Today’s dagger to heart of beautiful clean coal. In the PiPress Frederick Melo says, “At St. Paul City Hall, the goal is to get the city’s ‘carbon footprint’ to nil by the year 2050. And the path toward carbon neutrality, according to city officials, revolves heavily around buildings. ‘The high-level goal is we want city buildings operating as carbon neutral by 2030, and all buildings by 2050,’ said Russ Stark, the city’s chief resilience officer and a former president of the St. Paul City Council. In other words, city officials hope to reduce and offset carbon dioxide emissions so that the amount released into the atmosphere by residential, commercial and government buildings balances out with the amount of energy derived from sources other than fossil fuels. Why buildings? After studying carbon emissions within the city limits for two years, St. Paul officials found that 52 percent were related to physical structures — the energy needed to power, heat and cool buildings.”
Perhaps not (yet) a Château Latour, but steady improvement. A WCCO-TV story says, “A southern Minnesota winery is bottling a new and hardier wine, thanks to work from the University of Minnesota. Indian Island in Janesville has been growing grapes that tolerate our cold winters. They have been cross-pollinating regular wine grapes with wild grapes that already grow in our state. Indian Island winemaker Angie Netzke says the grapes produce a dryer, table wine. ‘The aromas that I get out of our Itasca Wine are a lot of pear and some grapefruit and citrus, very nice and refreshing for summertime,’ Netzke said.”
FYI. At KMSP-TV they have a story saying, “Police in Tracy, Minnesota are warning residents after some people reported phone call schemes targeting those affected by the recent flooding. Authorities say if you get a call from someone claiming to be a FEMA representative who offers to send you money, be wary. ‘Make sure you research the companies you contract to assist you. Be very wary of anyone who is demanding large down payments in advance,’ the department wrote on Facebook.”
An AP story says, “Every spring, it starts again: The great treasure hunt. Not for actual treasure, as the ships that met their fates on the Great Lakes weren’t known to carry gold, valuable coins or jewels. The prizes are the shipwrecks themselves. Of the estimated 10,000 ships believed to have been lost on the lakes over the past four centuries, only about a third have been found and identified. Some have been located only recently, such as the Antelope, found in Lake Superior in 2016, and the freighter Henry B. Smith, located in Lake Superior in 2013.”
And try the main routes through the Grand Canyon. Says Cody Nelson at MPR, “Search for #beanandbear or #beanandbearlake on Instagram and you’ll find over 1,100 pictures using one of those tags. A lot of those pictures look the same. The photographers’ vantage point is a cliff overlooking the Bean and Bear lakes from 300 feet above. A hilly forest surrounds the scene. The main differentiator is what color the leaves are, or if there’s snow on the ground. (It’s usually not the snowy season.) Just outside Silver Bay, Minn., the Bean and Bear Lakes Loop is one of the most popular legs of the Superior Hiking Trail. It’s also one of the most damaged from heavy usage, earning a spot among the Superior Hiking Trail Association’s ‘Big Bad Five’ list of the trail’s roughest patches. ‘I think as the trail has become more popular, and because of that photo opportunity that people are seeking, it’s kind of at risk of being loved to death,’ said Jaron Cramer, the trail association’s development and communications director.”
Not good. Says Stribber Paul Walsh, “A woman turned her car into the path of three motorcycles carrying family members out for a midday ride in central Minnesota, causing a collision that killed two of the riders, authorities said. The wreck occurred about 11:20 a.m. Saturday along Hwy. 23 in Roseville Township, roughly 20 miles northeast of Willmar, the State Patrol said. … Christina M. Knutson, 21, of Bricelyn, Minn., driving her car on westbound Hwy. 23, was turning left onto 160th Street near Hawick when she was struck by two of the three eastbound motorcycles. The third motorcycle ‘lay down on the roadway’ to avoid hitting the car as well, a patrol statement read. It’s not known why Knutson turned in front of the motorcycles. None of the motorcyclists was wearing a helmet, according to the State Patrol.”
Let’s talk boat winning. Says Dee DePass in the Strib, “U.S. boat sales were at record levels last year, but watercraft manufacturers hit a speed bump this month when new U.S. trade tariffs went into effect for aluminum and steel imports. Europe, Canada and Mexico have retaliated with new taxes of their own on a host of U.S. made goods including metals, bourbon, soybeans and boats. Some industry watchers are alarmed. About 40 percent of all U.S. boats are made of aluminum. And about 10 to 15 percent get exported to customers in other countries. Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), said many international boat orders were canceled as of last week, including 500 boats to Canadian dealers and millions in sales of yachts that would have gone to Europe.”
Patrick is remarkably positive about the Timberwolves. In a Strib column Patrick Reusse writes, “The improvement continues for the Wolves and [coach Tom] Thibodeau. They have a star in [Jimmy] Butler, they have a former MVP in [Derrick] Rose, they have young mega-talents Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, who never miss a game. They have worthy veterans Taj [Gibson] and [Jeff] Teague, and an improved Tyus [Jones] ready for more playing time. Yes, you would like to see Thibs light up his players after the occasional clunker, but he leaves that to coaches such as Mike Zimmer, Bruce Boudreau and Cheryl Reeve. He will express disappointment, but calling out a player publicly … Thibs just isn’t that kind of guy. The Timberwolves will start training camp in late September. They won’t have the distraction of a trip to China to interrupt the preparation, as was the case last fall. That’s good, because the West is Mount Everest, and so far Thibs’ climbers have only made it to the Lhotse wall*. *Yes. I looked that up. You can, too.” So you’re saying maybe two first round play-off wins?
