Star Tribune
Rideshare drivers to strike Thursday at MSP Airport for better pay, working conditions
Some metro area Uber and Lyft drivers shut off their apps Thursday, and about 30 picketed at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for two hours in the evening.
The drivers called the one-day strike as they continue to advocate for higher pay and more predictable earnings. Several longtime drivers said their cut of fares has steadily dropped.
Ibrahima Kante has been driving for eight years and made more than 25,000 trips in the Twin Cities, he said, showing a screenshot of his history. Pay started off good, but it can no longer support his family.
“I’ve got six kids I need to take care of,” Kante said.
Starting about 5 p.m. Thursday, a group of about 30 drivers marched on a small sidewalk across a tall median from the main departure road at Terminal One. Other drivers zipped by after dropping off passengers, seeming to pay little attention to the small demonstration.
Drivers said despite the cold, they wanted to stand outside to try to get some attention to their problems.
“Nobody’s going to fight for us,” Kante said. “We’ve got to fight for our rights.”
Rides to the airport remained easily obtainable and normally priced during the afternoon, though Lyft showed surge pricing after 6 p.m.
The one-day strike could become a monthly occurrence, and perhaps a weekly event during busy times at the airport if demands are not met, said Yusuf Haji, a spokesman representing drivers.
“We will collectively keep pushing until we get our demands met,” he said.
Drivers working for Uber, Lyft and other app-based rides provide about 2,900 rides a day at the airport, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC).
Over the past year, rideshare drivers have also been pushing for better pay and clarity around the rules transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft must follow before terminating drivers or deactivating their accounts.
An effort to raise pay for drivers in Minneapolis failed last year, but led to the state creating a task force to study minimum pay rates and working conditions after Gov. Tim Walz vetoed a bill — his first veto — that would have provided pay raises and job protections to rideshare drivers. Uber had threatened to largely pull out of Minnesota if the measure became law.
Drivers said they were not satisfied with what they saw as a delay.
“The longer you push it off, the longer people are going hungry,” said driver Amanda VanDyke of Burnsville.
Others said they felt betrayed by the veto.
“I fought for him so he’d fight for me,” Abdi Aziz of Chaska said of Walz. Now, Aziz said he wonders if he should start voting Republican.
Since the veto, Uber and Lyft have instituted a $5 minimum charge for rides that begin and end in the metro area.
Lyft, in an emailed statement, said it supported its drivers. “We are always looking for ways to improve the driver experience on our platform,” the company said.
For some drivers, incremental changes are not enough to keep them on the road. Mauricio Castaneda of Robbinsdale said he once made good money driving for the apps, but now, he said, he is behind on payments for the car he uses for work. He plans to start driving for Metro Mobility, he said, where he can get $27 an hour and save more for retirement. “That’s it, forget about Lyft and Uber,” he said.
“The drivers aim to draw attention to these issues,” Haji said.
Drivers also hoped the MAC will provide a better facility for drivers to use a restroom while they wait for customers to hail a ride, and space to pray.
Imam Hassan Mohamud from the Islamic Da’wah Center in St. Paul said the current handful of porta-potties and one small structure offering little protection from the elements are not enough.
“The prayers take seven minutes and nobody can stand here that long in this type of weather,” he said Thursday, as temperatures fell into the teens.
About 70% of drivers parked in the waiting lot Thursday were Muslim, said Eid Ali, president of the Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association.
A spokesman for MAC said the agency is monitoring any action or recommendations from a committee that Walz established to look into compensation and treatment issues related to rideshare drivers.
Star Tribune
Sentencing set for Monday morning for a Minnesota man who was drunk and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV and killed her.
A man with a history of driving drunk received a four-year term Monday for being intoxicated and speeding when he hit a woman’s SUV on a southern Minnesota highway and killed her.
John R. Deleo, 54, of Lake Crystal, Minn., was sentenced in Brown County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Aug. 17, 2023, in New Ulm at Hwy. 68 and S. 15th Street that killed 82-year-old Sharon A. Portner, of New Ulm.
With credit for the two days he was in jail after his arrest, Deleo is expected to serve the first 2⅔ years years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
A week ahead of sentencing, defense attorney James Kuettner asked the court to spare his client prison and put him on probation for up to five years.
Kuettner pointed out in his filing that Deleo stayed at the crash scene and attempted “to aid Portner, and he left [her] side only when directed to by law enforcement.”
The attorney also noted that Deleo has been sober since the crash, and therefore, at a particularly low risk for reoffending.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police arrived to find the two damaged vehicles near 15th and S. Broadway streets. Emergency responders took Portner to New Ulm Medical Center, where she died that day.
ROCHESTER – The defense for Shane Roper, the former state trooper charged for his role in a crash that killed Owatonna teenager Olivia Flores, has asked the court to dismiss eight of the nine charges against him.
In a motion filed Oct. 24, Roper’s attorneys said the state has “failed to meet its burden of offering direct evidence tending to demonstrate that [Roper’s] actions, or negligence, were the proximate cause of death or bodily harm.”
Roper, 32, faces nine criminal charges related to the May 18 crash, including felony charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Both charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in jail.
The only charge the defense did not ask to have dismissed is a misdemeanor for careless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail.
Among the other requests made to the court, Roper’s defense asked for a change of venue outside of Olmsted County, citing the extensive media coverage of the case. The defense said “jury pools have surely been tainted and a fair trial cannot be had” in the county.
Roper’s attorney, Eric Nelson of Halberg Criminal Defense, also argued that any evidence related to Roper’s prior speeding or traffic incidents should be precluded as evidence in the case.
In the five years leading up to the crash, Roper had been disciplined by the State Patrol on four separate occasions for careless or reckless driving, including a February 2019 crash that injured another officer.
District Judge Christa Daily has not responded to the motions. Roper is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 21 for a pretrial settlement conference.
Star Tribune
Who is comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who insulted Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally?
NEW YORK — Of the nearly 30 speakers who recently warmed up the crowd for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe got the most attention for racist remarks.
”I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said, later including lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jewish and Black people.
The comments have led to condemnation from Democrats and Puerto Rican celebrities, with Ricky Martin sharing a clip of Hinchcliffe’s set, captioned: “This is what they think of us.”
The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. ”This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Here’s what to know about Hinchcliffe, his comedic styling and the response to his Madision Square Garden comments.
Hinchcliffe, raised in Youngstown, Ohio, is a stand-up comedian who specializes in the roast style, in which comedians take the podium to needle a celebrity victim with personal and often tasteless jokes. He has written and appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including ones for Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady.
Even fellow comedians aren’t immune. At the Snoop Dogg roast, Hichcliffe made a joke referencing comedian Luenell, who is Black, being on the Underground Railroad. Of the honoree, he said: ”Snoop, you look like the California Raisin that got hooked on heroin.”
