Star Tribune
How much trash is under water in Mille Lacs? A scuba team looked into it.
There were fishing poles, cinder blocks, liquor bottles and golf balls in the tiny portion of Lake Mille Lacs that a scuba dive team sampled over the past week, but it was far less rubbish than they expected to find, the team’s leader said.
The preliminary and brief probe of the lake’s subsurface, paid for by a $67,000 grant from Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund, didn’t dazzle organizers with findings of snowmobiles, docks, sunken boats, fishing shacks or automobiles. Rather, divers were surprised by the light loads of litter they found while exploring a sample of heavily fished holes, flats and reefs.
“It’s looking remarkably cleaner than we thought it would,” said Colin West, founder and chief executive of nonprofit Clean Up the Lake. “We’re not seeing significant signs of a problem.’’
The group’s divers recovered fishing gear, tires, beer cans and a chrome hubcap from an old Buick. But the debris wasn’t in heavy concentrations like West has seen in other lakes, he said.
His company’s initial inspection of Mille Lacs was spearheaded by Ann Brucciani Lyon, vice chair of the Mille Lacs Area Community Foundation and a member of Minnesota’s Keep It Clean Coalition. The coalition, now with volunteers from more than 50 lakes and soil and water conservation districts, successfully lobbied the Legislature in 2023 to tighten waste and garbage controls specific to ice fishing.
“This is about taking a great lake that’s loved by a lot of people and making it better,’’ Lyon said. “It’s a starting point and I’m not sure what will happen next.’’
Regardless of what details are revealed in Clean Up the Lake’s upcoming summary report, Lyon said the project has boosted public awareness about the undeniable problem of submerged litter washing up on the shores of the 207-square-mile lake. Students from the Isle School District got involved, helping to sort debris pulled from the lake and the scuba team met with community members at a well-attended open house.
Lyon said one purpose of the mission was to encourage more environmental stewardship.
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.
