At MPR, Brian Bakst says, “Two-year labor contracts for thousands of Minnesota government workers are due to take effect this week now that state lawmakers will miss a deadline to block them. The deals provide wage increases of more than 2 percent each year but could be higher for employees who aren’t at maximum pay for their positions. There will be some additional health premium costs for employees. A committee of state lawmakers had the ability to vote to approve or reject the agreements but had to act by Thursday.”
For Inc. Jeff Haden says, “Starting November 5, Delta Airlines plans to ‘significantly’ upgrade coach service on international flights at least 6.5 hours long: A free welcome cocktail, hot towels (who doesn’t love a hot towel), appetizers, and separate dessert service. Meal portions will be larger, too.”
For BringMeTheNews, Adam Uren says, “Minnesota is one of the best states in the nation to find restaurants using locally- sourced, environmentally-conscious food. That’s according to the Good Food Network, which has revealed its list of 100 eateries nationwide that meet its high environmental standards, of which 11 are in Minnesota. That puts Minnesota joint 2nd for having the most restaurants on the list alongside California, with the two states behind only Colorado, which has a whopping 40 on the list. … Of the 11 recognized in Minnesota, eight of them are owned and operated by Kim Bartmann and her restaurant group.”
Stribber Libor Jany reports, “Minneapolis police officers are no longer pursuing fleeing suspects for most nonviolent and lesser offenses after a series of high-profile chases in recent years that department officials say unnecessarily put lives in danger. Under the new policy, officers can only give chase in situations where they believe a suspect has committed or is about to commit ‘a serious and violent felony or gross misdemeanor.’”
Also from BringMeTheNews’ Uren: “Five Minnesota companies have been included in the top 250 of Forbes’ list of ‘World’s Best Employers.’ The list of 500 companies is topped by Google owner Alphabet, followed by software and programming giants Microsoft and Red Hat. Forbes compiles the rankings based upon the feedback of some 1.4 million employees it surveyed, as well as public feedback across the globe. The highest Minnesota entry on the list is Richfield’s Best Buy, which has been named for the first time on the list and ranks as high as 66th.”
For MPR, Cody Nelson says, “There are no formal homeless shelters in Marshall, which is the case in most of rural Minnesota, where a third of the state’s population experiencing homelessness lives. With shelters and other resources lacking or scattered, Minnesota’s rural homeless population relies on a patchwork of housing options — from motels to church basements. Thirty-six percent of people experiencing homelessness in rural Minnesota are not staying in a formal shelter setting, compared to 22 percent in the metro area, said Michelle Decker Gerrard, senior research manager at Wilder Research, citing the group’s latest study.”
Stribber Shannon Prather reports, “An indigent Ramsey County defendant may be too poor to pay for a lawyer but is still expected to pay hundreds of dollars in jail and probation fines and fees — creating a vicious cycle of debt for many. But experts with a national financial firm told the Ramsey County Board on Tuesday that the county could eliminate more than $2 million in criminal justice fines and fees annually levied for services from probation monitoring to drug testing to making jailhouse phone calls.”
For The Verge Nilay Patel reports, “Foxconn never does anything in Wisconsin without first announcing, canceling, and then announcing it again. So right on schedule, the company has refiled plans to build a network operations center (NOC) in the shape of a giant glass dome. The dome, which will contain both the NOC and an auditorium, was initially revealed in early September — but Foxconn yanked the plans on literally the same day, and didn’t comment on whether the dome would come back. Now it’s back — Foxconn apparently reworked the plans for the data center next to the dome to make it a more permanent structure.”
Not going after criminals, Baltimore tried that with great success. NOT.
“Under the new policy, officers can only give chase in situations where they believe a suspect has committed or is about to commit ‘a serious and violent felony or gross misdemeanor.’”
Looks like they’re going after criminals to me.
Not using high speed chases to go after shoplifters and other low level offenders, you mean.
It’s a pity the police will be limited in their opportunities for Starsky and Hutch cosplay, but public safety demands it.
These jail and probation fees really are are a horrible way to kick a person when they’re down. The phone call charges are a pure scam. The jail and probation fees are heaped onto a person at the time in their life when they’re least able to pay, and the debt keeps them under the thumb of our criminal justice system.
Imagine this: you’ve been placed on probation, you’ve probably lost your job. You may not even have a place to stay, at least not permanently. Your conviction means that finding employment and shelter are going to be very difficult. And on top of that, you owe these ridiculous fees to the county.And you’re going to owe even money for the privilege of being on probation!
Ramsey county may not have gone down that road as far as Ferguson did; their system was a pure racket. But most of these fines and fees do not have a legitimate criminal justice function, and should be eliminated.