Minneapolis, MN
Detroit and Minneapolis airports get federal boost
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is giving practically $1 billion to 85 airports to develop and improve terminals and different services, utilizing cash authorized in final 12 months’s big infrastructure invoice.
Almost $50 million will go to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to interchange passenger boarding bridges, improve restrooms and set up new baggage declare belts. Minneapolis St. Paul Worldwide Airport will obtain $21.3 million for enhancements to boarding bridges, walkways, ramps and electrical substations.
The Detroit and Minneapolis airports are regional hubs for passengers flying out of Dickinson County’s Ford Airport in Kingsford.
A complete of 15,235 passengers boarded industrial flights at Ford in 2021 however the tempo is brisker this 12 months as air journey rebounds. A report 22,980 passengers boarded flights at Kingsford in pre-pandemic 2019.
The grants introduced Thursday are the primary installment of $5 billion for airport tasks that had been included in an infrastructure invoice that Congress authorized and President Joe Biden signed final November.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned the tasks will assist meet future demand for journey and make flying safer and extra environment friendly.
“I don’t assume anyone might have a look at airports throughout America at the moment and say that the present system and current ranges of funding have been sufficient,” Buttigieg informed reporters.
Different massive grants embody $60 million to enhance the terminal and change the bag-handling system at Denver Worldwide Airport, $50 million apiece for Boston’s Logan Airport and Orlando Worldwide Airport in Florida, and $49.6 million for Dulles Airport outdoors Washington, D.C., to construct a brand new concourse.
The FAA mentioned 532 airports submitted functions for 658 tasks that, if all had been granted, would have totaled greater than $14 billion.
Prior to now, federal funds have gone largely into runways, taxiways and towers whereas airports paid for terminal upgrades with cash they get from passenger facility costs, or PFCs — as much as $4.50 per flight that’s tacked onto each airline ticket.
Buttigieg mentioned it’s advantageous to spend taxpayer cash on tasks that had been usually funded by passenger charges prior to now as a result of “there’s a want on the market; taxpayers anticipate it and wish it.”
Congress might contemplate elevating ticket taxes for airport tasks subsequent 12 months. Many airports need to elevate the charges, however airways don’t.
SkyWest Airways, based mostly in St. George, Utah, has been the Important Air Service provider at Ford Airport since December 2012, working beneath a contract that gives an annual federal subsidy of as much as $3,868,146. Working as a Delta provider, SkyWest makes use of 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet 200 plane for day by day flights to Detroit or Minneapolis.
The airport noticed a 50% decline in boardings in 2020 however stayed above the ten,000 threshold wanted to be thought of a major airport, which delivers no less than $1 million yearly in Airport Enchancment Program funds.
The county, in the meantime, certified for a pair of $1 million airport grants beneath the Coronavirus Response and Aid Supplemental Appropriation Act signed within the remaining weeks of the Trump administration in addition to final November’s infrastructure invoice. That is along with a 2020 CARES Act appropriation of $1.085 million, which was used to repay $690,000 in hangar building borrowing and assist meet different airport prices.
In Might, the county determined to think about a renovation of the airport terminal, agreeing to rent a advisor to judge future wants. A $140,000 examine by civil engineers Prein & Newhof of Grand Rapids could also be accomplished by the top of the 12 months, paid with federal funds.
An enlargement of the Fontana Terminal will doubtless be wanted if the airport is to ever host bigger plane, in accordance with county officers.
As air journey continues to revert to pre-pandemic situations, airways are struggling to maintain up.
A median of two.33 million passengers handed by way of safety checkpoints at home airports throughout the seven days ending July 1. That was near the seven-day common of roughly 2.38 million passengers throughout the identical 2019 interval, in accordance with the Transportation Safety Administration.
Airways have skilled staffing shortages and an assortment of different points which have resulted in flight delays and cancellations. Many airways, together with Delta, Southwest and JetBlue, have responded by curbing summer time schedules. They’re utilizing bigger planes on common to hold extra passengers whereas they scramble to rent and prepare extra pilots.
At Ford Airport, the flight cancellation charge from Might 2021 by way of April 2022 was 1.4%, in accordance with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The on-time proportion was 84% over the identical interval, with the common delay lasting about 80 minutes.
The flight cancellation charge at Detroit from Might 2021 by way of April 2022 was 1.5%, which ranked seventh-best amongst main U.S. airports. At Minneapolis, the cancellation charge over the identical interval was 1.3%, which was fourth-best.
In 2017, the cancellation charge at Detroit was 0.9% whereas at Minneapolis it was 0.6%.
Minneapolis, MN
10-year-old driving stolen car nearly hits children on Minneapolis playground: Video
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis police say a 10-year-old boy has been arrested after stealing a car and driving recklessly near a crowded school playground, nearly hitting children who were playing outside.
What we know
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said on Friday morning that the incident happened on Sept. 20 at the playground outside of Nellie Stone Johnson School in north Minneapolis.
Police say surveillance footage shows the boy driving the stolen vehicle back and forth on the grass behind the playground before moving onto the sidewalk, just feet away from the playground, with children playing and standing nearby. No children were struck by the 10-year-old driver, according to a press release.
Chief O’Hara said the boy was identified as the driver on Thursday and has been arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention on probable cause of second-degree assault.
Digging deeper
This isn’t the first time the 10-year-old boy has been accused of stealing a car. Police explained the boy had been arrested on at least two other occasions for crimes related to auto theft. Chief O’Hara added that the 10-year-old is listed as a suspect in more than a dozen other cases, including for auto theft, assault with a dangerous weapon and robbery.
The boy has a criminal history dating back to May 2023, with around 30 records—most of which are runaway incidents. O’Hara said the 10-year-old’s family is cooperating with law enforcement and has asked for help to “keep their son or anyone else from being injured or killed,” according to a press release.
What they’re saying
Chief O’Hara expressed concern about the child’s alleged repeated criminal activity and released a statement saying:
“It is unfathomable that a 10-year-old boy has had this level of criminal activity without effective intervention. Prison is not an acceptable option for a 10-year-old boy. But the adults who can stop this behavior going forward must act now. This is only one example of the revolving door we’re dealing with – arresting and re-arresting the same juveniles for auto-theft and other violent crimes. This is a complex issue, and we need every entity involved in intervention to come together immediately to establish short- and long-term solutions.”
What we don’t know
Police have not yet revealed details about when or how the car was stolen or how long the child was allegedly driving it.
Additionally, further information on the boy’s other suspected crimes has not been released.
Minneapolis, MN
Man charged in attack on Minneapolis homeless shelter
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Minneapolis, MN
Another suspect charged in Minneapolis homeless shelter attack
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A man has been charged in an attack at a Minneapolis homeless shelter in September that left three people injured.
These charges come after a different man was mistakenly identified as the suspect and was charged. The charges were dropped against that man by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office when the mistake was learned.
READ MORE: Homeless shelter attacked in Minneapolis, 2 facing charges
Travin Willie Merritt, 30, has now been charged for his role in the attack. He is charged with four counts of second-degree assault, one count of second-degree riot and one count of carrying a gun without a permit.
Attack caught on camera
According to the charges, Minneapolis police responded to a disturbance outside of St. Anne’s Place, a homeless shelter for women and children in the city on Sept. 5. Once officers arrived at the scene, they found multiple people standing outside the building. Police then reviewed surveillance footage of the incident.
Surveillance footage shows the group of victims running into the shelter, and a few minutes later, Merritt walks towards the building and points a firearm at the door, court documents say.
Two of the victims, one of them holding an infant, were just inside the door where Merritt was allegedly pointing his firearm, the charges said.
Merritt then fires his gun at one of the victim’s unoccupied cars.
Earlier altercation
According to the charges, one of the victims told officers she and another victim had gotten into an earlier altercation with a group of women across the street from the shelter.
The group of women had reportedly come out of their house, yelling at the victim to move her car. The altercation then became physical. At some point during the altercation, Merritt became involved and hit one of the victims in the face and back of the head with his gun, court documents say.
He also hit another victim several times in the back of the head and fired two shots in the air.
The victims then retreated into the shelter as they were being chased by a group of women. An employee of St. Anne’s Place told officers she helped the victims close the door behind them, so the group couldn’t chase them inside. The employee then reportedly heard Merritt threaten to shoot the women and children.
Suspect misidentified
The male suspect was previously mistakenly identified as a different man, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said. The other man has a similar physical description, vehicle, and has a known relationship with Merritt’s co-defendant, Eureka Riser.
The investigation ultimately showed that the other man was at a different location at the time of the incident and was not involved. So the charges were dropped against him.
Riser was charged with second-degree riot and criminal damage to property for her role in the attack. Riser used a baseball bat to hit the front door of St. Anne’s Place during the altercation, causing around $10,000 in damage.
What’s next?
Merritt will have his first court appearance on Oct. 4. Riser’s next court appearance is on Nov. 6.
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