Rising rents in Minneapolis squeeze low-income residents

by MinnPost staff 11/28/201611/28/2016

The rent is too darn high. The Star Tribune’s Adam Belz reports: “A light snow fell outside a brown apartment building on Pleasant Avenue, where tenants gathered to protest something that’s become inevitable in Minneapolis: rising rent. … The company that manages seven buildings just south of Lake Street told residents in a letter that their rent will rise by as much as $125 per month, to $775. … For many of the families there, that will be too much, and nearby options are limited. Only a handful of apartments in the area rent for less than $900 per month.”

Gonna need a do-over. KSTP’s Jay Kolls reports: “A month after 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS first reported on a new rule imposed by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS), which puts new ignition interlock systems in cars of DUI offenders, a key lawmaker wants legislative hearings on the move, because the new systems have GPS tracking capabilities.”

Must have been a memorable vacation. KARE’s Kent Erdahl reports: “Fidel Castro was a dictator many Americans only saw from afar, but on the day he seized power, one Minnesotan was in the middle of it all. … ‘It was just … wow,’ said Sandy Loewenstein, who was in Cuba during the Castro’s revolution on New Year’s Day, 1959. … Loewenstein says she flew into Havana with her family for a vacation on New Year’s Eve 1958, with no idea what was about to happen.”

The world needs a lot of rice. The Minnesota Daily’s Ryan Faircloth reports: “Certain agricultural practices play an outsized role in greenhouse gas emissions, according to University of Minnesota researchers. … The new University study, published on Nov. 21, has identified key contributors to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions — specifically, peatland drainage and rice paddy cultivation account for roughly 80 percent of the world’s total cropland emissions.”