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Lightning strikes electrical contractor’s home not once but twice
They say lightning never strikes the same space twice, but one family in the Hastings area would disagree.
DAKOTA COUNTY, Minn. — The Neumans were returning to their Nininger Township home after dinner Saturday when, without warning – not even a raindrop – they heard a loud noise and saw a flash of light.
“As soon as we got to the step, a lightning bolt hit the house within fifteen feet of us,” homeowner Jeff Neuman said. “It completely took us all off guard.”
Their Ring surveillance camera captured the flash of light before freezing and powering off. It later started working again. Still, Neuman is in talks with insurance and estimates tens of thousands of dollars in other replacements and repairs.
“It put a hole in my roof,” he explained. “Garage door opener, irrigation system. My well pump went bad. A couple of TVs. The refrigerator.”
The best part? No one was hurt.
“It was just amazing that we’re all alive,” the grandfather of three said. “I mean, it was scary but what an awesome experience because of the fact that we’re alive.”
The ironic part? Neuman is an electrical contractor. In 2006, he and his sister took over the family business, Merit Electric Company in St. Paul.
Neuman says his parents were with him and his wife when lightning struck.
“Right away, me and my dad were thinking, ‘We better make sure there’s no fire here,’ he said. “Luckily I had a thermal imaging camera. We went up in the attic and checked everything right away. You could tell it was hot there, but the difference wasn’t enough to concern us.”
Even stranger? This isn’t the first time.
“When the house was being built it got struck worse than this one,” Neuman said. “It blew like five basketball-sized holes in our roof.”
Some sources say the odds of getting hit by lightning in a person’s lifetime are one in one million. Others say one in 15,300. Yet this Hastings-area home has been hit twice in only five years.
Neuman says when lightning struck the first time, it was storming and no one was home.
“I don’t know, I think it’s just a freak of nature,” Neuman said. “Just unlucky but actually we’re lucky because we’re still here … Third one’s not a charm on this one, that’s for sure.”
The CDC offers indoor and outdoor lightning safety tips, including equipping your house with whole-house surge protectors to help protect appliances.
A law passed in May now requires that transportation network company drivers earn a minimum of $1.28 per minute and 31 cents per mile.
MINNEAPOLIS — Rideshare fares will cost you a bit more after a new law setting minimum pay levels for transportation network drivers kicked in on Dec. 1.
The law, passed in May during the 2024 legislative session, pushes minimum pay for drivers who work for Uber, Lyft and similar transportation networks to $1.28 per minute and 31 cents per mile. There is a minimum ride charge of $5. Along with the new minimum rates, the law is designed to provide greater transparency into what customers are charged, increase insurance coverage, and build new partnerships with community organizations to assist and support drivers.
At the time the law was passed, Uber estimated that passengers would pay 25% more for a ride under the legislation.
It took a year of task force meetings organized by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) and input from drivers, rideshare users, community and legislative leaders to hammer out the new law, with both Uber and Lyft threatening to pull out of the state if even higher pay rates mandated by the Minneapolis City Council would have taken hold.
“[Transportation Network Company] drivers and stakeholders showed up to advocate and the result was new legislation that increased driver benefits and protections,” said Nicole Blissenbach, DLI commissioner. “Our agency is now working to educate drivers and work with the TNCs, so the law works as intended.”
Among the requirements and features of the new law:
- To ensure drivers earn the minimum compensation rate, every 14 days, TNCs will review individual trip and earnings records. If a driver did not meet the minimum rate of pay over that time period, the TNC will provide a supplemental payment to make up the difference. All tips belong to the driver and are not counted toward the minimum compensation rate.
- TNCs will pay drivers an additional 91 cents a minute if they drive a wheelchair-accessible vehicle to encourage more accessible rides.
- Companies will provide drivers with a trip receipt within 24 hours of a completed trip, and weekly summaries that include the driver’s total earnings before tips, total trip time, miles, total fares and fees paid by passengers, and the driver’s total time on the TNC’s app.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry retains enforcement authority to ensure minimum compensation rates and pay transparency provisions aren’t met.
Additional information on the rideshare compensation law is available on the DLI website.
A comprehensive study of transportation network drivers by the DLI in 2023 determined that most rideshare drivers are persons of color, and more than half are immigrants. That study recommended 89 cents per mile and 49 cents per minute would be roughly equivalent to the state minimum wage plus some of the driver’s work-related expenses.
But the Minneapolis City Council, acting without state input, passed an ordinance that would’ve guaranteed drivers $1.41 per mile plus 51 cents per minute and other benefits. Uber and Lyft both issued warnings that they would leave Minneapolis – and likely the state – if that ordinance went into effect.
The council eventually rescinded that ordinance in early May after striking a compromise with state lawmakers on increases to transportation network company driver compensation.
Whether you plan to attend a ballgame in Minneapolis or Fort Myers, the Twins are putting seats up for purchase.
MINNEAPOLIS — Snowflakes are falling but for true fans, it’s never too early to think about baseball season.
The Minnesota Twins announced that tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday for all 2025 home events – regular season games at Target Field, spring training games in Fort Myers and TwinsFest.
Regular season
The 2025 season will include 81 games at Target Field from April through late September. The home opener will be on April 3 against the Houston Astros.
Single-game tickets will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. If you plan on going to three or more Twins games, consider purchasing a holiday pack of tickets to get a complimentary Twins tree ornament.
Spring training
The Twins will host 17 home games at Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla. between Feb. 22 and March 25 as the club preps for the regular season. For more information on these games, click here.
TwinsFest
This annual fan event will take place Jan. 24-25 and feature more than 40 current and former Twins including Carlos Correa, Pablo López, Griffin Jax, Bailey Ober, Bert Blyleven and more.
Fans will experience live music, autograph stations and a youth clinic for aspiring Twins players. Check it out at this link.
MINNEAPOLIS — Australian rock icons ACDC are hitting the road for the band’s first North American tour in nine years, and opening night will take place in Minneapolis.
The “Power Up” tour kicks off at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 10, 2025. Tickets go on sale to the general public at noon, December 6 via the ACDC website. The tour includes 13 stops, winding up on May 18 in Cleveland.
ACDC is a legendary Grammy-winning band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Lead guitarist Angus Young, singer Brian Johnson and crew just wrapped up a European leg of the tour, named after the band’s 2020 album “Power Up” which they weren’t able to play live due to the COVID pandemic.
They are considered by many to be one of the most influential rock bands in history, with over 200 million albums sold worldwide including “Back in Black,” with 50 million albums sold worldwide and counting. ACDC mega-hits include “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Thunderstruck,” “Dirty Deeds,” Highway to Hell” and “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll).”
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