Minneapolis, MN
Why didn’t Minneapolis, St. Paul declare snow emergencies on Tuesday?
A alternative by leaders in Minneapolis and St. Paul to not declare a snow emergency Tuesday introduced scrutiny the following morning as some residents discovered their automobiles surrounded by plowed snow.
Metropolis plows have been out on Tuesday, however they solely cleared the roadway. Throughout snow emergencies, plows clear parking lanes, too.
That meant many drivers who left their automobiles parked on arterial roads – which they have been allowed to do as no snow emergencies have been referred to as – needed to battle deep, plowed snow earlier than going wherever Wednesday.
Officers from each cities say declaring a snow emergency is a multi-day course of, and plow vehicles have been dispatched earlier than the snow emergencies have been formally introduced Wednesday.
In St. Paul, a mean of 4 snow emergencies are declared every winter season. Wednesday’s announcement marked the fourth already within the 2022-2023 season.
A spokesperson for the Metropolis of Minneapolis stated snow emergencies are used primarily as a parking administration instrument.
“The Metropolis continues to clear the snow as wanted throughout a significant snow occasion however the Snow Emergency facilitates transferring automobiles so the complete width of the streets may be cleared,” the spokesperson said. “The Metropolis’s apply is to declare a Snow Emergency on the finish of a snow occasion to get essentially the most out of the three-day course of.”
In keeping with the spokesperson, workers within the metropolis’s Public Works division use climate prediction fashions to maximise town’s snow clearing operation, with the fashions this week exhibiting that Tuesday’s heavy snow could be adopted by one other spherical on Wednesday.
That information, based on the spokesperson, led them to declare the snow emergency on Wednesday, reasonably than Tuesday.
In the meantime in St. Paul, a Public Works official tells Convey Me The Information it is a 96-hour course of for town, with preparation already happening Monday previous to the snowfall.
“We have been monitoring the storm from the start and had plows out on Monday, pretreating arterial or predominant streets all through St. Paul,” stated Lisa Hiebert with St. Paul Public Works.
“On Tuesday when it began snowing, we already had plow vehicles out treating and plowing arterial streets. We knew it was going to proceed to snow via [Wednesday], so we made calls out for added crews to assist with the hassle.”
Hiebert stated the purpose is to proceed to give attention to predominant streets whereas snow falls. Facet streets are cleared primarily at evening.
St. Paul solely plows these aspect streets when a snow emergency is asserted, which final occurred on Dec. 21.
“The rationale a snow emergency wasn’t declared [Tuesday night], plow vehicles would’ve nonetheless been engaged on arterials like they have been final evening, however due to the continual quantity of snow coming down, our plows wanted to proceed replowing arterial streets due to the amount of snow, fee of the [snowfall] and the kind of snow,” Hiebert stated, noting the heavy, moist snow falling on Wednesday makes it tougher to plow quicker.
Some residents of every metropolis nonetheless took to social media to share their irritation with the choices.
One other in St. Paul shared her displeasure with aspect streets going untouched because the snowfall continued.
In keeping with Hiebert, St. Paul Public Works does dispatch supervisor vehicles to scrub up snow piles from residential aspect streets to the arterial predominant streets.
“We all know it is tougher to get out of these aspect streets after which turns into much more troublesome with the ridge of snow left behind the plows,” she unhappy.
Snow emergencies in St. Paul additionally contain a multifaceted effort involving different Public Works departments.
“So I feel folks overlook {that a} metropolis is not at all times staffed to a degree everybody expects them to be, so we now have to additionally name in further workers to assist with the hassle,” Hiebert added.
Hiebert stated she acknowledges that transferring automobiles that are actually surrounded by snow current a problem. Nevertheless, she stated, if automobiles cannot get out, the scenario presents much more of a problem for plows and automobiles left on the road in the course of the snow emergency will face towing and ticketing.
Hiebert additionally famous that the extent of plow service will not be merely a funds situation, as some residents painting.
“It truly is the timing of it being a multi-day course of, vital snowfall and our priorities are at all times going to be retaining the primary streets secure and satisfactory,” she stated.
Minneapolis and St. Paul have their very own snow emergency parking maps out there on-line. The snow emergencies for every metropolis will go into impact at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Minneapolis, MN
Lynx fend off Paige Bueckers' homecoming in Minneapolis to top Wings, remain undefeated
Paige Bueckers’ homecoming in Minneapolis didn’t quite go as she might have hoped.
Bueckers and the Dallas Wings dropped their third straight game to open the WNBA season on Wednesday night. While they mounted a bit of a comeback late, and Bueckers made a bit of league history in the process, the Minnesota Lynx held on to grab the 85-81 win at the Target Center. That spoiled Bueckers’ first professional game back in her hometown after she was taken No. 1 overall in last month’s WNBA Draft.
Advertisement
The Wings came out hot on a 15-5 run, though that almost immediately fell apart. The Lynx responded with a 16-3 run to take control by the end of the first quarter.
The Lynx then pushed their lead to double digits late in the second quarter and nearly entered the locker room with a 10-point advantage after Natisha Hiedeman’s wild half-court shot at the buzzer went in. Her shot was deemed just barely too late, however, and the Lynx’s lead remained seven.
Bueckers struggled in the first half, too. She went just 1 of 6 from the field and didn’t score until late in the second quarter when she finally hit a 3-pointer.
Napheesa Collier dropped 12 points in the third quarter, including a 15-footer right before the buzzer to keep the Wings at bay over the next 10 minutes. Bueckers drilled her second 3-pointer just a few minutes into the fourth quarter, and then DiJonai Carrington drilled one of her own a few minutes later to make it a one-possession game. Then, after a bit of a fight down the stretch, Arike Ogunbowale drilled a 3-pointer from the wing with just 39 seconds on the clock to keep the Wings in it.
But Collier hit a pair of free throws after that, and Bueckers missed a last-ditch 3-pointer, which gave the Lynx the four-point win. That pushed them to 3-0 on the season and dropped the Wings to 0-3.
Advertisement
Collier led the way for the Lynx with 28 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8 of 13 from the field. Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams added 13 points a piece, too. The Lynx had 27 assists on 28 made field goals and outrebounded the Wings by 16.
Ogunbowale led the Wings with 21 points and five assists, and Myisha Hines-Allen added 11 points. Bueckers dropped 12 points and 10 assists, shooting 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 5 from behind the arc. Bueckers is now just the third player in WNBA history to record a points-assists double-double in the first three games of her career. She’s the first since Shoni Schimmel did it in 2014, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Bueckers grew up in Hopkins, Minnesota, a suburb on the southwestern side of the Twin Cities. She led her high school to a state title in 2019 while being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, which helped kickstart her remarkable run at UConn. So, earlier this month ahead of Bueckers’ first career WNBA game, Hopkins changed its name to honor her.
Advertisement
The town, for a single day, became “Paige Bueckers, Minnesota.” There were countless events throughout the town, including a watch party for the Wings’ season opener. That game coincidentally also was against the Lynx, just in Dallas.
While Wednesday’s game wasn’t great for Bueckers, she at least got to play it in a familiar place and cross off a major milestone. And, as she’s still just three games into her WNBA career, Bueckers should have plenty of chances to win at the Target Center — starting when the Wings travel back to Minneapolis on Sept. 1.
Minneapolis, MN
Trump administration dismisses police investigations in several cities, including Minneapolis
A Minneapolis Police cruiser drives by as people demonstrate outside the Hennepin County Government Center on March 9, 2021 in Minneapolis.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images North America
hide caption
toggle caption
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images North America
The Justice Department is backing away from cases against police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, reversing course on the use of consent decrees to help ensure accountability for law enforcement agencies.
The move comes only days before the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota nearly five years ago by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Chauvin was captured on video pressing his knee onto Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes as Floyd lay on the pavement face-down and handcuffed. The killing of Floyd, a Black man, incited protests across the country against police brutality and racial injustice.
Chauvin was later convicted on murder and federal civil rights charges.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, announced the plan to dismiss the lawsuits and retract findings by the Biden Justice Department about alleged constitutional violations by police.
Dhillon told reporters Wednesday the timing of the move had nothing to do with the solemn anniversary of Floyd’s death, but rather looming deadlines in court cases.
“Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees,” Dhillon said in a written statement.
She said those sweeping deals amounted to “micromanagement” of local police, that would carry a pricetag of potentially millions of dollars in compliance.
The Justice Department said it would also close investigations of police in six other jurisdictions:
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Trenton, New Jersey
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Mount Vernon, New York
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Louisiana State Police
Dhillon said she is confident the vast majority of police officers and departments act in line with the law. But when they fail to do so, DOJ said, it will “take all necessary action” to respond to civil rights and constitutional violations, including criminal prosecutions.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
'Leap together,' Kermit the Frog says in address at University of Maryland graduation
Oregon seal pup stabbed multiple times as NOAA seeking to track down person of interest
Trump administration investigates school district near Chicago amid reports of 'antiracist training'
Democrat faults his own party for picking wrong battle with case of deported MS-13 suspect
Burned remains of missing Alabama woman discovered after suspect allegedly hit her with car
-
Education1 week agoHarvard Letter Points to ‘Common Ground’ With Trump Administration
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘Original Sin,’ by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson
-
News1 week agoAs Harvard Battles Trump, Its President Will Take a 25% Pay Cut
-
News1 week agoAustin Welcomed Elon Musk. Now It’s Weird (in a New Way).
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘Death Is Our Business,’ by John Lechner; ‘Putin’s Sledgehammer,’ by Candace Rondeaux
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Opinion | We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.
-
News1 week agoMenendez Brothers Resentenced to Life With Parole, Paving Way for Freedom
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans say they're 'out of the loop' on Trump's $400M Qatari plane deal