MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Metro Transit is taking extra steps to ensure safe and reliable transit services for several upcoming events in the Twin Cities and is making new changes to light rail and bus services starting on Saturday.

Every quarter, Metro Transit introduces changes to transit services throughout the Twin Cities metro area. These changes adjust the services based on current and projected ridership, available resources, and driver workforce, according to a press release. 

With several upcoming events in the Twin Cities metro and a general increase in ridership, here is what you need to know about the changes starting on Saturday. 

Changes to light rail, bus scheduling

Beginning on Aug. 17, Metro Transit says the light rail will run more frequently, and several bus route services will also have improvements as part of the quarterly service change. 

Here are a few quarterly changes implemented by Metro Transit: 

• On the METRO Blue Line and METRO Green Line, trains will run every 12 minutes between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. Currently, trains run every 15 minutes.
• Routes 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, 21, 22, 32, 46 and METRO C Line will have trip and schedule adjustments to accommodate new school end times for Minneapolis Public Schools.
• On weekdays, METRO Orange Line buses will run every 10 minutes between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. northbound and between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. southbound, up from the 15-minute service currently provided during these times. On Sundays, trips will run every 15 minutes.

To see additional changes, click here. 

Upcoming events

The busy stretch of events starts with a Metallica concert at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 18, a Green Day concert at Target Field on Saturday, and a Def Leppard concert at Target Field on Monday. 

The Minnesota State Fair begins on Thursday, Aug. 22, and runs through Labor Day on Sept. 2. Metro Transit provides up to 87 express buses to transport fairgoers from several park-and-ride locations to the fairgrounds. 

In a press release, Metro Transit said there are plans in place for a busy Aug. 24. Minnesota sports teams, including the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota United, and St. Paul Saints, are each hosting home games on Saturday. Zach Bryan is also performing at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the Open Streets event is happening on Lyndale Avenue.

Officials said that before and after large events in the city, additional police officers and staff will help direct fans. Additionally, three-car trains will be used to accommodate an increase in riders.  

Crime down, ridership up 

While additional staff and police officers are present during large events, Metro Transit said that reported crime is down 17.5% when comparing the second quarter of 2024 to the previous year. 

Additionally, ridership has increased 9% for the first half of 2024 when compared to the previous year. 

“Across the organization, there has been a sustained and deliberate effort to make our system safer and more welcoming to riders and frontline transit workers,” General Manager Lesley Kandaras said in a statement earlier this month. “We hear clearly that there is more work to be done but are encouraged by the progress we’re making.”

To learn more about Metro Transit’s progress, visit their website here.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The archive room at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder is filled with thousands of headlines going back nearly a century.

But one in particular chronicles a remarkable achievement of its own.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy and happiness, and it just feels phenomenal. That’s all I can say. To know that my family’s legacy has made it 90 years through the rough times and the tough times, and we’re still here despite it all.” said owner Tracy Williams-Dillard.

Her grandfather, Cecil E. Newman, started the weekly newspaper 90 years ago to give a voice to the voiceless.

When the first issue came out on August 10, 1934, it cost 5 cents and carried a front page promise from Newman to “speak out fearlessly and unceasingly against injustices, discrimination, and all imposed inequalities”.

“Our focus is making sure that the African American community is being treated with respect and in the way that they should be. and if you’re not, we hold you accountable,” said Williams-Dillard.

For nine decades, the paper has provided a snapshot of the Black experience in Minnesota and covered stories that directly affect the African American community, from the election of Barack Obama to the murder of George Floyd, which happened just a few blocks from its office in South Minneapolis.

It has also employed talent like renowned photographer Gordon Parks and carved out its own niche in the community.

“We are both the oldest African American newspaper in Minnesota. We are the oldest Black-owned business in Minnesota and we are one of the oldest African American newspapers in the country. So we’re proud,” said Williams-Dillard.

Just like she inherited the paper from her grandparents, Williams-Dillard plans to pass it on to her daughter one day, in hopes of keeping their family’s legacy alive for another 90 years.

“The community needs the Spokesman-Recorder now more than ever,” said Williams-Dillard.

The Spokesman-Recorder will celebrate its 90th anniversary with a yacht cruise on the St Croix River on Friday night followed by a gala at the Depot in Downtown Minneapolis on Saturday night. 

MINNEAPOLIS – A retired police lieutenant in Minnesota is pushing back against the narrative that Gov. Tim Walz is a “moderate” and tells Fox News Digital that the governor “intentionally” let Minneapolis burn during the 2020 riots because he “truly doesn’t like police.”

“He is not a moderate, he has never been a moderate and here in Minnesota he has been anti-police, he has raised taxes, he is nowhere near being a moderate,” retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel told Fox News Digital.

“He’s anti-police, defund the police, when you have police families, and we have an officer killed in the line of duty, when that family looks at the governor and says we don’t want you at the funeral. That should tell you a great deal of how law enforcement in general feels about Walz.”

Last year, the widow of Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Owen, who was killed in the line of duty responding to a domestic violence call, told Walz he was not invited to her late husband’s funeral because “he does not support law enforcement,” Alpha News reported.

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Nagel told Fox News Digital that a major reason law enforcement in Minnesota is unhappy with Walz was his slow response when asked to send in the National Guard as the city burned during the 2020 George Floyd riots, which Walz has faced fierce criticism for since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Nagel, who is running for office as a Republican in Minnesota House District 46A, explained that he believes the slow response was due in part to a political calculation.

“We’re hearing this over and over and over again, he let Minneapolis burn,” Nagel said. “I think he intentionally let Minneapolis burn.”

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Building goes up in flames during the George Floyd riots in 2020. (Getty Images)

“I think it was all part of a much greater scheme because he truly doesn’t like the police. [Minnesota Attorney General] Keith Ellison has never liked the police. They have been involved with people who are defunding the police.”

Walz, who publicly backed “alternatives to policing” as the Minnesota City Council was pushing to disband the police department in 2020, has been widely criticized by Republicans for not doing more to support law enforcement during the riots. 

“Tim Walz let Minneapolis burn for three straight nights without doing anything,” GOP Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents Duluth, Minnesota and surrounding areas, previously told Fox News Digital. “And he called the riots, he stated their actions were, this is a quote, ‘righteous anger.’ Hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to family businesses and buildings in Minneapolis.”

Stauber told Fox News Digital the “vast majority” of law enforcement in Minnesota are “disgruntled” with Walz’s “lack of support.”

MINNESOTA DEM LAWMAKER DEFENDS WALZ AGAINST ‘RADICAL’ LABEL FROM GOP: ‘COULDN’T DISAGREE MORE’

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz appear on stage together during a campaign event at Temple University in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Nagel, who served in uniform for 30 years, told Fox News Digital that Democrat policies are “hurting Minnesota,” causing people to leave “in droves” and argued that Walz has played a key part in the “dismantling of public safety in Minnesota.”

Fox News Digital asked Nagel what he thinks voters who were not familiar with Walz need to know about him from a veteran law enforcement officer’s perspective.

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“I think they need to understand that he’s not truthful, I think they need to understand that he’s power hungry, they need to understand that he’s not doing this for the good of the people,” Nagel said. 

“He’s doing it for the good of himself, and he is going to be lockstep with whatever the Democrats want, and I think it would be, just take a look at Minnesota, he’s ruined Minnesota along with this trifecta of the Democrats. Can you only imagine what he’s going to be able to do with your federal tax dollars? And when North Korea decides to knock on the door, he and his president, are they going to be able to actually handle a national crisis when he couldn’t handle a crisis in Minneapolis?”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment and did not receive a response.