Gregg Aamot is a longtime Minnesota journalist and college instructor. After getting his start at a newspaper in rural Minnesota, he spent a decade with The Associated Press in Minneapolis, reporting from many regions of the state. Aamot is the author of “The New Minnesotans: Stories of Immigrants and Refugees” and teaches English at Ridgewater College.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will fund the installation of as many as 38 “fast-charging” stations across the state – from Fairmont in the south to Warroad on the Canadian border.
The agency is using money from the state’s share of a $2.9 billion settlement the federal government reached in 2016 with Volkswagen over the German car maker’s violation of emissions standards.
The woodlands next to Camp Ripley, part of a landscape area designated for protection from development, promise to provide a wealth of hiking, canoeing and other outdoor pursuits.
The state’s largest utilities are planning to phase out most of their coal-fired plants by the end of the decade.
Tim Nolte’s irrigation proposal has become a highly charged, if small, part of a larger and ongoing debate about corporate farming, growing methods and the future of family farms.
The study looked at nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter – types of pollution that can cause several health issues, including cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological illnesses.
“It was nice to see that they gave us a lot to work with,” said Joseph Sullivan, the utilities commissioner who first floated the idea for sped-up projects in May. “They really stepped up.”
Earlier this week, DEED announced the hiring of Anisa Hajimumin as the agency’s new assistant commissioner for immigrant and refugee affairs.
Over the past three years, the HCWP has garnered about 25 percent of the federal funds that have been granted to watershed agencies in Minnesota – money those groups use for drainage ditches, embankments, rain gardens and other projects designed to protect local waters.
MPUC Commissioner Joseph Sullivan challenged the state’s major energy companies to speed up the completion of projects that could put people to work.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has agreed to review concerns about its permit for the Enbridge Line 3 project after four groups and 16 individuals petitioned the agency for a “contested case hearing.”
For the next several months, the two will be studying samples from wastewater plants in several communities outside the Twin Cities region, gathering information about the location of the COVID-19 virus that could add helpful context to what health officials are learning from individual testing.
During the pandemic, a report on Somali workers at an Amazon warehouse in Eagan was aided by Mukhtar Ibrahim’s ability to interview them in their native language.
The top officials in the DFL and Republican parties both said they hoped – in an era of increasing ethnic diversity in Minnesota – to find ways to create stronger bonds with immigrants and refugees.
“It’s a really tough time right now because of the uncertainty,” said Judy Hulterstrum, executive director of the Litchfield Area Chamber of Commerce, “but we’re staying as positive as we can.”
Some early field work, such as outreach to the homeless, has been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the bulk of the census’ door-knocking campaign is now expected to begin in late May rather than in late April.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of parents in 2015 and is currently in mediation.
MinnPost caught up with Dr. Ayaz Virji, who moved with his family to Minnesota in 2013 and experienced some tensions after Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric in 2016.
Gov. Tim Walz has included $200 million for such projects in a proposed $2.6 billion infrastructure spending bill that would pay for an assortment of initiatives across the state.
Two Greater Minnesota artists say their favorite classes included finance and entrepreneurship. They provided the kind of insight that the women needed.
