Governing Magazine is already handicapping the 2016 legislative elections. Here’s what they say about Minnesota: “Both chambers are in play, with a modest lean toward the Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in the House. The House could shift to tossup if the Trump effect hits hard. But since the GOP has already lost a lot of their suburban swing seats — where Trump could be most damaging to the party’s down-ballot prospects — they don’t have a whole lot of exposure in the House. In the Senate, rural Democratic retirements and a split between metro-area environmentalists and rural labor-union members and farmers makes the chamber competitive.”
Looks like the Minneapolis marathon might not happen in, uh, Minneapolis. MPR’s Jon Collins reports: “The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has denied a permit to the organizers of the Minneapolis Marathon, which had been scheduled for June 5. … The marathon’s organizers, Team Ortho Foundation, first approached the park board about the yearly event last August, said Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board spokesperson Dawn Sommers. But the race’s proposed route crossed both the Franklin Avenue Bridge and West River Parkway, which are both currently closed.”
Trouble at the old mill. At the Atlantic, Alana Semuels writes: “But there’s another kind of affordable housing, built with tax credits and city loans, typified in a place like the A-Mill lofts. Set on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the A-Mill lofts include a penthouse resident lounge, a fitness center, a yoga studio, free wi-fi, dishwashers, and studios for painting, pottery, dance, and music. … The A-Mill lofts sound like that the type of opportunity that most poor families would dream of. But a new report suggests that the lofts are not accessible to most poor families. Though they were built with affordable-housing tax credits and city loans, they’re too expensive for most voucher holders to afford, the report finds. Instead, they go to mostly to white artists, who have incomes below the median for the area but above the average affordable-housing tenant.”
It’d be news if a Hodges speech didn’t get interrupted by protesters. MPR’s Riham Feshir reports: “About a dozen protesters abruptly got on stage and snatched a microphone away from Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges as she spoke about improving racial equity at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Thursday night. … Hodges began her talk by discussing efforts to recruit more employees of color in public works, technology and law enforcement. But the protesters who had been seated in the audience reacted when she mentioned a federal review of how the city responded to the 4th Precinct police station occupation last November.”
In other news…
Good effort, but you just can’t overcome Minnesotans’ compulsive line-joining: “Car KARE Tip: How to Zipper Merge” [KARE]
Art-A-Whirl’s this weekend: “Art-A-Whirl exhibit to honor Prince” [The Current]
Had you heard Chris Thile is going to take over from Garrison Keillor? “Is Chris Thile ready to replace Garrison Keillor on ‘A Prairie Home Companion’?” [Star Tribune]
The fishing trip is over: “The Viking Bar re-opens on Wednesday, May 25” [City Pages]
St. Paul Saints opener slideshow. [Pioneer Press]
Congrats! “Announcing the 2016 Most Admired CEO honorees” [Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal]
“When traffic is backed up”
I wish MNDoT would make more of an effort to clarify that the ‘zipper merge’ is most effective when traffic is already stopped in the merge lane.
When traffic in the merge lane is still moving, it is more effective to merge into that line of traffic where there is existing space and at the speed of traffic, allowing the traffic to keep moving. Driving to the merge point faster than the speed of traffic and then ‘forcing’ your way into the merge lane slows and can even stop traffic behind the merge and only contributes further to the traffic problem.
This also means that the most efficient move when in a stopped merge lane with an empty closing lane adjacent is to get out of the merge lane, drive to the merge point, and then merge back into traffic. *This* is the behavior that pisses off a lot of Minnesota drivers (and arguably, rightly so), and should probably be avoided, even if it is more efficient.
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David Wintheiser