Star Tribune
Storm disrupts travel, school, Ash Wednesday services across Minnesota
A major winter storm disrupting travel, school and even church worship services across Minnesota will ease up a bit Wednesday morning before another round of snow accompanied by gusty winds moves in by late afternoon and continues overnight.
Anywhere from just a few inches of snow in the Twin Cities to as many as 5 inches in Rochester had fallen as of early Wednesday. But that, with the prospect of another foot of snow to come, was enough lead to scores of schools to close or shift instruction online, transit agencies to dial back service and churches to cut Ash Wednesday services and programs.
As of 6 a.m., nearly 360 flights had been canceled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. About 13% of Metro Transit buses were running behind schedule by an average of 4 minutes. The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority will follow a weekend schedule Wednesday and Thursday, meaning 15 of its routes won’t operate for the next two days.
Roads in the Twin Cities Wednesday morning were snow covered even as the Minnesota Department of Transportation deployed more than 200 plows to clear them. Several crashes and spinouts littered metro area highways. The State Patrol responded to 92 crashes and 52 spinouts statewide between 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. None were fatal.
Snow emergencies were in effect in several metro area suburbs and were scheduled to take effect Wednesday evening in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The storm that NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has classified as “extreme” prompted several churches to call off services on the first day of Lent. Among them were Elim Lutheran Church in Robbinsdale, evening services at St. Joan of Arc in south Minneapolis and North Heights Church in Arden Hills.
Others, like Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, were going ahead with morning services but will make a decision about evening worship based on weather and road conditions, the church said in an email.
Minneapolis Public Schools will shift instruction online for the rest of the week. Classes in St. Paul will be conducted remotely Wednesday and Thursday. Both districts said after-school activities were canceled.
Eden Prairie, Edina, St. Cloud, Osseo, Robbinsdale and Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan were among districts that also announced students will attend class remotely Wednesday and Thursday.
Snow in the Twin Cities will mainly be light until about 4 p.m. when the next and more potent band of snow is expected to arrive.
“This band will contain the bulk of the snow from this system and last through Thursday early afternoon,” the National Weather Service said.
By Thursday, another 8 to 15 inches of snow will fall on top of what came Tuesday, slightly less than originally forecast. The hefty amounts falling at up to an inch per hour will cause “significant travel impacts,’ the Weather Service said.
“Please avoid travel unless absolutely necessary,” the agency said as winter storm and blizzard warnings in effect across much of the state.
“You’ve got to be able to say, ‘Here’s how much we want to spend, and here’s what we want the impact to be,’” Carter said.
During the council meeting, Johnson, the Ward 7 council member, alluded to those statements, saying people have used such language to try to discredit women in leadership, especially young women. This is the first budget from St. Paul’s new all-women council.
Staff writer James Walsh contributed to this report.
After months of maintenance problems and safety concerns in downtown St. Paul’s Lowry Apartments, city officials condemned the building, forcing dozens of tenants to abruptly relocate to hotels this week.
On Monday afternoon, city staff responded to a plumbing leak in the 11-story building at 345 Wabasha St. N. Officials reported significant damage and signs of vandalism, including copper wire theft that left electrical systems exposed. The leak also raised concerns about mold.
To make repairs, the building’s water must be shut off — a move that would leave tenants without boiler heat and fire sprinklers, Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher said in a Tuesday email to state Rep. Maria Isa Pérez-Vega and City Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represent the area.
After determining heat and water could not be restored quickly, Tincher wrote: “There was no other option than to conclude the building was not safe for residents to stay.”
Property manager Halverson and Blaiser Group (HBG) agreed to provide alternative housing for tenants for up to 30 days, Tincher said. City staff worked with Ramsey County’s Housing Stability team and Metro Transit to help 71 residents pack and move.
Before then, the building belonged to downtown St. Paul’s largest property owner, Madison Equities. After the January death of the company’s founder and longtime principal, Jim Crockarell, the dire state of the group’s real estate portfolio became apparent.
The Lowry Apartments, the sole property with a high concentration of low-income housing, quickly became the most troubled. Residents reported frequent break-ins, pest infestations, inoperable elevators and more, to no avail.
Star Tribune
Metro Transit allocated $12 million to boost security, cleanliness on Twin Cities light rail and buses
They will be soon. With more money to spend, Metro Transit plans to bring on 40 more this year. With their ranks growing, TRIP agents, clad in blue, have recently started covering the Metro C and D rapid transit lines between Brooklyn Center and downtown Minneapolis.
The big investment in public safety initiatives comes as Metro Transit is seeing an uptick in ridership that plunged dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been slow to recover. This year ridership has been a bright spot, the agency said.
Through October, the agency has provided 40.1 million rides, up 7% compared with the first 10 months of 2023. In September, the agency saw its highest monthly ridership in four years, averaging nearly 157,000 rides on weekdays, agency data shows.
At the same time, crime is down 8.4% during the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same time period last year, according to Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth. However, problems still persist.
On Nov. 29, Sharif Darryl Walker-El, Jr., 33, was fatally shot on a Green Line train in St. Paul. Just a week earlier, a woman was shot in the leg while on the train and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Earlier this year, a robbery attempt on the Green Line in St. Paul left a passenger shot and wounded.
“Our officers are spending time on the system and sending a clear message to everyone: Crime will not be tolerated on transit,” Dotseth said. “And we will work to ensure those commit those crimes are held accountable.”
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