Star Tribune
Judge dismisses suit against Minneapolis Public Housing Agency
A lawsuit that might have upended how Minneapolis public housing units are regulated and inspected was dismissed by a Hennepin County judge Thursday.
The suit, brought two years ago by a public housing resident, alleged that residents of Minneapolis Public Housing Agency units are subject to substandard living conditions in a way that tenants of private rental units aren’t.
Thursday’s dismissal didn’t appear to directly address those quality-of-living concerns, but rather the legal argument that MPHA residents are illegally treated differently; the judge ruled that they are not.
The suit attacked the fact that MPHA units aren’t subject to the same city inspections that private rentals are.
The MPHA and the city defended their decadeslong policy of a different regimen for enforcing housing standards because the MPHA, unlike a private landlord, is subject to federal regulations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides most of the MPHA’s funding.
In Thursday’s ruling, Hennepin County Judge Patrick D. Robben sided with the city and MPHA.
Robben called the policy, in which the MPHA doesn’t actually need a rental license from the city, “a planning level decision made upon consideration of public policy and the effects of that policy on advancing the mission of the (city and MPHA).” That decision, he reasoned, could not be targeted with a lawsuit like the one filed in 2021 by Kimberly Lowry, who lived in an MPHA-managed house on 26th Avenue S.
Lowry’s attorneys filed the lawsuit on her behalf, but also hoped to establish a class of plaintiffs who reside in public housing units.
The city maintains that it sends inspectors to respond to tenant complaints made to its 311 service, regardless of whether they live in public or private housing.
In response to Thursday’s ruling, the MPHA released a statement that read, in part: “It should be noted that MPHA properties remain subject to various federally-required inspection programs and those inspection programs remain in effect. In March of 2023, MPHA received a near-perfect 98.5 percent in the physical inspection segment of HUD’s annual Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). This marks the highest PHAS physical inspection scores in MPHA’s history and builds on the agency’s record of achieving ‘high performer’ status with HUD, dating back to the late 1990s.”
Lowry’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
Section 8 discrimination
In other rental news, Minneapolis officials this week announced its Civil Rights Department has begun enforcing a 2017 change to city code that prohibits discrimination by landlords against people who hold Section 8 public housing vouchers.
Anyone who believes they have been discriminated against can call 311 or 612-673-3012.
While the newest shark at the Minnesota Zoo might be particularly skilled at swimming, she was named after St. Paul’s beloved Olympic gymnast, the zoo announced Thursday.
Suni the zebra shark was born Aug. 17, just after the conclusion of the summer Olympics in Paris, where gymnast Suni Lee earned three medals.
Zoo visitors will be able to spot the striped baby Suni in the shark nursery in Discovery Bay, according to the zoo’s weekly newsletter. Those stripes won’t last forever; by the time she’s one, Suni’s stripes will be replaced with spots.
Visitors may find Suni exploring her environment or lying still, which is normal. Zebra sharks can rest motionless on the bottom and use throat muscles to pump water across their gills.
Zebra sharks are an endangered species, over-hunted for their fins, according to the zoo. The zoo is part of a global program that sends eggs and pups from zoos and aquariums to Indonesia to be released into the wild.
Suni’s mom is Ruby the shark, the zoo’s only breeding female. Ruby is also the mother of 7-year-old female JZ. Mother sharks do not raise their young, unlike many aquatic mammals like dolphins.
Ruby is a genetic match for the shark rehabilitation program and the zoo hopes to provide viable eggs in the future.
We at the Minnesota Star Tribune are committed to continually enhancing our digital products and experience. Earlier this year, we rebooted and upgraded the Minnesota Star Tribune’s website and apps to create a cleaner, crisper, modern platform that we’ll continue to build upon. And today, we’re reaching out to let you know about another upcoming enhancement that will impact anyone who visits startribune.com or our mobile apps.
Starting Friday, Oct. 25, we are making changes to our login and subscription management system. These changes will require you to log back into your Minnesota Star Tribune account on startribune.com and to our apps when login goes live there early next week. We’re sorry for the small inconvenience – but it will be worth it.
Why are we doing this? We are moving subscription management for our digital subscribers to a modern subscription management platform. This platform will level up your subscription management experience, allowing us to serve you in ways that were not possible with our legacy system.
Enhancements you will notice include a modern payment infrastructure and subscription management, including the ability to easily make changes to your subscription right in the platform. You will also see a simplified login flow using your email address (no need to remember a separate username).
If you are a subscriber, or if you have logged into the site over the past two years, you should have already received communication about this via email, and we encourage you read those communications to ensure you are prepared for this change. In addition, you will see messaging on our website and apps notifying you of this coming change.
If you encounter any issues, you can find more information about our updates here.
In addition, we will be rolling out new ways to log in to your account, starting with Google, on Friday.
This upgrade also lays the foundation for greater personalization and content customization for a more robust digital experience in the future.
ROCHESTER – The biggest venue here will technically have new operators in 2025, though there likely won’t be staff changes.
Experience Rochester has switched operating companies, ending a contract with venue specialists ASM Global and expanding a contract with its food and beverage vendor Oak View Group. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) revealed Friday that 146 workers would be affected by the switch.
ASM Global notified DEED officials last month that it planned to lay off its staff running the Civic Center. Experience Rochester said in a statement Friday that Oak View Group plans to rehire and retain all employees once it takes over operations in January, “ensuring continuity and a seamless transition for our staff and our guests.”
The Mayo Civic Center has been a Rochester fixture since 1939, though it’s expanded over the years. It boasts almost 200,000 square feet of space, can seat up to 7,200 people in its arena and claims to be the largest event facility in southern Minnesota.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings