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Minnesota adds 20 wild rice lakes and streams to impaired list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Minnesota regulators identified another 20 bodies of water used for wild rice production that exceeded the state’s wild rice sulfate water quality standard, placing the 13 lakes and seven streams on its biennial impaired-waters list.In doing so, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency opted to follow the federal Clean Water Act over a 2015 state law that sought to prevent the MPCA from adding impaired wild rice waters to the list and to prevent the agency from enforcing sulfate reduction if it cost the permit holder any money.Sulfates — discharged into water by industrial activities like mining, wastewater treatment and other industrial facilities — at high levels harm wild rice when the sulfate is converted to hydrogen sulfide in the sediment.Minnesota’s sulfate limit for wild rice waters is 10 milligrams per liter, which the mining industry had long argued was too stringent .The 2015 state law was designed to largely prevent the MPCA from enforcing the existing standard until it es...

MN revenue department to reissue 150,000 rebate checks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

The Minnesota Department of Revenue is reissuing nearly 150,000 one-time tax rebate checks that went uncashed and expired.The department on Wednesday announced it is mailing a first round of unclaimed checks this week. A second batch will go out in the mail in early December.Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in May signed a $3 billion tax bill authorizing an estimated $1.1 billion in one-time tax rebates for more than two million Minnesotans. The final amount ended up being just less than $1 billion.Payments started reaching mailboxes and bank accounts in August and September. People who got checks had 60 days from the issue date to cash them in.Single filers earning up to $75,000 a year were eligible for $260 checks, joint filers earning up to $150,000 were eligible for $520 checks, and households got $260 for each dependent up to three. A married couple with three children could receive up to $1,300.The Revenue Department determined eligibility based on adjusted gross income in 2021.Reissue...

Letters: Is this parking lot another car accident waiting to happen?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Need a better parking lot designStarbucks needs better parking lot designers. The drive-through on Marshall and Snelling was a foregone conclusion. Now, the Davern and West Seventh Starbucks is another car accident waiting to happen. It doesn’t matter which direction you are coming from, NE, SW, or N, there is only one way in and one way out. The same way out is the way in.On the way out, a driver cannot take a right at the stop sign into the Sibley Plaza parking lot to enter West Seventh, the light northeast of the intersection. The person panhandling on the boulevard obscures the oncoming traffic traveling north on Davern, making a left turn dangerous. How does Starbucks come up with these parking lot designs?Leah Shiely Swenson, Lilydale What’s down there? PeopleIn the Nov. 9 edition of the PiPress, Marilyn Bach raised a concern for the Summit Regional Trail that recently passed the Met Council with overwhelming support. Along with notable opponents Gary Todd, th...

North St. Paul gun heist that turned deadly: Shooter, 18, sentenced for murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

A teen was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday for fatally shooting a 24-year-old man during a gun heist in North St. Paul.Abo Eshun Essilfie, who turned 18 in September, pleaded guilty in adult court in August to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in the June killing of Anthony Robert Rojas, who was shot in the head at his apartment.Abo Eshun Essilfie.(Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Essilfie, of St. Paul, faced between 23 and 32 years in prison based on state sentencing guidelines. The prosecution requested 27 years, while Essilfie’s attorney asked for a downward departure to 13¾ years. Judge JaPaul Harris granted a departure of 20 years.Most inmates in Minnesota serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison and the remainder on supervised release. Essilfie has credit for 146 days served since his arrest in the case.After the sentencing, one of Rojas’ family members said the sentence was not long enough.“He got off light,” said the family member, who di...

In aftermath of assault, Angie Craig says she had to move from D.C. apartment, received death threats

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig revealed Tuesday that she encountered death threats and had to move from her Washington apartment following media coverage of her assault earlier this year.In a victim-impact statement filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Craig said the assault caused physical and mental injuries. She asked the court to hold the man who attacked her, Kendrid Hamlin, to account.“I received a flurry of additional targeted physical violence and death threats to myself and my staff,” Craig wrote. “Yes, I fought Mr. Hamlin off and escaped. And I feel very fortunate to not have been more physically injured. However, I wish to the court’s attention that his actions have resulted in significant adverse consequences.”In February, the 27-year-old man followed the congresswoman into an elevator, demanded to go to her apartment, then punched her in the jaw. Craig suffered bruising and a cut lip. But she escaped after dumping hot coffee on Hamlin.Authorit...

UAW Wentzville workers reject to ratify GM contract offer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

WENTZVILLE, Mo. - It's down to the wire as to whether UAW will have enough votes to apprved a new contract. Members at the Wentzville General Motors plant voted down a tentative agreement. United Auto Workers in Wentzville voted in two different groups on a new contract. The proposal passed among the skilled trades group with a 54% vote in favor of the new UAW contract. It was rejected among the production group with a 45% vote in favor as opposed to 54% against it. More than 3,000 workers voted between the two groups, including more than 2,700 people in the production group. UAW Local 2250 has around 3,700 members. Mayor resigns, hired weeks later in new job making 6x more Katy Deatherage, president of UAW Local 2250, shared her reactions with FOX 2. "I don't know if I expected it," she said. "Our members have been very vocal about some of the demands that they wanted to see in this contract that were not quite there, but it was not a landslide loss by any means."Bob Dyche, an el...

Crowd control at SoFi Stadium isn’t limited to people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

With a wingspan of three feet and a menacing beak, Sol has an important job at SoFi Stadium.To limit the number of nuisance birds."She's a predator. They're prey,” says George Herrera, SoFi Stadium’s official falconer.Sol is a female Harris hawk who is part of an eco-friendly program that was set up before the Inglewood stadium opened in 2020. When she swoops in, other birds scatter.Sol, a Harris hawk, scares away seagulls at a Rivers Lake at SoFi Stadium. November 2023. (KTLA)“They see a threat coming right at them,” Herrera says.Seagulls, ducks, pigeons and geese often find easy snacks at the stadium when thousands of fans gather for NFL games, other sporting events, or concerts. With these nuisance birds come heaps of droppings and shredded trash. The L.A. Rams are moving their practice facility Sol's job is to simply be herself. She doesn’t typically harm the other birds but, to them, the threat is real."There could be birds on the ledge, as soon as they see me pull up, they l...

Fillmore man arrested for burglary hours after being released from jail

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

A man was arrested in connection to a residential burglary hours after he was released from jail, authorities with the Ventura Police Department announced Wednesday.The suspect, 30-year-old Fillmore resident Oscar Ramos, was taken into custody for "burglary and resisting, delaying, or obstructing police officers" on Tuesday. Ramos was eventually booked at the Ventura County Jail, the same place he was released from that morning, a news release said. 10 Freeway fire set with ‘malice intent,’ Newsom says On Tuesday, a resident who lives on the 600 block of County Square Drive in Ventura was notified that the suspect had gained entry into their home. The resident was not home at the time and officers responded to the scene shortly after.Authorities didn't disclose the resident's identity. Ramos initially walked out of the home but retreated inside when he saw police officers. About 20 minutes later, Ramos exited the house and was taken into custody.Before his recent arrest, Ramos was...

Sean Cornwall Hurt in Red-Light Crash on South Valley View Boulevard [Las Vegas, NV]

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

49-Year-Old Man Hospitalized after Auto Accident near Flamingo RoadLAS VEGAS, NV (November 15, 2023) – Sean Cornwall suffered injuries Sunday morning in a collision at a red light on South Valley View Boulevard. Emergency responders arrived at the scene around 3:10 a.m., near Flamingo Road.According to reports, the driver of a 2004 Toyota Corolla was traveling east on Flamingo with a green light. However, the driver of a northbound 2016 Toyota Tundra entered the intersection on a red light, colliding with the right side of the Corolla.The impact resulted in significant damage to both vehicles. The Corolla’s driver sustained life-threatening injuries, necessitating immediate transportation to UMC Trauma in critical condition. After completing initial responsibilities, law enforcement arrested 49-year-old Cornwall on charges related to driving under the influence.Currently, an ongoing investigation seeks additional information. Further details will be provided once they be...

Letters: Short of justice | Toll roads | Valley buildings | Climate legislation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:24 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Ex-trainer’s sentencefalls short of justiceRe: “Ex-SJSU trainer sentenced to 2 years in prison for sexually abusing athletes” (Nov. 14).Upon reading the article about ex-SJSU trainer Scott Shaw sentenced only to a two-year sentence for sexually violating many SJSU students, I am outraged, not only by our justice system for the sentencing and restitution to the victims not being enough for his heinous actions, but also at the fact that he will still receive his pension.His abuse of power as a trainer, and his taking advantage of so many young women, has broken my trust in the university.Alivia MartinezSan JoseMTC’s toll road planshould be rejectedThe MTC is considering making all lanes of Bay Area freeways tolled. Good intentions cannot pave new transit lines or construct infrastructure upgrades.I understand and support efforts to encourage greater transit use and reduce emissions ...