Star Tribune
Still waiting on big solar, but St. Paul’s Highland Bridge embracing green all over
A solar power installation on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River has yet to materialize, four years after officials announced ambitious plans to build a 6-acre solar array that would power the Highland Bridge development in St. Paul.
Highland Bridge developer Ryan Cos. says the 1-megawatt solar farm has been slowed by a state regulatory review, but it’s still in the works. Meanwhile, the company is pushing ahead with other projects designed to make Highland Bridge, on the former Ford Motor Co. assembly site, the greenest neighborhood in St. Paul.
Two buildings — Highland Bridge Medical Office and the Collection, a mixed-use building with apartments and commercial space — have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications. Another building, the Marvella senior housing building, is under final LEED review.
Lindsey Kieffaber, senior design project manager at Ryan, said LEED certification relies on a number of factors, such as restoration of habitat, water conservation and stormwater collection, energy conservation, building materials and waste reduction.
“It’s impressive, and it’s a big deal,” she said, noting that the site’s energy efficiency means less strain on the electric grid. Safer building materials means improved indoor air quality that helps people with conditions like asthma.
Russ Stark, who leads St. Paul’s climate work as the city’s chief resilience officer, said Highland Bridge is leading the way in sustainable development. The site treats stormwater by filtering it and diverting into a streamlike water feature. Several buildings already have rooftop solar panels.
Combined with the Heights, the 112-acre former Hillcrest Golf Course now being prepared for redevelopment on the East Side, Stark said the city will soon have two major redevelopments reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
“I think what they’ve done is really significant, actually,” Stark said. “It’s not often a city gets to do it at this scale. The ways we have been able to push the envelope on sustainability will be really impactful.”
Stark said the large solar array, a partnership with Xcel Energy, is still planned to go on top of a massive concrete cap in what’s known as Area C. The state first wants to make sure it understands the extent of pollution there, he said. The 22-acre site that sits between the Ford site and the Mississippi River to the west was used for decades to dispose of unknown quantities of paint, sludge and solvents. Ford still owns Area C, officials said.
When officials announced plans for the solar array in June 2020, they said electricity generated there combined with the 18 megawatts produced by the nearby hydroelectric plant means Highland Bridge will produce enough power for homes and buildings on its 122 acres and thousands of other homes and businesses throughout the area as well. Officials said that even when fully built-out, Highland Bridge is expected to consume no more than 5 megawatts.
In a statement, Ryan Cos. said: “Ryan and Xcel Energy are continuing to work with stakeholders on the implementation of the Corrective Action Plan for the site that will house the future 1MW solar array. We anticipate advancement in the coming months followed by applications to the Public Utilities Commission. The local, 1MW solar array will complement the on-site rooftop solar that has and will be installed on buildings within the Highland Bridge development.”
Xcel officials issued a statement Friday night: “We’re committed to continuing to work with Ryan Companies and doing everything we can to facilitate and support the sustainability goals at Highland Bridge. Putting a solar array on Area C … involves numerous stakeholders. We continue to work with all stakeholders to determine the best use of this area.”
Tim Morehead, a 28-year resident of Highland Park and a board member of the Highland District Council, said there is much to like about the sustainability plans at Highland Bridge. But the 74-year-old retiree with 11 grandkids said he continues to push Ryan officials to use even more stringent building and energy-use standards at the site.
“I have had many meetings with Ryan to say I am concerned with the future of the next generations,” Morehead said. “Are the certifications for LEED good enough? We have to spend the limited resources we have correctly. We don’t have a lot of time to make it better.”
Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.
Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.
Div. I-AA
North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.
South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.
Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Div. III
Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
