Star Tribune
Critics’ picks: The 13 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week
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Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
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Star Tribune
Tabke voters testify during election contest hearing in Shakopee
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Thomas Brunell disputed the methodology that led Rendahl to the finding that Paul had a slim chance of winning. The statistician’s failure to factor the voting patterns of early voters into his analysis is a problem, Brunell said.
“The court shouldn’t accept Dr. Rendahl’s conclusion,” Brunell said. “All 20 of these votes could be Republican. All 20 could be Democratic. We don’t know, and just sort of imputing missing votes strikes me as kind of inconsistent with free and fair elections.”
Zoll, Tabke’s attorney, attempted to paint Brunell as a partisan witness who lacks the credentials to weigh-in on complex questions of probability.
Zoll noted, and Brunell confirmed, that the political science professor didn’t analyze the returns of early and Election Day voters in Shakopee’s 10th Precinct. As a result, Zoll questioned how Brunell could know if there are demographic differences between these voters — and whether factoring that information into Rendahl’s analysis would have altered his findings.
Brunell told the court he’s earning $500 an hour for his expert testimony. The political science professor said he has previously served as an expert witness on redistricting matters, primarily for Republicans.
LeBeau told reporters after the hearing that Judge Tracy Perzel said she intends to issue a ruling soon.
Star Tribune
St. Paul Port Authority to buy former Kmart site near I-35
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The St. Paul Port Authority is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon to purchase the site of a closed Kmart on Maryland Avenue East, near Interstate 35-E in the city’s North End.
The agency has been eyeing the 12.6-acre Kmart site for 20 years, President Todd Hurley said, since the authority developed other industrial parks nearby, and has been in serious talks with the owners since the store closed in 2019.
”We’ve had some successes in the neighborhood here,” Hurley said. “We are looking for a continuation of the activities that is on these sites.”
The port authority intends to buy the site for $9.5 million, financed by a 2023 city loan to be repaid with tax increment financing. Hurley said $9 million will be due at closing, with the remaining $500,000 to be paid when a development agreement is signed or in three years, whichever comes first.
The money does not include the cost of demolishing the building and cleaning up any pollution that might be on the site.
The vacant Kmart site pays about $175,000 in property taxes per year, but Hurley said he is confident a redevelopment will increase the site’s value.
Three nearby industrial parks, which the Port Authority redeveloped in the late 1990s and early 2000s, contribute between $500,000 and $2.5 million in property taxes, Hurley said, more than quintupling their pre-development assessments 20 years ago.
Interest in those industrial parks is still strong, he said. The current owner of the Kmart site, New York-based Shidler/West Finance Partners, bought a parcel on the neighboring Arlington Jackson business park in 2019.
Star Tribune
Christmas trees in Minneapolis rank from scrawny to spectacular
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The rest of the tableau is rather inert, alas. The atrium is chilly and sparse, making the towering tree look less festive than it really is.
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A silver star rests atop a Christmas tree and below a light sculpture at Capella Tower in downtown Minneapolis. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
It’s the tree in the atrium at Capella Tower (225 S. 6th St.). Like its City Center brother, it is three stories tall, but the setting is far superior. It’s surrounded by a round atrium that mirrors the shape of the tree. The space is more compact than City Center’s, giving the tree, adorned with gold ornaments and ribbons and tiny lights, greater presence. The star on top points to a light sculpture that hangs in the atrium year-round, a wire cloud of bright bulbs. So the tree seems to be pointing up to an array of stars.