Star Tribune
Hennepin County Board OKs another $100 million for Southwest light-rail
Hennepin County’s share of building the Green Line light-rail extension continues to grow, with commissioners on Tuesday approving another $100 million for the project.
The 5-1 vote was the 11th time the County Board amended a grant agreement with the Metropolitan Council, which is overseeing the nearly $2.9 billion project. The latest infusion is a little more than half of the county’s $190 million commitment to help cover a $340 million cost overrun identified last year.
The Met Council is chipping in $150 million in federal funds to cover the rest of the shortfall.
Hennepin County and the Federal Transit Authority are the two biggest funders of the the Southwest light-rail project, with both committing more than $1 billion each to the project. There also are some local and state funds helping pay for what is considered the largest infrastructure project in Minnesota history.
The county primarily uses money from a $20 per vehicle excise tax and a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation projects to pay for its portion.
Kevin Anderson was the only commissioner to vote against the funding increase, saying it was an important project to complete, but the additional funding was too much of a financial burden on the county. He added the money could be better used addressing other infrastructure needs.
“Hennepin County has paid its obligation,” Anderson said. “It feels like it’s another year, another $100 million dollars.”
Board Chair Irene Fernando and Commissioners Debbie Goettel and Marion Greene all expressed their ongoing support for the project, calling it an essential part of the county’s climate, transit and equity goals.
“I share the frustration,” Goettel said, noting that many infrastructure projects across the country have experienced cost overruns. “We’ve found a way to keep moving forward.”
The 14.5 new miles of the Green Line between downtown Minneapolis and Eden Prairie have been plagued by cost overruns and delays. When the project was approved for federal funding in 2011, the Met Council estimated it would cost $2 billion and be operational by 2018.
The light-rail line is anticipated to be operational by 2027, and the latest price tag is $2.86 billion with a final figure expected this spring.
The state Legislative Auditor, a government watchdog, has probed the project several times, with its most recent report released last summer. It has criticized the Met Council’s management of the project and its oversight of contractors.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
”How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. ”This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a ”floating island of garbage.” Trump then seized on a comment Biden made on a late Wednesday call that “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president tried to clarify the comment afterward, saying he had intended to say Trump’s demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
He again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off the firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
”I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. ”I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”
Halloween haunted houses are a scary business proposition, operators say
Dentists are pulling healthy and treatable teeth to profit from implants, experts warn
North Korea launches new, perhaps more agile ICBM designed to reach U.S. mainland in first such test in almost a year
Halloween haunted houses are a scary business proposition, operators say
Dentists are pulling healthy and treatable teeth to profit from implants, experts warn