E. Coli closes two Minneapolis beaches

I wouldn’t go in that water if I were you… Suzanne Ziegler of the Strib says: “Two Minneapolis beaches are closed today due to high levels of the E. Coli bacteria: Lake Hiawatha’s beach and the Lake Calhoun beach at 32nd Street. (The other two Calhoun beaches are open). The Park Board said it closed the beaches Tuesday because testing showed levels of E-Coli bacteria exceeded state guidelines. They will open once those numbers return to normal. Officials say the high levels are most often from waterfowl and pet wastes in yards, streets and parks that wash into lakes either directly or via the storm sewers after a heavy rain. Three other beaches are also closed due to the high levels: Excelsior Beach on Lake Minnetonka, the beach at Snelling Lake in Fort Snelling State Park in St. Paul and Valley Lake Beach in Lakeville.”

There’s a new partnership in homebuilding in St. Paul. Frederick Melo of the PiPress says: “The city of St. Paul plans to partner with Urban Homeworks and Goodwill Easter Seals on a pilot project to place low-income families into two new homes being built on vacant lots in Frogtown. In addition, the city will put $200,000 toward doubling enrollment in Goodwill Easter Seals’ 12-week job-training program, which is based near University and Fairview avenues and focuses on the construction trades. About 100 participants were enrolled last year. The program is geared toward minority and female participants in their 30s, 40s and 50s, most of them from St. Paul, and participants will work on the two new Frogtown houses. On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council met as the board of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority and authorized the sale of vacant, city-owned lots at 431 Charles and 462 Edmund avenues to Minneapolis-based Urban Homeworks Inc., which will act as the housing developer.”

Collin Peterson may be getting a challenger out in the Seventh District. Emily Cahn at Roll Call reports: “Scott Van Binsbergen, a Minnesota businessman and former staffer for retired Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., confirmed to CQ Roll Call on Wednesday that he is eyeing a bid against Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., in the 7th District. Van Binsbergen said in a phone interview that he didn’t have a timeline for his decision but said he has met with the National Republican Congressional Committee, as well as delegates from the Minnesota Republican Party, as he considers the race. ‘I’m extremely interested,’ said Van Binsbergen, who in 2006 ran an unsuccessful bid for state House in Minnesota.”

Speaking of… Corey Mitchell of the Strib writes: “Conservatives in Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation helped defeat proposal to restrict how the National Security Agency collects telephone records. Aimed at reining in the National Security Agency’s phone data collection program, the amendment would have prevented the NSA from using the Patriot Act to collect the phone records of people who are not under investigation. Lawmakers voted 217 to 205 to reject the proposal. Under current law, the agency gathers the phone records of people in the United States, including the numbers people dial. Republican U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Erik Paulsen along with conservative Democrat Collin Peterson voted against the amendment. Democrats Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Rick Nolan and Tim Walz supported the plan.”

Not good… The AP says: “Authorities say a skunk that bit a 5-month-old baby several times in the face in Morrison County has tested positive for rabies. Sheriff Michel Wetzel says officials at Community Animal Hospital in Little Falls gave him that word Wednesday. Wetzel says the baby’s family has been advised and will get medical treatment for the infant. Sheriff’s officials say the baby was outside in a child seat with several other children when the skunk approached Tuesday at a residence near Little Falls.”

Hinckley… raided. The AP again says: “Federal, state and local law officers seized thousands of marijuana plants from an eastern Minnesota field on Wednesday that they say would have had an estimated street value of more than $4 million, once harvested and sold. Agents executed a search warrant on a parcel of land near Hinckley, about 80 miles northeast of Minneapolis. More than 5,500 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of more than $4.1 million were seized, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release.”

Rep. Keith Ellison is cooling his endorsement of New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. The AP (again) says: “Ellison said New Yorkers must decide Weiner’s political fate. That’s less of a ringing endorsement than in April when Ellison told a television interviewer that he would love to see Weiner as mayor of the nation’s largest city. Ellison said at the time he believed Weiner had dealt with sordid personal issues. … ‘The people of New York will decide if Anthony Weiner is qualified to be mayor of their city,’ Ellison said Wednesday. ‘I lent my verbal support to Anthony Weiner based on the work he did for working families while in Congress.’ ”

Ameriprise had a good quarter… Jennifer Bjorhus of the Strib says: “Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s operating profits surged 38.6 percent during the second quarter, largely on strong wealth management business. The Minneapolis-based investment services company posted operating earnings Wednesday of $352 million, or $1.69 per share, handily beating the consensus Wall Street expectation of $1.62, based on a Thomson Reuters poll. … The key driver for the strong second quarter was a 37 percent jump in pretax operating earnings in the company’s advice and wealth management segment. It was the wealth management segment’s third straight quarter of year-over-year growth of 30 percent or more, aided by stock market gains.”

$1.2 million for 1675 feet of Lake Superior shoreline? Elizabeth Dunbar of MPR reports: “A 65-acre piece of state-owned land on Lake Superior’s North Shore sold Wednesday to two individuals for $1.2 million during a public auction. The DNR identified the purchasers as Robert Schachter and Karen Rylander. The auction of school trust fund land marked the first time the property and many other state-owned land located along other lakes had been up for sale. Such sales had been prohibited unless approved by the legislature, but state lawmakers in 2012 opened the door for sales of school trust fund land along lake shores to boost funding for schools. The land is located about 10 miles north of Silver Bay and includes 1,675 feet of lakeshore.” Can’t have enough luxury condos up there.