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Changes coming to Loppet Festival
Organizers are moving some events ahead of next week’s Luminary Loppet and Winter Festival due to weather. Decisions on the COOP FIS World Cup race will come later.
MINNEAPOLIS — As the Loppet Foundation prepares for the biggest February in its history, executive director Claire Wilson will accept all the support she can get.
“Please cross your fingers for cold weather,” Wilson said with a laugh. “Other snow areas are sending us equipment and (snow) guns, but right now all we can do is look to the forecast and do our snow dances, do serious snow and cold dances for February.”
Wilson says there are contingency plans to make sure they pull off all three big events on the calendar at Theodore Wirth Park, including the Luminary Loppet on Feb. 3, the City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival on Feb. 3 and 4 and the Loppet Cup, which is the long-awaited COOP FIS World Cup event on Feb. 17 and 18.
Claire Wilson: “We’re looking at a historically unprecedented time period right now, but we’re going to do everything we can to put on some spectacular winter events.”
Kent Erdahl: “You getting much sleep?”
Wilson: “No sleep. Not sleeping.”
Unfortunately, her team can’t use those sleepless nights to make snow either.
Because overnight temperatures aren’t expected to dip below freezing in the next week, they have already decided to alter plans for the Luminary Loppet.
“We are definitely not going to be on the ice at Lake of the Isles,” Wilson said. “Given the warm-up that’s still ahead of us, we have been told it’s just not going to be safe. So we will move the event to the shore, which we have done in the past. I have already made all the luminaries, during the deep freeze, they are all tucked together and hopefully, they are going to stay all cold together, through this warm-up. So we’re going to have a spectacular event, it’s just going to be different.”
Next weekend’s City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival will look different too.
“The festival, which is usually a point-to-point race from Bde Maka Ska to the (Wirth Park) Trailhead, will obviously not be a point-to-point race due to a lack of snow,” Wilson said. “So we’ll be doing laps here at the Trailhead on our manmade snow. The only thing that would interfere with that is if it just doesn’t get cold enough at night to groom the snow and if we start losing more trail.”
And if temps don’t drop, concern will rise about the World Cup Race on February 17th. The event, which will bring in the world’s best ski teams and tens of thousands of spectators, was canceled due to COVID in 2020 and the Loppet Foundation won’t get to decide whether or not it happens this year either.
“FIS, which is our international federation for skiing, they will make the call once we see how much has deteriorated during the warm-up,” Wilson said. “Then we’ll look at the next two weeks of that forecast, and if we have temps that allow for snowmaking, and if we’ve saved enough trail, we will be all systems go to rebuild the trail, to make more snow.”
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The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a plan to shut down the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) on Thursday.
The resolution comes after decades of protests against the massive North Loop trash incinerator that burns roughly 365,000 tons of garbage a year.
“Today is a big step towards protecting the health of our communities and addressing longstanding environmental injustices that disproportionately impact communities of color,” said councilmember Robin Wonsley, in a statement.
The resolution calls for the incinerator to be permanently closed by Dec 31, 2027 and for the entire facility to be shut down by Dec 31, 2033.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
In October 2023, the Hennepin County Board signed off on a plan to close the HERC between 2028 and 2040, depending on how quickly the county can transition into a zero-waste system.
Of the garbage burned at the HERC, 75% comes from the city of Minneapolis. The other 25% comes from a dozen other cities in the area. The HERC produces enough energy to power more than 25,000 homes and half the buildings in downtown Minneapolis.
At a City Council Meeting on Oct. 10, Jenni Lansing with the City of Minneapolis Health Department provided analysis on the air pollution impacts of HERC. She said the health department supports working towards a zero-waste future and the ultimate closure of HERC, but said closing it now is not the solution.
“Overall emissions in Hennepin County are dominated by on-road and non-road, mobile and nonpoint sources, and these sources drive the cancer and non-cancer risks to health in Minneapolis,” Lansing said.
Hennepin County defines zero waste as preventing 90% or more of all discarded materials from being landfilled or incinerated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The snow is really coming down in some places with Maple Lake getting 3.5″ so far.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The wettest Halloween storm ever — is making mischief before little trick-or-treaters hit their neighborhood’s slushy streets.
Officials are reporting several power outages and car spin-outs.
There have been over 14,000 power outages, according to Xcel Energy.
The Minnesota State Patrol has responded to 169 crashes and 94 vehicles off the road, as of 2. pm. Thursday.
Meteorologist Beny Dery said an additional 1 to 2″ of snow is possible before things taper off this evening.
So far some of the totals around town are: 3.5″ Maple Lake, 3.0″ Buffalo, 2.5″ Dassel, 2.4″ Windom, 2.0″ St. Bonifacious, 1.5″ Maple Plain and 1.5″ in Bethel.
The snow is expected to let up from west to east and should wrap up for the metro between 5 to 6 p.m.
Last week, prosecutors charged John Sawchak with attempted 2nd-degree murder and other felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor Davis Moturi.
MINNEAPOLIS — Following the shooting between two neighbors, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city’s auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Davis Moturi and John Sawchak.
Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor, Sawchak, on Wednesday, Oct. 23 but Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until days later.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended not arresting Sawchak sooner, calling it a “high-risk” situation. O’Hara later said the victim, who had complained about harassment from Sawchak for months, was failed by police. Sawchak was arrested this past weekend after an hours-long standoff.
Moturi suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion in the shooting. “Mr. Moturi’s life matters and I’m sorry that for nearly a year, MPD did not treat it like it did,” said Council Member Robin Wonsley in a news release, “Today’s vote affirms that the City Council is committed to taking meaningful actions towards accountability and restoration, starting with this independent review.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released this statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
