Star Tribune
Bloomington launches sales tax pitch to voters
Bloomington officials started a campaign this month to persuade voters to support a 0.5% sales tax, with a city website explaining how the money would be spent and arguing that visitors would pay the bulk of the tax.
The Minnesota Legislature this session gave Bloomington and several other cities permission to ask their voters for sales taxes. Voters would have to approve the tax in a November referendum.
In Bloomington, the tax would finance $155 million in city borrowing to fund three projects: upgrades to the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail; a renovation of the Bloomington Ice Garden; and a new “community health and wellness center” to replace the Creekside Community Center and the Bloomington Public Health building, which also serves Richfield and Edina.
Star Tribune
Indoor skating, running returns to U.S. Bank stadium this winter
Looking for ways to stay warm and active this winter? U.S. Bank has announced the return of a popular program that allows runners and inline skaters access to stadium facilities on some cold winter nights.
The Winter Warm-Up begins Tuesday, Dec. 3. It will be offered on most Tuesday and Thursday evenings in December and January from 5-9 p.m., according to a news release from U.S. Bank Stadium.
Inline skating takes place on the stadium’s main concourse and indoor running on the stadium’s upper concourse. The program is all ages, with a required waiver.
Skaters must provide their own skates, helmet and other safety gear, with no equipment rental available. Runners must wear proper footwear.
Winter Warm-Up tickets are $15 and must be purchased on ticketmaster.com. Participants should enter via the skyway entrance at 740 S 4th Street.
Star Tribune
Rosemount residents urge fixes at crash-prone County Road 42 crossing
The boom of yet another car crash was as jarring as it was familiar, reverberating in Albert Padilla’s townhouse one afternoon this year as he watched T.V.
“Instantly,” he recalled, “I knew something had happened.”
He rushed outside, running without shoes toward the heavily trafficked intersection of Biscayne Avenue and County Road 42 in southwestern Rosemount, where a car appeared to have spun out, he said. Inside, a woman lay pinned between airbags and the driver-side door.
Padilla and his wife live in a townhome development on a corner of this busy intersection. Residents and local officials agree something needs to be done to boost safety in the area. The node, not far from a gym, numerous single-family homes and a soon-to-be-constructed middle school, is a hotspot for collisions: 56 incidents have occurred since January 2019 where Biscayne Avenue crosses County Road 42, also known in that area as 150th St. W., according to Rosemount Police Department data.
That’s about 11 crashes a year over a roughly five-year span. And although none have been fatal, data shows 30% of all incidents resulted in injuries.
“As we continue to grow, it’s going to get more and more busy,” said Padilla, who works in Shakopee and navigates the corner on his morning and evening commutes. “More and more accidents are going to happen.”
A traffic light is slated for the area in coordination with a new middle school coming to the southeastern corner of the intersection. Officials will also realign part of Biscayne Avenue to reduce its skewed orientation, which impedes visibility. But that light installation and realignment won’t be complete until 2027, frustrating residents who say the node needs a makeover — now.
Star Tribune
Man, 28, fatally shot over the weekend in Rochester is identified.
A man shot to death last weekend in Rochester has been identified.
Rochester Police said they responded about 1 a.m. Saturday to a home in the 4100 block of Manor Woods Drive NW. where they found a man shot to death. Family has since identified the victim as Demetrious Tankhamvang, 28, of Rochester.
One person was taken into custody Saturday, but there has been no further word on that individual’s role in the death or how the shooting came about.
“Demetrious’ parents, Christina, Sam, and Shane, are now grappling with the unimaginable pain of losing their firstborn son,” Samantha Prak wrote in an online fundraising campaign she started on behalf of the family. “Demetrious also leaves behind two beautiful daughters, who will forever carry his love in their hearts.”
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