Hennepin County starts to move vulnerable homeless to hotels

by MinnPost staff 05/05/202002/06/2024

Safer housing. The Star Tribune’s Chris Serres reports: “The evening light was still pouring through the windows of his Minneapolis hotel room when an exhausted Douglas Pyle collapsed on the bed and fell into a 14-hour slumber. … It was the first time in 18 months that Pyle, 49, who is homeless, slept in a bed in a private room with a locked door, and without fear that someone would roust him at night or steal his few belongings. … Pyle is among about 540 homeless adults with underlying health problems who have been moved out of shelters and into four local hotels, as Hennepin County and Minnesota health officials race to prevent the sort of large-scale COVID-19 outbreaks that have devastated homeless populations in other cities, including Boston, New York and San Francisco.”

At the Legislature… MPR’s Kirsti Marohn reports: “For the past several years, University of Minnesota researchers have studied wolves in Voyageurs National Park to learn how they spend their summers. …This year, researchers had hoped for another $575,000 from the fund to launch the project’s second phase. … But that plan is now uncertain. The project is one of dozens benefiting Minnesota’s natural resources that are now in limbo because of a political dispute at the state Legislature. At the center of the stalemate is a years-old disagreement among state lawmakers over whether the trust fund should be used to pay for wastewater treatment projects.”

Gives a whole new meaning to “delivery driver.” The Fargo Forum’s Patrick Springer reports: “Alyssa Fretheim has been doing everything she can to avoid exposure to the coronavirus during her pregnancy. … She’s been staying at home in Harwood with her 4-year-old daughter while her husband, Forrest, works and runs errands for essentials. … So she readily agreed to take advantage of an opportunity to avoid having to go into the clinic for a prenatal screening visit which she accomplished via virtual visit with her obstetrician-gynecologist — preceded by a curbside fetal heartbeat check and ultrasound. … The curbside visit was performed at a designated parking spot near the emergency department entrance at Essentia Health, which offers the option for expectant moms.”