Republicans push Walz to allow more Minnesota businesses to reopen

MPR’s Kristi Marohn reports: “The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is advising people to keep away from foam in an east Twin Cities metro-area creek, after samples of it have again tested positive for elevated levels of the chemicals known as PFAS. The MPCA said minor and infrequent contact with the foam in Battle Creek does not pose a health risk, and drinking water for homes along the creek, which runs through St. Paul and Maplewood, is not affected.”

MPR also reports: “Reeling from weeks of economic fallout from COVID-19, Minnesota’s restaurant, resort and lodging industries are facing a flood of business failures if conditions don’t improve soon. ‘We know from our recent survey that more than half these businesses face certain, permanent closure in the next two months on the current course,’ Liz Rammer, CEO of the trade group Hospitality Minnesota, told reporters during Gov. Tim Walz’s Monday briefing on the pandemic’s medical and economic toll. She said that while her members understand the need to check the spread of the disease, they’ve taken a ‘monumental hit’ the past six weeks.”

Says the Star Tribune’s Rick Nelson, “Five Twin Cities chefs and restaurants have been nominated for 2020 James Beard Foundation awards. … Four-star Demi is in the running for Best New Restaurant, which honors ‘A restaurant opened in 2019 that already demonstrates excellence in cuisine and hospitality, and that is likely to make a significant impact in years to come.’ Spoon and Stable pastry chef Diane Moua is nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef … .”

For the Forum News Service, David Oson reports, “In North Dakota and Minnesota, black people are more than five times more likely than white people to be arrested for possessing marijuana, even though both groups use pot at similar rates. That’s according to a report issued by the American Civil Liberties Union this spring, which ranked North Dakota and Minnesota seventh and eighth, respectively, among the states when it comes to racial disparities involving pot arrests. The report details and compares marijuana arrests from 2010 to 2018.”

Says Kim Hyatt in the Star Tribune, “Four years ago, Tony and Candace Nelson were donating boxes of puzzles from their company, PuzzleTwist, for a fundraiser at Hopkins’ Meadowbrook Elementary. There, they met Adam Turman, a Twin Cities-based illustrator, who was donating some of his original prints. … PuzzleTwist is proving to be a boon to Turman and other local artists as well as small businesses that have been shaken by the coronavirus outbreak. … there’s an unprecedented upswing in demand for puzzles from families looking to kill time while forced to stay home.”

Greg Stanley of the Star Tribune tells us, “Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness announced Monday that they will not allow overnight stays for the duration of Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order, which was recently extended to May 17. Both parks will be open for use during the day, but permits for camping or houseboat mooring will not be issued.”

In the Duluth News Tribune, Sarah Mearhoff reports, “As many Minnesotans are forced to work and learn from home during the coronavirus pandemic, the state Senate on Monday, May 4, unanimously voted to create a $20 million grant program to expand rural broadband access. Out of a $20 million pot — most or all of which legislators hope to see covered by federal coronavirus relief dollars — half will be devoted to building broadband infrastructure to homes and communities that have no access to high speed internet. Another $8 million will go toward distance learning grants for schools, and $2 million toward building telemedicine infrastructure — particularly in rural hospitals that don’t currently have such resources available.”