Minneapolis, MN

People facing drug addiction in Minneapolis voice difficulties amid planned crackdown

Published

1 week ago

July 4, 2026

People facing drug addiction in Minneapolis voice difficulties amid planned crackdown

On Friday afternoon, a Minneapolis police car drove slowly down Blaisdell Avenue towards Lake Street.

In response, a group of several dozen people moved further down the street, congregating at the KFC at the intersection. Minutes later, they returned to a spot that three of them admitted to be a spot to hang out, purchase and use fentanyl.

“The majority of us are addicted to fentanyl. The majority of us don’t want to be,” a man who wanted to go by Alon said. “It’s just really difficult getting off without having someone to hold our hand and guide us in the right direction.”

Alon said that he fell into a pattern of fentanyl use after becoming homeless. It was a similar story for Jeremiah and Mohamed, who told WCCO that they didn’t know where they were going to sleep on Friday night. But Blaisdell Avenue and Lake Street had become a reliable place to spend the day.

“It’s a place to go. A lot of times people don’t have a place to go,” Mohamed said.

Both men said that drugs are abused on the block, but claimed that no one else in the neighborhood was getting hurt.

“[There’s] not a lot of crime going on as far as like harming other people. We’re harming ourselves doing these drugs,” Jeremiah said.

The city would likely designate the area as an open-air drug market. Just this week, Mayor Jacob Frey was joined by local law enforcement and Native American organizations to announce a crackdown on drug users and sellers in these kinds of public spaces.

“You can get services that we will offer and you can get better. We’ll make sure that those services are readily accessible,” Frey said. “But if you don’t accept those services, you can’t continue to hurt our neighborhoods and make our streets less safe.”

The announcement comes as concerns continue to grow over public fentanyl use, discarded needles and criminal activity in areas like Cedar Avenue and Highway 55. City officials emphasized that enforcement will be paired with efforts to connect people to resources. Those with the city say they will continue helping individuals find housing and addiction treatment while expanding access to Brixadi, a medication that helps reduce opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Naomi Wilson, a community organizer who has criticized Frey’s approach towards drug markets and homeless encampments in the past, said that “criminalization” will only create more harm, and that the city should explore designating safe, public areas for drug use while creating more stable housing options.

“All we are asking from the mayor is to partner with advocates to partner with City Council on an interim step that’s not criminalization,” Wilson said. “I think the issue is that with all the fencing around the city, people don’t have anywhere to be. They don’t have anywhere where they can be safe at nighttime.”

On social media, Councilmember Jason Chavez likened Mayor Frey’s announcement to the city starting a “War on Drugs.”

“Our community has told us what it actually needs. A safe location, safe outdoor spaces, tiny home villages, real pathways off the street, and housing first, a compassionate approach, not another arrest that leaves someone with a record, further from housing, further from a job, and further from the stability they need to get well,” Chavez posted online.

He ignored a request for comment from WCCO.

On Blaisdell Avenue, Jeremiah was blunt. He said he knew city services were available, noting that many simply weren’t interested.

“Whether people are a drug addict or just lazy, they don’t tend to go for it. But they’re [services] definitely available,” Jeremiah said.

During Thursday’s announcement, Frey argued that the goal is not criminalization.

“After years of outreach, we cannot stand by while drug use continues to harm our neighbors,” Frey said.

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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis City Council halts new data center developments until November

Published

54 minutes ago

July 12, 2026

Press Room

Minneapolis City Council halts new data center developments until November

A halt on the construction of data centers in Minneapolis took effect in July after the Minneapolis City Council discussed the need for more time to understand the facilities’ potential environmental impacts.

The Council approved the halt through November by an 8-5 vote in May. Members said the halt allows time to study the environmental impacts of data centers and plan their development more conscientiously.

However, Council members not in favor of the halt said it will result in reduced tax revenue and may drive away businesses willing to invest in downtown Minneapolis.

Data centers are not new to the Minneapolis area, but community concerns have grown in recent months, President of Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council Dan McConnell said.

“Data centers have been around for decades,” McConnell said. “They’re not new. There just seems to all of a sudden be this hysteria around data centers.”

Celeste Robinson, policy aide to Minneapolis Council member Robin Wonsley, said the city should not rush the process because of the potential environmental trade-offs compared with the promised economic benefits. She said the halt could be extended to allow a full 12 months of analysis.

Robinson said the Council’s halt on data centers allows for a more thorough evaluation of their impacts.

“I think that there’s a misconception that the City Council being deliberative and taking the time to do it right. I think that there’s been a portrayal that that’s somehow a bad thing,” Robinson said.

Robinson said, although data centers are often seen as an investment, there is no evidence the developments generate the economic benefits for communities that supporters claim they do. She said the Council wants to determine what resources they would potentially take from the city.

“It is corporations who see land, fresh clean water, and electric grids that they can use for their profit, and that those profits get moved out of state to shareholders,” Robinson said. “They are not reinvested in our community, and so a lot of the rhetoric around data centers has really been about unverified claims around them being a source of investment.”

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations’ website claims that data centers are a staple for the modern job market and help to create more jobs, but labor protections for workers and regulations to protect surrounding communities are needed.

Resolution 7, a plan created by the AFL and CIO, outlines labor protections for data center employees and regulations aimed to protect surrounding communities. The plan calls for legislation that would require data centers to conserve water and energy. It seeks transparency from data center operators, union labor agreements and policies requiring data center operators to pay their share of energy and water costs.

In recent years, a lack of development in Minneapolis has seen a decline in commercial property value, leaving a shortfall of about $50 million in expected commercial property tax to fall onto the shoulders of residents, according to the Minneapolis Times. To help offset that shortfall and alleviate the burden that was placed on residents, Minneapolis must find new sources of revenue, Council member Elizabeth Shaffer said.

Some believe data centers, often being large-scale commercial developments, can relieve these financial pressures. Shaffer said the data center located in the Sleep Number headquarters in downtown Minneapolis has had a positive financial impact on the city.

“The Sleep Number building increased its valuation to eight times what it was a year ago because of a data center,” Shaffer said. “That helps relieve the property tax burden that residents and apartment owners have been feeling.”

When property values increase, property tax revenue also increases, helping Minneapolis generate revenue and address its estimated $50 million deficit, Shaffer said.

Robinson said data centers are not the only way for Minneapolis to generate revenue within the city.

“Council member Wonsley has been looking at how do we tax the rich, how do we put fees on real estate transfers for extremely high-value real estate,” Robinson said. “There are so many things that the city council can be doing to bring in new revenue to shift the property tax burden off of working-class people, that is not related to letting big tech corporations build data centers.”

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Minneapolis, MN

MN weather: Extreme heat warning in the Twin Cities

Published

11 hours ago

July 12, 2026

Press Room

Extreme Heat Warning

from SUN 8:00 AM CDT until TUE 1:00 AM CDT, Norman County, Kittson County, Wadena County, Roseau County, North Beltrami County, Mahnomen County, Wilkin County, North Clearwater County, Clay County, Red Lake County, West Otter Tail County, West Marshall County, East Marshall County, Pennington County, West Becker County, South Beltrami County, Lake Of The Woods County, West Polk County, Grant County, South Clearwater County, Hubbard County, East Polk County, East Otter Tail County, East Becker County

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