Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan. 16
’Wishbone’: A bold vision for the mighty Mississippi
The proposal would better connect Minneapolis with the river and St. Anthony Falls.
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Imagine a mile-long pedestrian promenade just above the Mississippi River, accessible from both banks - an expansive walkway that runs under the historic Stone Arch Bridge for spectacular, up-close views of St. Anthony Falls.
A proposal to create what its planners are calling “Wishbone” was presented to the Hennepin County Board this week by Commissioner Mike Opat to get the board and the public thinking about the possibilities. It’s an impressive use of public space that deserves a serious airing. Closer access to the river - particularly near the Mississippi’s only waterfall - is an attraction that could draw locals, tourists and other visitors to the site for years to come.
Opat has been working with the walkway’s designer, RSP Architects, for more than a year. And he’s met with a variety of possible stakeholders, including the city, Minneapolis Park Board, Minnesota’s Indian tribes, federal agencies, environmentalists and Xcel Energy, which runs a nearby power plant. He said that the walkway could be something like New York City’s High Line, the popular 1.45-mile elevated linear park along a former rail line on the west side of Manhattan.
The commissioner offered a “very preliminary” cost estimate of $50 million to $100 million and said the county could be a partner, but not necessarily the lead, on the project. The leadership role would likely be taken by Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, which could hold public hearings on the proposal.
Michael Schroeder, assistant superintendent of planning for the Park Board, said Wishbone is “not inconsistent with our plans for the riverfront or the river in general.” He noted that others have presented ideas for that stretch of the river as well, including Friends of the Lock and Dam. Last fall, that group announced it had raised $5 million for a plan to remake the area into a visitor center with boat access, riverfront dining, underground parking and event space.
Dave Norback, president of RSP Architects in Minneapolis, said he designed Wishbone to better connect the city to the river. He believes the timing is right for the project because the federal government closed the lock and dam, major industry has moved out, and the riverfront area is growing with more residents and small businesses.
Opat told an editorial writer that he and the architects envision a design that includes a range of programmable spaces for public use. Places, he said, where gatherings like yoga classes or book clubs could be held, where wedding vows could be exchanged with St. Anthony Falls as a backdrop, and where artists could set up easels. The site could also house nature and Native American interpretive centers with information about city, river and tribal history.
Questions remain about numerous project details, including who pays for construction and ongoing maintenance and oversight. Still, the idea is worth the community’s careful consideration. As Opat told a Star Tribune news reporter, “Great cities have great public spaces.”
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The Free Press of Mankato, Jan. 17
Hunger: Children, families will be victims of food stamp changes
Why it matters: The Trump administration plans cuts to the food stamp program even as the well-to-do benefit from tax cuts.
Trump administration changes to eligibility in food assistance programs coming this year will create more hunger everywhere.
Children and families will suffer. The cuts and changes in eligibility were framed as a way to save money. The Trump administration said it needs to cut spending on food assistance to trim the budget. It apparently needs the extra money to whittle down the $1.7 trillion deficit created by 2017 tax cuts mostly to the well-to-do.
It’s a sad commentary on the priorities of the current administration. We should reject such a mean-spirited policy.
The impact of the changes became clear in a recent in-depth story by The Free Press on how those in need of food assistance might be impacted. One mom who lost her job for a month, and her child turned 18, lost her food assistance benefits. She said she was saved by the ECHO Food Shelf in Mankato.
She lost her benefits due to existing regulations where benefits end when a child turns 18 regardless of the need. Another mom had a job making $19 per hour, but without her husband working due to medical reasons, it was difficult to feed their large family. She too, was using ECHO.
Both wonder how even more strict requirements might impact their family and children.
One plan will reduce eligibility for federal food stamp program if a person gets state assistance through another program that provides funds for basic living expenses beyond food. Another federal change would remove exceptions to stringent work requirements in counties with high unemployment. It would have the effect of cutting off their food assistance even if they can’t find a job.
These programs are not handouts for those unwilling to work. In one case, the benefit allowed a mom to buy milk and big package of hamburger for her kids.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has argued that the changes will force able-bodied people to work in these times of low unemployment. But the facts suggest low unemployment has not reduced the need for food shelves.
ECHO served 13,498 recipients in 2018 and 14,443 in 2019, a 7 percent increase at a time when unemployment around 3 percent.
And while unemployment is low, the jobs available don’t pay a living wage. A 2018 report by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development showed the median wage for job openings in south central Minnesota was under $13 per hour.
Few would argue those who are able to work should do so to the best of their ability, but it seems the policy of offering a hand-up has turned into a policy of offering a hand slap.
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The Journal of New Ulm, Jan. 16
Not-so-secret voting
We’re not sure who thought this was a good idea, but MInnesota law now allows political parties to pull back the voting booth curtain and peek over your shoulder in the new Minnesota presidential primary.
The presidential primary will allow MInnesotans to have a say in who is nominated to represent their political parties in the presidential race without having to attend a precinct caucus. A presidential primary is a good idea, because fewer and fewer people are bothering to attend precinct caucuses, and the Minnesota primaries held in August are much too late to have any impact on the presidential selection.
But this primary will be different from the primaries to which we are accustomed. In the past everyone got the same ballot, with Democrats listed on one side and Republicans on the other. Voters were instructed to vote for one party’s candidates or the other’s. No crossovers allowed. If you voted in the Republican senate race, for instance, then crossed over and voted in the Democratic House race, your ballot would be tossed out.
Now, however, election judges will ask you if you want a Democratic ballot or a Republican ballot. In order to get one, you have to sign a statement saying you support the party’s goals and positions. And your personal voter data will be collected and turned over to the Republicans, the Democrats, the Legal Marijuana Now party and the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party. The parties may use that information to donate, to volunteer, or to remind you to vote. And there are no limits on what the parties can do with your information once they get it.
If you go to vote in the presidential primary and say “None of your beeswax!” when the election judge asks you which party you support, you won’t get to vote.
Mind you, this is for the presidential primary only. But that’s the one most people care about, anyway.
We’re not sure why the presidential primary law, which was passed in 2016, was written this way, but it is a bad idea. It will discourage people from voting, and it violates the great American tradition of the secret ballot. You should be able to vote with no threat of repercussions, of follow-up solicitations for money, or requests to assist the campaign.
We hope legislators will address this snag in the election law as soon as they convene in February.
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