Wisconsin districting case will go to the highest court. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Patrick Marley reports: “ U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a case that found Wisconsin Republicans overreached in 2011 by drawing legislative districts that were so favorable to them that they violated the U.S. Constitution. … In a separate ruling, the high court handed Republicans a victory by blocking a requirement that they develop new maps by Nov. 1. Democrats and those aligned with them took that order as a sign they could lose the case.”
This is gonna be tough. The Star Tribune’s Tim Harlow writes: “The Lowry Hill Tunnel is congestion central in the Twin Cities on most days. A tie-up in the tube can bring traffic to a crawl and have far-reaching effects, choking things on Interstate 35W and Interstate 394, routes that feed lots of vehicles into the tunnel on the west end of downtown Minneapolis. … Now construction there is slated to begin and it won’t be pretty, with the potential to cripple traffic at all hours of the day for the next three months. Motorists will share one side of the Lowry Hill Tunnel with only two lanes 10 feet wide in each direction and a lower speed limit. Drivers on I-394 and I-35W will feel the pinch, too, as ramps to and from those arteries will shut down at times.”
Pack headphones and a sleep mask and you’ll be able to travel halfway across the globe without having to interact with a single human being. The Star Tribune’s Paul Walsh reports: “Delta passengers arriving at the Twin Cities airport are now able to check in their bags at self-service kiosks, with one of them equipped with facial-recognition technology as part of the goal of speeding up the preboarding process. … The four machines debuted Monday morning at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, the airline’s second-largest hub.”
You don’t move to Woodbury to have to put up with, um, sidewalks? The Pioneer Press’ Bob Shaw reports: “Tom Erickson feels like someone is taking a bite out of his front yard. … A 12-foot-wide strip of lawn will become part of a multi-use path, which he says will reduce his front yard by about a third. … ‘It’s incredible to me that they can just grab your property,’ said Erickson, who is fighting Woodbury city officials over the plan to create the path along Commonwealth Avenue. … He admits that the city has the legal right to use land along his street just as it does with right-of-way easements along every other street in the city.”
In other news…
Can’t figure this one out: “After Jeronimo Yanez acquittal, Philando Castile should be the NRA’s perfect cause célèbre. Why isn’t he?” [Slate]
Interesting perspective: “Marlon James writes about being ‘big,’ black and Minnesotan in the age of Philando Castile” [City Pages]
Stevie Wonder was in town: “At Mpls. peace summit, Stevie Wonder joins plea to end street violence” [Star Tribune]
When the drive-through is just too much effort: “McDonald’s debuting delivery today in Twin Cities” [Star Tribune]
Keep that fire burning: “Wood City: Cloquet hopes to keep its identity after country’s last matchstick factory closes” [MPR]
Just your typical “cow mauls man” story: “Minnesotan behind viral giant dog Instagrams mauled by a cow — and survives” [Star Tribune]
