Joe Gigliotti provides a recap of the Grand Rapids City Council meeting which took place on Monday October 28th. Click the link below to hear the report.
A Bemidji man is sentenced to more than eight years in prison for two separate carjackings in 2021 and 2022. Hennepin County prosecutors say 22-year-old Justin Brun received a 99-month sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated robbery. Brun was arrested for carjackings in south Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center. He receives credit for more than 11 hundred days already served in jail.
Drought conditions in Minnesota would be even worse if we didn’t have the wettest April through June on record. Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay says Mother Nature turned off the faucet in September. He says, “The only saving grace is because we had all that rain at the beginning of the summer, the deep soil profile still has a lot of water. In the top two feet, there’s barely anything left. But some deep soil moisture is still below that, which is good.” He says southeastern and northwestern Minnesota could get enough rain in the next few weeks to dent the drought.
Gas prices are averaging about 3 dollars a gallon in the state and are expected to continue falling. Brynna (BRIN’-uh) Knapp with Triple-A Minnesota says gas is normally cheaper when the temperature gets cooler due to fewer people traveling. Drivers in Minnesota are paying a statewide average of $ 3.05 a gallon to fill their gas tanks this week. Brynna (BRIN’-uh) Knapp with Triple-A Minnesota says this varies from county to county. For example, in Rochester, the average price per gallon is at 3.16; in the cities, we’re looking at 3.08 for an average; down in Houston County, we’re looking at a lower average at 2.92.” She says several northwest Minnesota stations sell gas for less than 3 dollars a gallon. Knapp says prices are expected to decline further heading into winter.
A recreation area in Duluth that’s been closed for several years for a re-model is now open. The public was welcomed back to Brighton Beach at Kitchi Gammi Park Tuesday. The four-year project was influenced by severe storms that led planners to relocate some infrastructure. The lake walk was extended, a new roadway was built, and more amenities were added.
It’s been 2 years since the GO Marti program started in Grand Rapids. GO MARTI is a complete self-driving auto shuttle service in Itasca County. The go MARTI program was a first-of-its-kind demonstration of self-driving shuttles in a rural setting. Now they are announcing go Marti 2.0 coming soon. Go Marti 2.0 is going to feature more stops, more ability to interface with the go MARTI platform, and more routes! For more information about GO Marti please visit their website at gomarti.com
The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce has written a letter to the Grand Rapids City Council opposing the proposed Franchise Fee structure and timeline. According to the local non-profit, they believe that businesses need more time to understand the implications of the proposed franchise fee, engage in dialogue with the city, and allow more time to budget for the fees moving forward. Malissa Bahr, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce stated this in her letter to the Grand Rapids City Council. Bahr writes: We respectfully request that the City Council consider delaying the vote and implementation of the proposed franchise fee to allow for comprehensive education efforts and engagement sessions. This extension would enable a better-informed decision-making process, allowing businesses and residents to understand the fee’s impact and provide meaningful input fully.
The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce is led by a board comprised of local business leaders. These individuals represent a variety of professions and business sectors across the Itasca County area. The Chamber seeks qualified individuals to serve on the Board of Directors for a 3-year position. The Board is comprised of diverse, dedicated professionals representing the Grand Rapids Area business communities. Board members must possess the time commitment and company resources to guide and grow the Chamber through Board support, strategic planning, community relations, and fundraising. Candidates must be a current Chamber member for at least one (1) year at the time of application. If you or someone you know is interested in applying to be part of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, please email or call Malissa Bahr: malissa@grandmn.com or 218-326-6619 to get more information on the process. Application deadline is at end of day on November 1, 2024.
The Minnesota Supreme Court is ordering Hennepin County to appoint election judges to its absentee ballot board from the Republican Party’s list of candidates. The state G-O-P, Upper Midwest Law Center and Minnesota Voters Alliance filed a petition after none of the five appointments to the board were on Republicans’ list of 15 hundred names. The Upper Midwest Law Center says Hennepin County must reconstitute its absentee ballot board by Friday (11/1). Republican Party Chair David Hann called it, “a huge win for election integrity in Minnesota.” More than 263 thousand absentee ballots have been received by the county.
Father Hennepin State Park will reopen to the public on Friday, Nov. 1 after being closed on Sept. 3 for replacement of the park’s wastewater system. Park hours will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. While the park will reopen, the ranger station and campgrounds are closed for the season. They will reopen in mid-April 2025. The wastewater project connected the park to the municipal wastewater system in the city of Isle, replacing the park’s own system, which was at the end of its life. This project, which was funded by state bonding dollars, will ensure the park’s facilities serve visitors into the future in a way that continues to protect water quality.
A winter storm watch has been issued for multiple counties in northeastern Minnesota ahead of wet, slushy snow that will start falling on Halloween. The watch area for Thursday includes Duluth and a portion of the North Shore, but also along the I-35 corridor in Pine County, about an hour's drive north of the Twin Cities. The National Weather Service that "potential snowfall amounts have increased," with rain transitioning to snow during the day on Halloween as temperatures fall, with 1-4 inches expected in much of the northeast. But there's also a 30-50% chance of heavier totals that could bring 4-6 inches to cities including Duluth and Moose Lake. The snow is expected to start properly in Duluth around 9 a.m. after transitioning from mixed precipitation, and should fall for much of Halloween before temperatures warm up again in the evening. This story is curtesy of Bring Me the News.
Former Iron Range lawmaker Jason Metsa has been sentenced for giving alcohol to a minor. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge earlier this month. Court documents say in July Metsa, a former Minnesota state representative, admitted to meeting an 18-year-old on the Tinder app and bringing her to his cabin and offering her a shot of whiskey. Metsa now faces one year of unsupervised monitoring. If he doesn’t commit the same or a similar offense for the next year the charge will be dismissed, other than paying a $900 fine. These charges came after Metsa was initially arrested in July for criminal sexual conduct, but he wasn’t charged in that case. This story is curtesy of Northern News Now.
Healthcare workers at Essentia Health in Deer River say an Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) strike could begin as soon as next week if there are continued issues about obtaining a labor agreement. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has sent Essentia Health a 10-day strike notice that it intends to initiative a work stoppage beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, November 4th and have it run until 7 a.m. on Saturday, November 9th. The work stoppage would involve around 70 workers from the hospital and nursing home. Essentia says that in the event of a work stoppage, emergency services, surgical care, outpatient clinic care, and long-term care at Essentia Health-Homestead would remain available, but aspects of hospital inpatient services would be temporarily suspended during a work stoppage. That would include transferring some current hospital patients to other Essentia facilities and not accepting new patients for hospital admission.
Tony Schmid News Director Rapids Radio
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