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Hourly school workers can now apply for summer benefits
The change in state law is a first-of-is-kind in the country and can help workers who were long excluded from benefits if they’re laid off over the summer.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Over the past couple of years, there have been staffing shortages amongst several professions within school districts, including paraprofessionals, bus drivers and food service workers.
A new Minnesota law is trying to retain those workers by giving hourly school workers access to something most other workers already have — unemployment insurance if they can’t find temporary work in the summer.
“People have been working to get this exclusion, to end this exclusion, for decades,” said Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis). “We’re just doing it now, but I think it’s been long overdue.”
For 80 years, those workers weren’t legally able to access what Rep. Greenman calls a “basic worker’s right.” The workforce is predominately made up of people of color, women and people over the age of 50.
“I think the legacy of this exclusion is really rooted in gendered and racist norms,” said Rep. Greenman.
The positions were also born at a time when unions didn’t exist, making it impossible to fight for protections. Hamline University political science professor David Schultz called the change historic.
“This is an enormously big deal for the workers and really for worker’s rights in Minnesota in terms of setting a precedent across the United States,” said Schultz. “What it really does here, is gives a group of workers, who are otherwise relatively powerless and unable to protect themselves over time, gives them more bargaining power.”
The change has been a decades-long fight, and while it brings unemployment insurance in line with how it covers other seasonal workers, it has also long faced criticism.
“What do you say to the critics who might say, and I’m summarizing, ‘You knew this was a nine-month job when you took it,'” asked KARE 11 reporter Jennifer Hoff.
“It’s actually not the way our economy and job market should run, but what we know is we want these folks to come back,” said Rep. Greenman. “They’ve left for other jobs, especially in this environment.”
The law gives workers a safety net and a reason to return to work when staffing shortages persist. At one point, Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest district, was down some 75 paraprofessionals. The bus company, First Student, needed 200 drivers, and when food service workers in Hastings went on strike to fight for higher wages, sometimes students served lunch instead.
“This is really about that economic security to make sure you can pay your bills and feed your families if that job falls through or you don’t get those hours,” said Rep. Greenman.
But critics question how this mandate will be sustainable. Those in favor say, after the program is enacted, they’ll have a better idea of its long-term cost.
The law will start by setting aside $135 million to pay for these benefits beginning this summer. That could impact about 70,000 people, but Rep. Greenman thinks only 30% would apply.
You still have to qualify and in part, be actively looking for additional employment. For answers to more questions regarding eligibility, click here.
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Whether you plan to attend a ballgame in Minneapolis or Fort Myers, the Twins are putting seats up for purchase.
MINNEAPOLIS — Snowflakes are falling but for true fans, it’s never too early to think about baseball season.
The Minnesota Twins announced that tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday for all 2025 home events – regular season games at Target Field, spring training games in Fort Myers and TwinsFest.
Regular season
The 2025 season will include 81 games at Target Field from April through late September. The home opener will be on April 3 against the Houston Astros.
Single-game tickets will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. If you plan on going to three or more Twins games, consider purchasing a holiday pack of tickets to get a complimentary Twins tree ornament.
Spring training
The Twins will host 17 home games at Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla. between Feb. 22 and March 25 as the club preps for the regular season. For more information on these games, click here.
TwinsFest
This annual fan event will take place Jan. 24-25 and feature more than 40 current and former Twins including Carlos Correa, Pablo López, Griffin Jax, Bailey Ober, Bert Blyleven and more.
Fans will experience live music, autograph stations and a youth clinic for aspiring Twins players. Check it out at this link.
MINNEAPOLIS — Australian rock icons ACDC are hitting the road for the band’s first North American tour in nine years, and opening night will take place in Minneapolis.
The “Power Up” tour kicks off at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 10, 2025. Tickets go on sale to the general public at noon, December 6 via the ACDC website. The tour includes 13 stops, winding up on May 18 in Cleveland.
ACDC is a legendary Grammy-winning band that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Lead guitarist Angus Young, singer Brian Johnson and crew just wrapped up a European leg of the tour, named after the band’s 2020 album “Power Up” which they weren’t able to play live due to the COVID pandemic.
They are considered by many to be one of the most influential rock bands in history, with over 200 million albums sold worldwide including “Back in Black,” with 50 million albums sold worldwide and counting. ACDC mega-hits include “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Thunderstruck,” “Dirty Deeds,” Highway to Hell” and “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll).”
“Is it 100% the answer? No, of course not. But it’s another tool in our toolbox.”
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Did you enjoy a nice, juicy bird this Thanksgiving?
You can thank folks like Loren Brey.
“This is my 35th year working in the turkey business,” Brey said. “We sell just under 3 million fertile eggs a year, employ between 8 and 9 full time people.”
Last November – almost a year ago to the day – the re-emergence of the bird flu threatened to bring down the whole thing.
“We lost probably about 15,000 breeder hens,” Brey said. “The first flock that broke here, we just started them, we had a handful of eggs. And I remember that morning when the USDA crew came to euthanize the rest of them he told me ‘You don’t have to be here, you don’t have to watch this.’ It was tough.”
With the outbreak growing, farmers were looking for anything to mitigate the spread. The Bird Control Group has come up with an idea straight out of a spy film: lasers.
Representative Craig Duhr said it all started with a simple idea in the Netherlands in 2012.
“Literally a guy messing around with a green laser light and moved it over some birds and the birds moved,” Duhr said.
Since then, the company’s global reach has expanded, and the technology has evolved.
Duhr explained how it works.
“Green is the brightest spectrum of light the birds see in. So we as humans will see a green dot out there during the daytime hours. The birds see a whole beam – like a laser beam. And they perceive that as they move through the field or a rooftop or the vineyards as a threat. Something coming at them as a predator. So they want to take flight and get out of that area.”
The group has been working with Minnesota farmers to install the technology. The state meanwhile is offering grants – up to $10,000 per farming operation – to help with the cost.
“Right now, I have five lasers running at roughly $15,000 a laser,” he said.
Brey said it’s working. In fact, he’s having more success with it than any other mitigation strategy he’s tried.
“I would say it’s keeping 70 plus percent of the local birds and migratory birds away from the farm,” Brey said. “In the past, what I’ve noticed is under my eaves or in the trees I would see bird nests. I don’t see any of that anymore. So in my mind it’s been a success.”
For now, there’s hope that these high-tech, laser-beam scarecrows continue to do their job.
“We’ve been seeing some good results with it. Is it 100% the answer? No, of course not. But it’s another tool in our toolbox that is helping us.”
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