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Minneapolis parks workers can strike as early as Tuesday
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is in contracts talks with maintenance workers who can strike as early as July 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Park maintenance workers are set to walk off the job here as early as Tuesday, as negotiations over a new contract continue in private.
Both sides were hunkered down in contract talks Monday, looking for ways to avoid the strike, which would affect about 35 percent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s year-round workforce.
Those covered under the LIUNA Local 63 contract include 201 permanent and 114 seasonal maintenance crew members at parks, pools and playgrounds. The unit also includes arborists who care for hundreds of thousands of trees.
They assert their pay isn’t keeping up with inflation, or what comparable workers in surrounding suburbs earn. According to a LIUNA study, the current top pay for parkkeepers is $30.99, compared to the suburban average of $38.02 for the same positions.
“A strike is always the last resort,” AJ Lange, the union business manager, told reporters last week.
“We’ve been bargaining in good faith for nearly seven months, and following our strike vote we returned to mediation with a revised proposal that would significantly reduce the overall cost for the park board.”
Union members picketed outside the Theo Wirth Home in South Minneapolis, which is the residence of Parks Superintendent Al Bangoura. The gathering included a giant inflatable rat, which is one of the visuals labor unions rely on often to make their point.
“What we do is make sure we do a playground inspection every day, to make sure the bolts and nuts are in the right areas, the right spots, to make sure your slide doesn’t fall off when your child is having a good time,” Lanel Lane, a parkkeeper, told the media.
“We’re not just living paycheck to paycheck. We’re one paycheck behind.”
The arborists are tasked with taking care of 400,000 trees in parks, plus 200,000 boulevard trees along Minneapolis city streets. Arborist Scott Jaeger said he and fellow arborists play a vital role in public safety.
“We keep the streets and public green spaces safer by removing hazardous trees, removing dead limbs making sure all that all stop signs and stop lights are visible,” Jaeger explained.
“When storms hit we are there to deal with the damaged trees, often in dangerous situations. Without park board’s highly skilled arborists, the risk to public safety would go up considerably.”
The Park Board said its negotiating team is making a good-faith effort to reach an agreement with the union. They told KARE if the strike does happen, they’ll prioritize and adjust maintenance to minimize the impact on park visitors.
The Board said its final offer featured a pay increase of 10 percent across the next three years, including bumps of 2-75 percent in year one, 4.5 percent in year two and 3 percent in year three.
The Board listed the following numbers as current pay for positions covered in the contract:
- Parkkeeper $61,000
- Arborist $65,000
- Horticulturist $67,000
- Crew Leader $81,000
- Foreman $92,000
The Board said the public cost is actually about 30 percent more, once the cost of insurance and other benefits are added.
The Board’s statement said they’ve agreed to eliminate the first step in the pay scale so that new workers can start at a higher pay level than they currently do.
The University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center confirms the adult female bird is still under evaluation and undergoing tests.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The bald eagle has long been a symbol of strength.
But when America’s bird needed some help, a Wisconsin teenager was there to save it.
Fifteen-year-old Grant Fortney was fishing with his dad on Sunday at Mary Park in New Richmond, Wisconsin when they first noticed the bird overhead.
“And then she goes down into the water to go for a fish, probably, and then once she was in the water, she wouldn’t go back up,” said Fortney. “Eagles shouldn’t be in the water that long, so something has to be wrong.”
A closer look and it was clear the bird was covered in moss, entangled in weeds and getting tired.
“The moss was everywhere and it was all around her feet, so it had no ability to get up,” said Fortney. “It was on its back, so I think the moss would have taken it all the way down eventually.”
Fortney used his oar to clean off the mess and support the eagle’s feet. The bird would eventually find his footing on the front of Fortney’s boat and stay there until they got to shore. A volunteer from the Raptor Center – University of Minnesota helped them from there.
At one point, Fortney said the bird seemed confused and scared, and got stuck under a dock at the park’s boat launch.
“I was scared, not going to lie,” said Fortney. “I was worried she was going to come at me because I’m sitting right in the front with her.”
The teenager, known for his hard work at Gibby’s restaurant in town, also has a big heart, according to his mom, Angela Tellijohn.
“He first said, a new pet and I’m like, what,” said Tellijohn, remembering her son’s text with video of the rescue. “Then when he told me he rescued it, I mean, that’s just a cool story.”
It’s one that the Fortney family hopes has a happy ending.
“Makes me think what a caring heart he really has and we need more of that,” said Tellijohn.
“Hopefully it’ll make a full recovery and I’ll be able to watch it take back off to her home,” said Fortney.
The Raptor Center confirms the bald eagle is an adult female and currently in the hospital. The spokesperson says she has some superficial wounds and still lethargic. Hospital staff say they’re running more tests to find an answer and provide her with expert care to recover.
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Sheriff Joe Leko says the accused driver was going more than 100 mph on Highway 52 near Inver Grove Heights.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — A Dakota County squad car is totaled and a park ranger is recovering after the sheriff says a speeding driver hit the vehicle from behind Sunday morning near Inver Grove Heights.
Sheriff Joe Leko says the park ranger behind the wheel is lucky to be alive after the crash sent him careening into the ditch and into a guardrail.
Leko says the incident stared Sunday around 1:30 a.m. The suspect and another driver are first caught on traffic cameras on Highway 52 as the two leave West St. Paul. The cameras show them speeding for nearly three miles until the collision happens near Interstate 494.
There was also another park ranger following the squad in a truck.
“The first vehicle tried to get between them and ended up hitting one of our park rangers that was in the left lane, sending him into the median, striking a guardrail and then a cable barrier,” said Leko.
He says the suspects were traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour.
After the crash, Leko says the suspects took off. The rangers were shaken, but not deterred and determined to track them down.
“The awareness of one of our park rangers to get a license plate of one of the vehicles led us on this investigation and brought us to where we’re at today, which is having the two drivers identified,” said Leko.
Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows speeding increased particularly during the pandemic and it hasn’t really stopped since.
“We need to get in front of that and identify who’s doing that, and bring it to an end before somebody gets hurt,” said Leko.
The ranger who was hurt had minor injuries. The sheriff says the suspects are 20 and 23 years old. The investigation helped track the two down and the sheriff expects them to be charged on Friday.
“Speed matters and it can have consequences if you’re not obeying them,” said Leko. “It doesn’t take much to push somebody in the ditch and lose control.”
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
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Trials have shown the drug – which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla – slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 35%.
MINNEAPOLIS — An announcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week is creating its own form of fireworks for families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
On Tuesday, the FDA announced its long-awaited approval of the Eli Lilly drug, donanemab. Trials have shown the drug – which will be sold under the brand name Kisunla – slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 35% by attacking what’s considered a hallmark of the disease: protein in the brain called amyloid plaque.
And despite potentially life-threatening side effects – which include brain swelling and brain bleeding – Alzheimer’s family advocates in Minnesota and throughout the country welcome the development.
“It just continues to mean hope,” said Kanada Yazbek of Ramsey, Minnesota.
Yazbek – who was named 2024 Advocate of the Year by the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement – was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) at only age 41 and is the seventh member of her extended family to be diagnosed with MCI or Alzheimer’s disease. Yazbek told KARE 11’s Karla Hult announcements like these give concrete hope to families like hers.
“When we had the last drug approval, we hadn’t had something for 30 years, and we get that drug approval, and my 12-year-old is like, ‘Does that mean you’re going to live longer?’ And that’s exactly what it means. It means people are not only going to live longer with these diseases but have a better quality of life, too,” Yazbek said on Wednesday, which was also her 50th birthday.
Experts have often noted that the ultimate treatment of Alzheimer’s may well be a “cocktail” of medicines, not unlike how HIV/AIDS is treated today. Given that, advocates believe donanemab – and the related class of drugs – may be one piece of the greater puzzle.
To learn more about the Alzheimer’s Association and other resources available for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, click here.
NOTE: KARE 11’s Karla Hult is herself a fierce fighter for families affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementia through So Many Goodbyes, which she founded after losing her own dad to the disease in 2019.
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Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
