The Star Tribune’s Stephen Montemayer writes: “Returning U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger is pledging to use federal law enforcement to curb Minnesota’s still surging violent crime, vowing to roll out a series of new measures in the coming weeks to address it. In his first interview since being sworn back into the office he led from 2014 to 2017, Luger told the Star Tribune that he plans to roll out a new strategy to counter gun violence and carjacking.”
In the Pioneer Press, Bill Salisbury writes: “Minnesota state government spending would increase by $7.4 billion or 14 percent over the next 15 months under a DFL budget road map approved Tuesday by a powerful House committee. … The Ways and Means committee voted 17-10 — with all Democrats voting ‘yes’ and Republicans ‘no’ — to boost the state’s general fund budget for the current two-year budget cycle to $59 billion. … Republicans argued the proposed spending increase is unnecessary and fiscally irresponsible at a time when inflation is soaring and the national economy is unpredictable.”
Trey Mewes writes for the Star Tribune: “For more than 60 years, residents from Rochester to New Ulm have lobbied to make Hwy. 14 bigger and safer. That dream will soon come to fruition as work begins on expanding 12.5 miles of Hwy. 14 to four lanes from New Ulm to Nicollet, the last two-lane section of road from there to Rochester. Federal, state and local officials broke ground on the $84 million project Tuesday morning in Courtland, where Hwy. 14 passes through.… Work is expected to finish in fall 2023 and is funded in part by a $22 million federal transportation grant Minnesota secured in 2020.”
Josh Verges writes in the Pioneer Press: “Employees throughout St. Paul Public Schools will get bonuses of up to $3,000 each under employment contracts and promises approved Tuesday night by the school board. The strike-averting contract agreement announced March 7 includes $3,000 bonuses for teachers, educational assistants and school and community service professionals …. But the board also pledged Tuesday to give retention bonuses to members of other employee groups, even if they haven’t yet settled their contracts.”
The Star Tribune’s Susan Du reports, “Residents of a section of south Minneapolis were alarmed when, starting nearly a decade ago, sinkholes suddenly opened in their streets, trees toppled over in Solomon Park, basements flooded and waterlogged backyards devolved into swampy stands of cattails. … On Tuesday, they released a report saying the problem goes all the way back to when the area’s natural marshes were erased for development. Decisions of more than a century ago are rippling back to Minneapolis after the record precipitation of recent years.”
Says Adam Uren for BringMeTheNews, “The Minnesota State Fair has announced two more shows for its 2022 Grandstand Series, bringing four acts from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s to St. Paul. The first Friday, Aug. 26, will see Counting Crows – which hit the big time in 1993 with Mr. Jones – bring the Butter Miracle Tour to the Grandstand stage. Their special guest will be The Wallflowers, the band Jakob Dylan (son of Bob) launched in 1989 and saw success with in the mid-’90s.”
Jon Bream writes for the Star Tribune: “Mary Lucia, the franchise DJ at the popular public radio station 89.3 the Current, is signing off on Thursday afternoon. An original hire for the influential progressive music station and the voice of many of its voiceover announcements, Lucia unexpectedly announced her resignation on the Current’s website on Tuesday. The post did not contain any comments from her. She plans to continue to do voiceover work.”
ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz reports: “After suffering a disheartening loss on their home court in Game 1, the Memphis Grizzlies roared back with a resounding 124-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night, squaring their first-round series at 1. … The series now moves to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4, where the Timberwolves will have an opportunity to go up in a playoff series in front of their home crowd for the first time since 2004.”
Nick Woltman writes in the Pioneer Press: “The oldest sea lion at St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo, one in a storied line of performers in the zoo’s beloved ‘Sparky Show,’ died over the weekend at age 31. Sealia spent more than a decade as an ambassador for her species, starring in the zoo’s long-running ‘Sparky Show,’ which teaches visitors about the whiskered marine mammals and the importance of conservation, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.”
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