Northern Minnesota businesses file suit against Interior Department over Twin Metals lease renewal

by MinnPost staff 06/21/201806/21/2018

Twin Metals suit. In the Timberjay, Marshall Helmberger writes: “For over half a century, the Voyageur Outward Bound School has introduced thousands of people each year to the Boundary Waters while instilling greater confidence in their own potential and abilities. It’s also provided a good job to hundreds of instructors, many of whom have made the Ely area their home. … On Thursday, the school, known by the acronym ‘VOBS’ to its vast alumni, joined Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and eight other Minnesota businesses that rely on the integrity of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in filing suit against the Trump Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management for restoring mineral leases for a proposed copper-nickel mine that they believe could devastate their school, located on the Kawishiwi River, south of Ely. ”

New Census data. The Pioneer Press’ Maddie Debilzan reports: “Minnesota continues to grow more diverse, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. … The latest data showed that populations of people of color have increased faster in Minnesota than the rest of the nation since 2010. Meanwhile, the state’s white population growth remained relatively stagnant. … The change can be seen in the ethnic communities emerging around St. Paul; in the expansion of organizations such as the Karen Organization of Minnesota and the Hmong American Partnership; and in St. Paul Public Schools, where in 2010 district families spoke 77 different languages at home — that stood at 128 languages in 2017.”

Thickening that blue line in St. Paul. The Pioneer Press’ Mara H. Gottfried reports: “St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell told the city council Wednesday he wants to add about 50 officers during the next two years. He said the additional staff would allow new cops to have time to get to know the community before hitting the streets. … Axtell said more officers are also needed because of the city’s rising population and an increase in 911 calls, which has led to longer response times. … But Axtell said his priority is putting in place ‘a game-changing idea’ of having officers spend six months in the community engagement unit after they finish the department’s academy.”

Frankly, being suspended from Twitter seems like a favor, but that’s probably beside the point here. City Pages’ Mike Mullen writes: “St. Paul immigration attorney Kara Lynum has tweeted a few different things about Stephen Miller, murderously loyal Bond movie henchman and advisor to Donald Trump behind one of the more sadistic immigration policies in recent American history. … On Wendesday, Lynum tweeted about Miller again, repeating her desire to race the ‘racist.’ On this occasion though, Lynum’s challenge to Miller was direct, and her tweet included something new: his phone number. … Later Wednesday, Lynum received notice from Twitter that because she’d violated Twitter’s rules on ‘posting private information,’ her account was ‘temporarily limited.’ Meaning: ‘no tweets, no retweets, follows, or likes.’ The suspension lasted 12 hours; as Splinter noted in a follow-up story, Lynum’s was one of many accounts (including its own) to suffer this fate yesterday.”