Minnesota

After eight years on Minnesota’s highest court, Justice Margaret Chutich said Tuesday that she will retire this summer. Her announcement comes five days after Justice G. Barry Anderson said that he will retire in May.

Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday proposed spending nearly a billion dollars to update the state’s roads, improve public safety and protect Minnesota’s drinking water, among many other projects.

Walz’s $982 million public works proposal comes about eight months after the Minnesota Legislature approved the largest infrastructure package in the state’s history. Lawmakers approved a $2.6 billion infrastructure bill — known around the Capitol as a bonding bill because the state typically relies on borrowed money — after a split Legislature had stalled critical public works spending for two years.

Infrastructure packages are normally passed during even years, which also happen to be election years, when candidates can brag about bringing projects home to their districts. Walz said his nearly $1 billion proposal — $819 million in general obligation bonds, the rest in other financing and cash — will move the state into “the golden age of construction and infrastructure in Minnesota.”

As the law changes, the University of Minnesota is working on how best to approach a set of human remains held in its medical school for years. A preliminary review found that some of the remains are likely Native American in origin.

An updated version of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, went into effect Friday. The Act was passed over 30 years ago to facilitate the return of remains, funerary and sacred items to tribal nations.

Among other changes, the rule requires institutions like the University of Minnesota to rely on the expertise of tribal nations to guide the repatriation processes.

The state of Minnesota will soon consider whether to join a growing number of states looking to legalize assisted death.

After the Internal Revenue Service announced it would include 2023 Minnesota rebate checks as income, Minnesota officials are still pressing feds to reverse course.

There was no state flag for Minnesota prior to and during the U.S. Civil War. The original version was from the late 1800s, decades after the Civil War and it was the Great Seal on a white flag.

Some Labor News, Mostly Good

Increasing labor demands while there’s a tight labor market? It works. Irritated with the lack of legislative progress at the state and city level, Uber and Lyft drivers began rolling out a series of strikes on New Year’s Eve, when 200 of them sat out one the most lucrative nights of the year for drivers. Another action is set for tomorrow, with upcoming rallies and strikes planned monthly. And it’s paid off some: Alfonzo Galvan at Sahan Journal reports that Lyft has agreed to a $5/per ride minimum and will partner with the Minnesota Uber/Lyft Drivers Association to provide support services for drivers, including language translation and help with submitting support tickets.

Meanwhile we’re now in day three of a strike of Minnesota court interpreters. Though they’ve received a mandated raise from $56 to $65 an hour, interpreters are insisting on $96.50 an hour to match their initial 1997 rates, adjusted for inflation. According to (again) Sahan’s Galvan, the interpreters are frustrated that court administrator Jeff Shorba has refused to negotiate. For his part, Shorba says "we simply cannot afford [$96.50] given our current legislative appropriation,” while hoping for an additional $1.6 million in state funding in 2024, which would allow for a raise to $75 an hour.

And finally, the National Labor Relations Board came through for the Starbucks union at the Mall of America, denying a petition from some workers (supported by the National Right to Work Foundation, natch) to hold an election to kick the union out. Max Nesterak at the Minnesota Reformer reports that the NLRB, by a 2-1 vote (Republican appointee Marvin Kaplan was the nay), said the decertification election should be delayed while the feds investigate Starbucks’ alleged unfair labor practices. “Regional NLRB offices have issued 127 complaints against Starbucks, including that Starbucks has failed or refused to bargain with workers at 259 stores—including the Mall of America store,” says Nesterak.

How Clean Is the Upper Mississippi River?

Timely question, glad you asked! Because, on Tuesday, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association released a 30-year report on that very subject, one whose findings should be of great importance to Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and headwaters G.O.A.T. Minnesota. This is just the second such report to be issued by UMRBA, the first of which arrived back in 1989. How has the second-longest river in the U.S. been doing since then, health-wise? The results are mixed. Most concerning is the fact the Mighty Mississippi is getting mighty salty—chloride concentrations reportedly spiked by 35% between '89 and 2018. That's “a really scary trend," UMRBA's Lauren Salvato tells Investigate Midwest, and one of the main culprits is related to this week's Racket feature story: environmentally calamitous road salts. Elsewhere in the report, nitrogen and phosphorus levels are mixed; suspended solids have thankfully declined by 66%; and the presence of metals has mostly dipped, thanks in part to the Clean Water Act. “We really do want these federal, interstate waters to be valued and treasured," Salvato concludes. "And some of that is through investing in monitoring." You can read the full report here.

Payne on Palestine, Public Safety

St. Paul's groundbreaking all-woman City Council has been making headlines from the New York Times to CNN and beyond... in a real reversal, we're not hearing so much about Minneapolis! MPR is on it, with an interview with newly appointed Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne in which he discusses issues both local (housing affordability, homelessness, policing) and locally resonant (calls for a ceasefire in Palestine). Payne's priorities for the year include alternatives to public safety. "In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, there was a real clear mandate that we needed to do policing differently in the city of Minneapolis, and I’m really prioritizing that work," he tells Cathy Wurzer. Then there's the housing affordability crisis. Perhaps you recall the rent stabilization charter amendment that passed in 2021, which there's since been very little movement on? He also wants to start implementing the council's climate equity plan.

Satan and/or Fire Reclaims Last Adult Video Store in St. Paul

Welp, VHS takes another hit? It’s always incredibly sad to see a local business go up in flames, but last night’s fire at 918 University Ave. W. is especially tragic, as the building is believed to have housed the last adult video store in St. Paul. Firefighters report that they responded to a basement fire this morning at 3 a.m.; the two-story building has a residence on the top floor, with the (notorious? Beloved? Delightfully sketchy?) Viva Video’s House of Curiosities at street level. The Pioneer Press reports that the fire was so bad that responders were forced to put it out from the street; a neighbor was able to help a resident off the roof with a ladder. “Due to the significance of the damage, the building is going to be demolished,” says Deputy Chief Roy Mokosso.

Last year, the state Legislature passed the Omnibus Transportation Finance and Policy bill, which included an electric-assisted bicycle rebate program.

Starting this year, the program will give rebate certificates to Minnesota citizens for the purchase of new e-bikes.

New year, new labor laws

Four new laws that were part of Democrats’ sweeping labor agenda last legislative session took effect this week. As of Jan. 1:

Employers must now provide at least six days of paid sick and safe leave each year for full-time workers. Under the law, employees who work more than 80 hours a year for an employer (and are not independent contractors) accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, up to at least 48 hours per year. Workers may also use the paid time off if their workplace or family member’s school is closed because of inclement weather or another emergency or if they are dealing with an absence related to domestic abuse.

Minnesota employers are barred from asking job applicants about their current or previous pay in order to set compensation. The law aims to eliminate the gender and racial pay gaps and encourage employers to only consider an applicant’s qualifications and market conditions. The law does not, however, prohibit applicants from voluntarily disclosing their pay history to negotiate higher pay. Twenty-two other states have similar laws.

Meat processing plants with 100 or more workers must have a safe worker program to minimize and prevent repetitive stress injuries. Workers must receive at least eight hours of safety training each year, two hours of which must relate to “ergonomic injury prevention.” Employers must also provide written information about employee rights.

Oil refineries must begin ramping up the share of contract workers who are graduates of a registered apprenticeship program. Union workers at Marathon’s refinery in St. Paul Park advocated for the law, citing the risk of inexperienced contract workers. Starting Jan. 1, 30% of a refinery contractor’s workforce must be “skilled and trained,” increasing to 60% in 2026.

Xcel Energy has been fined $14,000 related to leaks of radioactive tritium from its nuclear power plant at Monticello regulators announced Thursday.

The relatively small fine was not for the leaks themselves, but because Xcel started pumping contaminated groundwater into a temporary storage tank before it had the necessary permit in place, which it later obtained. It's the only fine that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has levied against Xcel over the leaks, agency spokesman Stephen Mikkelson said.

The Monticello plant is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, upstream from the city on the Mississippi River.

Xcel had already installed and filled more than 20 temporary tanks when MPCA staff informed the company in March of 2023 that adding an additional tank would require a permit because it would raise their total capacity over 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) to just over 1.4 million gallons (5.3 million liters). But Xcel began filling the new tank in April before it obtained the required permit, the agency said in a statement.

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The MPCA granted the permit in May, and it required the use of the temporary tanks to end by Nov. 1. The Minneapolis-based utility has since transferred the contaminated water to more permanent in-ground lined storage ponds and dismantled the temporary tanks, and says it continues to recover and reuse the contaminated water that leaked from the plant.

“We have resolved the issue and have taken all necessary corrective actions outlined by state regulators,” Xcel spokesman Kevin Coss said.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen and is a common by-product of nuclear plant operations. It emits a weak form of beta radiation that does not travel very far and cannot penetrate human skin, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A person who drank water from a spill would get only a low dose. The NRC says tritium spills happen from time to time but typically don't affect public health or safety.

Nevertheless, Xcel and the MPCA came under criticism for not notifying the public until March, well after the first spill, after a second leak was discovered at the site, leading to a week-long shutdown. Xcel, which has recovered most of the tritium, has built an underground metal barrier to ensure that no contaminated groundwater reaches the river after low levels of tritium were discovered within 30 feet (9 meters) of it.

“Tritium measurements on site are more than 90 percent lower than peak readings, and tritium has not been detected in the Mississippi River despite increased monitoring,” Coss said.

Testing by the Minnesota Department of Health still shows no evidence of tritium in the river, Mikkelson agreed.

“There remains no risk to public health and no immediate impacts to the safety of drinking water or private wells,” he said.

Last October, when the old propane boiler failed at 23 Hardware and Lumber in Askov, owner Scott Peterson did something that many experts say is critical for Minnesota to combat climate change and reach its greenhouse gas reduction goals. He replaced it, not with a traditional boiler or furnace, but with an electric air-source heat pump.

He didn’t do it to save the planet. He did it to save money — and to get air conditioning for the first time.

One year later, he’s happy he made the switch. He admitted to a bit of sticker shock when he got the quote for his new system, which included the heat pump, new ductwork, and a backup propane furnace.

“But, you know, if you’re saving two to three grand a year on propane, it don’t take very long to pay for it,” Peterson said.

Meanwhile, he said his electric bill has increased only modestly, by about $20 to $30 per month.

Peterson hadn’t heard much about heat pumps before he spoke with Chris Prachar, co-owner of D&E Heating and Air Conditioning in Hinckley, who installed his new system. Prachar said few customers have.

But he said once he explains how efficient they are — and the financial incentives available — it’s an easy sell, especially for customers who want to replace an air conditioner.

“After you explain to them the benefits that they get, the tax incentives, the rebates, honestly, it doesn’t make any sense to put in a straight air conditioner.”

Minnesota has seen a surge in installations of heat pumps since 2019, fueled by cost savings and technological improvements that enable heat pumps to operate efficiently even in extreme Minnesota winters.

Now, with additional federal and state incentives in the pipeline for 2024 that could reduce the cost of a heat pump by $12,000 or even more, installers are bracing for an even larger growth spurt.

“When you include all the available rebates and tax credits, it literally is a no brainer,” said Chad Thompson, owner of Twin Ports Custom Climate in Superior, Wis.

“Especially if you’re already putting air conditioning in your house, it should be a heat pump.” Moving heat

Every winter day in Minnesota, there are tens of thousands of tiny fires burning in homes and buildings around the state. Most are combusting natural gas, or propane, in furnaces and boilers, turning those fossil fuels into heat.

A heat pump, in contrast, doesn’t create heat at all. It moves it. The technology has been around for decades.

“Your refrigerator, for example, is a heat pump. It extracts heat from inside your refrigerator and puts it outside, inside your living space,” explained Jon Sullivan, who leads customer services and programs at Minnesota Power.

An air-source heat pump does the same thing. It can cool your house like an air conditioner — taking heat from inside your home and depositing it outside.

But it also moves air in the opposite direction. Even on cold winter days there’s heat in the outside air. A heat pump extracts that warm air and moves it inside your home to heat it.

“And that allows us to get really efficient heating and cooling from one system. It’s very, very unique in how it can produce heat compared to other alternative heating systems,” Sullivan said.

Since an air pump moves heat, instead of creating it, “It can operate at 150 to 400 percent efficiency,” said Rabi Vandergon, air source heat pump initiative manager at the Center for Energy and Environment.

Heat pumps do use electricity. But as more electricity is produced from carbon-free sources like wind and solar that means that heat pumps will increasingly generate a lot fewer greenhouse gas emissions. State legislators passed a law earlier this year to produce 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.

And that’s critical, because greenhouse gas emissions from Minnesota homes and apartment buildings have increased 14 percent in recent years. Buildings use about 40 percent of the energy created in Minnesota.

“To meet our goal as a state of net zero emissions by 2050, we’re going to need to figure out how to heat our homes in ways that don’t give off emissions,” said Pete Wyckoff, assistant commissioner for federal and state initiatives with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

“Heat pumps are an incredibly important tool for that goal.” front side of a hardware and lumber store

Cold climate

For years, Minnesota’s frigid climate has held back air-source heat pumps from gaining a wider foothold. They simply couldn’t keep a home warm enough when temperatures plummeted.

But that’s changed over the past 10 to 15 years, Sullivan said.

“We’re seeing systems that are now rated down to negative 20 (degrees Fahrenheit), or even lower. Which is kind of amazing to think about, that there’s still enough heat that you can extract to heat a home.”

Sullivan said there are some homes that are passively heated and extremely energy efficient and weather-tight that can get by with only a heat pump.

But installers recommend keeping a backup — either electric heat, or a furnace or boiler, that in a typical scenario would provide about 10 to 20 percent of a home’s heat over the course of a year.

“If something breaks, number one, it’s not an easy fix, usually. Number two, eventually our Minnesota winters definitely will overpower an air-source heat pump,” said Prachar.

Thompson said in his experience, a standard heat pump can heat well down to about five degrees below zero. But the technology is improving rapidly.

“It was only five to seven years ago we didn't have anything that I would safely install that would run below the 20 degree (above zero) mark,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, the up-front cost of installing a heat pump may run roughly 20 percent more than a standard natural gas forced air furnace. But homes that install a heat pump he said can expect about a 25 percent savings in yearly heating costs.

Those numbers can vary widely. Heat pumps aren’t the best solution for every home. For some, especially those that heat with efficient natural gas systems, they may not result in many cost savings.

But experts say those who heat with propane, or with electric baseboard heating, can expect significant savings — up to 50 percent annually, according to the Minnesota Air Source Heat Pump Collaborative.

There are also major incentives to entice homeowners to invest in heat pumps. An existing 30 percent federal tax credit allows customers to save up to $2,000 on a system. Utilities currently offer rebates up to $1,000 or more.

In 2019 and 2020, there was a doubling of participation in the utility rebate program across Minnesota, said the Center for Energy and Environment’s Vandergon, who manages the heat pump collaborative.

Heat pump adoption also grew in 2021. Since then it’s leveled off. But nationally, there are now more heat pumps sold annually than traditional furnaces. “That flipped for the first time in 2022. And it hasn't gone backwards since then, it continues on today,” Vandergon said.

That trend is only expected to accelerate as the Minnesota Department of Commerce prepares to roll out additional state and federal incentives and rebates.

Depending on income level, homeowners will soon be eligible for a federal rebate up to $8,000, and a state rebate of up to $4,000. Additional federal rebates will also be available for home retrofits that result in efficiency upgrades, including heat pump installations.

“We are staffing up in terms of getting ready to offer these programs,” said Wyckoff, adding that a new heat pump staffer just started last week.

“We are a little ways away from actually standing up the program, because there's been something of a delay from the federal side. It will all work out in the end. But look for a rollout we're hoping sometime in 2024. It has to be rolled out by early 2025.”

When it is, installers like Thompson expect to be busy. He believes heat pumps will be the majority heating source in the U.S. within the next couple decades.

“This isn’t a silver bullet,” Thompson said. “But if they’re utilized properly, set up properly and installed properly, they can take a huge bite out of our heating costs, and our carbon footprint.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - It’s almost time to ring in the New Year, and there are a few laws in Minnesota that are going into effect along with it.

During the 2023 legislative sessions, several new laws were passed and signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz. While many went into effect throughout the year, here is a list of some new laws going into effect in Minnesota on Jan. 1, 2024. Earned sick and safe time

A law enacting paid sick and safe time for employees in Minnesota goes into effect on Jan 1. The new law allows employees access to paid time off if they are sick, caring for a sick family member, or seeking assistance if they or a family member has experienced sexual assault, stalking or domestic abuse.

For every 30 hours worked, an employee earns one hour of sick and safe time. An employee can earn a maximum of 48 hours per year unless an employer agrees to additional hours.

Employees who use sick and safe time get paid the same hourly rate as if they were working. To qualify for sick time, employees cannot be independent contractors and must work at least 80 hours per year for an employer in Minnesota. Closing the gender and racial pay gap

Starting on Jan. 1, a new law goes into effect to help narrow the gender and racial pay gap as women, people of color, and Indigenous people are often paid less compared to white men, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Under the new law, employers are to base applicants' pay on their skills, education, certifications, licenses, the current job market, and other qualifications. Employers cannot ask about an applicant's current pay or consider their past or current pay during the hiring process.

The new law affects public, private and nonprofit employers in the state. Minimum wage increase

On Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Minnesota will increase by 2.5% to adjust for inflation. Large employers are required to increase the minimum wage from $10.59 to $10.85 an hour.

Meanwhile, wages for young people and training, the summer work travel exchange visitor program, and small businesses will increase from $8.63 to $8.85 an hour.

However, the new minimum wage law does not apply to Minneapolis or St. Paul, which has higher minimum wage rates. In July, Minneapolis raised the minimum wage for small businesses to $14.50 and $15.19 for large businesses.

Currently, in St. Paul, large businesses must pay employees $15.57 an hour, small businesses pay $14 an hour, and youth training is $11.90 an hour. Under St. Paul law, hourly wages increase every year. Changes to juvenile offender's rights

A new law allocating $3.56 billion for Minnesota’s public safety, judiciary, and corrections departments and agencies went into effect on June 1, 2023, but a policy change affecting minors won't go into effect until Jan. 1, 2024.

Under the new law, strip searches of detained juveniles are no longer allowed, and it’s also prohibited to use isolation as a form of punishment.

The law prohibits life sentences without the possibility of parole for those convicted of homicide under the age of 18. Those who committed offenses as juveniles must be eligible for the possibility of release after serving 15, 20 or 30 years, which went into effect in June. Voting provisions for secret spending and silencing

The state legislature passed a new law with several provisions to protect Minnesotan's voting rights. Among the provisions are new restrictions for foreign-influenced corporations.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2024, foreign-influenced corporations cannot make certain types of contributions or expenditures, including:

To promote or defeat a candidate for nomination, election, or appointment to a public office;
To promote or defeat a ballot question or qualify a ballot question for placement on the ballot;
Making contributions to a candidate or a candidate’s principal campaign committee;
Making contributions to a political committee, political fund, or party unit; and
Taking any action to publicly endorse or oppose a candidate or ballot question

Corporations that do make authorized contributions or expenditures as allowed by law are required to submit a certification to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board stating it was not influenced by foreigners. Ergonomics safety program

Passed under a $1.4 billion jobs and economic development package, an ergonomics safety program to minimize workplace injuries in certain industries will be mandated on Jan. 1, 2024.

The program will be required for all hospitals, outpatient surgical centers, nursing homes, as well as warehouses and poultry processing or meatpacking sites with 100 or more employees. However, the bill did not state what the program would entail.

According to the Minnesota Department of Labor, nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses increased 15% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The industries with the highest rates of injury and illness include state government hospitals with 31.4 cases per 100 workers, and state government nursing and residential care facilities with 15.9 cases per 100 workers. New safety standards for contractors at Minnesota oil refineries

Contractors working at Minnesota’s two oil refineries must meet workplace training requirements, with 30% of contractors qualifying as "skilled and trained" by Jan. 1, 2024.

The new safety standards require contracts between refineries and contractors to ensure a percentage of workers are graduates or apprentices of a registered apprentice program. The requirements will be phased out over the next three years with 45% of contractors qualified as "skilled and trained" by Jan. 1, 2025, and 60% by Jan. 1, 2026.

Existing contacts must be renegotiated by Jan. 1, 2025, but some exemptions can be provided. Companies that don’t comply with the law can be fined $5,000 to $10,000 per violation.

I posted and deleted a link to the whole list, there's a lot. Also, be nice, some of those designs were made by children. But there's some shitposting submissions too, I might have some fun with these.

Edit: Not sure if I should have posted this article instead, there's even more fun highlights from the list.

36 contaminants have been added or updated on the "Human Health Based Water Guidance Table"

It's a list of chemicals that could be in your water and the health effects that the state department of health has determined are possible based on different exposure levels.

The actual usage of these guidelines only appear to be for state legislation, but if you're a well water user or a concerned city water user, this data might be of interest to you.

17 are new, 19 have updated guidelines

A crowd of several hundred people is expected to gather at Split Rock Lighthouse on Friday for a memorial ceremony and beacon-lighting to mark the 48th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.