Another quick rundown of what’s going on around the South Metro for your enjoyment and discussion:
1. According to Thisweek (via Twitter) and the Pioneer Press, the Minnesota Zoo finally banned smoking and it goes into effect Saturday June 20th. I was always a bit surprised to see people smoking there–especially in areas that weren’t designated as smoking areas but I only ever spoke up once when they were standing right next to a bunch of kids playing on some sort of structure.
When I reposted the news from @thisweekmn, one of our fellow readers said, “I didn’t know they still allowed it! Well, good then. Seriously, had no clue. Just assumed it was no smoking.” Exactly. Anyone else surprised by this?
2. As discussed at the most recent Lazy Lightning Meetup at King’s Place in Miesville, the Pioneer Press reports that a Lakeville teen is the BSA’s two millionth Eagle Scout.
I don’t know what number Eagle Scout I was but I can honestly say that I was impressed by the pile of stuff that came as part of that. Declarations from the state and local governments as well as letters from god only knows who else. This kid is getting the red carpet rolled out for him with appearances in the Rose Bowl Parade and shit. Good exposure for the BSA and Eagle Scouts and many congrats go out to him and his troop.
3. A quick non-South Metro mention out of the Star Tribune Taste section about how polenta makes a great meal addition and it’s good for you too. My mother’s side of the family had polenta now and again and while it’s in fashion these days (I made some a year and a half ago or so and we enjoyed it), my mother never had fond memories of it.
Have you or do you have polenta and what do you make with it?
4. According to this article in the Star Tribune, Cedar Ave BRT is in the hole even deeper after the original estimates were increased due to inflation, expansion deeper into Lakeville, and other changes to the original plan.
Hey Branning, you better get your pucker ready as there’s some serious ass kissing going to have to happen for your overpriced baby to get off the ground now. Good luck!
5. Another non-SOTR mention goes out to The Big Picture’s coverage of the Iranian election. Even if you don’t care about that topic covered with their usual slew of unbelievable photography (here, here and here) there are plenty of other amazing photo topics coming out of that site. If you’re into Twitter, you can follow along here instead of via RSS.
6. Even though Burnsville is currently litigating against them, there’s a blurb in the Star Tribune about Kraemer Mining’s quarry in Burnsville is pumping drinking water to residents instead of into the Minnesota River.
I covered this fleecing of taxpayers in Savage and Burnsville before here. Why taxpayers had to pay any part of Kraemer Mining’s weaseling out of DNR restrictions I have no idea.
What do you think about having to pay $4.5 million in fees (and possibly more in legal if the litigation is related) just so Kraemer could get out its responsibility to the DNR?
7. Tara Mack appears on Thisweek’s The Show. Another great interview of someone who makes decisions that impact us on a local level.
8. According to The Heavy Table (if you are a foodie and you aren’t following along over there, I suggest doing so now–some fucking incredible content comes out of there daily), the Fabian Shrimp Truck will be at Pahl’s Market in Apple Valley on Saturday June 20th between 10 AM and noon.
I’m fairly certain that this is the same shrimp truck that delivers shrimp to Satay 2 Go and if so, they are fucking awesome. Hop on it if you can.
9. UpWithTheMooses’ daughter spoke in front of the school board in Ojibwe!.
Congrats go out to her and the entire Moose family!
10. And finally a couple of recipe links that I’ve recently starred in Google Reader in quick-fire format: fresh baked bread in 5 mins, seared salmon with creamy greens and roasted red pepper sauce, Indian chicken wings, NPR takes a stab at some twists on the old potato salad favorites, and finally a quick instructional video on how to slice and dice and onion like a pro.
So go ahead and read through them and comment on as you see fit. I’m mainly interested in your thoughts on smoking in the Zoo and the Kraemer Mining taxpayer fleecing fiasco so go ahead and share any thoughts you have on those as well as any of the others!
Related posts:
Lazy Lightning Store
Month's Top 5 Commenters
BPAC Financials Archive
Dakota Criminal Complaints
Loading ...
June 18th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Polenta….i grew up with it too. Never left fashion in our northern italian families. There are two ways to do it, you eat it as mush right out of the pot, or you cool it and it hardens… then you can do lots of things with it.
Like pasta it needs something to dress it up and make it interesting.
The mush style was served with a red sauce with sausages in it… the cooled type is sliced and can be grilled, fried, or used like lasagna noodles in a casserole type of meal… then you can use red sauce, or white sauce, or cheeses… look up recipes for polenta grassa on the internet, but it is a winter food, and you may have to serve Lipitor with it, or lots of red wine.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Thanks for the mention of Jesse’s presentation. She is doing very well in Ojibwe class (and giving up a couple of Saturdays a month to take the class). The dads? Not so well (probably sounds a lot like those French castle guards in “Holy Grail” when the Ojibwe folks hear me trying to speak their language — of course we are Cherokee! Why else would we speak with these outrageous accents?)
June 18th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
We love polenta. We eat it soft with juicy roasted chicken and roasted bell peppers/sweet onions/mushrooms. We eat it fried and topped with herbed (shallots, parsley, rosemary, and thyme) cream or goat cheese.
The Heavy Table is great. I also like simplegoodandtasty.com
Great job, Jesse. I have some Cherokee three greats back, but have not connected with it. The pale white skin and freckles don’t lend themselves to that particular part of my heritage.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Cedar BRT Update:
I went to the BRT meeting last night.
They had the streetscape renderings there, there were 3 options shown:
Apple Valley Commercial areas:
1) Reduce the amount of trees along Cedar (businesses want better visibility).
2) Keep the same amount of trees and add shrubs in the green space between the sidewalk and the parking lots of the businesses.
3) Add colored concrete sidewalks, ornamental street lights, add fences similar to the ones on the Apple Valley city streets in the “downtown” area. It also looks like the sidewalks will be larger in this option, extending to the curb.
Note: They also have a drawing of a “monument”, similar to the large gate at the corner of 42/Galaxie in front of the government center.
Apple Valley Residential areas:
1) Add retaining walls along the sidewalk (appx. 2-3 feet tall), increase tree density for privacy.
2) Same as option 1, but adding shrubs.
3) Similar to option 2, but adding a privacy wall (not a noise wall), also adding a cut in the retaining wall for pedestrians to access Cedar from the residential area.
Lakeville Commercial areas:
1) Adding trees.
2) Adding trees and shrubs, as well as ornamental lighting on the outside of the roadway.
3) Same as option 2, but adding lighting in the median of the road and putting the power lines underground.
Lakeville Residential areas:
1) Adding retaining walls (appx. 2-3 feet tall) with privacy walls (appx. 5-6 feet tall) on top. Trees would be on the outside of the wall (on the residential property).
2) Same as option 1, but adding trees on the inside of the walls, as well as ornamental lighting on the boulevards.
3) Same as option 2, but adding shrubs on the inside of the walls and ornamental lighting in the median.
———————————
Construction:
Cedar Avenue will be rebuilt between 138th Street and 181st Street between 2010-2012.
Construction will begin in August 2010. This will likely be the lighter construction as they don’t want Cedar closed during the winter.
Cedar will be rebuilt in 2 phases (likely 138th-160th the first year, and 160th-181st the second year). They are asking residents what the acceptable hours of construction are and similar questions. The businesses want longer hours because the want the construction done as soon as possible. There will be 2 lanes open at all times, and some intersections will be closed during construction.
There are 2 ways they are considering doing the construction:
1) First the outside areas will be reconstructed, then traffic will move to the outside when the inside/medians are reconstructed.
2) One-half of the road will be closed for construction and traffic will be on the other side.
——————————-
Transit Service/Stations:
In September the service plan will likely be completed. It will discuss the service options for the express buses to downtown as well as the station-to-station BRT that will run from Lakeville to the Mall of America. It will also evaluate the connecting bus routes to make them more efficient and provide better connections.
The service plan will also evaluate the stations. The 140th and 147th street stations (and probably the other stations like Cedar Grove, Cliff, Palomino, 215th) may be downsized or eliminated as there may not be enough demand.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:15 am
The slides from the meeting are not up yet, but the 30% complete layout of Cedar Avenue is. Here is the direct link:
http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e0e/frwpntygxzdplkxcnojlaamzzetsjjsf/CedarAve30LAYOUT.pdf (PDF file, 7.2 MB)
June 19th, 2009 at 7:20 am
One more thing I forgot:
The noise walls were brought up (the residents at the meeting seemed to support them). They are not in the design plans, as they were recently discussed.
Also here is the June update:
http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/B83A0A8B-BE95-45C8-A0C2-7CDB4A1A56DB/11676/CAJuneUpdate.pdf (PDF File, 57 KB)
June 19th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Bill, you have a great blog and I am a frequent visitor. Your committment of time and effort is very much appreciated.
However, when it comes to the Kraemer water treatment project, you are a knothead :)
This is a win, win, win situation for everyone involved including those of you who live in Apple Valley.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Duke,
I realize that you’re a politician and you think that supporting local businesses with $10 million in public funds is a good idea to help them keep operating but I do not.
1. Kraemer is discharging more water into the Minnesota River than the DNR wants it to and they want to pump even more out.
2. They coerce the surrounding cities into adding $4.5 million alongside the $5.5 million in state funding to get around the DNR’s restrictions while only having to pay about $3 million themselves–something they’ll recoup quickly.
3. They want to keep operating but they probably couldn’t unless more water was displaced. If they stop operating they don’t make anymore money. $13 million is nothing to avoid the DNR and the loss of business. $3 million is a tickle.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Bill,
Got a question for you. Can you tell us why the State, Kraemer and the City of Burnsville all got thrown into the mixer on this issue?
The answer explains why this is a great solution for a very thorny problem
June 19th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I know why Kraemer is involved but regardless of what is presented to the public on the issue (and I have read your prior e-mails on the subject, I just don’t believe the majority of it) about the rest of it, I feel that this was a fleece.
We already know that Kautz is slimy and has her hands in the pockets of various public officials and private companies and this is just another example of her jockeying to ensure that her tax base remains happy while screwing everyone else that she can.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Bill, let’s cut to the chase. You state: “I have read your prior e-mails on the subject, I just don’t believe the majority of it.”
Are you saying that I am lying to you?
June 19th, 2009 at 9:31 am
No.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Good.
It took me three meetings to completely understand this issue. In the end, Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, moderates, liberals, the Governor’s office, and environmentalists all agreed that this was a heck of a project.
I would be happy to sit down with you and give you the facts.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Politicians don’t give facts Mr. Powell, they give information through a filter of their own choosing. I watch it every time I sit down at a city council, school board, or other government informational session. So while I appreciate your kind offer, it wouldn’t change my mind that this was a fleecing orchestrated by slimy public officials looking for parkland/lake donations and a private entity wanting to make more money.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Let me add this. If, after having all the facts in hand, you want to dissagree then I will respect you opinion.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
TCM, thank you for the update from the meeting last night. I will be looking through the documents you have posted later today and I want to say that I appreciate you bringing them to our attention!
June 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Bill,
You say:
“Politicians don’t give facts Mr. Powell, they give information through a filter of their own choosing. I watch it every time I sit down at a city council, school board, or other government informational session.”
I want everyone that reads this blog to know this: Bill is absolutely right.
That is why I got into politics and it is also why the insiders wanted rid of me.
Be that as it may, the Kraemer project is still a swell deal.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Heh, Mr. Powell, politicians all say that too. Is there a “Choose Your Own Adventure” handbook you are supposed to follow when you get voted in?
You are now a politician serving the interests of the public and you have to give information to the public. Do you give it through a filter of your own choosing or do you give it through a filter of your own choosing? If you want to look strong and stay in office go to page 12. If you are now out of office but want to get back in go to page 15.
I tease.
Again, I appreciate your offer but based on what I’ve already read, what I know about the relationship between Kautz and Kraemer and the potential outcome of what amounts to nearly free parkland with a large and deep lake that the City of Burnsville is already touting as the next best thing to sliced bread when it’s decades away, I have to say that this is nothing but “you scratch mine, I’ll scratch yours.”
June 19th, 2009 at 9:56 am
From my understanding of the Kraemer water issue, Mayor Kautz was stuck between a rock and a hard place (no pun intended). She needs the water because the state wont allow Burnsville to build any more wells. But if Kraemer is allowed to pump more water out, they can then dig deeper and therefore mine for a longer period of time. This prevents Ms. Kautz from getting her hands on the land for her next pet project, the “Minnesota River quadrant” redevelopment where she will spend even more exorbitant sums of our money than she did on the HOC. Hence, the litigation being discussed at the next closed session of the city council, since Ms. Kautz has now gotten her cake (the water) and now she wants to eat it too (get the land early by keeping Kraemer from mining its property as deep as it wants). My understanding could be wrong, and I’m sure DP will correct me if I am :)
June 19th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I don’t know about “Choose Your Own Adventure,” but I do know this: You don’t have a hair on your ass if you won’t at least agree to sit down with me to discuss this issue.
BTW, the voters showed me the door in ‘06 and I ain’t going back.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Mr. Powell,
I have a very hairy ass and I’m showing it to you right now as I still decline your pointless offer.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:01 am
That is what I have heard as well but I haven’t been able to verify it from enough other sources (due to the litigation discussion being closed for obvious reasons) to ensure that it’s correct.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Have it your way, then. It’s your blog. I still appreciate your efforts. Keep on keeping their feet to the fire. Take Care
June 19th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I guess I see value in the Kramer water to the city idea. I couldn’t find clear information, but I believe the major DNR issue with the water discharge is not where it’s being placed, but where it’s coming from. i.e. the local aquifer. Due to the permits that Kramer has for the depth it is allowed to dig, they gained more and more impact into the aquifer. They could try and come up with a system of loop, where water pumped moved out of where they are digging is put into a holding pond, that allows the water to leach back into the aquifer, but in the end came up with a different idea.
I don’t appreciate the B.s. the politicians and government employees use when trying to spin such projects. i.e. it’s not costing taxpayers anything. (do they forget, that their very existence costs taxpayers something.) But in the end, all they did was divert water so it could be used in lew of the city pumping more water out of the aquifer itself for household and business uses.
The BRT looks odd. They are going to put the bus in the right lane? So they loose their BRT lane as they approach lights and that lane turns into a Right Turn Lane? Right of the bat I’m looking at it and thinking, why? It sure doesn’t seem like a retrofit on the existing roadway is going to work very well.
June 20th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
duke, bill…..bill, duke. awesome exchange, thx to the both of ewe, great info!
bb
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 am
The Cedar BRT slides are now up, with renderings of the streetscaping:
April 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e29/ydyqpnfautnlyddwyakevrhyiligyoid/CedarPowerpointHandout04162009.pdf (PDF file, 1.7 MB)
May 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e2a/hvvgfdgsahmuoabudkthcvuyyrddmbew/CedarPowerpoint05212009.pdf (PDF file, 1.1 MB)
June 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e2b/fukbqaakhxweffjbrvvuwovzacreoigd/CedarPowerpoint06182009.pdf (PDF file, 1.1 MB)