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MANKATO, Minn. — Two national championships from the same school in under 24 hours sounds unlikely, but Minnesota State Mankato is halfway there.
The women’s basketball team won the NCAA Division II title against Texas Women’s University on Friday night. It was their second title in program history.
Natalie Bremer scored 27 points in the 89-73 victory. She was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
“I just cannot express how proud of this basketball team I am,” said Head Coach Emily Thiesse after the game. She complimented the captains on taking the lead and setting the tone for each game.
Arianne Boma
The men’s team will play for a national title on Saturday afternoon after a number of close calls to get there. They won in the semifinals 79-72 against West Texas A&M.
It’ll be a very special final game for its head coach.
“This is a fun group. I have 40 minutes left with this group that I love. I mean, I love this group. And it’s gonna be hard,” said Matt Margenthaler, MSU Mankato basketball coach.
The men will face off against second-ranked Nova Southeastern University at 2 p.m. You can watch the game on WCCO.
For more than a year in Minneapolis and at the State Capitol, Uber and Lyft have been waging a battle to stave off regulations championed by progressive Democrats and organized groups of drivers — but the multibillion-dollar companies have not spent big to make their feelings known.
Instead, in a tactic echoing their original surge into taxi markets across the globe a decade ago, the rideshare giants have tried to marshal allies who use and rely on their service, including riders, drivers and some disability groups.
The effectiveness of that strategy is now being tested, after the Minneapolis City Council approved minimum pay requirements for drivers. Uber and Lyft declared they would leave and council members have been inundated with feedback.
“I’ve received hundreds of emails and phone calls myself,” Minneapolis City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said at a recent meeting.
But in a twist that reveals how rapidly ensconced the companies have become, the one-time upstart disrupters now hold an air of establishmentism, with center-left politicians, civic groups and business leaders among their chief boosters today. On Thursday, an Uber-spearheaded campaign — #BringRidesBack — formally launched. The effort, designed to mobilize people to email lawmakers, is a partnership including the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, Minneapolis Downtown Council, Hospitality Minnesota, Minnesota Business Partnership and left-leaning national tech advocacy groups.
Of course, both companies are also spending money on lobbyists to influence policymakers in public and behind the scenes.
How much are they spending?
Both companies declined to provide dollar figures on their combined spending on advertising, mobilizing and lobbying efforts. But disclosures filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board provide a window into their lobbying at the Legislature.
Uber spent $80,000 on three registered lobbyists last year, including two New York-based Uber executives. Lyft has six lobbyists registered in Minnesota and spent $140,000 in 2023. Lyft spent more in 2014 — in excess of $233,000 — the year the apps fought to get off the ground.
The companies were far from the biggest spenders last session, according to state campaign finance data — contradicting a characterization by some critics that the multinational giants have essentially pocketed politicians via the greenback. For context, Xcel Energy spent the most on lobbyists in 2023, shelling out $2 million, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce spent $1.9 million.
Uber and Lyft are not above pouring cash into public debates; the Washington Post reported that Uber spent half a billion dollars to try to repair its image in 2019 after a string of scandals. In 2015, the company spent $9 million supporting a failed referendum to repeal a crackdown by the city of Austin, Texas.
In Minneapolis, Lyft and Uber appear to have spent little trying to influence last year’s election, in which all 13 City Council seats were up — as was the balance of power between a traditional DFL group aligned with Mayor Jacob Frey and a more progressive group. The latter prevailed in enough races to create the majority that overruled Frey’s veto earlier this month.
A review of city campaign donations to candidates, as well as political action committees supporting candidates, turned up scant donations that could be readily linked to the companies.
The lone donor with clear ties was Joel Carlson, a longtime lobbyist who represents Uber in addition to 17 other clients. Carlson made four donations totaling $1,450 to four campaigns: Frey’s and three candidates aligned with him.
“I’ve been contributing to these people for a decade,” Carlson said in an interview, characterizing himself as a longtime donor in local politics separate from any one issue. “I have issues in front of the the City Council that are unrelated to Uber.”
While Uber and Lyft have the ear of Frey and top Walz administration officials — they each had a seat on a state task force that examined driver compensation last year — they’ve failed to make inroads with those pushing the regulations they don’t like.
Sen. Omar Fateh said at a recent Senate hearing that he didn’t attend any of the task force meetings, and the companies’ entreaties to progressives on the Minneapolis City Council have been rebuffed.
“I gave up trying,” Carlson said, explaining that several council members didn’t return his calls.
Lyft representatives scored a video call with two of the ordinance’s co-sponsors in late February, but CJ Macklin, the company’s senior manager for policy communications, said it was brief, and the council members didn’t ask any questions. “In all instances related to the Minneapolis ordinance and last year’s vetoed state bill, those efforts to collaborate were soundly rejected by the bill sponsors in favor of legislation devoid of any understanding of how our industry works,” he said.
The mobilization script
Carlson said he sees riders as advocates for the apps — which include contact information and can send push notifications to their phones. And there are plenty of riders, he said, with some 300,000 trips made in the Twin Cities every week.
“People are concerned with what’s going to happen with these services because they have come to rely on them,” Carlson said.
When Uber first arrived in major cities from New York to London, it was met with a combination of excitement from a younger generation seeking cheap and smartphone-ready rides and outrage from the taxi industry, which foresaw ridesharing as a threat to its existence.
The company’s most visible advocates were often riders who, mobilized by social media, rallied to its defense and packed government meetings. The company’s playbook, however, was not without friction. In cities across the nation, as in Minneapolis, the company charged into markets — “illegally” in the words of then-City Council Member Frey — putting local governments on the defensive. Frey was the lead sponsor of Minneapolis’ current rideshare ordinance.
The current mobilization script harkens back to a campaign almost a decade ago to let Uber operate at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
In 2016, Uber assembled their drivers, clad in matching blue T-shirts, to protest the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s rules for ride-hail drivers to work the airport.
But the dynamic among drivers might be different today. While some drivers have recently begun publicly speaking out against the Minneapolis ordinance, it was a group of well-organized drivers who started the current campaign for wage minimums.
The rapid collapse of a Baltimore bridge that was struck by large cargo ship highlighted the importance that bridges play in the daily lives of many Americans.
Six construction workers who were on the bridge are presumed dead. The drivers of more than 30,000 vehicles that crossed the bridge daily must find a new route around or over the Patapsco River. And shipments at the Port of Baltimore will be shut down for some time, forcing numerous businesses to find alternative means of getting their goods in and out of the U.S.
Though the Interstate 895 bridge in Baltimore had been in satisfactory condition before the shipping collision, thousands of other bridges stand in poor shape across the U.S. due to aging piers, beams and key structural components.
Here are some takeaways from an Associated Press analysis of the more than 621,000 roadway bridges that are more than 20 feet long and are listed in the federal government’s National Bridge Inventory.
Thousands of poor bridges
Inspectors rate bridges using a 0-9 scale, with 7 or above considered ‘good.’ A ‘poor’ rating reflects a 4 or below on any portion of a bridge’s main components. A mid-range rating is considered ‘fair.’
About 42,400 U.S. bridges are in poor condition, carrying about 167 million vehicles each day, according to the federal government. Those poor bridges are on average 70 years old.
Of those poor bridges, four-fifths have problems with their substructures (the legs holding them up) or their superstructures (the arms supporting their load). And more than 15,800 of the poor bridges also were listed in poor shape a decade ago, according to AP’s analysis.
Iowa has the greatest number of poor bridges, followed by Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri.
Why do bridges collapse?
Though unusual, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was not the first bridge to fall down after being struck by a ship. From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, with a total of 342 people killed, according to a 2018 report from the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure. Eighteen of those collapses happened in the United States.
Though also rare, bad bridges can eventually just collapse.
In January 2022, a bridge collapsed over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh, causing injuries but no deaths to the occupants of several vehicles that were on it. Federal investigators determined the bridge’s steel legs had corroded, creating visible holes, yet inspectors failed to calculate the severity of the problem and the city failed to follow repeated recommendations.
‘This bridge didn’t collapse just by an act of God. It collapsed because of a lack of maintenance and repair,’ National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said.
A hit to the economy
When bridges close or collapse, there are financial consequences.
Thirteen people died and 145 others were injured when an Interstate 35 bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in 2007. A state analysis estimated Minnesota’s economy lost $60 million in 2007-08 due to increased travel time and operating costs for commuters and businesses.
Bridges in Providence, Rhode Island, and Tacoma, Washington, are currently closed because of safety concerns. Nearby businesses have taken a hit because motorists have diverted to other routes.
Marco Pacheco, who owns a liquor store along a main road in a Portuguese neighborhood of East Providence, said his business revenue is down 20% since the bridge closed late last year. But he’s even more concerned about the long-term consequences.
‘That traffic doesn’t instantly come back. Folks have reshaped their patterns, their thought processes and so on,’ Pacheco said.
Business owners in Washington shared similar concerns about the indefinite closure of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge in an industrial area near the Port of Tacoma. A nearby Interstate 5 bridge provides a good alternative, but that means many motorists zoom right past an exit ramp without thinking about the nearby businesses, such as a Harley-Davidson motorcycle store.
‘Is there a peril that exists?’ Harley-Davidson store owner Ed Wallace asked. ‘Yeah, absolutely, a very serious one for me as a business owner.’
Federal funding
A massive infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 directed $40 billion to bridges over five years – the largest dedicated bridge investment in decades. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that law already is funding more than 7,800 bridge projects.
But even that will make only a dent in an estimated $319 billion of needed bridge repairs nationwide, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.
‘The bottom line is that America’s bridges need a lot of work,’ Buttigieg told the AP after visiting the closed Rhode Island bridge. He added: ‘The sooner we can address those significant bridges, the less likely they will be abruptly taken out of service, or worse, experience the risk of a collapse.’
MINNEAPOLIS — WCCO has obtained documents that detail a conversation between the Hennepin County attorney, her staff and a use-of-force expert about his opinion on whether state trooper Ryan Londregan’s use of deadly force was reasonable when he shot and killed Ricky Cobb II.
Earlier this month, attorneys for Londregan accused Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, of ignoring the expert’s legal opinion, which led to the largest law enforcement association in the state to request Gov. Tim Walz hand over the case to the attorney general. A spokesperson for Moriarty’s office argued the defense “cherry-picked” information from the conversation, and that expert Jeff Noble’s opinion, at the time, was preliminary.
The two-page document summarizes the Oct. 13 meeting between Noble and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Noble said he was trying to determine if Londregan’s use of deadly force was reasonable at the moment he used it, and whether Londregan and trooper Brett Seide’s actions prior to the shooting were reckless and thus created an unreasonably dangerous situation which led Londregan to use deadly force.
The July 31 shooting was recorded on body camera video. Londregan, who faces charges including second-degree unintentional murder, pulled Cobb over on Interstate 94 around 2 a.m. for not having his tail light on. He, along with Seide and trooper Garrett Erickson, opened the doors to Cobb’s car and tried to pull him out. The video shows Cobb put his hand on the shift gear; Londregan shot him twice as he pulled away. Cobb died after a brief pursuit on the interstate.
Noble acknowledged the review was complicated because Londregan refused to provide a statement following the fatal shooting, so he did not know the reasoning behind Londregan’s actions.
“We do not know whether Trooper Londregan fired at Mr. Cobb because he feared for his safety or Seide’s safety or simply because he did not want Mr. Cobb to flee,” the document reads.
If Londregan shot Cobb to prevent him from fleeing, Noble said he would deem the use of deadly force unreasonable. But he said if Londregan shot Cobb because he feared for Seide’s safety, his opinion would change. Ultimately, Noble refrained from offering a final opinion.
During the meeting, Noble reviewed body camera footage with Moriarty, and noted that Cobb’s car was already moving forward when troopers entered the vehicle.
“If trooper Seide never entered Mr. Cobb’s vehicle, Trooper Londregan would not have been placed in the situation which prompted his use of deadly force,” the document states.
Though Noble said Seide should not have reached into the car, it did not necessarily make Londregan’s use of deadly force unreasonable. In the end, Noble asked for more time to review the case.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office filed charges against Londregan on Jan. 24. In addition to second-degree unintentional murder, he faces first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter — all felonies. Documents describe a phone call between HCAO staff and Noble on Jan. 26, in which they asked him to “hold off any further work on the case.” During a press conference, Moriarty said her office had identified a use-of-force expert to assist them with the investigation, but ended up not needing the help.
This comment drew complaints from law enforcement groups; even Walz questioned Moriarty’s decision.
“But as a layman on this, why would you not listen to use of force? Why would that not be central to something you do? And I will say if there are allegations at this time, release documents and let us know,” Walz said at the time.
Nearly four years after the murder of George Floyd by one of its police officers, the city of Minneapolis says it is drawing up a plan for the future of the intersection now referred to as George Floyd Square.
Construction around the area of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis isn’t expected to happen until after 2026, but by December 2024 the city is due to release a vision document defining key unanswered questions about the site. They include:
⋅Whether the city should play any future role in the square’s racial justice memorials, currently maintained by community volunteers.
⋅Who should own the People’s Way, a former Speedway gas station converted to a protest headquarters.
⋅How the street itself should be redesigned to better enable delivery of basic services to an area that has been intermittently closed to outside traffic.
Convening community members around a shared vision for George Floyd Square has been a lengthy and often uncomfortable process. Divergent opinions over public safety, unresolved trauma and mistrust of the city’s agenda permeated public engagement meetings last year.
“There’s obviously a lot of sensitivity around what level of involvement does the city have in a man that they murdered, right?” said project manager Alexander Kado of the Office of Public Service. “We want to understand how can the city support that process, how can we preserve spaces in the right-of-way, remembering that George Floyd was murdered in the right-of-way? How do we preserve those spaces with this design process so that they’re protected?”
Early steps
The city’s efforts at community engagement have unfolded slowly and deliberately, and resulted in a bundle of local values including community safety, social justice, economic vitality and design that promotes healing.
In 2023, the city purchased the People’s Way from a California real estate investment group after the burned body of a man was found inside the building. While some objected to the city taking ownership of an active protest site surrounded by community art, the city said buying the property was critical for liability and eventual redevelopment into something that benefits the area.
What kind of establishment the People’s Way could be and who would own it remains up in the air. City officials seek to gather input at a series of community conversations, including a dinner and dialogue attended by about 200 people Thursday evening at the Sabathani Community Center.
“It’s not all predetermined, because we want to use the information that we get from each session to actually dictate the next session,” said Anthony Taylor of the Cultural Wellness Center, who’s running engagement in 2024. “We have a structure, but it will also be organic and informed by the people participating in the process.”
This year, the city will be asking the public to decide what sort of memorials to Floyd and racial justice should be installed at the square permanently, and whether the city should play any part. Mayor Jacob Frey has committed to the premise that no traffic should ever cross the spot where Floyd took his last breath, but beyond that, everything regarding a future memorial is open-ended.
Meanwhile, the actual streets of 38th and Chicago, built in the 1950s, are in need of a refresh. Protestors’ closure of the intersection to transit in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder changed its function.
The city on Thursday proposed a range of options for a future redesign, including: Open access for all modes of transportation including cars; limited access for pedestrians, bikes, buses and emergency, maintenance and delivery vehicles only; or a pedestrian mall with access only for critical vehicles. The last option would require passage of a bill allowing cities across the state to convert streets to pedestrian malls, which has also been suggested for a potential makeover of downtown’s Nicollet Mall.
Community feedback
The purpose of Thursday’s dinner was to gather more input about community priorities for the square. Some attendees wanted to move faster.
“It’s been years since it occurred and I’ve been other places where George Floyd has been honored,” said business owner Audra Robinson. “I would challenge everyone to go to Freedom Park in Raleigh, N.C., to see a great example of what can happen. Who is responsible, where’s the committee and what is the planned date for something to be erected?”
Willie Frazier of Finish Touch Boutique, a longtime business owner based in George Floyd Square, also expressed his frustrations with how long the planning process has taken. “Do something!” he shouted. “I pay rent! Enough is enough … Y’all don’t know what’s going on over there.”
Others were glad they participated.
Linda Butlerattended the dinner with her granddaughter Renita Burrows and two teenage great-granddaughters. South Minneapolis was where Butler landed after leaving Chicago 20 years ago, and while she now lives in north Minneapolis, 38th and Chicago and the Sabathani Community Center remain close to her heart.
Asked to consider what she sees first when she enters George Floyd Square, Burrows said it feels a bit messy. But rounding the corner and glimpsing the mural by Peyton Scott Russell, she’s reminded of the beauty coexisting alongside lingering trauma.
Butler said going to the square takes her right back to the nine minutes of Floyd’s on-camera death, and the fear she felt in 2020 that her adopted diverse and progressive community of south Minneapolis wasn’t what she’d thought it was.
“Being at the square, what is seen is a spirit of unity, a spirit of community, a spirit of solidarity,” said Prince Corbett, the city’s new director of Race Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. “There’s also a spirit of desperation and there’s a spirit of sorrow. There’s a spirit of something … like the rose that grew up from the concrete, and that spirit’s there.”
A group of activist Uber and Lyft drivers on Friday announced a campaign to start a driver-owned rideshare co-op, with the goal of filling the void that would be left if the two rideshare giants make good on their vow to leave next month.
Myriad questions remain about whether the venture could actually be up and running — and at what scale — by May 1, the effective date of a Minneapolis driver-pay requirement that has prompted the companies to announce it won’t be worth their while to do business in the city. Uber has said it will cease operations in the entire seven-county metro area, while Lyft says it will pull out of Minneapolis proper.
Friday’s announcement — by the same group of activist drivers that pushed for the minimum-pay requirements for more than a year — is just one possibility in a parade of ventures flooding the Twin Cities since the two app-based companies announced they would leave. A number of those operations have said they would comply with Minneapolis’ new ordinance.
But the co-op endeavor has the blessing of the Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA), a group of drivers that’s won allies among the City Council members who overrode Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of the driver-pay ordinance, along with a number of legislators pushing for a statewide minimum pay law.
MULDA officials said Friday they’ll support any new rideshare operations that treat drivers fairly. But they held Friday’s news conference, peppered with applause from roughly two dozen drivers, to announce this particular effort.
The co-op plan carries at at least two other distinctions that could prove advantageous:
The idea is based on a 12,000-driver-strong co-op that has operated in New York City for three years. A co-founder of that organization — the Drivers Cooperative, which operates the Co-op Ride app — flew into town to pledge his support for the effort here.
Having no corporate shareholders, or lacking the air of a global capitalist venture, might endear the effort to those who have grown skeptical of Uber and Lyft, publicly traded companies that recently became profitable.
“It’s the beginning of a new era of justice in the rideshare industry,” MULDA President Eid Ali said, adding that the hope is for the co-op to eventually serve the entire state.
The effort has a long way to go and a lot of money to raise. Uber and Lyft each spend millions annually in state-mandated insurance alone. Erik Forman, a co-founder of the Drivers Cooperative, estimated that $200,000 would be needed to get a local co-op off the ground, “at a bare minimum.”
First, he said, the local market needs to demonstrate there’s an appetite. Forman and Ali sketched out a two-pronged campaign: get drivers and riders signed up, and gin up investors.
They urged prospective riders to download the New York-based Co-op Ride app and register with their Minnesota information. They also encouraged drivers to do the same with the Co-op Driver app; Forman said some 200 drivers had registered as of Friday afternoon. The more riders and drivers sign up, the more viable the endeavor will appear, they said.
What it takes
While rideshare companies face lower barriers to entry than taxi companies, they’re still regulated by state statutes and local codes in cities such as Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC).
Here are some of the requirements that startups face in order to handle a ride between Minneapolis and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the most common ride taken in the state.
Licenses: Obtaining a license to operate in Minneapolis will likely take a few weeks after an application has been submitted that meets all of the city’s requirements. Drivers also need to get a license from the MAC.
Insurance: In addition to each driver needing to carry insurance, state law requires a series of insurance policies for each driver that are purchased by the rideshare company. Topping the menu: $1.5 million in liability coverage.
Criminal background checks: Drivers must clear a criminal background check, paid for by the rideshare company using the driver.
Vehicle inspection: Every vehicle must be inspected for basic roadworthiness and safety.
Also attending Friday’s news conference was Mustafah Sheikh, who announced he hoped to locally launch his ride-hailing app, Hich, before May 1. Hich, which operates in some parts of Canada and Africa, is different from Hitch, a long-distance ride rideshare company.
Here are some of the other ventures that have indicated a desire to come to the Twin Cities: MOOV, MyWeels, Empower, Pikapp, Wridz, Revo and Teleport.
Don Samuels campaigned against Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar for just five months in 2022 and came closer to defeating her than any challenger before him. This year, Samuels says, he’ll get the job done with more time and money on his side.
Omar, who largely ignored Samuels’ candidacy two years ago, said she doesn’t think their rematch will be as close. The nationally known Minneapolis congresswoman said her attention was divided in the previous election as she tried to help other Democrats on the ballot. That won’t be the case this year, she said.
“We just have more resources set aside to be able to do what we have always done, which is to get the votes out, to get people energized, to be at every corner of the district,” Omar said in an interview. “2022 was an anomaly.”
The rematch between Omar and Samuels in August will likely be one of the most closely watched Democratic primary elections in the country. The winner will almost certainly be elected in November because the Fifth Congressional District, which covers Minneapolis and nearby suburbs, is reliably blue. For now, the two Democrats have their eyes on the district’s May 11 endorsing convention, where they will fight for their party’s endorsement.
Two lesser-known Democrats, Air Force veteran Tim Peterson and attorney Sarah Gad, are also in the race.
Samuels came close to defeating Omar two years ago after hammering the incumbent on the campaign trail for her support of the failed ballot measure that would have dismantled the Minneapolis Police Department. That issue might not be as salient this time around.
But Samuels, a Jamaican immigrant and former Minneapolis City Council member, said Omar remains a divisive figure within the district. He criticized her for not voting in Minnesota’s presidential primary election this month and making what he sees as mostly one-sided comments about the war in Gaza.
“She still has not found a position that includes the sensibilities of the Jewish community and the Muslim community. She is being perceived as picking a side,” Samuels said. “I’m going to be able to communicate a message of healing and of unity, and the desire to bring people together across the divides.”
Omar has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s government and an advocate for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. If the Fifth District primary comes down to that issue, Omar said, she’s confident in her chances. She said many of her constituents support a truce.
“I do believe that a majority of our voters, we’re on the right side with them,” she said.
Omar accused Samuels of seeking campaign cash from the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. The pro-Israel lobbying group and its allies has spent millions of dollars in previous election cycles. In 2022, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC spent $350,000 against Omar.
Joe Radinovich, who manages the Samuels campaign, said it has received no AIPAC money this cycle but is open to considering it. He and Samuels criticized Omar for fundraising off the issue.
“If Ilhan continues to announce that I have taken money from or am in collusion with AIPAC, it’s going to be very difficult to resist not taking [the group’s money] when in fact she’s raising money on that basis,” Samuels said.
AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann said in an email that the group is “currently evaluating races involving detractors of the US-Israel relationship.”
Omar raised about $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to her campaign finance report. Samuels raised about $355,000, though he did so the six weeks after launching his campaign in mid-November.
The Samuels campaign doesn’t expect to outraise the congresswoman but hopes to outwork her. Radinovich said the campaign has more organizers talking to voters than it did in the previous cycle. The campaign likely will air television ads later this spring.
Samuels has attended local precinct caucuses and state Senate district conventions to woo delegates before the May endorsing convention. If he can’t win the DFL endorsement, he said, he hopes to at least block Omar from getting it.
“If for the first time in her congressional career she didn’t run with the state party’s endorsement, it would send a significant message,” Radinovich said.
Omar was unfazed by the notion.
“They can try. They’re not going to be successful,” she said. “We have not lost an endorsement since I ran for Congress.”
Omar said she’s served her district well by securing federal funding for local projects and as an advocate for reproductive and voting rights.
“The issues that my opponent is running on are all the issues that I’ve been a champion on,” Omar said.
Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne backs Omar, saying she’s been attuned to her community’s needs and not beholden to corporate interests. He said he thinks her rematch against Samuels will not be as close with the police ballot measure further in the past.
“It was really hard to disentangle the local politics in Minneapolis” during the previous election, Payne said. “I honestly think it had a lot to do with that.”
But Omar’s critics fault her for more than her support of the failed policing ballot measure.
Todd Otis, a former state legislator and Minnesota DFL chair who lives in Minneapolis, said Omar hasn’t shown a willingness to consistently work across the aisle. Otis endorsed Samuels, saying the challenger has the right temperament to break through political polarization.
“He doesn’t have a closed fist. He has an open hand that wants to help,” Otis said. “I think the election, in a way, is about the spirit of the country, and I think Don embodies what we need more of.”
Single adults living in Minneapolis need to earn more than $90,000 annually to live comfortably, claims a survey by a financial planning firm. In St. Paul, they need to earn $87,000 a year to hit that mark.
That equates to an hourly pay of $44.98 in Minneapolis and $42.00 in Minnesota’s capital city — far larger than the median annual household income of $76,332 in Minneapolis and $69,919 in St. Paul, according to U.S. census data.
The SmartAsset study is based on the popular 50/30/20 budget. It says 50% of one’s salary should be devoted to needs like housing and food, 30% toward hobbies and wants and 20% to savings, investments or paying off debt.
Tyler Schipper, an associate economics professor at the University of St. Thomas, said the survey numbers are eye-popping, but also somewhat in the eye of the beholder.
“It seems like a lot comes down to what they mean by ‘comfortable,’” Schipper wrote in an email.
For two working adults with two children, the ‘comfortable’ salaries skyrocket to $261,914 in Minneapolis and $256,589 in St. Paul, according to the study.
MIT’s Living Wage Calculator looks at the costs of eight basic necessities that include childcare, civic engagement, food, health care, housing, transportation, internet and mobile to capture a region’s cost of living. SmartAsset methodology was to use its data as a baseline total wage, adding in 30% of the total in wants and 20% in savings or debt for individuals or families.
Until the the steadily rising costs of the essentials are addressed, the cost of living will keep ticking up for families in Minnesota and around the country, said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, an economic think tank.
The City of Minneapolis Public Works Department is constructing a new parallel storm tunnel, enlarging a portion of the existing storm tunnel, and constructing a new tunnel access in Downtown Minneapolis.
The new tunnel is being constructed parallel to the existing tunnel located under Washington Ave S between Nicollet Mall and Chicago Ave. The existing tunnel under Chicago Ave between Washington Ave S and the Mississippi River is being expanded to handle the increased stormwater capacity. The purpose of this project is to reduce pressure in the existing tunnel, provide more room for future growth, and to reduce the need for future repairs and tunnel failures.
Project Map
Latest Project News
Mississippi River Portal
Crews continue reconstruction of the storm tunnel outlet at the Mississippi River.
2nd Ave
Crews continue construction of a concrete liner for the new parallel storm tunnel under Washington Ave from the new tunnel access shaft in the southbound lanes of 2nd Ave S, just north of the Washington Ave intersection.
Portland Ave
Crews continue construction of a concrete liner for the new parallel storm tunnel under Washington Ave from the existing tunnel access shaft at the northeast corner of the Washington Ave and Portland Ave intersection.
* * * Barring any unforeseen issues, major work will be completed at the 2nd Ave and Portland Ave access shafts by mid-June. Traffic will be restored to its preconstruction condition. * * *
Schedule is tentative and subject to change due to weather and other unforeseen circumstances.
Lining progress
Crews continue to work on the concrete tunnel lining, pouring about 800 cubic yards of concrete in the last month. To date 14,300 cubic yards of concrete have been poured. As noted in the infographic above, this is over four times the volume of an Olympic swimming pool. This process is approximately 96% complete.
For weeks, arguments in the murder case against a Minnesota state trooper have hinged on what an independent use-of-force expert concluded about the officer’s actions — and why Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty chose to disregard those findings.
Defense attorneys for trooper Ryan Londregan insist that Moriarty’s handpicked expert, Jeffrey Noble, told prosecutors Londregan “committed no crime” when he shot and killed motorist Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop last summer.
But Noble never made such a legal determination, according to a document in the case.
A two-page report summarizing a virtual meeting between Noble and Moriarty’s senior staff on Oct. 13, 2023, reveals a more nuanced analysis from Noble.
He initially opined that a reasonable officer would have acted like Londregan did to protect his partner, who was being dragged as Cobb’s car lurched forward. “The danger was not hypothetical,” Noble observed.
However, the retired Irvine, Calif., deputy police chief hired by Moriarty’s office to consult during the charging review process asked for more time to review the case. He had not yet made his opinions formal in writing, according to the memo.
“Mr. Noble refrained from offering an ultimate opinion during the meeting on whether a reasonable officer would have believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm when Trooper Londregan shot Mr. Cobb,” the memo says.
The Star Tribune obtained a copy of the memo after Judge Tamara Garcia allowed pretrial exhibits to be made public, per a request from KARE 11, who first reported the memo.
The memo, prepared by Moriarty’s staff, says that Noble’s primary focus would be whether Londregan’s use of deadly force was reasonable in the moment, and whether his actions prior to the shooting were “reckless such that they created an unreasonable danger” resulting in deadly force.
Noble offered to discuss some “preliminary impressions” with Moriarty and six members of her senior staff based on his examination of some investigative materials, such as videos, photos and State Patrol policy and training guides. He did not yet have transcripts from the investigative grand jury, because Moriarty convened it in December.
She announced that an expert opinion was critical to making her charging decision. But she stopped working with Noble and charged Londregan with second-degree murder, manslaughter and first-degree assault. She said her office was “able to determine charges were appropriate without” the use of an expert.
Here are some takeaways from the memo.
On the use of deadly force:
Noble said interpreting the reasonableness of Londregan’s actions would be complicated because the trooper refused to provide a statement. So he doesn’t know for certain why he fired at Cobb.
If the trooper fired to prevent Cobb from fleeing, Noble would deem the use of deadly force to be unreasonable. But if he fired out of fear for his partner Trooper Brett Seide’s safety, “a reasonable officer in Trooper Londregan’s position would have perceived that Trooper Seide was in danger of great bodily harm, specifically from being dragged by the vehicle as is continued to accelerate.”
He was asked about potential alternatives, such as doing nothing or encouraging Seide to exit the car, and whether the use of deadly force was “necessary” at the time it was used. Noble “acknowledged that the word ‘necessary’ is complicated and tricky, and it is unclear what state legislatures mean when they include it in their use-of-deadly-force statutes.”
The summary notes say Noble “could not offer an opinion on what ‘necessary’ means” under the state’s new statute.
On troopers’ danger:
Noble told prosecutors that he thought it was a “bad idea” for Seide to reach into the vehicle. Yet, even if Seide’s actions were unreasonable, that does not necessarily make Londregan’s use of deadly force unreasonable.
“Trooper Londregan still was authorized to reasonably respond to the danger to Trooper Seide,” Noble said, according to the memo.
“Mr. Noble offered that Trooper Londregan’s decision to shoot so close to his partner was ‘not the best decision,’ but, since he did not injure Trooper Seide, that is ‘not an important issue in the case.’”
Reactions to memo:
Even before the report became public, it escalated tensions between the defense and prosecutors, with both parties seizing on various parts of the document.
Londregan’s supporters launched an aggressive media campaign asserting that Moriarty’s office fired Noble because his opinion did not support their theory that the trooper acted criminally. Moriarty’s office countered that defense attorneys “cherry picked” quotes from the memo and excluded “critical facts where the expert acknowledged information he would need to fully analyze the case.”
Subsequent filings — including one alleging that the State Patrol’s own use-of-force trainer said Londregan didn’t violate policy — raised the pressure.
Cobb’s family released a statement last week, telling Walz “to put justice before politics and let County Attorney Moriarty bring this prosecution without any further interference.”
Theracial justice organization Color Of Change accused the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, a trade group whose legal defense fund is paying Londregan’s attorneys, of misinforming the public and lawmakers. “[MPPOA] sold these lies to Gov. Walz, and now Moriarty is facing the repercussions of this misinformation,” said Michael Collins, senior director of state and local government affairs for Color of Change.
Londregan’s attorney, Chris Madel, told the Star Tribune in a text message Friday that Noble’s statements satisfied the use-of-force statute by acknowledging that his conduct was “reasonable” — even if he never actually used the word “justified” to describe Londregan’s actions.
“You don’t have to use the word ‘justified’ to come to same conclusion,” Madel said.
YWCA Minneapolis is selling its longtime Uptown fitness facility and pool to a nonprofit that will convert the space into a workforce development and job training hub.
The 80,000-square-foot building, which has housed the YWCA programs for nearly 40 years, will be sold for $4.25 million to Tending the Soil, a coalition of nonprofits and unions led by Black, Indigenous and people of color .
“We are very excited. We have big dreams,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos MN, one of the nonprofits with Tending the Soil. “There’s an opportunity to again bring more vibrancy to the corridor.”
She said the organizations have been planning a workforce development center for years, but the initiative took on more urgency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sale of the Uptown facility, which is near W. Lake Street and includes an 185-spot parking ramp, is expected to close at the end of June.
The YWCA shocked the community last summer with news that it would close its Uptown and downtown fitness centers and pools Nov. 1. Both buildings are in high-profile corridors of the city: one on Nicollet Mall downtown since 1929 and the second in Uptown on Hennepin Avenue since 1987.
This month, the YWCA announced it was selling its downtown building to St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development, a Minnetonka nonprofit that provides mental health and autism services to children. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed by either nonprofit.
The YWCA still operates in a building in Midtown, but after closing the other two facilities, the organization laid off 45 employees — about 13% of its workforce.
The closings also meant about 300 swimmers in the YWCA’s Otters and Masters swim teams had to find new swimming clubs, including at South High School and Southwest High School.
Like other nonprofits struggling financially after the COVID-19 pandemic, YWCA leaders said they faced membership declines, staffing shortages and rising expenses, and decided to move away from health and fitness to focus on child care, racial equity and youth programs.
The YWCA said it received four written offers for the Uptown facility. Gonzalez Avalos said the organizations met with neighbors who were relieved to hear the building wouldn’t be torn down and replaced with more high-rise condos or apartments, and will bring “new life” to an area with many vacant storefronts.
“They’re very excited,” she said. “This is going to create opportunities.”
Gonzalez Avalos said the organizations will renovate and reopen the building as soon as later this year as the Rise Up Center. She said the center will focus on creating jobs in the green building and clean energy fields.
The location is ideal, Gonzalez Avalos said, because it has plenty of space for growing programs and is near a transit line.
YWCA CEO Shelley Carthen Watson said in a statement that the Hennepin Avenue building has long been a community asset — first as West High School, which opened in 1908, then as a YWCA. Now, she said, it will re-emerge as a nonprofit that “echoes our mission to eliminate racism, empower women and girls; and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.”
Rise Up Center
Tending the Soil was formed in 2018 by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha, Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia, New Justice Project, SEIU Local 26 and Unidos MN.
“We hear from the unions that they are eager to diversify their ranks. We hear from developers that are eager to diversify their employee pool,” Gonzalez Avalos said. “This is definitely a cutting-edge program.”
The building will also house administrative offices for Unidos MN, SEIU Local 26, Tending the Soil and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663, and provide a public gathering space, classrooms and a first-of-its-kind worker cooperative for immigrants who are union members in the construction industry.
“This is a multisector workforce development program in partnership with unions and organizations deeply rooted in community, and I think that’s what makes this very unique,” Gonzalez Avalos said. “I believe this is going to be a national model.”
The Philadelphia Union look to ride the momentum of their first win of the season into Saturday afternoon’s encounter against fellow unbeaten side Minnesota United in Chester, Pa.
Julian Carranza scored two goals to pace the Union (1-0-3, 6 points) to a 3-1 victory over the Portland Timbers last Saturday. Homegrown midfielder Quinn Sullivan also tallied and backup goalkeeper Oliver Semmle made seven saves for Philadelphia, which had little room for error with six starters on international duty.
“Four games, we want more wins, of course, but we haven’t been beaten yet,” Union coach Jim Curtin said. “Now we get to go home after playing three out of four league games on the road. We’re pretty good there.”
While Philadelphia has played to a draw in its lone home match this season, it posted a 10-1-6 record last season on home turf.
Minnesota (3-0-1, 10 points) totaled five goals to win its first two road encounters before recording a 2-0 victory at home over Los Angeles FC in its last match on March 16. Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Robin Lod each scored a goal to join Teemu Pukki with a team-leading two tallies on the season.
The Loons went into their bye by savoring the flavor of presenting coach Eric Ramsay his first victory with the team. The former Manchester United assistant remained in England for the opening three matches of 2024 while awaiting his work visa.
“You want him to start off on the right foot,” Loons veteran defender Michael Boxall said of Ramsay, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You want to win it for him, as opposed to just another game at home that we expect to win with the energy we have. Everyone stuck to their jobs.”
Hlongwane scored two goals in the Loons’ last meeting with the Union in a U.S. Open Cup match on May 9 last year. The teams played to a 3-3 finish before Minnesota won 7-6 on penalty kicks.
The former manager of Lakewood Cemetery’s crematorium has pleaded guilty to theft for selling medical detritus left after cremations.
Timothy Flanigan netted $306,500 by selling the remnants to metal recyclers from 2016 to 2021. Flanigan considered scorched metal joints and the like as trash.
But Lakewood, a landmark cemetery in south Minneapolis, regarded the metal as stolen property, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office agreed, charging Flanigan with theft by swindle in May.
Flanigan pleaded guilty to that charge earlier this month before Hennepin County District Judge Marta Chou. Under his plea agreement, Flanigan, 67, will avoid prison. His 42-month sentence will be stayed while he is on probation for five years, a court document said.
The agreement calls for Flanigan to complete 2,080 hours of community service. He also will be responsible for restitution of the $306,500 and payment of $90,178 in Lakewood’s attorney fees, according to a court document. Sentencing is set for early May.
Flanigan began working at Lakewood in 1984. He ran its crematorium for several years until retiring in 2021 and moving to Texas.
During the cremation process, ashes are run past magnets and through sieves to remove metal or other nonorganic material. At Lakewood, this waste was long tossed into a dumpster. In 2016, Flanigan began selling metal debris to refiners, keeping the proceeds.
Such recycling has become commonplace in the last decade with the rising number of cremations. Crematoria most often give recycling proceeds to charity, though they can keep the money.
Lakewood had no formal policy on the matter when Flanigan worked there.
Chou wrote in a November order that Flanigan told Lakewood employees that he would donate the money from metal sales to charity.
At his March 5 plea hearing, Flanigan acknowledged that he would “deflect, lie or lie through omission” to Lakewood employees about proceeds from metal sales.
Last fall, Flanigan lost a bid to dismiss the theft charge for lack of probable cause, noting that taking trash is not illegal.
Lakewood said in a civil court filing that it did not uncover Flanigan’s illicit sales until after he retired.
Since then, Lakewood has adopted a formal policy on medical debris recycling. The nonprofit cemetery association says it donates recycling income to charitable organizations that serve people who have experienced tragic losses.
SHERBURNE COUNTY, Minn. — A 42-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the abduction of his young son and a subsequent standoff with police last summer in central Minnesota.
According to court documents filed Thursday in Sherburne County, Scott Henrikson entered a guilty plea to kidnapping and domestic abuse no contact order charges in the July 29 incident. As part of his plea agreement, charges of theft of a motor vehicle and domestic assault will be dropped.
According to the criminal complaint, a woman told police that Henrikson punched her in the stomach while she was driving with their 2-year-old son in Becker on July 29. She says the boy started to scream, and Henrikson then hit the boy’s legs.
The woman, who has sole custody of the boy, stopped the vehicle and got out to get help. Henrikson then got into the driver’s seat and sped off on Highway 10 with the boy, leading to an AMBER Alert.
In the early morning hours of July 30, law enforcement were called to a home in Baxter on a tip that Henrikson and the boy were barricaded inside a garage. When officers arrived, they looked into the garage and saw Henrikson inside the vehicle.
Police say Henrikson ignored the commands of law enforcement to come out. A perimeter was then set up around the neighborhood and the garage was surrounded.
After a lengthy standoff, the Crow Wing County tactical response team entered the garage and rescued the boy. Henrickson was also taken into custody.
Henrikson had active arrest warrants out for him at the time of the standoff. His criminal history includes a domestic assault conviction from 2022.
According to the plea agreement, Henrikson agreed to a sentence of 70 months, nearly six years, in prison. He will also need to register as a predatory offender. His official sentencing is scheduled for April 25.
Cole Premo is a web producer at WCCO.com. For more than a decade, he’s been covering breaking news and weather, daily topics, stories from the Native community and more in Minnesota.
To keep your spending in check, adopt smart shopping strategies both in stores and online. Despite the rising cost of living, it’s possible to stretch your budget further. You can maintain your lifestyle while building your savings, Offermate can just help you with that.
This means actively avoiding unnecessary purchases and ensuring that what you buy is more of an investment than a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Key Takeaways
Cut unnecessary expenses.
Use lists and coupons, and buy in bulk.
Brew coffee, and use cash-back cards.
Have clear, realistic savings targets.
Choose no-fee banking options.
11 Tips For Your Budget
1. Look at Your Spending
Check where your money goes each month. Can you find areas to cut back? For instance, if you’re buying lunch outside every day, think about reducing it to a few times a week.
Making small changes like this can help you save money in your budget.
2. Prepare a Shopping List
To avoid overspending on things you don’t need, create a shopping list before you go out.
This keeps you on track to buy only what you need, helping to prevent impulse buys.
3. Check Prices Before Buying
Always compare prices before making a purchase.
You might discover the same item is cheaper elsewhere or find a less expensive alternative to what you originally planned to buy.
4. Use Your Coupons
Start by collecting coupons from different places to make sure you’re getting the best deals out there. Look in local newspapers, store newsletters, and websites for the latest discounts.
Concentrate on getting coupons for things you already buy to avoid spending money on items you don’t need, just because they’re on sale dude.
5. Cut Back on Non-Essential Spending
Everyone has essential expenses such as food and housing. We often spend money on things we don’t need, like frequent meals out or new clothes when our closets are already full.
By reducing these types of expenditures, you can save a significant amount of money.
6. Set Your Savings Goals
It’s important to establish clear financial goals for each month. This approach turns budgeting into a goal-oriented process, whether it’s accumulating an emergency fund or saving for a big purchase.
By applying the S.M.A.R.T. criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—to your financial objectives, you create a practical plan that not only keeps you focused but also motivated to save.
7. Distribute Your Income Wisely
Once you’ve set your savings goals, the next step is to organize your monthly income to cover all your expenses while still meeting your savings targets. The 50/30/20 budgeting rule is a useful framework here, dividing your income between needs, wants, and savings or debt repayment.
Always prioritize essential expenses first. After that, you can allot money for personal desires and then set aside funds for savings and paying off any debts. Regularly adjusting how you allocate your money is crucial for dealing with financial shifts and keeping your savings strategy on track.
8. Take Advantage of Seasonal and Bulk Purchases
Buying fruits and vegetables when they’re in season can save you money and provide better-tasting produce. Check local seasonal guides to plan your meals around what’s currently abundant.
Also, buying items in bulk, especially those that don’t spoil quickly or things you use often, can significantly reduce your expenses. Remember to compare prices by the unit to make sure you’re getting a good deal. Keep an eye out for coupons and discounts to stretch your grocery budget even further.
9. Make Coffee at Home
Spending $2.50 to $4 daily on coffee from a cafe can add up to $625 to $1,000 a year. This calculation doesn’t even cover more expensive drinks like lattes. However, purchasing a pound of quality coffee for about $15, which makes at least 30 cups, reduces your cost significantly.
By brewing your coffee at home, your annual expense drops to roughly $125. This change can save you between $500 to $875 yearly, and over $45,000 across a lifetime, not a small amount huh?
10. Use a Cash-Back Credit Card for Everything
Take full advantage of credit cards that offer cash-back rewards by using them for all possible everyday expenses: groceries, fuel, bills, dining out, and anything else you regularly pay for. Just ensure you pay off the entire balance each month to avoid interest charges, which can negate the benefits of any rewards earned.
Take a closer look at your bank account statements and you might be shocked by the fees you’re paying for some stuff.
To cut down on these fees, use only ATMs that don’t charge you, make sure you have enough money in your account to cover checks to avoid overdraft fees, and use credit cards or free peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo instead of withdrawing cash.
If you’re still getting hit with high fees, think about switching banks. If your current bank isn’t helping you lower your fees, an online bank could be a good alternative. They usually don’t charge monthly maintenance fees or require a minimum balance, and they often offer higher interest rates on savings and CDs.
Community banks and credit unions can be another option too. They offer many of the same benefits as online banks, like lower fees and higher interest rates, with the bonus of in-person service.
Bottom Line
In short, smart money management is all about simple steps and smart choices. Keeping an eye on your daily expenses, shopping with a plan, and leveraging financial tools like cash-back credit cards can boost your savings.
Small habits, like making coffee at home, can lead to big savings over time. Set clear goals, minimize fees, and remember, every little bit helps. Stick with it, and you’ll see your savings pile up. It’s rewarding to watch your financial savvy pay off, so let’s get started on this journey together!
The Minnesota Twins began their defense of their American League Central crown behind a strong start by Pablo Lopez, topping the host Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Thursday.
After surrendering a leadoff home run to Maikel Garcia, Lopez shut out the Royals while scattering four hits over seven innings, striking out seven. Lopez needed just 84 pitches to complete seven innings.
The Twins jumped to an early lead in the first inning as Royce Lewis hit a two-out, two-strike solo homer, a 423-foot shot to left-center.
Garcia answered with a homer into the left-field bullpen in the bottom half of the frame.
Minnesota took a 2-1 lead on Carlos Correa’s two-out RBI double in the third. Lewis pulled up lame at third base on the play and left the game with a right quad injury. He was replaced by Edouard Julien.
Correa had three hits and drove in two while reaching base four times, marking 21 consecutive games reaching in games at Kauffman Stadium, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Twins expanded their lead with a pair of ninth-inning runs, on Chris Stratton’s wild pitch and Correa’s RBI infield hit.
Griffin Jax struck out one and walked one in a scoreless ninth to earn his sixth career save.
Cole Ragans finished six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks, setting a Royals Opening Day record with nine strikeouts.
Working primarily with a four-seam fastball, Ragans got ahead of batters, throwing first-pitch strikes to the first 11 hitters and 19 of 26 overall.
Kansas City hitters managed two singles over the final six innings.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating a shooting that injured one person Thursday afternoon in the Stevens Square neighborhood.
Officers with the Minneapolis Police Department’s fifth precinct were called to the 1800 block of Nicollet Avenue just before 4 p.m. on reports of a shooting, according to MPD.
Upon arrival, officers found a 44-year-old woman with an apparent gunshot wound that was not life-threatening. Police say she was transported to Hennepin Healthcare for treatment.
WCCO
No one has been arrested and MPD says it is working to determine what led to the shooting.
The Minnesota Department of Education on Thursday reported a slight slip in the state’s graduation rates, but two districts — Minneapolis and St. Paul — said hundreds of summer graduates were missing.
In the end, both districts still saw declines in their respective graduation rates. But the episode highlighted what some officials and advocates have been saying: Minnesota needs to get its student data in order.
At issue was a pool of students classified by the state as “unknown” — meaning it was unclear where they went after they left a district for another school or their files had been entered incorrectly.
This came into play on Thursday when the state deemed the absence of kids from school district records to be significant enough to lower the state’s overall graduation rate.
“The small decrease in the total graduation rate is driven in part by a 0.4 percentage point increase in the ‘unknown rate,’” Education Commissioner Willie Jett told reporters Thursday. “This reemphasizes the need for schools to keep track of and report every single student during their high school career.”
The state’s data indicated there were just over 3,000 “unknown” students last year, which was about 277 students higher than the year before. But Minneapolis and St. Paul told the Star Tribune that between the two districts there were 262 students misclassified as unknown due to reporting errors on their part.
Michael Diedrich, a policy specialist for the state Department of Education, said common ways for students to be classified as unknown are when they do not return to school after summer as planned, or leave midyear with the intention of going to another district but don’t show up anywhere else in the state.
In some cases, he said, they may have moved to another state or country or switched to a private school or are being homeschooled. Without confirmation, they are classified as “unknown.” That’s different from students who are identified as dropouts because they made clear they are gone for good.
St. Paul Public Schools said Thursday that the percentage of its students whose enrollment was unknown rose from 7% in 2022 to 13% in 2023. It since has confirmed that 128 of those students, or 37%, went on to graduate during the summer of 2023, but were not part of the official graduation rate count.
Spokeswoman Erica Wacker said that the district had uploaded its summer graduation data, but that the numbers didn’t make it to MDE due to a “technical error.”
Also Thursday, Minneapolis Public Schools reported via email that 134 of its students who were coded by MDE as “unknown” also graduated during the summer.
“We will be changing our internal processes to prevent this from happening again,” district spokeswoman Donnie Belcher said.
But while the two school systems stepped forward Thursday with new numbers, the state said there’d be no quick recalculations or revisions on its part.
“The Minnesota Department of Education reports data from school districts submitted by the annual deadline. That data includes summer school graduates, if reported,” spokesman Kevin Burns said in a statement. “As corrected data about summer graduates or other cases of incorrect student records are submitted, the future five-, six- and seven-year rates will reflect the updated information.”
The Star Tribune does not know if other school districts had similar reporting errors.
Difficulties tracking students
Challenges related to maintaining up-to-date student data have been cited, too, in the recent push at the State Capitol to resolve school attendance concerns in the post-pandemic era.
More than 30% of the state’s students were chronically absent in 2021-22, meaning they missed 10% or more of the school year. That’s double the chronic absenteeism rate pre-pandemic.
Efforts are underway to establish a legislative work group to tackle chronic student absenteeism, and its duties could include a review of the type of attendance data now available plus a look at “how truant students are tracked across county lines,” the proposed legislation states.
“We think this is a good step because it will allow for a much deeper and comprehensive dive into the issue than what a regular legislative session can do,” Matt Shaver,policy director for EdAllies, an advocacy group working closely with underserved communities, wrote in an email this week.
Staff writer Mara Klecker contributed to this report.
In a fever-dream phase of the pandemic, commercial real estate broker Mike Marinovich used electrical tape to draw out three pickleball courts on the sprawling second floor of his vacant downtown Minneapolis office building.
The space at 1200 Washington Av. S. had just been vacated by a supercomputing center, and Marinovich was having no luck finding a new tenant as COVID still raged. He’d get takeout and invite friends to play. Everybody was wearing N95 masks and scrambling around on the blazing white, non-conductive data center tile, balls bouncing off the computers. It was all very “apocalyptic,” his wife, Kristen Marinovich, recalls, but it was how they dealt with the loneliness.
Nearly four years later, Marinovich’s makeshift gathering spot has been transformed into a permanent recreation destination — the seven-court Minneapolis Pickleball Club. With more people working from home and building owners struggling to fill central business district buildings, Marinovich said it’s a move that’s both helping to bring people back downtown — and stabilizing his business.
“I’ve been in the commercial real estate and office market for almost 40 years and I’ve never seen it like this before,” he said. “People aren’t getting back into the office and employers aren’t asking them to, so we pivoted, and the reception has been phenomenal.”
Interest in the Minneapolis Pickleball Club, which shares the building with tenants that include the University of Minnesota’s Advanced Research and Diagnostics Laboratory, has exceeded expectations. The club has signed up about 280 members in three months, including sporty senior residents of nearby condos, downtown workers and suburbanites easing their way back into the city.
One Wednesday, Jerry Baack, the CEO of Bridgewater Bank, reserved the whole club for his employees and longtime clients. They practiced their curve shots and a cracked a case of beer; the club is BYOB. Anytime they can get out of the office and team-build is good for business, Baack said, but when it comes to pickleball, there’s not nearly enough court time to be had for everyone.
Filling vacancies
In 2021, the Minnesota health club chain Life Time crawled out from under a series of existential shutdowns with pickleball in mind. Its Target Center location made the controversial choice to convert one of its basketball gyms into three pickleball courts. The basketball players were skeptical, but the pickleballers were thrilled. The Minneapolis Park Board didn’t have many facilities at the time, and when it came to indoor options for winter play, downtown had none.
The pickleball courts are main stage at Life Time Target Center, surrounded by a walking track and populated by enthusiastic players of all ages. Last summer when the city put on Warehouse District Live, weekend street festivals aimed at inviting positive activity back downtown, Life Time hosted pickleball in Butler Square. The company wanted to show that the suburbs’ monopoly on pickleball is over, said manager Brian Opatz.
“I really am very intentionally trying to build a community and have people get to know each other, establish friendships and have more than just a casual passing relationship,” said Kris Miner, the certified pro running the pickleball program at Life Time Target Center. “It’s a very exciting time. A lot of people are very excited to have those facilities within walking distance of all the businesses downtown.”
The chain now has 660 permanent pickleball courts nationwide, including 69 in Minnesota.
At 825 LaSalle Av., Ben Krsnak of Hempel Real Estate is constructing a pickleball court in the former Rock Bottom Brewery, which left downtown Minneapolis in 2022. The ceilings are just high enough and the columns far enough apart to make it work.
The court is part of LaSalle Plaza’s amenity makeover, which will ultimately include an infrared sauna, roof deck with grills and new slate of conference rooms.
“We wanted something that would have broad appeal,” Krsnak said. “The more we can have a total solution for our prospective clients, the better position we’re going to be in.”
Bringing people back
Since Mark Brabec retired, he hasn’t had many reasons to drive to Minneapolis. One of his daughters had been subletting an apartment in northeast Minneapolis when civil unrest broke out, and he persuaded her to move home to Excelsior. But since the Minneapolis Pickleball Club opened in December, Brabec and his friends started hanging out downtown again, dining at EaTo and Kindee Thai, and looking forward to exploring more.
“We’ve probably done as much in the last three months as we have in the last three years,” Brabec said.
Libby Simones downsized into downtown Minneapolis a few years before the pandemic interrupted her plans for a carefree retirement. Now she feels her downtown social life is back, thanks in large part to her WhatsApp group of about 80 women pickleball players from across the metro.
“Honestly, to the person, there is no one that doesn’t think that it is a superior playing environment at Minneapolis Pickleball Club,” said Simones, referring to the no-glare lighting, gentle acoustics, and willingness of the Marinovich family to make adjustments based on feedback. “They’re very open and receptive and friendly, and the feeling of our entire big group is that they’re just wonderful to deal with.”
Marinovich’s stepson Miles Harmening, a California college student who built the club’s business model and plans to return to Minneapolis after graduation to help run it, credits its popularity to passionate founding members who peppered local condo bulletin boards with flyers and helped create the logo.
“That’s kind of the backbone of the pickleball community,” he said. “The second part is people really get super excited for any new facility, and I think everyone really wants it to work.”
Staff writer Jim Buchta contributed to this report.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale, majority owner Glen Taylor said Thursday.
Taylor confirmed the expiration of the option of retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez and former Walmart eCommerce CEO Marc Lore to acquire controlling interest of the NBA’s Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx.
Rodriguez and Lore exercised their option to buy another 40 percent of the teams in December, opening a 90-day window to close the deal. That window shut on Wednesday.
“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” Taylor said in a statement. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”
Lore and Rodriguez would have taken over controlling interest in the clubs had the agreement been finalized.
The deal was thrown into question last week when the financial backer of Rodriguez and Lore, the Carlyle Group, couldn’t reach agreement regarding requirements for those investing in the NBA with the pair, The Athletic reported.
One day later, Rodriguez and Lore appeared to have obtained financing from another group and filed paperwork with the NBA to complete the deal.
Rodriguez and Lore had made two purchases, each of a 20 percent stake in the teams, dating back to 2021 as part of a gradual move toward gaining control of the Minnesota franchises.
