Here's what Jordan Mayor Ron Jabs said about the Jordan Area Chamber of Commerce Miss Jordan Ambassador Program during the pageant tonight:

"It gives me great pleasure to see that we have 10 young women who want to participate. I am very proud of the royalty that served in the last year."

About the candidates for 2008-2009 Miss Jordan, he added:

"They are all winners. No matter what the outcome is here, I'm proud of every one of you."

At the Jordan City Council tonight, Mike Shaw questioned whether the city should spend $3,500 on a consultant to facilitate a second annual council retreat. 

Last year, the council spent two days outside of the city hall talking about strategic planning, collective goals, city growth, unity among councilmembers, and other issues facing the city during a two-day session. This sort of retreat is common among elected city officials who want to informally get on the same page with city staff and their collegues on a particular board or council.

With Jordan slowly growing despite an economic downturn, the city's comprehensive plan drew a crowd to an informational meeting last month.

Mayor Ron Jabs said the meeting at Ridges at Sand Creek restaurant was well attended. He asked for city staff to follow up with the city council so it could address any concerns about the plan, which guides Jordan's growth and ultimately must be approved by the Metropolitan Council.

Copies of the comp plan will be dispersed to councilmembers, and a public hearing will take place June 10, City Planner Joe Janish said.

Economic development in Jordan is healthy, Mayor Ron Jabs noted as an aside during the city council meeting tonight.

For a discussion about this summer's art festival, City Planner Casey MacCallum put together a map with the names of businesses that front downtown Jordan streets. The map was meant to factor into a decision about which sections of roadway to close for the festival, which annually draws about 2,000 people to the historic business district. 

Jordan Mayor Ron Jabs issued a proclamation in honor of U.S. Army Pfc. Joshua Anderson, a Jordan resident who died in Iraq.

Anderson’s parents, Keven and Lynn, attended a Jordan City Council meeting to accept a framed copy of the proclamation, which Jabs read aloud Monday on behalf of the rest of the council and himself.

As he handed Lynn the proclamation, Jabs told Anderson’s parents he was proud of their son for serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Anderson died Jan. 2, when a roadside bomb directly hit his side of a Humvee.

Dannica Erickson recently moved from Edina to a property along Second Street West in Jordan.

She brought three dogs with her, but city code allows only two per residence.

On Saturday mornings, when children file into ballet classes in downtown Jordan, the sidewalk is covered with cigarette butts.

Several members of the Jordan City Council have suggested that traffic needs to be deterred from using Highway 282 as a route through Jordan. In a meeting earlier tonight, they did so again.

Here's what Jordan Mayor Ron Jabs said tonight about the road-widening project proposed for the intersection of highways 21 and 282:

Members of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan have been discussing the potential expansion of the church's parking lot for a while.