Minneapolis city and state officials cut the red ribbon at a gathering Thursday to celebrate the completion of a new $57 million stormwater tunnel. The tunnel runs approximately 70 feet below the street surface on Washington Avenue South and was constructed parallel to an already existing tunnel.  

The Central City Tunnel System is a system of stormwater tunnels that collect runoff for nearly all of downtown with some dating back to the 1800s. Any runoff collected via the tunnels is then routed to deposit into the Mississippi River.  

The new tunnel will help increase runoff capacity for the overall system. The goal is to improve the efficiency and speed of filtering water down to the river. That helps reduce flooding and prevent tunnel failures.   

“As of a couple years ago, Minneapolis was the city second most impacted by climate change,” Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Frey says the state is seeing “huge” changes in how the thaw at the end of the winter season occurs.  

City Council member Michael Rainville agrees that the climate of the world is changing. 

“Imagine the cities on the southeast coast that have 25 inches of water in a two-day period of time? How the heck do you handle all that stuff? If something like that happens here, we are well prepared,” Rainville says.  

The capacity of the tunnel is three times the size of existing ones. It can hold up to approximately 4 million gallons of water, said Angie Craft, Minneapolis public works director of surface water and sewers.

“We have an investment in the future of our community that will last for generations to come, keeping the water moving to the river so that people can keep moving through the city,” Craft said.

MINNEAPOLIS — During a meeting on Wednesday, commissioners with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board backed a proposed tax levy of about 10% to help maintain current park services and to care for park assets.

If passed, the levy increase for the MPRB will result in a 1.76% increase in overall city property taxes which would amount to approximately $33 in annual increase in property taxes. That would be less than $3 per month for owners of a median $323,000 value home.  

According to the parks board, currently, of every dollar Minneapolis homeowner’s pay in property taxes, 7.8 cents goes towards maintaining 7,059 acres of MPRB land and park systems, maintain and protect urban forests — as well as park and boulevard trees — and supports over 32 million park visits. 

“This Board of Commissioner’s priority is to take care of the park assets we have and to continue providing the park services that Minneapolis residents use and that have made us one of the top park systems in the nation,” explained parks board President Meg Forney.

The proposed tax levy aims at improving park infrastructure in four different aspects. The first would be to maintain current service levels which includes a more than $3 million provision for wage and fringe adjustments as well as an additional $727,568 to combat inflation. 

The second aims to invest more than half a million dollars in system equity that is needed to service skateparks and Graco park, which hopes to open later this year. 

The third requires $150,000 to reduce barriers to program participation by providing city-wide need-based free and reduced cost youth programing. 

And finally, the last goal of the tax levy is to support park care and asset investment. Funding for this area of the tax levy will ultimately aim to maximize existing funding for park repair, rehabilitation and capital. The parks board also say this funding will go towards providing attention to under-funded regional park systems where state funding has not met its statutory requirements.

“We provide parks and facilities to enrich the lives of every Minneapolis resident. With more than 32 million visits to the park system each year, we need to maintain current service levels and invest in how we track, assess and care for park assets within almost 200 parks located throughout the city,” said parks board Superintendent Al Bangoura.

If approved by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, Bangoura will present a balanced 2025 recommended budget based on a 10.07% property levy increase in October. 

MINNEAPOLIS — A bullet left a man partially paralyzed last month, and the victim says the shooter was a 14-year-old.

Amos Manneh has been going through physical therapy since he was shot in the neck on July 3 in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis.

“I was basically stalked down by three males,” he said. “They were trying to rob me, but I got away.”

Manneh says two of the men were his cousins, and that the shooter was a 14-year-old friend of theirs.

Minneapolis police tell WCCO a juvenile has been charged with assault. Manneh says it’s the 14-year-old, but he’s not happy with it.

“They’re charging the kid first-degree assault when he shot me in my neck,” Manneh said. “This is attempted murder.”

Court records aren’t public because the case involves a juvenile, but Manneh says prosecutors have been keeping him updated.

“His public defender argued for ankle home monitor and they denied that thankfully, but what they told me is they’re doing a mental health evaluation on him, and then probation will be talking with him, so the kid’s going to get out on probation it sounds like,” Manneh said. “It’s crazy.”

Manneh is also disappointed with the amount of communication and support from staffers in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

The County Attorney’s Office said in a statement:

“The victim suffered a terrible injury as a result of this violent act. Our trained staff will continue to be in contact with him to provide information and support. 

Given the age of the suspect, we cannot comment on the details of the case but we are following all policies and procedures in this case carefully. Per our policies, in-custody cases are reviewed for charging immediately. Youth who are charged in-custody must be brought before judges with 36 hours of their arrest and future hearings are held quickly due to speedy trial concerns. In cases with victims, specially trained staff stay in contact with victims and provide information and support. For complicated cases that impact public safety, the probation department often prepares detailed reports with recommendations to the court on needed interventions.”

The county attorney has received 158 juvenile assault cases this year. About half were declined charges or diverted either pre- or post-charge. Eight percent of the cases are still pending.

The office has received nine juvenile attempted homicide cases this year. Sixty percent were charged and 20% are pending.