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Reverse osmosis systems will remove nitrate contamination in karst region

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If you live in southeastern Minnesota, did you happen to get a letter from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture last May?

If you did, did you open it?

The state sent out 1,186 letters in May to residents of Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona counties, and only heard back from about 320 of you.

If you got a letter, that means the nitrate level in your well water is too high. The state was offering to purify your water for free or at a reduced cost, especially if you’re pregnant or if you have an infant in your home. They’re starting to install treatment systems in October.

Even a tiny amount of nitrate in drinking water can prevent a baby from absorbing oxygen, a condition called “blue baby syndrome.” Scientists are starting to discover risks for adults, too, such as faster heart rate and nausea. Some studies have found a connection with higher cancer rates, especially gastric cancer, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, but scientists just don’t know enough yet to understand that connection.

The southeastern counties are by no means the only region of Minnesota where wells contain harmful nitrate levels. Wells in southwest and central Minnesota are also at risk. But in 2023, environmental groups asked the U.S. EPA to intervene in the southeastern region, calling nitrate an “imminent” danger to human health given the region’s unique geology. In several townships, more than four out of 10 private wells tested positive for nitrates.

Last spring, the Minnesota Legislature allocated funding for 800 to 1000 reverse osmosis systems in southeastern Minnesota as part of a $16 million package to address contaminated wells.

Some homes with high nitrate levels have already installed treatment systems on their own, said Margaret Wagner, in charge of pesticide and fertilizer management with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which has contracted with Olmsted County to administer the grant for the eight counties.



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Mpls-St. Paul light rail cars ‘hold in place’ due to system error

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A technical issue has paralyzed Metro Transit’s Blue and Green light-rail lines, and it is unclear when service will be restored.

Metro Transit was in the process of putting replacement buses at each line as workers tried resolving the issue, spokesperson Drew Kerr said.

Around 6 p.m., an error in a system used to control train movements caused all trains to hold in place, Kerr said. It is not yet clear what caused the error.

Riders were being advised of the issue through text message, email and social media. Further updates will be provided through those channels.

Other alternate service options can be found by visiting metrotransit.org or calling the Transit Information Center, at 612-373-3333.



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As federal pandemic funds expire, Minneapolis and St. Paul schools seeking help

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For several years, school districts have known of the so-called “fiscal cliff” that would come with the drying up of federal pandemic aid, and the 2024-25 budgets approved by the Minneapolis and St. Paul school boards took those losses into account and sought to minimize the pain through the use of reserves.

Minneapolis is drawing down about $55 million, while St. Paul plans to tap $37 million in rainy-day funds. But the squeeze still is being felt. Classroom teachers, not specialists, are handling art and music instruction at seven St. Paul schools, and parents are growing increasingly frustrated over larger class sizes in Minneapolis.

St. Paul used pandemic funds to support struggling students through interventions grounded in the phonics-based “science of reading,” and learned that students who participated in the program known as WINN showed greater progress during the year than those who did not.

Now the district is spending $7 million of its own money to pay WINN teachers.

Altogether, St. Paul received $319 million in federal pandemic funds, and invested not just in academic recovery efforts, but also after-school programming, social workers and counselors, and staff retention bonuses, among other items. Cash-strapped Minneapolis relied heavily on its nearly $265 million to plug budget gaps and now faces tough decisions that could include school mergers and closures.

Omar noted how many school districts were forced to cut just a year after a historic $2.2 billion state investment in schools. Legislators must “keep their foot on the gas to fully fund our schools,” she said.



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Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at age 83

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NEW YORK — Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died. He was 83.

Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada, confirmed on behalf of the medical examiner that Rose died Monday. Wheatley said his cause and manner of death had not yet been determined.

For fans who came of age in the 1960s and ‘70s, no player was more exciting than the Cincinnati Reds’ No. 14, ”Charlie Hustle,” the brash superstar with the shaggy hair, puggish nose and muscular forearms. At the dawn of artificial surfaces, divisional play and free agency, Rose was old school, a conscious throwback to baseball’s early days. Millions could never forget him crouched and scowling at the plate, running full speed to first even after drawing a walk, or sprinting for the next base and diving headfirst into the bag.

A 17-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Rose played on three World Series winners. He was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP two years later. He holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890) and the NL record for the longest hitting streak (44). He was the leadoff man for one of baseball’s most formidable lineups with the Reds’ championship teams of 1975 and 1976, with teammates that included Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan.

But no milestone approached his 4,256 hits, breaking his hero Ty Cobb’s 4,191 and signifying his excellence no matter the notoriety which followed. It was a total so extraordinary that you could average 200 hits for 20 years and still come up short. Rose’s secret was consistency, and longevity. Over 24 seasons, all but six played entirely with the Reds, Rose had 200 hits or more 10 times, and more than 180 four other times. He batted .303 overall, even while switching from second base to outfield to third to first, and he led the league in hits seven times.

”Every summer, three things are going to happen,” Rose liked to say, ”the grass is going to get green, the weather is going to get hot, and Pete Rose is going to get 200 hits and bat .300.”

Rose was Rookie of the Year in 1963, but he started off 0 for 12 with three walks and a hit by pitch before getting his first major league hit, an eighth-inning triple off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend. It came in Cincinnati on April 13, 1963, the day before Rose’s 22nd birthday. He reached 1,000 in 1968, 2,000 just five years later and 3,000 just five years after that.

He moved into second place, ahead of Hank Aaron, with hit No. 3,772, in 1982. No. 4,000 was off the Phillies’ Jerry Koosman in 1984, exactly 21 years to the day after his first hit. He caught up with Cobb on Sept. 8, 1985, and surpassed him three days later, in Cincinnati, with Rose’s mother and teenage son, Pete Jr., among those in attendance.



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