Says Dave Orrick for the Strib, “A day after a task force recommended a 3% cap on yearly residential rent hikes, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he’d veto that idea if it advances to him. ‘It’s not happening,’ Frey said Wednesday, adding: ‘If it moves forward to my desk, I will veto it.’ Frey’s clear opposition, in response to reporters’ questions Wednesday, underscores the uncertainty facing the prospect of rent control in Minneapolis as the idea enters its next phase on a potential path to the voters. The issue is heading to the City Council, where a majority of the members would be needed to put a specific policy on the November 2023 ballot. A supermajority of nine would be needed to override a mayoral veto.”
For BringMeTheNews, Tommy Wiita says, “Packers Sanitation Services (PSSI), a Wisconsin-based cleaning service that is accused of using child workers, has announced it is laying off 121 employees at the JBS meat plant in Worthington. The decision comes after JBS terminated its contract with the sanitation service following a recent federal investigation. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), employee layoffs will begin on Jan. 22, 2023. DEED notes that employees are not ‘represented by a union and bumping rights do not exist.’ No specifics were given on what positions would face layoffs in January.”
At mlb.com Do-Hyoung Park says, “The Twins bucked all franchise precedent with an earnest pursuit of Carlos Correa at the very top of this free-agent market – but after all that, the superstar shortstop who made an outsized impact on the organization ultimately won’t return to the Upper Midwest, as Correa reportedly agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants … The Correa negotiations took long enough that most of the top free agents have already signed elsewhere, and the Twins had much more flexibility this offseason in payroll than in trade assets, considering the number of prospects they traded away in the last calendar year to acquire win-now pieces like Gray and Mahle. With the farm system less robust, the Twins might have to deal from areas of excess on their Major League roster, which mostly exists in the corner outfield and among young starting pitchers.”
At MPR News, Paul Huttner says, “Expect rush hours and travel conditions Thursday to be challenging across most of Minnesota. Here are some updated snowfall totals as of early evening Wednesday.
- Sea Gull Lake [Cook Co, MN] 6.3”
- 1 NE Wadena [Wadena Co, MN] 7.20”
- Deer Creek [Otter Tail Co, MN 8.40”
- Lester Park (east Duluth) 10.5”
- 3 NNE Rice Lake [St. Louis Co, MN] 12.0”
- 1 S Finland [Lake Co, MN] 12”
Get ready for round 2, Minnesota. Winter storm warnings now include the greater Twin Cities area through Thursday.”
For The Minnesota Reformer Deena Winter says, “A 2017 study found that a child who died [near 3M in Oakdale] between 2003 and 2015 was 171% more likely to have had cancer than a child who died in the surrounding area. Although 3M contends that a definitive, smoking-gun link between 3M’s waste and Oakdale’s cancer rates has never been established, the city’s cancer incidence went down after 2006, when 3M helped pay for a water filtration system and chemical contamination levels dropped. Nearly 17 years later, Oakdale residents continue to grapple with lingering, seemingly unexplainable health effects, and they wonder about the role 3M chemicals may have played in their ailments. In a statement to the Reformer, 3M said while some studies have linked certain health conditions to higher levels of some fluorochemicals than is typically found in everyday life, researchers haven’t found a definitive causal link between exposure to the chemicals and health conditions.”
In the Business Journal Kelly Busche writes, “The owner of a small commercial property, currently home to Zumbro Cafe in Minneapolis’ Linden Hills neighborhood, wants to redevelop the site. The developer, Edina-based Minneapolis Holding Co. LLC, plans a four-story building at 4300 Upton Ave. S. The new building would include about 10,000 square feet of office space and around 800 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The new building would replace Zumbro’s building. The restaurant is currently on a month-to-month lease and Minneapolis Holding wants to keep Zumbro in the new building, according to Katie Blaisdell, a senior associate with Minneapolis-based Snow Kreilich Architects.”
A WCCO-TV story says, “A Twin Cities restaurant owner is charged with almost 20 felonies after he allegedly failed to pay millions in Minnesota state income tax for more than a decade. The Carver County Attorney’s Office says an anonymous tip was sent this summer to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, claiming 61-year-old Paul Mark Carlson – owner of Vic’s Blue Dog in Victoria – was paying his workers in cash. Investigators soon found that Carlson hadn’t paid individual income taxes for 11 years, and there were no returns filed for his restaurant during that time frame. It was estimated that just between 2015 to 2020, Vic’s Blue Dog took in more than $5 million in taxable sales.”
This is a minor gripe, but Victoria is at least a half-hour drive from Minneapolis. I could concede to “Twin Cities area” or “metro area” but this place is simply not a “Twin Cities restaurant”. Is it possible that news organizations make crime in the cities look worse than it actually is by calling every place within 50 miles “Twin Cities”?
Anyway—amazing that this guy simply paid no taxes for 11 years and it took a whistleblower to prod the IRS or the MN Department of Revenue. Clearly we need better ways to detect tax evasion.
It’s also a reminder that the IRS needs better funding to do its job properly.
From my perch in soon to be overbuilt Northeast Minneapolis I can understand why Jacob would veto rent controls. Obviously it would upset his financial backers in the building and rental properties industries. Within 5 blocks of my house there are three VERY large out of place apt complexes in various stages of completion, one is up and running, another is in the final stages of construction and on California St where the community garden once was the ground is broken and being prepped for another complex far to big for the surrounding neighborhood. This last one was vehemently opposed by the residents of the area, but…soon we will be at full saturation, but that won’t stop the building. Unfortunately building beyond the need won’t bring down rents, investors must reclaim their investments donchaknow.
Or because in other cities, such as St Paul it caused a 70% drop in new builds. It is more complicated than simply capping rent increases.
Yes, rent controls have always been questionable. But it’s also questionable whether Frey would ever do anything but favor development.
Overbuilt city? This is an interesting way to view cities; a place where density of housing and amenities are supposed to occur.
Not to get cranked out of shape, but in many large cities across the USA, as well as foreign countries, single family dwellings, lot house etc. are only for the upper crust of society. Look around parts of the city and they are slumlord owned rentals. Makes you wonder.