Star Tribune
Plans for new EV chargers form in Washington County
A handful of Holiday Station stores applied for permits this week to install high-speed EV chargers at locations around the metro, including in Washington County, where a dearth of such chargers give electric-car drivers few options for quickly filling up.
The permits, filed with the state Department of Labor and Industry, show that Circle K, the Canadian owner of Holiday, plans to install two chargers apiece at 10 locations, most of them along major highways.
The company had no comment Thursday on the permits or construction timelines, but if the sites include the Holiday at 215 Manning Av. N. in West Lakeland, it would make it just the third location in Washington County with high-speed charging.
The county has few public chargers of any speed, with just two locations offering high-speed charging: a bank of Electrify America chargers at the Woodbury Walmart and eight Tesla Superchargers at the Oakdale Hy-Vee.
Washington County Planning Director Lyssa Leitner said the county just applied for a $500,000 grant, with a $100,000 local matching requirement, to build a network of 30 Level-2 chargers throughout the county. If the grant is awarded, the chargers would go in some of the county’s rural areas in parks and transit centers to give EV drivers more options for local charging, she said.
The application to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program faces stiff competition, including from the state of Minnesota, and there’s no guarantee the county will be awarded any support, said Leitner. A decision on the grant isn’t expected for months, and it would take more time to plan and build the stations after that.
At an April workshop meeting of the County Board, the county opted to do a feasibility study on EV charging, added Leitner. If the county doesn’t win the NEVI grant, it will pursue a phased-in approach of adding chargers where and when it can. The feasibility study should begin within a couple of months, said Leitner.
For now, talk of private businesses pushing ahead with more high-speed charging was met with enthusiastic support among followers of the MN EV Owners Facebook page, where the Circle K/Holiday permits were first mentioned by user Mike Doyle. The Holiday stores include several around the metro area, plus locations in Mankato, Brainerd and Alexandria.
The state had some 34,000 registered electric vehicles as of January, according to the state Public Utilities Commission.
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
“I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves,” Ionescu said. “And to wake up and do it again the next day.”
In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Ionescu said. “He’s looking down and really proud of me and just really happy for this moment with my team.”
Ionescu is a menace from behind the 3-point line like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Caitlin Clark
Ionescu has made more three-pointers during the regular season than any other WNBA player in history.
Ionescu’s clutch three might give Minnesota basketball fans deja vu. It was reminiscent of the three-pointer Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks sank in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to win that game 109-108 and put the Timberwolves on their heels. The Mavs ended up winning the series 4-1.
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