Land of 10,000 Lakes — just don’t try swimming in half of them. A new report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, reported on by the Star Tribune’s Josephine Marcotty, finds that, “Half the lakes and rivers in southern Minnesota are too polluted for safe swimming and fishing — at least some of the time — but waters in the state’s central and northeast regions are much cleaner. … In watersheds dominated by agricultural and urban land, the study found, half or less of the lakes meet standards for swimming, largely because of phosphorus. Excess phosphorus, which comes from fertilizer and wastewater treatment plants, creates harmful — sometimes toxic — algae in lakes.”
Prominent black activist and Minneapolis Public Schools HR director Deray McKesson did not back down under a grilling from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer who, for some reason that presumably has something to do with journalism, was trying to get McKesson to condemn the actions of rioters in Baltimore. Salon reports on the exchange: “McKesson refused to condemn the protestors, even after Blitzer confidently cited ‘15 injured police officers, 200 arrests and 44 vehicles set on fire’ and, again, when Blitzer explained that Martin Luther King Jr. probably wouldn’t approve. ‘Freddy Grey will never be back and those windows will be,’ he asked Blitzer to consider.”
A couple pieces of Best Buy news (remember Best Buy?). In the Pioneer Press, Julio Ojeda-Zapata reports that the retailer will begin accepting Apple’s new electronic payment system both in stores and online. Proceeds from those transactions ought to help cover CEO Hubert Joly’s compensation, which was $12.9 million in 2014 according to Nick Halter in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Some people just don’t get art. The Rochester Post Bulletin’s John Weiss reports on controversy at the Mower County board over an attempt to cover up graffiti on a bridge: “Mower County Commissioner Tim Gabrielson on Tuesday looked at a new painting under the historic Roosevelt Bridge in Austin — done to try to cover up gang graffiti — and came away even more upset than he was after seeing a photo of it. … ‘It makes no sense at all,’ Gabrielson said. ‘It’s defacing (the bridge).’ ”
In other news…
A call for more attention to St. Paul’s Asian-American students’ academic challenges [Pioneer Press]
Eden Prairie dance team coaching staff resiging in wake of state dance competition scandal; Eastview coach suspended. Looks like it’s already been broughten. [WCCO]
An investigation is afoot over possible retalliation by TSA against two MSP airport security whistleblowers. [Star Tribune]
The Himalayan Restaurant in Minneapolis is donating its profits to earthquake victims in Nepal. Go eat some momos. [WCCO]
In spite of his best efforts, Adrian Peterson is still playing for the Vikings. [USA Today]
We’re guessing the Juggalo/MinnPost reader overlap is relatively low, but just in case: Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse will be signing albums in Golden Valley on Thursday. [Pioneer Press]
And after you get your album signed, you can check out the Guthrie’s new season — the first under new director Joseph Haj. [MPR]
St. Louis County’s Camp Esquagama is looking good after the county spent “$2 million in recent years to upgrade and operate the summer youth camp…” [Duluth News Tribune]
ATTENTION: Brainerd’s sidecar dog. Repeat: Sidecar. Dog. [Brainerd Dispatch]
Sidecar dog is cute!
Gotta love it!
lakes
Has anyone ever thought the lakes in sw mn were swimmable before either? Not saying we don’t have a problem here with agricultural runoff but I don’t think they were the pristine recreational lakes for swimming and watersports some would like for us to believe. I’d also like to see something done about mercury pollution in all of our lakes so the restrictions for eating the fish can be removed since according to the MPCA the most common pollutant in our lakes is mercury.