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Rise of roundabouts in Minnesota
If you feel like you’re seeing more circles on your commute, you are. The number of roundabouts being built in Minnesota is rising — rapidly.
MINNESOTA, USA — Your eyes and wheels don’t deceive you; you’re seeing more circles.
“Just recently, there’s been a kind of almost a cascade of more roundabouts every single year,” said Minnesota Department of Transportation administrative engineer Derek Leuer.
MnDOT’s first roundabouts went up in 2002, down in Medford off of Interstate 35. According to a national roundabout database (yes, there is such a thing), Minnesota now has 498.
And the reason behind the rise has nothing to do with trying to annoy you.
“The biggest thing when we looked at the research is the really big reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes, which is really the target type of crash we want to reduce,” said Leuer. “After we install a roundabout, we typically see an 80- to 90-percent reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes, versus the before conditions,” he adds.
MnDOT said they are up to 70-percent safer for pedestrians, too. But how?
Well, by design, they force drivers to slow down and they take out those right angles that a four-way stop, or signaled intersection have — both things that make crashes far more severe.
And the way the crosswalks are designed means pedestrians only need to cross one lane of traffic at a time. The suburbs must have been reading the same studies.
“We have six, full-size, or standard-size, roundabouts in Edina, and we have four what we call mini-roundabouts,” explained Chad Millner, director of engineering for the city of Edina.
For Edina, the reasons weren’t strictly about safety. Officials say roundabouts help move traffic through congested intersections better, so they’ve put a few near schools.
“Eventually they learn that it is better for me to just yield and go through these from a traffic operations standpoint, then having a four-way stop that was here. Before, you’d have cars backed all the way up to Vernon Avenue in each direction in these school pickup and drop-offs,” says Millner.
But let’s just admit that change is hard, and for most of us when we learned to drive, roundabouts weren’t, well, around.
“Usually when you put one in, the first few weeks you get the calls like, ‘Why did you do it?’ ‘I don’t like the size of this one,’ ‘Can you do something different?’ ‘I don’t know how to operate it,’” Millner said.
That’s changing, too. According to Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety, roundabouts ARE covered in the driver’s manual for new drivers. And there are a few locations around the state that have roundabouts on the road test. DPS said as more roundabouts are built, they’ll likely expand testing. For the rest of us, maybe a quick lesson would be helpful.
“You always yield to the person that is already in the circle,” said Andrew Plowman, senior project manager at WSB..
Andrew Plowman knows what he’s talking about. He’s designed more than his fair share of roundabouts over the years. From minis to urban compact, single lane to multi-lane, too. But no matter the size, they all work the same.
“When there’s a gap in traffic, and that means they feel they have enough time to get in, then they would enter and proceed to their final destination and exit, and as they exit, look for a pedestrian in the crossing,” said Plowman.
It’s that simple. Slow down, yield to the cars already in the circle, turn right, proceed to your exit, and exit. When you approach a two-lane roundabout, it’s the same concept.
From the right lane, you can turn right at the first exit or go straight. Use the inside or left lane to go straight, or if you’re going all the way around to the last exit, like if you were making a left turn at a traditional intersection.
The signage helps make it clear, but do you need to use your turn signal? Andrew said it’s a big debate in the roundabout industry, but according to our statutes here in Minnesota, the answer is no. The distance between where you enter and exit is so short, it doesn’t really matter.
“Number one, even when I’m sitting at a regular intersection, I don’t necessarily trust someone’s signal. Number two, it’s fractions of a second before you’re going to know if they are turning or exiting,” Plowman said.
While it may be the case that many drivers are not familiar with roundabout rules, they still seem to be working. And they’re kind of growing on people.
Mostly. Maybe. Well, anyway, get used to them because they’re sticking around.
“Just keep an open mind. They’re not a fad anymore, even if they were at the beginning. It’s a proven tool that does work for municipalities, counties, DOT and they’re pretty much here to stay,” said Plowman.
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‘This doesn’t change anything’ Biden apology for Native American boarding schools draws mixed reaction
For the very first time, a sitting President has apologized for boarding schools that tore Native Americans apart and led to countless cases of abuse and death.
MINNEAPOLIS — During his first presidential visit to Indian Country on Friday, Joe Biden delivered a historic and emphatic apology, acknowledging 150 years of abuse, trauma and death inflicted by Native American boarding schools.
“I formally apologize, as President of the United States of America, for what we did,” Biden said. “It’s one of the most horrific chapters in American history,” said President Biden.
Christine Diindiisi McCleave, former CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, spent years documenting the stories of boarding school survivors and advocating for justice and accountability by the US leaders.
“My family has two generations of boarding school history that I know of,” McCleave said, during an interview for the KARE 11 Series “Lost History,” which detailed the impact of boarding schools in Minnesota.
During his speech on Friday, President Biden acknowledged the work of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and efforts to better understand the horrors and generational trauma the schools inflicted.
“Generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know,” Biden said. “Children abused emotionally, physically and sexually abused, forced into hard labor, some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some left for dead in unmarked graves.”
Christine Diindiisi McCleave: “I struggle with what I’m supposed to say and what I really feel.”
Kent Erdahl: “Why do you say that?”
McCleave: “Well, because today is historic and while I am grateful to see this progress being made. I am also realizing just how short it falls… from real reparations, from real healing.”
She knows she’s not the only one who feels that way. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition surveyed survivors in 2016.
“The thing they wanted the least was an apology because, while it is an acknowledgement, it doesn’t change anything,” McCleave said. “The majority of them said they wanted a truth commission. Trying to find out exactly how many boarding schools existed, how many children went to those boarding schools and how many children died at those schools.”
She says an investigation led by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose grandparents and mother were among those sent to these schools did help better understand that impact, but it only scratched the surface.
“They were only able to investigate the Federal Government’s records,” McCleave said. “Half of these schools were run by churches, of various denominations, and so a truth commission would be able to look into those records as well.”
“Nearly one thousand documented Native child deaths, though the real number is likely to be much, much higher,” Biden said on Friday.
Bills in both the House and the Senate could make that commission a reality, but until that happens, Christine says she can’t ignore the politics of an apology that took place in a swing state, just days before an election.
McCleave: “This apology doesn’t change anything for my mother, who was abused as a child. Of for my grandfather who was a abused at a Catholic Indian Boarding School.”
Erdahl: “Do you hope that this isn’t just an election ploy?”
McCleave: “I hope that this apology actually helps that bill get passed. Native American people are no stranger to being political pawns, so you know what, if this is an election ploy so be it, I hope something good comes out of it.”
Researchers spoke about increased THC potency and the impact on youth brain development.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Whether purchased from dealer or dispensary, weed has become more potent over the years. In 2022, the federal government reported THC levels more than tripled since 1995.
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Graduate School addressed this Friday at its first cannabis summit. Attendees primarily included the nonprofit’s graduate students as well as undergraduate students from nearby universities.
Speakers included researchers from the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Mitchell Hamline School of Law and others.
Ken C. Winters, is a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Institute’s Minnesota location and a consultant for the University of Iowa’s Native Center for Behavioral Health.
He covered the interplay between youth, cannabis and health.
“It’s not your grandparents’ marijuana these days,” Winters said to the students.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Graduate school offers a 2-year program, in which students like John Ryan and William Barksdale are earning counseling degrees in substance use and mental health.
“The takeaway would be that you’ve seen potency levels increase quite a bit, and the research is trying to keep pace with that,” Barksdale said.
“As we saw today, marijuana use has gone up in the last couple years such that it’s eclipsed alcohol use in terms of daily users in the United States,” Ryan added. “It’s is much more concerning now because there is such a higher degree of potency that’s available on a wider basis.”
Ryan says it’s especially concerning for youth.
“The subject of the last presentation, which I found quite engaging, was the specific effects on adolescents,” he said. “So, teenagers and people within that young adult range, the 18 to 25-year-olds because that’s generally the period the most brain development takes place. So that’s the area of concern … but it’s still something that I think is being studied and being observed in the first stages of that.”
Kevin Doyle provided opening remarks. He has more than 35 years of experience as a licensed professional counselor. Today, he’s president and CEO of the grad school.
“Potency, dosage, frequency of use, availability, legal cutoffs in terms of age, all those things need to be talked about,” Doyle said. “Adolescent brain development. We know more and more about that every year. Sometimes it seems like every day we learn more about that.”
“How do we as a treatment community need to be prepared to respond?”
The summit comes as Minnesota works to set rules for the cannabis industry after legalizing the drug for recreational use last year. A public comment period is expected later this fall.
The World Health Organization says only a fraction of hospitals still function in Gaza after the bombings by Israeli military.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Health care workers rallied at the state capitol, demanding Minnesota’s healthcare systems support the liberation of Palestine, aid its hospitals and workers, and allow employees to openly voice their opinions.
The World Health Organization says only a fraction of hospitals still function in Gaza after the bombings by Israeli military with health care workers being among those killed. Leaders of the Israeli military say that Hamas stores weapons and hosts operations at hospitals.
But Health Care Workers for Palestine says there is nothing complicated about ensuring Palestinians have access to health care and are urging their employers to take a stand.
Organizers are asking Minnesota’s healthcare systems to support the liberation of Palestine, aid their hospitals and their workers, and allow employees to openly voice their opinions.
“We have been watching a live streamed genocide directly targeting hospitals for over a year and watching hospitals be bombed,” said organizer Alycia Garubanda.
Garubanda says multiple Minnesota healthcare systems have silenced conversations about Palestine.
The group says HCMC banned a Palestinian physician from teaching more about Palestinian Health.
HCMC calls that a “false narrative” and in a statement said that “we are saddened by the notion that hosting specific people or sharing specific messages is the only valid way to stand in solidarity. Activism takes many forms and we all have the ability to contribute in ways that align with our own values.”
“There’s a real, I think feeling of censorship and repression. I think that a lot of healthcare workers are afraid to speak out,” said Pediatrician Aarti Bhatt. “I don’t think that’s political. I think people do need access to health care to live healthy lives.”
Health Care Workers for Palestine also says a webinar from PrairieCare’s DEI Clinical Consultant was taken down. The group says the webinar mentioned Palestinian mental health, along with the needs of other BIPOC communities.
Prairie CARE said in a statement that the presentation was never banned and as a healthcare provider it will ”support a peaceful end to the suffering in the Middle East with compassion for all those affected.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council said it longs to see peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors.
“This peace can be achieved as soon as Hamas, the genocidal terrorist government of Gaza, surrenders and returns the estimated 100 hostages,” the statement read.
Maryam, who asked to not use her last name, is a nurse, student and Palestinian.
“Everything that we’ve ever known, friends, family, everyone’s being, like, bombed and massacred,” said Maryam. “No Palestinian has a chance to even grieve that.”
Maryam said the oath that health care workers take goes against staying silent.
“What I’m calling for is for them to stand by their oath that they swore to and advocate for the injustice that is happening in the world,” she said.
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