Star Tribune
East Phillips environmental activists get last minute funding deadline extension to buy Roof Depot
Just one week before the final deadline for East Phillips environmental activists to come up with $11.4 million to buy a city-owned warehouse for their vision of an indoor urban farm, the Minneapolis City Council on Thursday granted the activists a one-year extension to get the funding.
It’s the latest twist in the long fight of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) to gain control of the former Roof Depot warehouse at E. 28th Street and Longfellow Avenue.
For a decade, neighborhood activists have opposed the city’s plans to build a Public Works yard for water maintenance staff, equipment and diesel vehicles — something that city staff said would benefit Minneapolis as a whole despite concentrating more air pollution in the heavily industrialized, working class East Phillips neighborhood.
Council Member Jason Chavez, who represents East Phillips, and his council predecessor Alondra Cano have long opposed building a municipal water yard in the Ninth Ward, while other council members have waffled on the thorny issue.
On Thursday, Chavez won the unanimous support of his colleagues at the City Council meeting for a resolution to extend the funding deadline to September 2025 for EPNI, which was unlikely to come up with the money by the previous deadline of next week.
“This item today that I am bringing forward is a collaborative effort with the mayor’s administration, City Council, staff and the community I represent to find a viable pathway forward, and it shows what we can do when we all work together,” Chavez said.
“I’m proud of the tenacity of East Phillips neighbors, their persistence on human rights and advocacy for clean air. It’s one of the reasons why Ward Nine continues to be hopeful for the future.”
After years of protests and lawsuits, Minneapolis officials gave up on plans to build a water yard at Roof Depot and agreed to sell EPNI the property, provided the group produced a $3.7 million personal guaranty and the Legislature provided $2 million in 2023 followed by $5.7 million in 2024. The Legislature also has committed $4.5 million to Minneapolis to find a new site for its water yard.
The Minneapolis school board on Tuesday night appointed Lucie Skjefte, chair of the district’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee, to fill the vacant District 3 board seat in the city’s center.
Her selection ultimately came down to chance.
Skjefte emerged from earlier ranked-choice voting in a tie with Fatimah Hussein, and the two then deadlocked, 4 to 4, in a live board vote before a coin was flipped in Skjefte’s favor.
They were among four finalists to succeed Faheema Feerayarre, who resigned in September, too late for the seat to be placed on the November ballot.
The move throws two new members into the mix as the school board works to erase an anticipated budget deficit and dig into a “transformation process” that could include closing and merging schools.
Greta Callahan, a former president of the teachers chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, won election last week to the District 6 seat.
During an appearance before board members last Thursday, Skjefte, who is a Red Lake tribal member, spoke of her work as an Indigenous graphics designer and as director of operations for the Mni Sota Fund, a community development group that seeks to empower Native people.
She said she’d aim to “reach out and create spaces for every voice, especially for those from historically marginalized communities.”
Star Tribune
What to know about Forest Lake’s Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary
In picking Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a military veteran and popular conservative media personality with a large following of his own.
Hegseth, 44, has developed a close rapport with Trump, who also reportedly considered him for a post in his first administration. Hegseth has lobbied Trump to release service members accused of war crimes.
Here are a few things to know about Hegseth.
He’s a Fox News personality and author
Co-host of Fox News Channel’s ”Fox & Friends Weekend,” Hegseth has been a contributor to the network for a decade. He developed a friendship with Trump through the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show. In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson complimented Hegseth’s military knowledge, saying his ”insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers.”
He’s also written a number of books, several for the network’s publishing imprint, including ”The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.” In announcing Hegseth’s nomination, Trump complimented that book, noting its ”nine weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.”
Hegseth has served in the military, although he lacks senior military or national security experience.
Election offices in more than half of Minnesota’s counties have been targeted with emailed bomb threats since Nov. 8, the office of the Secretary of State said Tuesday.
The threats come as election workers are still in the process of verifying the results of the 2024 election.
In a statement, Secretary of State Steve Simon said his office is coordinating with local, state and federal partners to “ensure that our election officials can complete this important work and that those responsible for these threats are held accountable.”
“Threats of violence against election workers, aimed at disrupting our democracy, are absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
Turnout was high in Minnesota in 2024, but it was lower compared to the 2020 presidential election.
Unofficial 2024 results show about 76% of registered voters cast a ballot, down from the record-breaking 79.96% turnout in 2020, the office of the Secretary of State said last week.
The unofficial results, however, are higher than the 74.72% turnout recorded in 2016.
