Connect with us

Star Tribune

How are Minnesota’s winter festivals faring in historically warm season?

Avatar

Published

on


The ice on Lake Ann was between 8 and 10 inches thick when Chanhassen city leaders made the call. The annual February Festival, and its signature ice fishing competition, would be canceled for the second year in a row.

Festival organizers need between 12 and 15 inches of ice to safely support the people and vehicles that set up the decades-old celebration. But forecasts of highs in the upper 40s in the days leading up to the event’s Feb. 3 start date forced organizers to abandon their plans.

“Our priority has to be safety,” said Priya Tandon, recreation manager for the City of Chanhassen. “I don’t think we ever expected to cancel last year and we certainly didn’t expect to cancel two years in a row.”

Communities across the metro area have had to adjust, postpone or altogether cancel their winter festivals as an unusually warm season has left most bodies of water in the metro area without ice and their banks devoid of snow. Edina canceled its Winter Ice Festival in early January, citing “uncooperative MN weather” on social media. Eden Prairie similarly postponed its Winter Blast event from January to Feb. 3.

“Event planners are monitoring the weather forecast for next week’s event and considering other options for family fun if the conditions are not conducive for outdoor winter activities,” City of Eden Prairie Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz said.

This year’s Luminary Loppet will limit attendees to the shores of Minneapolis’ Lake of the Isles. Event organizers typically place art installations on the ice, where a series of beacons guide festival-goers from one piece to the next. Last year’s heavy snowfall and above-freezing temperatures made for uneven terrain, Loppet Foundation Executive Director Claire Wilson said, which required ticketholders to remain on dry land even though some of the festival’s features could be placed on the lake itself.

“This year, it’s not only the surface that’s dangerous but the ice integrity, as well,” Wilson said.

Volunteers managed to create about 2,000 luminaries last week — essentially candles encased in ice that comprise the various art installations the foundation places on the lake. Wilson said those building blocks are currently in a bunker with the hope that things cool down by Feb. 3. The outlook isn’t looking favorable.

The National Weather Service forecasts highs in the mid-30s throughout the weekend. On Wednesday, it could hit 45 degrees. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources climatologist Pete Boulay says that while the unseasonably warm high temperatures make headlines, he’s equally concerned about the overnight lows.

“We’re about 20 degrees above normal,” Boulay said. “These conditions we see are really driven by overnight temperatures.”

While the Twin Cities had a handful of days with temperatures in the single digits in mid-January, Boulay said that’s especially late for lakes to begin developing ice. Usually, they’ll have frozen over weeks ago.

“We didn’t have a long season to build ice at all,” Boulay said.

It’s also incredibly difficult to predict how quickly ice will build or even melt. Every lake is different, Boulay said, and their rate of freezing and thawing depends on their depth, volume and how much of the surface is exposed to the sun. That makes it difficult for festival organizers to predict how much ice they’ll have to work with even if they have reliable weather forecasts.

“There’s just no way to predict when the ice will leave the lake,” Boulay said.

That’s unfortunate, festival organizers say, because so much of the region’s identity is built on the myriad ways snow and ice bring Minnesotans together. Even though the Loppet Foundation has managed to create enough snow to provide skiers with something to play with at Theodore Wirth Park, the loss of events such as the Luminary Loppet left its mark on the organization.

“I do not think it’s hyperbole to say people are grief-stricken,” Wilson said. “I’ve heard so frequently from people who say they’re, just in general, sort of bereft. Being outside is so core to who we are.”

Tandon, the Chanhassen recreation director, said community organizations including the Rotary Club and the Boys and Girls Club count on the February Festival as a fundraising opportunity by selling concessions.

“It’s just such a great event for our community,” she said. “We’re all really bummed.”

A spokesperson for St. Paul’s Winter Carnival, meanwhile, said much of the event, which got underway Thursday, is moving forward as planned. The biggest difference is that festival organizers had to make the snow that sculptors will use to work their magic in the Vulcan Snow Park.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Converting office buildings to housing could save downtowns, but at a cost

Avatar

Published

on


Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.

“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Release of hazardous materials forces closing of highway in southeast Minnesota

Avatar

Published

on


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.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Star Tribune

Civil suit against MN state trooper who shot Ricky Cobb II is dismissed

Avatar

Published

on


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.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024 Breaking MN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.