Bus driver shortage affecting Minnesota high school athletics

school buses — MinnPost file photo by Bill Kelley

Now it’s serious. The Star Tribune’s Jim Paulsen reports: “Every day, Blaine activities director Shannon Gerrety says, is a new game of transportation whack-a-mole. … The lingering effects of the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020 are still front and center in the world of high school extracurriculars. And no issue has been more problematic in high school athletic departments than transporting student-athletes to and from games and meets. … The lack of available school bus drivers has been well-documented in local and national news reports, and the issue is even more pronounced in afterschool events. Often, bus schedules are mere suggestions as cancellations are frequent.”

In the big budget bill. The Star Tribune’s Hunter Woodall reports: “U.S. Sen. Tina Smith is trying to pass a landmark climate program aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions, despite formidable political tensions and challenging procedural dynamics at a time when Democrats’ hold on Congress is razor-thin. … The Minnesota Democrat’s vision for a clean electricity program has become a critical aspect of efforts to help the United States try to meet urgent climate goals, in what is likely a pivotal challenge for Joe Biden’s presidency. The measure would provide financial incentives to utilities and other electric suppliers that accelerate the conversion to clean electricity, but levy penalties against those that don’t.”

Needle litter getting worse? WCCO’s Erin Hassanzadeh reports: “It’s been two years since WCCO first reported on the dangerous needle littering problem in parts of south Minneapolis. … At that time, Minneapolis firefighters planned to pick up the needles until the city found a better solution. But despite their efforts, the problem is arguably worse, says Assistant Minneapolis Fire Chief Melanie Rucker. … ‘This year it seems like it’s almost double, you know, the amount of needles that we’re picking up, and there has been an uptick in some of the overdoses and drug-related responses that we go to,’ Rucker said.”

Currently scheduled for November 6. The AP’s Steve Karnowski reports (via WCCO): “Six Native American tribes are suing the state of Wisconsin to try to stop its planned wolf hunt in November. They assert that the hunt violates their treaty rights and endangers an animal they consider sacred. … The Chippewa tribes say treaties give them rights to half of the wolf quota in territory they ceded to the United States in the mid-1800s. But rather than hunt wolves, the tribes want to protect them.”