T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan www.mplsobserver.com Vol. 2, No. 30 March 10, 2003
This is a preview of this week's Observer. To check out a sample issue, visit www.mplsobserver.com. To subscribe ($12/yr.) just hit 'reply' and we'll set you up. Thanks. ********************************************************** THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER: * City's First Bike Freeway Faces Some Stop Signs * Council Should Prepare for Post-Olson Regime * Bookstore Union Stymied in Negotiations * Coalition Launched to Fight Predatory Lending * Nicollet-Lake Opening in Doubt * FBI Taking Names on Campus Plus: A Wellstone school, a bus on the loose, the price of ammo, great moments in lawmaking, when the mayor packed heat, and working overtime at the MCDA. ********************************************************** CITY'S FIRST BIKE FREEWAY FACES SOME STOP SIGNS The $2.7 million bicycle "freeway" from Cedar Lake to downtown Minneapolis is encountering some unexpected obstacles from city public works officials. The Cedar Lake Trail section of the dedicated bike route, which begins in Hopkins, was designed to run along a railway trench north of downtown before rising to street level at Washington Avenue and eventually connecting with West River Road. But as Scott Russell reports in Skyway News (http://www.skywaynews.net), bicycling advocates are lobbying to keep the route in the trench all the way to the river, a route they say would be more efficient and safer. "It is our premier and first bike freeway," said Billy Binder, a member of the Minneapolis and Hennepin County bike advisory committees. "Why wouldn't that be given the gold standard for biking?" Public works officials concede that the street-level route would pose certain traffic and safety issues, but they argue that altering the route would cost the city as much as $500,000. The current design "better served the growing North Loop neighborhood," said Donald Pflaum, a Public Works traffic engineer. "We are not building the at-grade crossing to prevent a future trench alignment," he added. "You can do both." And because 80 percent of the trail is being funded by the federal government, Pflaum said the city can't change the design without jeopardizing the funding. "You have to do what you say you are going to do," he said. COUNCIL SHOULD PREPARE FOR POST-OLSON REGIME Police Chief Robert Olson will not be reappointed when his contract expires at the end of the year, said city council vice president Robert Lilligren, and it's time Mayor Rybak began dealing with real police-community issues rather than blaming the council. BOOKSTORE UNION STYMIED IN NEGOTIATIONS Employees at the Uptown Borders bookstore, who in October voted to unionize the fervently anti-union chain, are still trying to get the company to sign on the dotted line. COALITION LAUNCHED TO FIGHT PREDATORY LENDING A local coalition of banks, housing advocates, and public agencies last week announced a statewide campaign to fight so-called "predatory lending" practices. CAMPUS ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP GETS FBI ATTENTION A meeting last week of the Student Organization for Animal Rights was interrupted by three FBI agents. NICOLLET-LAKE OPENING IN DOUBT A $100 million retail and housing project that would have reopened Nicollet at Lake Street is in doubt after the Minneapolis Community Development Committee last week voted against extending the rights of the project's lead developer. ********************************************************** The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. �2003 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription. Editor: Craig Cox Deputy Assistant Senior Executive Editor: Sharon Parker Contributing writers: Chris Dodge, Leo Mezzrow Equine consultant and coffee shop correspondent: Nora Cox Perspective: Martin Cox Thanks to: Peter Jessen, Mike McAneney, Sara Strzok ******************************************************* Fight media consolidation! Support the independent press! Pick up your neighborhood newspaper! ******************************************************* TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
