Minnesota

Minnesota lawmakers assert protections for public waters

Published

1 month ago

May 27, 2024

Minnesota lawmakers assert protections for public waters

A new state law expands legal protections for hundreds of miles of Minnesota waterways whose status had been uncertain.

In the final days of the session, lawmakers passed language clarifying that a waterway that meets the legal definition is a public water, even if it’s not on a decades-old state inventory.

The change was included in an omnibus environment and natural resources budget bill, which Gov. Tim Walz signed into law last week.

“This is a backstop to say water courses that meet the definition in state law are water courses that belong to all of us as Minnesotans, and are due these protections that we’ve outlined for public waters,” said Carly Griffith, water program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone – free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

The bill’s passage followed a lengthy legal dispute over Limbo Creek, the last free-flowing stream in heavily-farmed Renville County.

The county board did not require an environmental review of proposed improvements to the upper reaches of the creek, because it wasn’t listed on the public waters inventory.

Environmental groups and the Department of Natural Resources argued the stream met the legal definition of a public water, warranting greater protection. A lower court agreed, and the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld that decision in 2022.

In Minnesota, “where water is really central to our identity,” the state has taken an expansive view of what counts as a public water, Griffith said. That definition includes natural and altered waterways with a total drainage area greater than 2 square miles.

“So that means it can include streams and creeks that aren’t the Mighty Mississippi River, but that are important to the local communities that rely on them,” Griffith said. She estimates the new law will affect at least 640 miles of waterways across the state.

Griffith said there are errors in the state’s public waters inventory, which was created in the 1980s when the technology used to identify drainage areas was less advanced. The new law includes $8 million over the next eight years for the DNR to update the inventory.

Some farm groups are concerned the new law could expand legal protections to more waterways and create uncertainty for farmers. Public waters have more regulations, including restrictions on draining and filling, and requirements to maintain vegetative buffers.

Pierce Bennett, public policy director for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, called it “a pretty dramatic expansion” of what could be labeled public waters, leaving farmers “in a little bit of limbo.”

“Our view is that this would allow for a lot of waters that aren’t currently under that inventory to just simply be put in,” Bennett said. “And that is concerning.”

He said farmers shared their concerns about the bill with legislators throughout the session, and plan to work with state regulators to understand its impacts.

“We need to have a greater understanding of what this might mean for the future,” Bennett said.

Source link

Minnesota

USF football player killed in rollover crash in Minnesota

Published

1 hour ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

USF football player killed in rollover crash in Minnesota

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — University of South Florida football player Teigan Martin was killed in a rollover crash in Minnesota Monday morning.

The Carver County Sheriff’s Office said it received a 911 call about a crash on County Road 122 east of the intersection of County Road 21 in Hollywood Township.

Deputies said they found a black 2013 BMW M5 that had crashed in a ditch. The driver was identified as 20-year-old Teigan Martin.

Investigators said they determined that Martin was driving at a high speed, crossed over the westbound lane of traffic, entered the road ditch and rolled the vehicle.

Deputies said Martin was wearing a seatbelt and speed may have been a factor in the crash. Investigators said it is unknown if alcohol was involved in the crash. Any autopsy will be completed by the Midwest Medical Examiners’ Office in Ramsey, Minnesota.

The Carver County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate the crash.

(USF)

Martin was a tight end for the South Florida Bulls. He joined the team in 2023 but did not start in any games.

“We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Teigan Martin. We extend our thoughts and prayers to Teigan’s family, friends, and all who knew and loved him,” USF Football posted on social media.

Source link

Minnesota

Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary opens near Red Wing

Published

9 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary opens near Red Wing

Cannabis dispensary opens an hour outside the Twin Cities

01:43

PRAIRIE ISLAND INDIAN COMMUNITY, Minn. — Minnesota’s fourth marijuana dispensary is now open just about an hour from the Twin Cities.

Island Pezi, which means “grass” in the Dakota language, is on Prairie Island Indian Community land in Welch, owned and operated by the tribal nation.

“Being able to diversify our economy and bring in other revenue sources for our community that relies on these type of businesses to have our government function is very important,” said Blake Johnson, the president of Prairie Island CBH Inc.

Johnson says the money made from the dispensary will go toward healthcare and education for the tribe.

The shop employs about three dozen people.

“We have a couple [tribe] members that have never had a job before,” Johnson said. “This opportunity gives them that, and they’re excited to be employed.”

The business has a quirk, though. The Prairie Island people don’t yet grow or cultivate marijuana on their own.

They’ve entered a unique business arrangement to stock their shelves. They buy flower from the White Earth Nation.

“Long time ago, tribes used to have intertribal agreements to trade goods,” Johnson said. “It helps support each other and be able to move in a way that is good for everybody.”

Minnesota’s Native American tribes have been first into this budding industry, and until the floodgates of competition eventually open, Johnson says they’re excited about being able to immediately supply Minnesotans.

Island Pezi will have a grand opening celebration on Saturday.

David Schuman

David joined the WCCO team in April 2020, previously working at CBS 58 in Milwaukee. Prior to that, he worked in Las Vegas. While there, David covered several stories in the national spotlight, including the October 1 mass shooting and political visits from President Barack Obama and candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Source link

Minnesota

After months stuck in Brazil, Minnesota family arrives home with newborn

Published

16 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

After months stuck in Brazil, Minnesota family arrives home with newborn

Lori Tocholke waited nervously near baggage claim carousel 11 Tuesday afternoon at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, her heart “beating a thousand miles per hour.”

On March 12, Tocholke’s newest grandchild, Greyson Leo Phillips, was born, 2 pounds 2.6 ounces and 12 weeks ahead of schedule.

The premature birth was traumatic enough for Tocholke’s daughter, Cheri Phillips. Worse was the fact that Greyson was born while Phillips and her husband, Chris, were vacationing in Brazil.

Because of a technicality, Brazilian authorities refused to issue his birth certificate. Without a birth certificate, Greyson couldn’t get a U.S. passport. And without a U.S. passport, Greyson couldn’t go home to Minnesota.

The family’s travails caused a storm in Brazilian media, held up as an example of how the country’s bureaucracy can tie up daily life for no good reason.

At the airport Tuesday, a half-dozen news cameras encircled the entry to baggage claim.

All Tocholke wanted?

To hold her newest grandchild for the first time, 105 heart-wrenching days after he was born. Tocholke told the other waiting family members she had first dibs.

The plane landed at 1:48 p.m., seven minutes early. Tocholke bided her time as Chris, Cheri and Greyson gathered their things from the plane and made their way from gate G19 to baggage claim.

Suddenly, a stroller burst through the doors, then Cheri, then Chris: a happy, exhausted family, finally home. Applause erupted. Tocholke hugged her daughter, then she got down to the business at hand: That sweet baby boy.

Greyson’s silver-blue eyes peered up at his grandma as she scooped him out of the stroller and cooed. He cried a few times. “Oh, I know!” his grandma soothed. She snuggled him and jiggled him, and he quieted. She held him like a football, then passed him to another family member, who passed him to another, then another.

“Everybody’s here, everybody’s safe, my heart is full,” Tocholke said.

A few feet away, tears and sweat streamed down Chris Phillips’ face and chest, exhausted after three days of travel and months of uncertainty. The family had gone to Brazil to visit Chris’ 8-year-old daughter, who lives with her mom in the Brazilian coastal city of Florianópolis.

“It was an ordeal, and not something we ever expected,” he said. “We went down for 17 days, just to visit my daughter on her birthday. Along this entire process, it seems like every time we made one step forward, it was three steps back.”

During their sojourn in Brazil, the family did interviews with a slew of Brazilian media outlets, focusing on the gaps in Brazilian bureaucracy. Their story resonated. Three days after Minnesota media first published the family’s story, two representatives from the Brazilian cartorio, like a public notary, came to their AirBnb with Greyson’s birth certificate.

“We love Brazil; this wasn’t us hating Brazil,” Chris said. “I go there three times a year. My daughter is half Brazilian. Now my son’s been born in Brazil. I feel part Brazilian. It’s a wonderful place. But what do I hope changes? I hope Brazilian bureaucracy is behind us, but for hundreds of millions of Brazilians, it’s not.”

Before they left the airport for the hour drive to Cambridge — to the new home they closed on remotely from Brazil — Cheri pulled out a bottle and fed Greyson.

“He’s been alive for three and a half months and never been home,” Cheri said.

“We’re home, bud,” Chris said, patting his head. “We’re home.”

Source link