Star Tribune
St. Louis County marks the end of project that brought fixes to 21 bridges and culverts
RICE LAKE, MINN. – Before and after photographs decorated the side of a construction vehicle parked in a St. Louis County Public Works garage Wednesday morning, marking the ceremonial end of a years-long project to replace aged bridges and culverts within northern Minnesota.
The more than $25 million bridge bundling project, a collaboration between the county and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, brought fixes to 17 spots in St. Louis County and four in neighboring Carlton County. The finale was a bridge on West Skyline Parkway leading to Spirit Mountain, which opened in mid-October — a month earlier than expected.
It was the largest road and bridge construction contract that this county has seen, according to 5th District County Commissioner Keith Musolf, who chairs the Public Works and Transportation committee.
“Replacing these bridges has made our region a safer place, strengthened our ability to withstand the environment of northern Minnesota’s weather and the events that have occurred over the past few seasons,” he said during a press conference.
The partnering entities started collecting funding for the project in 2018 when the Federal Highway Administration solicited applications for a project that would bundle bridge work, with a goal of demonstrating cost savings, according to Matt Hemmila, St. Louis County’s deputy director of engineering.
They were able to secure $10.2 million, then tacked on more federal, state and local funds for the rest. Hemmila estimated they saved between 10% and 15% on the cost of bridge fixes by not tending to each individually.
“So I think the program was a success,” he said.
Areas that saw upgrades, starting in 2022, include a spot on Normanna Road, over the French River, Munger Shaw Road over Shaw Bug Creek, and Three Lakes Road over Boulder Creek. There were two projects on Kensington Drive and two on Hwy. 210 that cross the Tamarack River. The only project this year was over Knowlton Creek on West Skyline Parkway, which included stream restoration work. St. Louis County has a two-minute video that shows before and after photos from each location.
The region has been rocked over successive years with allegations of child labor in the all-important meat-packaging industry. In 2023, Downs Food Group — which operates a plant in Madelia — paid $300,000 to settle child labor allegations brought in Watonwan County court. The company disputed those charges.
According to the state’s terms, Smithfield will also put on a 30-minute presentation at an industry event to communicate the importance of child labor compliance. Smithfield is owned by Hong-Kong-based WH Group, the largest pork company in the world.
St. James, a city of 4,793 in south-central Minnesota, has long been a food-processing hub, attracting a sizable immigrant population, including many Hispanic residents, to work in the plants. In 2022, the city website noted Smithfield expanded a parking lot to add 140 jobs as they added three production lines.
BISMARCK, N.D. — Natural gas flares at oil wells sparked two North Dakota wildfires earlier this fall, according to reports from the North Dakota Fire Marshal’s Office.
Investigators concluded that flares combined with high winds and extremely dry weather and started a wildfire near the town of Keene and another near New Town, the Bismarck Tribune reported Thursday. Officials with ConocoPhillips and Hess Corp., which operate the oil wells, say they are still reviewing the reports.
No one was killed or injured in the two fires that both began Oct. 5, but a combined 14 square miles (36.3 square kilometers) were burned, damaging land and livestock.
The fires were among several in northwestern North Dakota in October that burned up to 118,000 square miles (477.6 square km). Two people died and six were injured in other North Dakota wildfires. Agencies are still investigating what caused the other fires.
Flaring is the act of burning off excess natural gas that comes up along with oil. Oil and gas companies are required to flare natural gas from oil wells that cannot be captured or moved — venting natural gas is illegal and creates more pollution than flaring it.
ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Lexey Long said the company is still reviewing the fire investigation report. The company is committed to providing information to the state fire marshal’s office and is working directly with landowners and tenants, Long said in a statement.
”Our focus remains on the safety of our workers, the community and on the protection of the environment,” Long said.
Hess spokeswoman Alison Ritter said the company ”is in the process of reviewing the report” and declined further comment.
A deadline has passed for Hennepin County jail to significantly reduce its inmate population as in response to a state-issued mandate, but it remained more than 120 people over the order’s required population as of Thursday.
“As of right now, we are working to comply with the order and we continue to do everything we can do move people to other facilities,” Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Larson said in an email.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) sent the order on Oct. 31 sent , informing the Sheriff’s Office that it must reduce the number of inmates from roughly 850 to 600 by noon on Thursday (Nov. 14). As of Thursday morning, Hennepin County had a slightly larger number of inmates in its system than last week, with roughly 880, but 155 of those inmates have been moved to other counties’ facilities, Larson said. That means 723 inmates are still physically lodged in the jail.
The mandate detailed a variety of violations, saying the jail doesn’t have enough staff on duty and that it isn’t checking on inmates as often as it should. Seven inmates have died in the jail since September 2022, and the DOC found that the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center had violated the state’s rule for regular well-being checks in each of those deaths, according to the state’s order.
Since the order the Sheriff’s Office has worked on getting more agreements with other counties to receive some of Hennepin County’s inmates, Larson said. The county has also worked to move inmates for months before the order, and currently has agreements with five counties and is working on getting a dozen, more according to Larson. “This takes time,” she said.
Sheriff Dawanna Witt previously said the short amount of time made it impossible to meet the deadline. In a Nov. 8 statement, Witt said that parts of the order “contradict both Minnesota law and the DOC’s own standards and training materials.”
“We have raised these concerns repeatedly with the DOC and have offered to meet, but they have not responded to these offers,” Witt said in her statement.
Spokespeople for the DOC did not immediately return calls and emails on Thursday seeking comment on the missed deadline, and whether there would be any punitive action taken by the state.
