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
Golden State Valkyries select 4 players to begin building roster through WNBA expansion draft
SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries selected center Iliana Rupert of Atlanta, guard Veronica Burton of Connecticut, guard Carla Leite of Dallas and forward Maria Conde of Chicago with their initial picks of the WNBA expansion draft on Friday, the first players for the new Bay Area franchise that’s set to begin play next season.
This marked the WNBA’s first expansion draft in 16 years since the Atlanta Dream joined the league in 2008.
Golden State is able to acquire the contract or negotiating rights to one player from each of the other 12 WNBA teams. The Valkyries can also choose one player from throughout the league who’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Valkyries will play at Chase Center, the 5-year-old home of the Golden State Warriors, and practice across the bay in the organization’s Oakland training facility.
Warriors star Draymond Green sported a Valkyries jersey with No. 25 on the back — for the inaugural campaign of 2025 — while sitting out injured during Thursday’s win over the Houston Rockets.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Star Tribune
Embattled Byron, Minn. school superintendent to resign
BYRON, MINN. – Facing mounting pressure over the district’s mishandling of its finances, Byron Public Schools Superintendent Mike Neubeck announced Friday that he will resign from the position at the end of the school year.
The resignation follows months of uncertainty about the district’s budget after a $1.5 million miscalculation was discovered in last year’s budget. Neubeck’s administration has struggled since then to win back the community’s trust. In November, voters rejected the district’s request for a $1.9 million levy increase by a 16-point margin.
In a statement, the district said Neubeck made the decision to resign after discussion with members of the Byron school board. His last day will be June 30.
“This decision is made with a shared commitment to ensuring the stability of the district while maintaining a continued focus on our mission to serve students, staff, and the community,” according to the district statement. “Dr. Neubeck’s decision provides the Byron School District with the necessary time and opportunity to hire a new superintendent.”
Reached Friday, Neubeck declined to comment.
Byron’s financial woes were first made public in the spring when the district revealed a financial miscalculation related to labor negotiation the previous year. While a long-awaited audit of the 2023-24 budget won’t be completed until later this month, Neubeck told parents this week that preliminary findings show the district with a $2 million shortfall, primarily because of the miscalculation.
The combination of the oversight and the failed referendum has led the district to propose $1.6 million in additional cuts to next year’s school budget. In the meantime, the district’s balances are so low that the board voted this week to borrow $3.5 million to make a debt-service payment due in January.
Neubeck said he will present recommendations on budget reductions at a meeting in early February. He also suggested the district may pursue another operating referendum in November 2025.
Star Tribune
Mounds View mermaid statue may rise again
The Mounds View mermaid may rise again.
Six years after she was taken down from her rooftop perch at the Mermaid Entertainment and Event Center, a 38-foot fiberglass mermaid statue will soon be restored and made ready for a new life back near her old spot, Mounds View Mayor Zach Lindstrom said.
“We’re going to get ready to bring her back,” he said.
The re-emergence of the city’s beloved giant statue got underway Thursday when Lindstrom and Mounds View resident Dan Mueller met at the Mermaid Event Center. There, with a bit of ceremony orchestrated and photographed by Lindstrom, Mueller purchased the statue for $1 from a representative of the Triple Shift Entertainment company, which owns the Mermaid center. The statue has lain in the company’s parking lot — on wooden pallets, under a brown tarp — since its removal in 2018 due to concerns that she was sinking into the roof.
Mueller said he was surprised by the mayor’s news that they could buy the mermaid, but he gladly agreed to help out. Mueller, the husband of former Mounds View Mayor Carol Mueller, has a long history with the mermaid statue as well as the Mermaid bowling alley, bar and restaurant. He met his wife at the Mermaid 47 years ago, and in the 1970s while weathering a storm at a gas station across the street, Mueller and a friend saw the original mermaid get blown off of the roof.
“It blew her across Highway 10,” Mueller said. He and some friends picked up the statue and took it to someone’s house. He doesn’t know whatever became of it, but says a new mermaid that’s both heavier and larger took the place of the original.
Mueller said he was a frequent visitor to the Mermaid back then. It had live music in the basement on Friday and Saturday nights: “It was just a fun place to go.”
Dan Mueller holds the $1 bill he used to purchase the Mounds View mermaid; in his left hand is the bill of sale that says the mermaid will be restored and reinstalled at the Mermaid Entertainment and Event Center. (Zach Lindstrom /Provided by Zach Lindstrom)
When the mermaid statue came down in 2018, it felt like a bit of city history had been lost.