Star Tribune
Helene is expected to strike Florida as a major hurricane. Residents are fleeing
In Tallahassee, where stations had started to run out of gas, 19-year-old at Florida A&M student Kameron Benjamin filled sandbags with his roommate to protect their apartment before evacuating. Their school and Florida State shut down ahead of the storm.
”This hurricane is heading straight to Tallahassee, so I really don’t know what to expect,” Benjamin said.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John re-formed as a tropical storm Wednesday and threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast anew. John had hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing two people, blowing tin roofs off houses, triggering mudslides and toppling scores of trees, officials said Tuesday.
It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of the resort city of Acapulco. It weakened after moving inland but later reemerged over the ocean.
On Wednesday, officials issued a hurricane watch for the coast from Acapulco to Zihuatanejo and tropical storm warnings from Punta Maldonado to Lazaro Cardenas. John was about 110 miles (180 kilometers) southwest of Acapulco with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was moving east at 2 mph (4 kph).
Helene, which formed Tuesday in the Caribbean, is expected to move over deep, warm waters, fueling its intensification. The hurricane was about 500 miles (810 kilometers) southwest of Tampa, Florida, and had top sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph), according to the hurricane center. Forecasters said it is expected to become a major hurricane with its center making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast as soon as late Thursday.
Star Tribune
Burning wood and trash might qualify as carbon free under 2040 climate law, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rules
The commission drew hundreds of public comments, including input from electric utilities, state lawmakers, local elected officials, environmental nonprofits, Gov. Tim Walz’s pollution regulators, North Dakota’s governor, the forestry and paper industry and labor unions.
Wind, solar and nuclear power drew broad support as the PUC considered the issue. Wood and garbage burning were more controversial.
A dozen environmental organizations and some DFL lawmakers wanted the PUC to decide any electric plant that emits carbon at the point of generation — such as incinerating wood and garbage — would not be considered carbon free.
The state’s biggest electric utilities, as well as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the state Department of Commerce, said the law should take other factors into consideration.
They backed a “life-cycle analysis” of net emissions. Supporters of wood burning argue it can be carbon neutral, since wood would emit greenhouse gases as it decomposes or if it burned in a wildfire.
Do not pass the State Capitol dome, do not collect $200. Yes, Monopoly board games fans of St. Paul, you’re in luck.
Monopoly is set to release a special St. Paul edition of its classic board game next June.And for anyone who ever had an opinion about Minnesota’s second largest city, the game’s makers are seeking input on what businesses, restaurants and landmarks to include in the game.
Tim Barney, in charge of creating the city editions for Monopoly, says public involvement is essential to creating an authentic city-themed game.
“We really want the public to get involved,” Barney said. “If you live here, you used to live here, you like to visit. Whatever it is, if you’ve got a strong opinion about what makes St. Paul perfect, then that’s what we want to include.”
So instead of Park Place or Pennsylvania Avenue, the James J. Hill House or the St. Paul Hotel could take its place. It’s that type of local favorite that Barney and his team are looking for.
Jack Stransky, co-owner of Midway Book Store, said it’d be cool if businesses like his could be featured in the game.
“I think it’s cool,” Stransky said of the game. “If we get in it, it’s free advertising for us. We can’t deny that.”
Stransky hopes some lesser-known St. Paul staples might be included.
Star Tribune
In a first, Destination Medical Center rejects funding for proposed Rochester apartment project
Affordable housing rents are based on an area’s median household income, with lower rent caps for people making less than the median income — in Rochester, about $118,000 for a family of four. DMC officials are looking for rental units with caps for residents who make half to 80% of that amount, while Quaye and R&R Properties want to set rents slightly higher to cater to Mayo Clinic workers.
Quaye said she and her staff were frustrated by DMC’s process. She pointed out that R&R Properties’ funding request changed to $6 million last month after resizing a federal housing loan for the project, and later offered to cap the rent of 18 units at 110% of the area median income.
The board unanimously voted against funding the project, arguing it would take up too much of DMC’s project budget when larger apartment projects had received less money.
“In this case … I think it sets a precedent that could be very dangerous,” DMC Board Member R.T. Rybak said. “I want to look at a far lower level of subsidy that would be sustainable for the many other housing projects we have to be part of.”
But members also noted it was important to work with the developer. The property along 2nd Avenue is “critical” to the Discovery Walk corridor as it takes shape over the next few years.
Rochester is facing a growing housing crisis. A 2020 housing study found the city needed about 14,000 new housing units — a mix of multi-family, single-family, townhomes and condo developments — to keep up with the city’s expected population increase. Demand will be compounded as Mayo Clinic’s $5 billion downtown expansion gets underway over the next few years.
