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St. Paul mayor and city council meeting to reach budget compromise

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The middle ground: a 7.2% increase.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher said Carter, too, would like the levy to be lower. But proposing a 5% increase would mean an additional cut of $6 million from 2025 city services — a reduction that could increase fire response times, slow the processing of license applications and reduce parks and rec and library services.

“He doesn’t have a path to do that without reducing services that will be felt by the people who are currently getting them,” Tincher said.

If the two sides cannot agree on a tax levy for 2025, state law would require the city to institute this year’s levy. That, Tincher said, would lead to drastic cuts in city personnel and services, as costs go up every year because of things like health care, insurance and previously negotiated salary increases.

The gap between revenue and costs then, she said, would be $16 million.

Tincher was asked if this year’s negotiations felt “different.”



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Minnesota State Fair announces ’90s pair for its first grandstand concert for 2025

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After ‘90s music dominated the Twin Cities concert calendar this past summer, the Minnesota State Fair has offered up two of the decade’s biggest folk-rock acts for its first announced grandstand concert of 2025.

Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls are pairing up for a 48-city trek next summer that will land at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on Aug. 24, the first Sunday of the fair’s 12-day run. Tickets priced $56-$124will go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. via eTix.com or by calling 800-514-3849, with pre-sale options beginning Tuesday.

Dubbed the Yes We Are Tour, the outing is a continuation of dates Etheridge and the IGs began playing together this past summer. The shows saw the two Grammy-winning co-headliners join each other in their respective sets while offering up their own full-length set lists laced with radio and MTV hits — including “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window” from Kansas native Etheridge and “Galileo” and “Closer to Fine” from Georgia duo Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, the latter song popularized again by last year’s “Barbie” movie.

The Indigo Girls easily sold out Plymouth’s Hilde Amphitheater the summer before last and then packed Orchestra Hall in March. Etheridge was last seen in the area performing with Jewel at the Ledge Amphitheater near St. Cloud this past August.



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Biden proposes end to subminimum wage for workers with disabilities

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Even without a mandated change, some employers here have been shifting away from the practice in recent years.

Meanwhile, parents of some adults with more severe disabilities staunchly oppose the move and have asked lawmakers to keep the subminimum wage. Larry and Liz Alexander, who live near Hampton, are among those who are wary of the new Biden administration proposal.

Their 34-year-old daughter, Anne, has autism and is largely nonverbal. After high school, Anne started doing subminimum wage work. She occasionally made $300 or $400 every two weeks doing “piecework,” such as assembling items for Menards, which her mom said she was good at and was an outlet for nervous energy. A year and a half ago, the subminimum wage work she participated in stopped.

“She was actually filling a very real need in society. But now she can’t work for any less than minimum wage and there’s no way she can function at a level to make minimum wage,” Liz Alexander said.

Her daughter feels the loss of no longer doing a “real job” and instead spends hours at classes through her day program. They do music, yoga, coloring and crafts, Alexander said, but “you can only do so much of that a day.”



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What we know about UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing

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While Minneapolis-based UCare remains open, its front doors were locked Friday morning.

“Of course Brian Thompson’s murder — and the ensuing vitriol on social media — sent shockwaves throughout our industry,” UCare said in a statement. “We have no reason to believe there is any danger specifically to our team. At the same time, there is a general feeling of vulnerability and concern.”

“It’s a wakeup call for a lot of companies,” said Glen Kucera, the New York-based president of Enhanced Protection Services, an arm of security company Allied Universal. “Unfortunately, it sometimes takes an event like this to impact change in the threat landscape.”



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