’d last night’s block parties go?: Residents got together across the city during National Night Out to get to know their neighbors. Patch invites you to share your photos from the night. To post photos on Patch, create a blog profile by logging into Patch and clicking the “Start Blogging” button. Create a blog profile and then upload your photos to your first blog post. Once you do this, you can always come back to your blog and upload other neighborhood news.
• Whoa! That was a wicked storm: The storm that rolled through the west metro didn’t last long, but it managed to cause some damage in the short time it was here. Heavy winds toppled trees and power lines, leaving hundreds without power. Xcel Energy restored power for most people Tuesday night, but dozens of Hopkins customers remained without power Wednesday.