Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport won top honors for passenger satisfaction among the nation’s largest airports, according to a survey released Wednesday by the global consulting firm J.D. Power.

MSP regained supremacy in the “mega” category with more than 33 million annual passengers, handily beating Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which came in second, according to the J.D. Power 2024 North American Airport Satisfaction Survey. The Motor City won last year, after MSP took the title in 2023 for the first time.

Last year, MSP served nearly 35 million passengers.

“Huge air travel demand has not slowed down in North America despite the steadily rising costs of flights, ground travel, hotel rooms and pretty much anything you can buy in an airport,” said Michael Taylor, J.D. Power’s managing director of travel, hospitality and retail, in a news release.

J.D. Power surveyed close to 27,000 passengers nationwide between August 2023 and July. Passengers were asked about their airport experience, including the ease of travel, the quality of terminal facilities and food, beverage and retail offerings, and airport staff.

Based on a 1,000-point scale, MSP racked up 671 points, with Detroit scoring 643 points — the segment’s average was 595 points. Newark Liberty International Airport came in last.

John Wayne Airport won top honors in the large category and Indianapolis International Airport ranked the highest in the medium category. The losers in those categories were Philadelphia International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, respectively.

More broadly, 60% of the survey’s respondents said they enjoy spending time at their airport, despite record passenger volumes and widespread flight cancellations and delays. However, satisfaction levels at airports plummet if terminals are crowded.

Mahtomedi’s volleyball team started the 2023 season 3-7. But still, the Zephyrs peaked at the right time and made it to state for a second year in a row.

This go-around, undefeated Mahtomedi (10-0) hasn’t taken long at all to start clicking.

On Tuesday night, 14 kills each from senior outside hitter Kaili Malvey and senior middle blocker Silvie Graetzer helped the Zephyrs sweep visiting South St. Paul 25-17, 25-18, 25-10.

After the program’s first trip to state in 2022, then returning in 2023, the team is thriving. With seven seniors and five juniors on the roster and all its starters returning, Mahtomedi “started at such a higher point this season,” Graetzer said. “And now our end goal is so much higher. We’re not there to get to state. We’re there to do damage at state.”

Against South St. Paul (14-4), the Zephyrs dealt with injuries to two sidelined starters heading into the match and faced the Packers’ high-swinging outside hitter, senior Alaina Panagiotopoulos.

“[Our injured players, Sahar Ramaley and Katie Hergenrader] pushed us to play for each other, and I think we really executed,” Malvey said.

Nine digs and 14 service receptions by junior libero Claire Crothers, plus six blocks by Graetzer, helped numb the swinging sting of Panagiotopoulos’ eight kills. They prepped for her in practice, focusing on eye work in blocking drills and taking up space on the court.

Another offseason key for the Zephyrs took place 10 minutes down the road in Lake Elmo. While not all of last year’s starters played club, all of them participated in club training this year, with a big Zephyrs contingent at Kokoro Volleyball. Even if the Zephyrs weren’t on the same team at Kokoro, they saw each other in the weight room, learned similar schemes.

St. Paul is among the cities that have tried sending money to very low-income residents, studying the results. When Springboard launched its project in 2021, it was one of the nation’s first guaranteed income programs aimed at artists.

“It’s not because we think artists are more deserving or more worthy than anyone else,” said Laura Zabel, Springboard’s executive director. Creative work is one form of labor that, like caregiving, “our economy doesn’t value” but that communities need — now more than ever, she said.

“I love thinking about guaranteed income as a way of honoring that we all have contributions to make to our community, and we need a little bit of time and space and breathing room to make those contributions,” Zabel said.

A similar experiment also started in 2021 in San Francisco, run by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, has ended. In 2022, the Creatives Rebuild New York program began providing some 2,400 artists in New York with $1,000 per month for 18 months. That same year, Ireland’s government began providing 2,000 artists about $350 a week, or about $18,200 a year, as part of a three-year pilot program.

Every 18 months, Springboard has extended its program’s funding. Now, it’s guaranteeing artists five years of income. The first 25 participants, who have received income since 2021, will see that money continue for two more years. Those who started receiving it 18 months ago, including 25 artists in Otter Tail County, will continue. And the 25 new recipients there will begin the program knowing they’ll get money for five years.

“So, from a research perspective, that’s very exciting — to be able to research and understand some of the difference between folks who know from the beginning the longer time horizon,” Zabel said, “and what that allows them to do in terms of planning and commitment to their community.”