St. Paul orders Bird scooters off its sidewalks by midnight Friday

by MinnPost staff 07/20/201807/20/2018

The Bird Ultimatum. MPR’s Tim Nelson reports: “The city of St. Paul has given a scooter rental company until midnight Friday to get its scooters off the streets. … But this isn’t necessarily the end for the app-based shared transportation alternative. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the city is creating a pilot program that will allow the electric scooters stay. The company, Bird, said it is working with the city. … In a statement, Carter said a temporary regulatory framework will go to the City Council on Aug. 1 for approval and will allow Bird and other e-scooter companies to operate legally in the city.”

Fallout from yesterday’s story on Rick Nolan. The AP reports (via the Rochester Post Bulletin): “Democrat Lori Swanson is coming under pressure from some liberal groups to dump U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan as her gubernatorial running mate. … The calls follow a report by the online news site MinnPost that one of Nolan’s top congressional aides, Jim Swiderski, was allowed to leave quietly rather than be fired over alleged sexual harassment. Swiderski was hired by Nolan’s re-election campaign months later. … TakeAction Minnesota and DFL Feminists say Nolan should leave Swanson’s ticket.”

If you’ve wondered how Best Buy manages to hang on in an era when Amazon exists, here are some answers. Bloomberg’s Susan Berfield and Matthew Boyle report: “In Best Buy’s perfect world, all 380 of its new “in-home advisors” would park their clean, white Priuses in front of a customer’s house rather than in the driveway, where the car could block others. They would quickly appraise the neighborhood, survey the landscaping, and see if a security system is in place. After knocking gently on the front door, they would step back and stand to the right, smiling, head down slightly, arms uncrossed, name tag visible on their blue, wrinkle-free Best Buy polo shirts. They would shake hands firmly, avoiding the dead fish or the lobster claw.”

This sounds very bad. KSTP’s Frank Rajkowski reports: “A Worthington dentist is facing multiple charges after authorities in South Dakota say five female inmates reported he touched them inappropriately during dental exams at the Minnehaha County Jail. … A release from the jail said the Minnehaha County Attorney’s Office had charged Andrew Heinisch with two counts of sexual contact between a jail employee and an adult detainee, two counts of attempted sexual acts between a jail employee and an adult detainee, two counts of sexual contact without consent of a person capable of consenting and two counts of attempted sexual contact without consent of a person capable of consenting.”