Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

I didn't know there was on-going effort to create a continuous parks along the Mississippi. Access to water should be shared with all

> Our Streets' I-94 Removal Dream Advances > > "What if we... converted a big chunk of I-94?" a March Flyover headline asked. Well, incredibly, we might actually get to find out. > > Back in March, a coalition of transportation advocacy orgs had just released an 84-page report (which you can read in full here) on the feasibility of conducting a "highway-to-boulevard conversion" on the 7.5-mile stretch of I-94 between downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was the latest in MnDOT's ongoing "Rethinking I-94" project, which kicked off in 2016 and seeks to reconnect the neighborhoods decimated by the highway's construction in the mid-1900s. > > This Thursday, writes Sahan Journal's Andrew Hazzard, Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a resolution that strongly opposes any expansion of I-94 in Minneapolis. In fact, the resolution reads, City Council "supports a wide variety of highway removal options in the upcoming Rethinking I-94 scoping decision document, including the addition of a 'restored network' alternative with fewer lanes, which would maximize the potential to repurpose highway land for new public housing, affordable commercial space, parks, community gardens, or other uses determined by surrounding communities." > > Don't bust out the shovels and champagne just yet: As Hazzard writes, construction is likely years away, and no funding has been secured for any of this at the moment. Still, pretty cool to see a governing body take such an ambitious proposal seriously rather than dismissing it outright. And for all you pie-in-the-sky naysayers: There's already a successful urban highway removal project in Rochester, New York, and a similar proposal in Oakland, California, appears to be gaining steam. > > Report: Payroll Fraud Rampant in MN > > Nearly 1 in 10 workers are misclassified as independent contractors, according to a report from think tank North Star Policy Action. “Based on that analysis, the group estimates workers lost between $2.9 billion and $6.2 billion in 2019,” writes Max Nesterak in his weekly labor blog for Minnesota Reformer. And they're not just losing regular income either. Victims often miss out on things like healthcare, retirement contributions, overtime, paid time off, and workers’ comp as a result of misclassification. > > The report also found that companies who commit this type of fraud often face little or no consequence. The Minnesota Department of Revenue has gotten involved in at least one high-profile case. In 2020, Minnesota United’s video crew complained that they had been misclassified as independent contractors, and a few years later the team’s scoreboard operators would unionize over similar issues. > > We’ll end our blurb on this mind-boggling stat: “10,073 cars were stolen in Minnesota in 2017, compared to 316,000 people who experienced wage theft,” researcher Aaron Rosenthal told the Attorney General’s task force. So, if you work in the private sector, you’re three times more likely to experience employer theft than car theft. > > Mall Installs Shot-Detecting Tech > > The Mall of America is now using shot detection tech, WCCO reports, with $1 million toward the system kicked in by the city of Bloomington. AmberBox, the tech vendor, says it can notify authorities in less than four seconds after a shot and pinpoint the shots from within 60 feet. > > The city's police chief, Booker Hodges, says the technology will help "apprehend criminals sooner than if it had not been used"—in other words, it's not gonna do a whole lot to keep a gun from getting shot in the first place. Plus, for all their societal faults, guns already do a pretty great job letting know they've been shot via their famously loud gunshots. > > The MOA, you may recall, has already started using facial recognition, a technology that tends to have built-in racist flaws. "We have an incredibly unique property, which is why we're taking an industry leading approach to protecting it," says a mall spokesperson. I’m sure they meant to say “our visitors” rather than “it,” right? > > Extra! Extra! Paid Brand Influencer Piles Praise on Strib Rebrand > > As the Star Tribune Media Co. rushed through a brand refresh this year, we had multiple questions: How much did it cost? Is it a conflict of interest that Colle McVoy, the ad firm headed by current Strib board chair Christine Fruechte, won the job? And does Stribby, the paper’s brand-new grey duck mascot, possess his species’ anatomically correct corkscrew dick? The Strib’s PR man wouldn’t get into specifics about the first two, and we smartly didn’t pose the last one. > > Last week the freshly minted Minnesota Star Tribune received more effusive feedback via The Brand Blueprint, which appears to be a “brand + marketing strategy insight” TikTok influencer account with 39,000+ followers. Its NYC-based founder, Brooke Yoakam, uses an "omnichannel platform" approach boosted by AI to "[help] consumer brands unlock customers to spend." (Typing that sequence of jargon took years off my life.) And she loves what the Minnesota Star Tribune is cookin', no doubt in part because the TikTok post is “in partnership with the Minnesota Star Tribune.” > > "One of the most interesting rebrands just happened,” she begins in peak TikTok-voice. "It might not seem like that big of a rebrand but it's actually huge. So they added Minnesota to the name because the goal of the rebrand is to cover news across the whole state of Minnesota." Wow, huge if true! Yoakam goes on to praise the symbology of the star logo (four points representing covering all four corners of Minnesota, though commenters point out the state has several additional corners) and the indented “i” (apparently a callback to the old logo). The Stribby mascot is “really great for marketing and Gen Z,” we learn. Her video has been viewed almost 1 million times; the top-voted comment (“Can I read the articles for free though?") isn’t exactly a marketing win. > > Add “How much did this shit cost and could it have been spent on reporting?” to our list of armchair Strib executive Qs. (On a much brighter note, the company did just hire one of the state’s very best reporters, the Minnesota Reformer’s Deena Winter.) Oh, and to the anonymous Strib tipster who keeps emailing Racket newsroom dirt without any ability to reply? Let us email you back! These things require two-way streets.

Original link: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/09/19/minneapolis-city-council-votes-to-track-homeless-encampment-evictions

https://archive.is/1Zn07

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https://archive.is/Nqofs

IMO a pretty fair look

Also published in Minnesota Reformer

This confirms all of my stereotypes about Hugo:

> “I don’t want to not allow solar farms, but you don’t want to ruin a neighborhood’s character,” City Council Member David Strub said in an interview. “We’re all trying to be good neighbors.”

They also don't like public transit because of reasons that boil down to not liking minorities. That's probably why Bob Kroll lives there, who was the president of the Minneapolis police union during the George Floyd protests.

https://archive.is/XOAdo

Saw this today in a parking lot. Not sure exactly what it's trying to say, but thought it was funny

https://archive.is/4Y4EC

> This August, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Democratic National Convention carrying signs reading, among other slogans, “Abandon Harris.” The campaign, started by University of Minnesota Professor Hassan Abdel Salam, encourages voters to either abstain from voting in the presidential election or vote third-party, with many rallying around Jill Stein. The campaign has spread like wildfire across social media and the Twin Cities community. > > I have spent the last year attending pro-Palestine actions, participating in boycotts and raising funds for the people of Gaza. I even voted “uncommitted” in the primary. I don’t consider these actions particularly remarkable or expect to be praised for them, but I do hope that they provide me some credibility when I state that I believe voting for Harris is absolutely necessary. > > The Abandon Harris movement’s stated purpose is, according to Salam, “to punish her and the [Democratic] Party” for funding the genocide in Gaza. My question is: And then what? Abandoning Harris can result in only one thing — a second Trump presidency. While those advocating refusal to vote state very clearly that they don’t want Donald Trump to win, either, this is an issue of intent vs. impact. The simple facts of the two-party system dictate that suppressing votes for one candidate guarantees a larger percentage of votes for the opposing candidate. This is exactly why conservatives have spent decades trying to limit access to voting; it’s extremely alarming to see leftists doing voter supressionists’ work for them. > > (As an aside to anyone who believes I’m unfairly dismissing the possibility of a Jill Stein presidency, I would like to point out that the most successful third-party candidate in U.S. history, Ross Perot, won only 18.9% of the popular vote. While I am eager for an end to the two-party system, this election has too much at stake to justify taking such an enormous risk.) > > Letting Trump win will not stop the slaughter of Palestinians. In fact, Trump promises to deport pro-Palestine activists, which would decimate if not destroy the movement. A Trump presidency will not materially benefit Palestinians in any way. Activist campaigns that exist to assuage feelings of guilt, but do nothing to actually help people, are purely performance art. And while the Democratic establishment will certainly sting from losing the election, they will not truly suffer for it. Those who will suffer are the BIPOC, the LGBTQ+, the poor and all other marginalized communities that Trump persecutes — the very people who have been fighting for Palestine. > > Trump’s platform calls for mass deportations; elimination of worker’s rights by deregulating industry; elimination of anti-discrimination protections, DEI initiatives and restricting discussion of systemic racism; limiting access to abortion; and attacking transgender people’s rights in every sector of life. This last point is especially urgent to me as a nonbinary transmasculine person, and as the partner of a transgender woman. > > My partner has suffered from PTSD for years, and contrary to the conservative narrative, her transition did not cause that pain but has helped alleviate it. Since transitioning, the only time my partner ever attempted suicide was when she encountered a barrier in getting her estrogen. If a ban on gender-affirming care took away her estrogen permanently, she would not survive. I have considered suicide at the prospect of not being able to get top surgery. Our stories are not unique. For thousands of transgender people, access to gender-affirming care is a matter of life and death. Trump doesn’t just mean to infringe on our rights, he means to murder us. He means to commit genocide against trans people in addition to continuing the genocide against Palestinians. > > Many on the left consider Trump’s promises, and the conservative playbook Project 2025, to be empty threats. But if this assumption is wrong, innumerable marginalized people, who the left is supposed to be fighting for, will die. It’s an incredibly dangerous gamble. > > I have many questions for the Abandon Harris movement. Where is the practical infrastructure for the revolution you seek? How do you plan to rebuild decades of activist gains from scratch? Who will be there to fight for Palestine when so many of us are dead, jailed or deported? And are our lives worth punishing the Democrats? > > Leo Rose Rodriguez lives in Minneapolis.

On Saturday, the Minneapolis Institute of Art will open the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room. According to Mia, the shrine is only the third of its kind in the U.S. and the only one outside of the East Coast.

At a preview event, Gelek Namgyal, the vice president of the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota, spoke about what this means for the local Tibetan community. According to the foundation, Minnesota has the second largest Tibetan population in the country after Queens, N.Y., with an estimated 5,000 Tibetans living in the state.

“This is a great opportunity for everyone, regardless of cultural and religious background, to be able to explore Tibet culture, religion and Tibetan arts, which basically emphasizes love and compassion,” Namgyal said.

It’s a well-worn cycle by this point.

A politician suggests Minneapolis is a charred husk of the city it once was, and Minnesotans take to social media to share picturesque images of its parks and skyline with sarcastic captions. Tuesday was no different.

Former President Donald Trump asserted that the state’s largest city “burned down” during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and, within moments, social media was rife with posts depicting grassy hills and scenic sunsets.

"The Mighty Ducks" did a good job featuring Minnesota. "D2" did a shit job. Even called Minneapolis a "po dunk town". I think the writers had nit watched the first movies.

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If you haven't met Colin Anderson (pictured) before, he's a great guy. Used to run Eureka Compass and now does the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Collective. This quote is very much him:

> “Retail is dead. Capitalism is violence,” Anderson says of why he decided to close the restaurant. “Anybody who's still operating in that is operating, probably, in inherently violent and disparity-riddled exploitative ways.”

https://archive.is/cXIAv

Hope everyone that went had a great Fair this year. What did you like most about it?

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters’ strikes. These strikes changed the course of history and the lives of tens of thousands of working people. They transformed Minneapolis from one of the country’s most notorious anti-union citadels into a “union town” and inspired labor organization from Fargo to Omaha and Duluth to St. Louis. The story of this transformation still resonates with the challenges faced by working women and men in 2024.

Got coffee this morning, and they had these booklets. No affiliation, but I like the idea. Here's a map of all the shops:

!

This one was sticking way out into the parking lot. Apart from being associated with Musk, this just seems like such an ungainly vehicle

The relevant bits of each:

> “The use of a trained narcotics-detection dog to sniff the exterior of a motor vehicle is not a ‘search’ requiring probable cause under either the Fourth Amendment or the Minnesota Constitution,” Justice Anne McKeig wrote in the court’s opinion.

> The court rejected these concepts and said that strictly on evidence the jury correctly found Moore guilty because he was seated in the driver’s seat and had access to the key to the glove compartment.

> An appeals court ruled that the language of Minnesota’s legal statutes for engrained offenders clearly shows that “previously committed” means a predatory crime was committed before the sentencing for the current crime, not before the current crime took place.

https://archive.is/Gojtb

> Police chief Brian O’Hara says it will be the first time since 2020 that the department will see an increase in sworn officers.

Oh good, that means we've got the police violence problem fixed, right?