Good morning, St. Cloud.

St. Cloud Fire Department will host an open house on Oct.

7 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Fire Station Three, where families can tour equipment and see demonstrations — Sartell will hold a joint Public Safety Open House on Oct. 8 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. with fun activities.

This weekend, St. Cloud offers a Fall Weekender with a pet walk at Wilson Park, pumpkin painting and games at the Stearns History Museum, a corn maze at Stoney Brook Farms, + house tours and a game night gala at the Great River Children’s Museum.

Hispanic Heritage Month will be celebrated with Reina (A New Musical) and a museum display at the Paramount Center for the Arts this Saturday at 3 p.m. highlighting the stories of the Saldana and Manea families with exhibits from the Stearns History Museum (Benton County Historical Society).

St. Cloud State University is hosting homecoming from Sept.

30 to Oct. 3 with events including a downtown husky hunt, melon drop and family fun at Husky Headquarters. The celebration will finish with a free homecoming volleyball match against U of M Crookston on Oct. 3 offering complimentary rally towels.

St. Cloud Community and Technical College is hosting two fall open houses for prospective students and alumni.

The first will be Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. at the Northway Building (1540 Northway Drive) and the second Oct. 7 at 3:30 p.m. at the Health Science Building (1245 15th Street North).

St. Cloud State University launched its Huskies Scholars Program today to offer full tuition scholarships for 75 in-state students graduating high school in 2027 (with a 3.5 GPA or higher).

Applicants must submit an admission application by Nov. 1 and required documents by Dec. 1 to start in fall.

College of St. Benedict and St. John's University were named among top liberal arts schools by U.S. News and World Report as the review compared acceptance rates, graduation figures and value ratings - CSB ranked 68th for National Liberal Arts Colleges while St. John's ranked 74th.

The Minnesota DNR is paying residents ($95 per bushel) for clean red pine cones and set prices for white pine, jack pine, and oak seeds when collected according to state guidelines.

Participants must register as suppliers and check with local forestry offices before collecting from private or public land.

Python’s of Saint Cloud was fined $17,000 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for leaking waste into the city’s stormwater system after inspectors found a faulty underground tank (the facility has decommissioned the tank and submitted required corrective plans).

Highway 55 in Paynesville will close Monday, Sept.

28 for a major bridge rebuild that will detour traffic until early July (via Business 23 West and County Road 130 routes). Workers will remove the old bridge before building a wider replacement with a new walking trail.

Bridge work begins Monday on the new North Fork Crow River project, with Highway 55 traffic detoured along Highway 23, Veterans Drive, Business 23, and Main Street until early July.

The $4.16 million project will improve road surfaces, storm drainage, and add a 10-foot multi-use trail.

CentraCare is hosting a free virtual heart health event on Thursday, Oct.

8 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.—a panel of specialists will answer questions about heart conditions and risk factors to help residents make informed choices.

Cathedral’s girls volleyball team beat Pierz in three sets Tuesday night with Berkley Mathiasen racking up 27 set assists to improve to a 6-8 record; boys soccer also won 2-0 over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and the girls scored a 5-1 win over Little Falls.