Star Tribune
St. Paul mayor and city council meeting to reach budget compromise
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.”
Star Tribune
Central MN man shot week ago in Minneapolis has died
A man who was shot a week ago in Minneapolis has died several days later, officials said.
Martin Wayne Horvath, 39, of Clear Lake, Minn., was shot on Dec. 2 in the 2600 block of Cedar Avenue S., the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Horvath was hospitalized at HCMC with head and neck wounds and died there on Saturday, the examiner’s office said.
No arrests have been announced.
Police said they went to the scene of the shooting at about 10:45 p.m. and saw Horvath there with critical wounds.
“Preliminary information indicates [Horvath] was trying to break up a physical altercation between two people known to him when a shot was fired, striking him. The other two people fled the scene before officers arrived.
Officers gave immediate medical attention to Horvath until emergency medical personnel took him to HCMC, police said.
There have been 74 homicides in the city so far this year, according to a Star Tribune database.
Star Tribune
Twin Cities driver fleeing patrol causes fatal collision
A driver fleeing a late-night traffic stop in St. Paul crashed into a parked vehicle and killed a person inside it, officials said Monday.
The wreck occurred Sunday night at Larpenteur Avenue and Arcade Street, the State Patrol said.
The fleeing motorist, a 28-year-old man from Minneapolis, was arrested after “a Taser was used to assist law enforcement,” Patrol Lt. Mike Lee said.
Shortly after 11:15 p.m., a state trooper stopped a car on Interstate 94 near Marion Street on suspicion of speeding.
The driver stopped briefly but soon sped away. Troopers chased him and were joined by others in law enforcement.
The pursuit at ground level was discontinued while a patrol helicopter followed the fleeing driver until he crashed into a car parked in a lot. The lone occupant in the parked vehicle did not survive the impact.
A Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy apprehended the suspect, who remains jailed pending charges. The patrol has yet to release his identity.
Star Tribune
Fog and snow lead to school and travel delays across east central, northern Minnesota
Fog across east central Minnesota and the Duluth area and snow across the northern part of the state are leading to tough driving and school delays Monday morning.
Conditions were improving across the Twin Cities metro area where fog was prevalent early Monday. But a dense fog advisory where visibility was less than a mile in some places remained in effect until 9 a.m. for Aitkin, Pine, Itasca, Carlton and southern St. Louis counties, the National Weather Service said.
Cities affected include Pine City, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Hill City and Aitkin.
To the north, a Winter Weather Advisory remained in effect until noon for Koochiching, Northern St. Louis, and northern Cook and Lake counties, along with Voyageurs National Park and the entire Boundary Waters is also included. As much a 4 inches of snow could fall in the area, the National Weather Service in Duluth said.
Lesser totals with gusty winds are expected across northwestern Minnesota where an advisory also is in effect until noon, the Weather Service said.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” the Weather Service warned.
Several school districts delayed the classes Monday morning to allow weather conditions to improve. Among districts starting late are Aitkin, Bemidji, Brainerd, Cook County, Hill City, Nevis, Park Rapids, Pequot Lakes, Staples-Motley and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.
Mild conditions will give way to arctic air by Wednesday sending the mercury into the teens below zero from Brainerd to International Falls to Ely, and windchill readings even lower, perhaps minus 40 degrees, the Weather Service said.