Star Tribune
Rochester parent builds AI chatbot to answer questions about school district’s $19M referendum
The VoteSmart RPS chatbot, unveiled Tuesday by the district, is capable of analyzing loads of district content to formulate real-time responses to questions about the referendum. The district is hoping the tool will help cut down the amount of time it takes voters to get accurate information about the district’s plans.
For instance, wondering which area in the referendum would receive the most funding?
The answer, according to the RPS chatbot: “28% of funding will support services that strengthen student wellbeing and mental health.”
The chatbot was developed by Mani Thavasi, an RPS parent who is also CEO of Rochester-based technology company TRBHI. Thavasi said the idea for the tool came from his own experience researching the referendum.
“As a technologist, I was looking at all of these pieces of information and it was a bit overwhelming in terms of putting these pieces together and making an informed decision,” Thavasi said.
Thavasi’s company spent two weeks developing the chatbot, which was provided to the district at no cost. Unlike other chatbots like ChatGPT that pull from a variety of sources to generate responses, the RPS tool relies exclusively on presentations and other official communications from the district.
“We wanted to ensure it’s very reliable content to begin with, so that helped us to set those guardrails in terms of how the responses would be constructed,” Thavasi said.
Authorities identified a 35-year-old St. Paul woman found shot to death last week in a North End apartment.
The St. Paul Police Department said Damara Alexis Stowers was the woman found shot in her apartment on Oct. 19.
Police found Stowers at around 9 p.m. in the dwelling in the 100 block of Sycamore Street East after reports of a shooting. Officers rendered aid until Saint Paul fire medics arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Investigators believe a carjacking reported that same night is connected to Stowers death, but no arrests have been announced. The victim in that carjacking was shot, but Regions Hospital staff treated them for noncritical injuries.
Stowers’ death marked the fourth homicide in the capital city in 10 days, and the 25th homicide this year according to a Star Tribune database. There were 28 homicides by this time last year.
NHP is seeking other employers to join their efforts, and is looking to invest in both multifamily and single family projects in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
The availability of new apartments allows aging single-family homeowners to sell and downsize, said David Gaddie, a longtime bank executive and chairman of Essentia’s board.
And that house “can be sold to a young family that needs housing, and they can move on up the ladder,” he said.
Developments chosen for loans won’t be targeted toward employees sought by a specific employer. The nonprofit is considering loans to projects in Superior, Wis., and Coleraine, Minn., and expects to offer investments between $2 million and $5 million.
Herman said Essentia has long invested in affordable housing, including a 72-unit project for seniors near its former downtown hospital. Without housing, “good health is almost impossible,” he said, and he’s hopeful other employers will consider housing investments that might yield lower monetary returns, “but a great return” on employee recruits.
The nonprofit’s board includes Gaddie, Herman, former Wells Fargo executive Phil Rolle, interim (and former) Maurice’s CEO George Goldfarb, and former Allete CEO Alan Hodnik.
Star Tribune
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approves rate increase for Minnesota Power electric bills in Duluth, Iron Range
This is the second rate increase granted to Minnesota Power in two years. In January 2023, the PUC granted a 9.5% increase. That was also much smaller than what the company wanted, though higher than what some consumer advocates asked for.
More than 650 people wrote to the PUC about the rate increase, most in opposition. Many were dated prior to or just after the settlement was announced publicly. Matthew Laveau of Wrenshall said “these added costs are not sustainable to their customers.”
Gretchen Matuszak of Esko wrote she is retired and can hardly keep up with her electric bill as it is now. “You sure make it tough for us old timers!” She wrote. “Give us a break!”
Allete CEO Bethany Owen during a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission meeting in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday May 9, 2024. ] RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER • renee.jones@startribune.com (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Minnesota Power has about 150,000 customers across northeastern Minnesota. It serves energy-hungry iron mines, pipelines and the paper industry, all of which make up nearly 70% of the utility’s energy sales.
The company has the lowest monthly bills for the average residential customer of Minnesota’s three investor-owned utilities, and its electric rates for those customers are below the national average, according to 2022 data, the latest reported by the PUC. Its prices for commercial and industrial customers are higher than neighboring states, however, and 95% of the national average.
The utility has shifted its power mix from 95% coal in 2005 to nearly 60% renewable energy now as it works to meet a state law requiring a carbon-free electric grid by 2040.
