Faiza Mahamud writes in the Star Tribune: “Minneapolis voters will decide the fate of one rent control proposal at the ballot box this fall, but in a rare move Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a second one, setting up a potential showdown with the City Council. Frey vetoed one resident-led ordinance proposal that aimed to cap rent increases in the city but let stand a separate one that asks voters to give the City Council the power to control rents or draw up a more detailed question to ask voters again in a later election. The 13-member council, which meets next week, would need nine votes to override Frey’s veto.”
Frederick Melo writes in the Pioneer Press: “The St. Paul City Council is considering reducing or eliminating minimum parking requirements for new real estate developments. City staff have prepared two proposals for the council to consider this month. The first would reduce the burden on private developers to provide off-street parking when they construct new homes or businesses. The second proposal would eliminate that 66-year-old requirement entirely. … Lifting the parking burden is one strategy toward the city’s goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled in St. Paul by 40 percent by 2040 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.”
In the Star Tribune, Alex Chhith writes: “Police say the driver involved in a fatal single-vehicle accident in Orono on July 25 had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. The driver, identified as James David Blue, 51, was taken to the hospital with severe injuries after the crash off North Shore Drive near his home. Killed in the crash were his passengers, Mack Motzko, 20, son of Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko, and Sam Schuneman, 24, of Maple Grove.”
Also in the Pioneer Press, Ava Kian writes: “St. Paul police have opened a hate crime investigation after racial slurs and X’s were spray painted in red over a George Floyd mural in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. The mural, which depicts Floyd’s face four times along the wall of the 2nd Shift Art Studio at 1128 Payne Ave., was defaced between Tuesday night and early Wednesday.”
Chris Tomasson writes in the Pioneer Press: “A turbulent week for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins now includes having lost a position as a hospital spokesperson. Holland (Mich.) Hospital, located in Cousins’ hometown, announced Friday that it will end a deal it has with him due to his viewpoints on the COVID-19 vaccine. Cousins, who returned to the team on Thursday after he was on the COVID-19 reserve list and had to quarantined for five days, has not indicated a desire to be vaccinated.”
The AP says: “The University of Wisconsin removed a large boulder from its Madison campus at the request of minority students who view the rock as a symbol of racism. Chamberlin Rock, on the top of Observatory Hill, is named after Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, a geologist and former university president.”
Why do they think rent control will work this time?