Minnesota
- www.mprnews.org As concerns grow, more aging dams are replaced with rock rapids to let rivers flow
In about 75 Minnesota locations, old dams have been removed and replaced with staircase-like rapids designed to allow the river to flow more freely and to avoid costly dam repairs — or worse, a collapse.
>In about 75 Minnesota locations, old dams have been removed and replaced with staircase-like rapids designed to allow the river to flow more freely and to avoid costly dam repairs — or worse, a collapse.
- m.startribune.com New Minnesota laws in effect July 1.
From education funding to delivery fees, here's what you need to know about the laws newly in effect.
Several laws passed in the 2024 legislative session took effect Monday, establishing new policies and funding sources for education, economic development and the environment.
- www.mprnews.org Minnesota judge is reprimanded for stripping voting rights from people with felonies
A state oversight board has reprimanded a Minnesota judge who declared unconstitutional a new state law restoring voting rights for people with felonies.
The law, which took effect last year, says people with felony convictions regain the right to vote after they have completed any prison term.
Quinn ruled the law was unconstitutional in a pair of orders in which he sentenced two offenders to probation, but warned them they were not eligible to vote or to register to vote — even though the law says they were. It was an unusual step because nobody involved in those cases ever asked him to rule on the constitutionality of the law.
- Minnesota workers: there have been worker-friendly updates to Earned Sick and Safe Timewww.dli.mn.gov New earned sick and safe time law changes | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
The earned sick and safe time (ESST) law was recently updated to clarify who qualifies for ESST, the rate at which ESST must be paid, ESST application to other paid time off and more. Below is an overview of some of those changes. Note: Most of these changes are effective as of May 25, 2024.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16997964
> [PSA] Minnesota workers: there have been worker-friendly updates to Earned Sick and Safe Time > > The new bill primarily clarifies rules that were a bit vague, but it also has new changes that will substantially improve life-work balance. > > * ESST can be used in at least 15 minute increments and cannot be required to use more than four-hour increments > * Qualifying workers were expanded to people hired with an expectation of working 80 hours in a year, rather than actual hours worked. Some jobs still exempted > * ESST usage has expanded to bereavement > * ESST rules for use are expanded to all paid time off > * Employers that do not provide ESST must pay the worker for twice the amount they were supposed to get in ESST
- Tarantula, assault charges fly in Hennepin County [Minnesota] Board race | Political hopeful Marisa Simonetti seems to think buying and deploying a tarantula is how adults settle disputes.www.startribune.com Brooks: Tarantula and assault charges fly in Hennepin County Board race
Political hopeful Marisa Simonetti seems to think buying and deploying a tarantula is how adults settle disputes.
Yes, she's the Republican candidate for this position.
- sahanjournal.com Minnesota activists say state prioritizes industry over public health, environment Minnesota activists say state prioritizes industry over environment
People Not Polluters, a coalition of Minnesota environmental groups, issued a declaration alleging that Governor Tim Walz’s administration favors industry over the public.
A host of Minnesota environmental groups are calling out state agencies tasked with protecting public health and natural resources, alleging that regulators consistently cater to industrial interests.
People Not Polluters, a 16-member coalition, issued a June 11 declaration taking on Minnesota agencies. Citing examples from the Line 3 oil pipeline in northern Minnesota, to agriculture feedlots in the southeast and industrial sites like Smith Foundry in Minneapolis, People Not Polluters makes the case that Governor Tim Walz’s administration favors industry over the public.
“We see a pattern of polluting industries having undue influence over state agencies that are charged with protecting human health and the environment,” said Margaret Levin, state director of the Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter.
- www.mprnews.org How Minnesota has led the way for rural community pride events despite pushback
Itasca Pride in Grand Rapids will be hosting its first ever pride event this weekend. A vocal minority has voiced opposition, but pride organizers say that isn’t new and they hope to provide representation for rural queer Minnesotans.
Many rural pride events in Minnesota have at some point faced pushback, or even threats. Over the weekend Cook County Pride in Grand Marais received a bomb threat.
Meanwhile, Itasca Pride in Grand Rapids is also facing pushback as they get ready for their first ever celebration this weekend. But despite that, rural pride events are still successful in Minnesota.
East Central Pride in Pine City, claims to be the first rural pride in the country, and celebrated with its 19th annual event at the beginning of June.
For the first two years of East Central Pride, chair Aaron Bombard said they more or less flew under the radar. Then in the third year, the community realized it was here to stay and there was some opposition.
“They had a pro-family picnic where they had Christian music groups kind of trying to oppose us,” Bombard said. “I kind of laugh at the idea — as if LGBT pride is not pro-family.”
- GOP-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate mistakes drinking fountains for crime in map mix-upminnesotareformer.com GOP-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate mistakes drinking fountains for crime in map mix-up • Minnesota Reformer
On Tuesday evening Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis…Out of control. Come on now. Refund the police! #Godspeed” The sentiment was standard fare for a political part...
On Tuesday evening Royce White, the Minnesota GOP-endorsed candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, posted a map to Twitter, now X, with the following caption: “Crime in Minneapolis…Out of control. Come on now. Refund the police! #Godspeed”
The sentiment was standard fare for a political party that often seeks to make crime a centerpiece of its election campaigns.
The map, on the other hand, didn’t show crime at all, but rather the locations of 195 public drinking fountains in the city.
It’s the latest in a long line of embarrassments for a candidate who has himself pled guilty to theft and disorderly conduct, endorsed conspiracy theories, denigrated women and LGBTQ people, described himself as an “antisemite,” fallen behind on child support, and played fast-and-loose with campaign finance laws.
- Website for Minnesota's $1,500 e-bike rebate crashes on first day (Launch postponed)
The MN Department of Revenue just announced the application won't be available today, BMTN hasn't updated their article as of the time I'm posting this. I've been hitting F5 for almost three hours, I'm going to go take a nap.
- www.nbcnews.com Juror says someone left her bag with $120,000 cash and promise of more if she’ll acquit
She was serving on a case involving seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.
- www.mprnews.org Walz, Moriarty exchange harsh criticisms of each other over dismissed criminal case
The governor and the chief prosecutor of the state’s largest county exchanged harsh criticisms of one another over how they handled the now-dismissed case against a state trooper in the fatal shooting of a Black motorist in 2023.
- www.mprnews.org Former 3M scientist talks PFAS contamination, decades-long corporate cover-up
The “forever chemicals” were developed then dumped by corporate giant 3M over several decades in the Twin Cities suburbs.
Former 3M scientist Kris Hansen was among the first to discover how widespread PFAS contamination in humans was in the late 1990s — and the company continually disputed her results, ultimately sidelining her from PFAS research altogether, she said.
Extensive reporting from ProPublica dug into the decades-long cover-up. Now an environmental consultant, Hansen joined MPR News Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer to tell her story and share more about her research in light of the article.
- arstechnica.com Another US state repeals law that protected ISPs from municipal competition
With Minnesota repeal, number of states restricting public broadband falls to 16.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15794937
> ## With Minnesota repeal, number of states restricting public broadband falls to 16.
- www.mprnews.org Tensions flare at Minnesota Capitol as debates stretch on; DFLers say they’ll push ahead with ERA measure
In a sign of growing Capitol frustrations, House Speaker Melissa Hortman called for a snap vote after a long debate. Republicans say the move suppressed their voice. It could spell trouble for an orderly session end.
Democrats who hold all three levers of power at the Minnesota Capitol said Thursday that they would shut down long speeches that have impaired their ability to pass bills in the final days of the legislative session.
The move came less than a day after DFL Speaker Melissa Hortman called a snap vote on a bill making changes to a new paid family and medical leave program, an illustration of a possibly bumpy push to the session’s finish this weekend.
Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said that after eight hours of debate on the paid-leave proposal, it was time to bring the bill to a vote. Republicans shouted and called out various points of order during the vote. They said that they’d been silenced by the move to call the vote with no notice.
“Minnesotans sent us here to deliver, we will deliver we’ll get the work done,” Hortman said Thursday. “Just as the rules provide that the minority has a right to be heard, the rules of the House also provide that the majority has the right and the responsibility to govern.”
Hortman said that would mean approving nearly 20 budget touch-up bills, an equal rights amendment, a sports betting bill and other priorities before the deadline to vote on bill Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
She said the House would move forward with a vote on the equal rights amendment that contains protections for gender identity and pregnancy outcomes on Friday, even if that meant spiking a capital investment bill for the year. Republicans have said they would withhold votes on a capital investment package unless Democrats tabled the ballot question.
“It’s time for us to expand civil rights clearly in our Constitution to include everyone,” Hortman said. “And the Republicans may want to fight that. But we are just as determined, if not more, to fight for it.”
- www.startribune.com Minnesota Legislature approves bill prohibiting book bans in public schools, libraries
Backers say the law would curb politicized campaigns against titles that focus on LGBTQ and multiracial experiences.
Minnesota is poised to prohibit book bans in schools and public libraries as part of an education bill the House approved Wednesday, the last step before it heads to the governor for his signature.
The law, which would become effective July 1, establishes a so-called "Library Bill of Rights" and states that libraries cannot restrict access to material "because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."
Democrats who backed the provision say it's a necessary step in curbing politicized campaigns against books that focus on multiracial — and especially LGBTQ — experience. Those efforts have become more pronounced as school board politics have become increasingly polarized in the last few years.
- minnlawyer.com Media collective wins pipeline appeal
Minnesota Court of Appeals rules in favor of Unicorn Riot, rejecting order to disclose newsgathering materials in Energy Transfer lawsuit over Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that Twin Cities nonprofit media collective Unicorn Riot won’t need to comply with an order requiring it to submit newsgathering materials for in camera review in a lawsuit filed by Energy Transfer, the Dallas company responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
Energy Transfer had sued the environmentalist group Greenpeace International and other entities in state court in North Dakota in 2019, alleging that it had engaged in a civil conspiracy to stop construction of the DAPL, a 1,172-mile-long oil pipeline running from North Dakota to Illinois.
The allegations arose mainly from protests that took place between July and November 2016, as the DAPL neared completion. According to Energy Transfer, thousands of protesters gathered at the DAPL construction site near Lake Oahe in North Dakota and locked themselves to construction equipment, set up roadblocks, threatened law enforcement and DAPL personnel and burned vehicles, shutting down construction.
- Unicorn Riot Nets Resounding Win for Press Freedom Against Oil Corporation in Minnesota Appeals Courtunicornriot.ninja Unicorn Riot Nets Resounding Win for Press Freedom Against Oil Corporation in Minnesota Appeals Court - UNICORN RIOT
The Minnesota Court of Appeals issued a ruling favoring Unicorn Riot on Monday, May 6, finally rejecting the oil company Energy Transfer LP's attempt to grab newsgathering materials through a subpoena, blunting a three year legal pressure campaign.
- A loophole allows Minnesota charter schools to award $132 million in outside contracts without following state anti-corruption rules. Guess what happens?sahanjournal.com A $132 million loophole in Minnesota’s anti-corruption laws
The retiring superintendent of Noble Academy, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, received a multimillion-dollar contract, without competitive bidding. How do charter schools award contracts?
When the superintendent of Noble Academy was ready to retire, the Brooklyn Park charter school awarded him a multimillion-dollar management contract — without competitive bidding. Who’s responsible for monitoring these deals? Possibly, no one.
- www.startribune.com Shut windows Sunday night, Minnesota, because of poor air quality
Air quality across the state will be at unsafe levels for everyone overnight and into Monday as the first statewide red alert of 2024 is issued.
- www.mprnews.org These Minnesotans celebrated the new flag with costumes, laser loon earrings and Lutheran sushi
The new Minnesota state flag took its first flight on Saturday. In the backyard of a St. Paul residence friends celebrated the new look, Minnesota-style.
History was made in Minnesota on Saturday. The state’s new flag rose for the first time, just in time for Statehood Day.
A lot of Minnesotans have opinions on the flag. Some spent Saturday hoisting it up in their yards, while others are mourning the change. In St. Paul, one man took it to another level — he hosted a Minnesota-themed party in celebration of the new flag.
- m.startribune.com Minnesota Supreme Court: Pandemic emergency declaration OK under state law
Gov. Walz used the Emergency Management Act to declare a peacetime emergency and issue a mask mandate.
The state Supreme Court ruled as constitutional Friday the law under which Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The emergency is long over but the courts still sought to answer the question of whether the Emergency Management Act is constitutional.
The emergency act gives the governor broad authority to respond quickly during crises, Justice Gordon Moore wrote for the court.
"A delicate balance must be struck to ensure that Minnesotans are protected from both government overreach and emergent threats to their health," the ruling said, adding that the act doesn't unconstitutionally usurp the authority of the Legislature.
"Although the separation of powers is a critical piece of our constitutional infrastructure, we cannot blind ourselves to the need for some degree of flexibility when delineating the boundaries of each governmental branch," Moore wrote.
- www.startribune.com This ancient tree is one of the oldest in Minnesota. The warming climate might kill it.
The Legacy Tree has withstood windstorms, endured drought, dodged fires and even escaped the lumber mill, which leveled the surrounding forest — but it may not survive Minnesota’s future climate.
- www.mprnews.org Report finds Minnesota outpacing the country in carbon-free electricity
For the fourth straight year, Minnesota produced more than half its electricity from carbon-free sources in 2023, helping lead to a 10 percent annual drop in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, according to a new report.
For the fourth straight year, Minnesota produced more than half its electricity from carbon-free sources in 2023, helping lead to a 10 percent annual drop in climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector.
Those are two of the main findings from the 2024 Minnesota Energy Factsheet released Tuesday by Clean Energy Economy Minnesota and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.
The report found that 54 percent of the electricity in Minnesota comes from carbon-free sources, including renewable sources like wind, solar and hydropower, along with nuclear power. That compares to 41 percent nationally.
Minnesota lawmakers passed a law last year requiring that utilities in the state generate 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2040.
- m.startribune.com Prairie Island Indian Community requests the return of 'Mankato Hanging Rope'
The noose, owned by the Minnesota Historical Society, was used to hang a relative of the community at Ft. Snelling during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
The Prairie Island Indian Community has filed a claim with the Minnesota Historical Society, requesting repatriation rights to the "Mankato Hanging Rope," the noose used to hang Dakota relative Wicanhpi Wastedanpi (Good Little Stars), known also as Chaske.
"This sacred item was stolen from Wicanhpi Wastedanpi's grave and kept as a trophy before being donated to the Historical Society," a statement from the Prairie Island Tribal Historic Preservation Office said. "It should be repatriated immediately to the Dakota people and the Prairie Island Indian Community as the lead claimant."
The Minnesota Historical Society said it had received a claim under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) on Feb. 29 from the Prairie Island Indian Community requesting repatriation of the "Mankato Hanging Rope." The rope was used in the Dec. 26, 1862 execution in Mankato of 38 Dakota men who were convicted of "murder and other outrages" against settlers during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, a bloody, six-week event. It was the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
- www.mprnews.org ‘We’re not going to stop’: Protests continue at the University of Minnesota campus
A University of Minnesota protest was cleared late Tuesday night for the second time in a day. They picked things back up on Wednesday and say they will not quit until their demands are met.
- www.mprnews.org Art and history come together in ‘Fur Trade Nation: an Ojibwe’s Graphic History’
Artist Carl Gawboy has used his thirty years of experience teaching the history of fur trade relations on Turtle Island, also known as North America, to create hundreds of illustrations depicting stories of Ojibwe people and lifeways centered on entrepreneurship and freedom.
On the outskirts of Two Harbors just north of Duluth artist Carl Gawboy sits in an overstuffed leather chair inside his light-filled studio. He’s sharing his space with a rack of young plants his wife Cindy has started in anticipation of spring planting. Half a dozen of Gawboy’s watercolor paintings line the walls.
For the past two years, Gawboy has been creating hundreds of pen and ink drawings for “Fur Trade Nation: an Ojibwe’s Graphic History.”
Gawboy has used his thirty years of experience teaching the history of fur trade relations on Turtle Island, also known as North America, to create hundreds of illustrations depicting stories Ojibwe people and lifeways centered on entrepreneurship and freedom.
A citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and Finnish descent, Gawboy has been working as an artist even longer than he’s been teaching history.
- m.startribune.com Italy halts loans to Minneapolis Institute of Art following dispute over 'Doryphoros' sculpture
In 2022, the Italian court demanded Mia return the ancient sculpture. Mia did not comply.
Italy's Culture Ministry officially has suspended art loans to the Minneapolis Institute of Art following disputes over the 1st century Roman sculpture "Doryphoros."
Italian authorities believe the statue, which originated in the south of Naples, was illegally excavated in the 1970s. Mia said it purchased it for $2.5 million in 1986 from art dealer Elie Borowski.
Italy first requested return of the statue in March 2022, after an Italian court ruled that Mia needed to give back the ancient sculpture that had long been displayed in the museum's second-floor rotunda near the Target Wing. The "Doryphoros" is one of a number of Roman copies based on original works by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos, and the one that Mia owns, made in the 1st century B.C.E., is one of the best preserved.
- MPCA to test entirety of Mississippi River this yearminnesotareformer.com MPCA to test entirety of Mississippi River this year • Minnesota Reformer
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will be testing water quality along the entirety of the Mississippi River within the state’s borders in 2024, the agency announced this week. The MPCA typically only tests portions of the river in any given year, and this year’s effort to sample over 50 locatio...
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will be testing water quality along the entirety of the Mississippi River within the state’s borders in 2024, the agency announced this week.
The MPCA typically only tests portions of the river in any given year, and this year’s effort to sample over 50 locations from Bemidji to the Iowa border represents a first for the agency in what could be read as increasing concern about emerging threats to water quality, including 3M-manufactured chemical compounds known as PFAS.
Water quality within Minnesota’s stretch of the river has improved dramatically over the past four decades, according to a fact sheet from the Metropolitan Council. But levels of some contaminants — including nitrogen from excessive fertilizer use and chloride from road salt — are rising.
- www.mprnews.org Walz appoints Theodora Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy to Minnesota Supreme Court
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday announced the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices — Theodora Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy — who are set to replace retiring justices Margaret H. Chutich and G. Barry Anderson.
Walz announced the appointments of Theodora Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy — both judges on lower courts — to replace retiring justices Margaret H. Chutich and G. Barry Anderson.
The appointments will again give the court a female majority. And all seven members will have been selected by DFL governors. Hennesy is set to replace Anderson, who will retire on May 10. Gaïtas will replace Chutich, who is set to retire at the end of July.
- m.startribune.com Conservatives in Otter Tail County have been fighting for years, with no end in sight
A recent flare-up over precinct caucuses is the latest in a string of battles between local party officials and a group of grassroots activists.
In deep-red western Minnesota, a group of conservative activists have spent years crusading against their main political foe — other Republicans.
Calling themselves the Otter Tail County Grassroots, the activists have consistently clashed with the local party over endorsements, alleging fraud when one of their preferred candidates lost and casting protest votes against GOP nominees. The bitter feud escalated earlier this year when the grassroots activists took over the Otter Tail GOP party's precinct caucuses that drew hundreds of people in two cities, kicking out the people who led the proceedings so they could run things their own way and pick delegates who will endorse candidates.
This month, they defied the party again by hosting their own unsanctioned political convention.
The state Republican Party has had to step in and act as a referee, further angering activists who have enlisted GOP legislators from the region and beyond to aid their cause.
- Minnesota House approves bill that would speed licensing of marijuana dispensariessahanjournal.com Minn. House OKs bill that would speed licensing of dispensaries
Backers say cannabis dispensary license preapprovals would allow them to take steps to get up and running more quickly.
The Minnesota House voted Thursday to speed up the process for getting cannabis dispensaries lined up by giving them a route to preapproval of operating licenses.
On a 69-62 vote, lawmakers voted to allow the office to start issuing license preapprovals as early as this summer. Supporters say that would allow them to secure funding, rent real estate and take other steps to get up and running. They still wouldn’t be allowed to commercially grow or sell the marijuana itself.
“A number of provisions in this bill are designed to expedite the process of setting up a good legitimate marketplace for cannabis to displace that illicit marketplace that’s out there,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids.
- Amazon Blocked, Wells Fargo Windows Smashed on Day of Action for Palestine in Minnesotaunicornriot.ninja Amazon Blocked, Wells Fargo Windows Smashed on Day of Action for Palestine in Minnesota - UNICORN RIOT
Pro-Palestine activists blockaded a Twin Cities' Amazon as part of A15 Action, separately a Wells Fargo Bank had its windows broken.
- www.hamiltonnolan.com Killing the Middlemen in the Rideshare Industry
An organizer explains how to make drivers cooperatives a reality.
- www.cbsnews.com Minnesota touts e-bike rebates worth up to 75% off cost of new purchase
If you're thinking about buying an e-bike, this summer might be the perfect time. The state said the rebate is worth a maximum rebate of up to $1,500. Retailers can apply for the program starting May 1.
- www.mprnews.org Minnesota says 4-year graduation rates slipped, but that’s not the case
The Minnesota Department of Education last month reported graduation rates dipped in 2023, renewing concerns around the state’s public schools. But a closer look at the data finds graduation rates are actually climbing. Here’s what happened.
The Minnesota Department of Education in March reported four-year graduation rates were down in 2023, renewing concerns about the direction of the state’s public schools and the lingering effects of the pandemic.
But a deeper look at the data finds the state’s published results were flawed and that graduation rates are actually rising.
APM Research Lab, a sister organization of MPR News with expertise in collecting and analyzing public data, examined the results. It found after incorporating misreported numbers from several school systems, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, two of the state’s largest districts, the state graduation rate rose slightly, from 83.6 in 2022 to 83.8 percent.
It’s a slight but important change at a time when school performance data is scrutinized intensely. From test scores to graduation rates, those numbers have an outsized influence on policy decisions and on public perceptions of school success and failure.
- I'm getting tired of the weather
These "critical fire" danger warnings from NOAA are really starting to wear on me. Living in drought conditions for 2 years is killing everything. I watch the radar and there is rain falling all around me, but very few drops for this area. And living in the middle of a forest makes for uneasy sleep.
It might be our turn to burn like Canada.
- Companies are evading Minnesota's interest rate caps. Lawmakers may leave the loophole open.minnesotareformer.com Companies are evading Minnesota's interest rate caps. Lawmakers may leave the loophole open. • Minnesota Reformer
Minnesota lawmakers imposed strong limits on payday lenders last session, capping interest rates at 33% for loans between $350 and $1,000, and even lower for smaller loans — but a federal law allows banks based in other states to offer short-term loans with triple-digit interest rates. A bill in the...
Minnesota lawmakers imposed strong limits on payday lenders last session, capping interest rates at 33% for loans between $350 and $1,000, and even lower for smaller loans — but a federal law allows banks based in other states to offer short-term loans with triple-digit interest rates.
A bill in the Legislature could close the loophole by opting Minnesota out of a provision in federal law that allows state-chartered, federally insured banks to offer loans at the interest rates allowed in their home state, rather than the state where the loan is issued.
- www.strongtowns.org The Winds Are Changing on Incremental Housing
A bill to legalize certain forms of “missing middle” housing statewide in Minnesota appears dead in the legislature. Yet, here are 4 reasons why it’s still not a total loss.