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Frey vetoes Minneapolis City Council’s minimum wage ordinance for Uber, Lyft drivers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Minneapolis’ mayor on Tuesday vetoed minimum wages for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing drivers, a move one City Council member described as “an inexcusable betrayal of Minneapolis workers.”Mayor Jacob Frey instead negotiated with Uber, securing an agreement for higher pay for only those drivers.In his veto message, Frey wrote he “secured a commitment from Uber” that drivers picking up passengers in Minneapolis or driving within the city will make the city’s minimum wage of $15 an hour. The company also committed to paying Uber drivers at least $5 for any trip in the metro area.Lyft drivers are not covered by the mayor’s deal.Under the ordinance Frey vetoed, all ride-hailing companies would be required to pay drivers at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute, or $5, whichever is greater. The rule would only apply for the portion of the ride within the city.Seattle and New York City have passed similar policies in recent years.“It’s clear we need more time to get this...

Boom Dance Fest returns to downtown Stillwater for an evening with some of the Twin Cities’ top dance troupes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

More than a half dozen dance groups will take the stage this weekend at Lowell Park in Stillwater for the second annual Boom Dance Fest, which aims to showcase a variety of high-level dance troupes and styles from around the Metro.The free, outdoor show starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26. It’ll last about an hour, said Giselle Mejia, the co-artistic director of Curio Dance, the Stillwater-based dance school hosting the festival.The Saint Croix River Valley is home to many art festivals, Mejia said. She and her brother Dario Mejia have run Curio Dance since 2009, and they noticed there wasn’t a festival focused solely on professional dance. So last year, they built a temporary wooden stage at Lowell Park — mic’d up underneath to amplify tap dancers’ rhythms — and drew several hundred people to the riverside park for the inaugural Boom Dance Fest.“It’s a perfect place to come and see professional dance,” Giselle Mejia said. “And also to get some of the Twin Cities professional d...

Hastings Creamery shutters doors for good after milk leak earlier this summer

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The Hastings Creamery, around for more than a century, has shut its doors after a large milk leak earlier this summer led to the creamery being cut off from the city’s sewer system.Hastings City Administrator Dan Wietecha said the city was supposed to meet with creamery staff last week to work through compliance issues. But a day before the meeting, the city got word the creamery wouldn’t make the meeting.Instead, they were closing.“It’s never easy to lose a long-standing business like this,” Wietecha said. “It impacts the community and the jobs it creates for the local economy.”Wietecha said the creamery had a number of issues to deal with including “internally with management, as well as compliance issues with building permits and discharge of wastewater and a lot of it added up and might have been difficult for them to dig out of the hole they had gotten themselves into.”In a June Facebook post, the creamery called its situati...

Vikings safety Lewis Cine not at walkthrough after tweaking something

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The hits keep coming for young safety Lewis Cine.Though the Vikings hosted a walkthrough on Monday afternoon to reduce the risk of injury, Cine appeared to tweak something while sprinting at full seed before a drill. He watched the rest of the day from the sidelines, and to make matters worse, Cine was not spotted at the walkthrough on Tuesday afternoon.His availability for this week’s joint practice with the Arizona Cardinals is unclear. If he can’t participate this week, Cine would lose some valuable reps. He needs all the playing time he can get right now as he works his way back from a compound fracture in his left leg suffered last year as a rookie.Asked about Cine over the weekend, head coach Kevin O’Connell praised him for his work ethic. It’s pretty clear that O’Connell still believes Cine can be a good player in the NFL.“I think Lew is in a great spot,” O’Connell said. “He’s doing a great job right now of building upon what he does each and eve...

High school volleyball: Former Wildcats star McKenna Melville is back in Eagan, now leading the program

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

McKenna Melville recently walked past a fellow Eagan teacher who shouted out, “You sound just like her!”The reference was obvious to Melville. The teacher was talking about Melville’s mom, hall of fame coach Kathy Gillen. Gillen retired from her post as Eagan’s volleyball coach in the spring. Her replacement? None other than her daughter, who transitioned directly from a legendary collegiate volleyball career into the head of the high school volleyball program she grew up in.Now, everything is new, from running a volleyball program to being a full-time teacher.Amid the transition, there are worse people to emulate than Gillen, who is one of the premier coaches in this state’s history.“I’m like, ‘Oh no,’ ” Melville joked in response to the teacher. “She’s always just kind of been my role model, and she always will be, so it’s very exciting to have her on the bench. And then there’s sometimes where we’ll say the exact same sentences and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, did we both really...

Putting the current heat wave into perspective

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS – When we start throwing words around like “historic” and “unprecedented” in describing this heat wave, we need to provide some context. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service spent the day pouring through records to do just that.This is what they found.This heat wave is not the longest, and it’s not even close to being the hottest. However, it may be one of the most uncomfortable and dangerous heat waves in terms of the combination of heat and humidity.The closest matches are the heat wave of 1980, which claimed more than 150 lives, and the heat wave of 1995, which holds the record for the highest-ever recorded heat index at 120. The summer of 2012 had numerous 100-degree days and was a totally different type of heat wave, according to Ben Herzog of the National Weather Service. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News ...

St. Louis firefighters battle heat exhaustion and flames amid heat wave

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A busy day for St. Louis firefighters across the city. No different from every other day, except even more dangerous when the temperature and heat indices are well over 100 degrees.The day began with a call for a fire in the 4200 block of Delmar Boulevard.“As they were fighting a fire, it was 85 or 90 degrees,” Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said. “They’re wearing all the equipment. They had a lot of smoke. They were doing a primary search, and we had a firefighter go down and treated by EMS. It’s heat exhaustion. It’s hot. He’s okay.” Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW Firefighters later responded to the 1700 block of Veronica for a kitchen fire inside a two-story dwelling. The occupants were accounted for outside the residence.The ...

Colorado Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough sidelined after right knee surgery

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

In a season full of bad breaks, the Colorado Rapids just got another.Related ArticlesColorado Rapids | Rapids briefs: Colorado’s road game against LAFC rescheduled due to Hurricane Hilary; Rapids 2 makes history Colorado Rapids | Three takeaways from Rapids president Pádraig Smith’s summer media availability Colorado Rapids | Rapids trade fan-favorite winger Michael Barrios to LA Galaxy for first-round draft pick, GAM Colorado Rapids | Source: Rapids add 21-year-old midfielder, former Leicester City product Sidnei Tavares on Deadline Day loan deal Colorado Rapids | Ahead of MLS transfer deadline, Colorado Rapids make a pair of outbound trades as Bryan Acosta, Anthony Markanich depart Goalkeeper William Yarbrough will be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, the team announced Tuesday, after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee.If that timeline holds up, there...

Motion to dismiss ethics complaint against Erie mayor denied

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission denied a motion to dismiss a complaint against Erie Mayor Justin Brooks on Monday.Erie resident Ryan Kenward, who was previously a candidate for the Erie Board of Trustees and Home Rule Charter Commission in 2022, filed an IEC complaint against Brooks earlier this year. The complaint was found to be nonfrivolous on March 21. In the complaint, Kenward claims that during a 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board meeting, Brooks pressured the board to award money to Being Better Neighbors, a nonprofit where Brooks serves as president. Brooks was a trustee and the DEI liaison at the time.Kenward previously stated in the initial complaint to the IEC that Brooks used his influence to have the DEI board vote to award the nonprofit. He also claims that Brooks’ actions violated C.R.S. 24-18-109, which sets rules of conduct for local government officials and employees.In the IEC document denying the order to dismiss, the IEC states the co...

Mother arrested after she allegedly tried to abandon baby in Adelanto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

A woman from Barstow was arrested and booked into jail after she allegedly abandoned her baby with a pair of strangers, shortly after she tried to leave him behind a dumpster.It happened Saturday afternoon in Adelanto, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.Deputies were called to the intersection of Highway 395 and Bartlett Avenue around 12:40 p.m. for a welfare check, officials said. Woman abducted after Whittier shooting found dead A caller told authorities that a woman was seen placing a baby on the ground behind the trash cans of a business. When the woman realized she was being watched, she picked the baby up again and walked toward an apartment complex.The woman was seen wearing an orange shirt and black shorts, and the baby was wrapped in a gray blanket and was wearing a blue beanie, the caller said.When deputies arrived on scene, they found a woman that matched the suspect's description, but she was alone. After being questioned by deputies, the 21-ye...