TRANSPORTATION

Minnesota transportation projects on the chopping block for federal, state funding

Mary Murphy — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:39:16 GMT

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Legislature was set to finalize its 2026-27 budget on Monday, June 9, with $115 million in net cuts to transportation, while Congressional Republicans are pushing to limit funding for transportation projects in the federal budget.

The state cut $77 million in funding in May for the Northern Lights Express — a proposed high-speed passenger rail project connecting Minneapolis and Duluth — to cover unemployment insurance for hourly school workers, leaving $108 million of the original $195 million in state funding.

The Minnesota Legislature approved $195 million in state funding in 2023, aimed to cover 20% of the estimated $592 million total project cost, with the remaining 80% covered under federal dollars, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

Senate Chair of the Transportation Committee, Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, said he isn’t worried about the cut to state funding with the remaining $108 million.

“The state is in (an) extremely good position with respect to the funding that it has been providing … and will continue to do so,” Dibble said. “Some of that was taken away for, you know, another funding priority, but that's easily restored and so … the state is doing its part, in partnership with the federal government for this essential investment in mobility.”

Minnesota’s Congressional Republicans — Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-MN6, Rep. Brad Finstad, R-MN1, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-MN8 and Rep. Michelle Fischbach R-MN7 — wrote a letter on May 23 to the U.S. House’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee asking the committee to “limit or eliminate” funding for the Northern Lights Express commuter line.

“It is essential that federal resources be reserved for efforts that demonstrate clear value for our constituents and prove the efficiency of taxpayer dollars being spent,” The letter read.

The letter asked the same for two other projects — the Northstar Commuter Rail and the Blue Line Light Rail Extension — and said the three projects pose “significant concern for taxpayers.”

The Northstar commuter rail service, opened in 2009, currently operates between Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis and Big Lake. The letter called the rail a “failed experiment in commuter transit,” and asked that $12 million in operational costs be reconsidered in the federal budget.

A post-pandemic study released in 2023 by the Metropolitan Council said that ridership had dropped nearly 90% from 2019 to 2022. From 2011 through 2019, Northstar carried between 2,200 and 3,300 weekday riders. In 2022, the Northstar averaged 275 weekday riders, according to the study.

The letter said the Blue Line Light rail extension — expected to open in 2030 and to run 13.4 miles north from Target Field Station through North Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal and Brooklyn Park — “will be over budget and another boondoggle with minimal ridership.”

State Republicans similarly pushed cuts this session for the Blue Line extension until the Green Line extension, otherwise known as the Southwest Light Rail project, is completed, but the cuts did not make it into the final transportation budget deal. According to the Metropolitan Council, the Southwest Light Rail has both surpassed time and cost estimates and is anticipated to open in 2027.

The Blue Line extension, expected to cost $3.2 billion, is less reliant on federal dollars, with an a 49% state-to-federal funding match, compared to the Northern Lights 80%, according to the Metropolitan Council.

Dibble said he doesn’t think the Blue Line Light Rail extension or the Northern Lights Express projects would survive without the help of federal match dollars.

“If the Federal dollars are taken away, I'll just be very blunt, that kills both of those projects,” Dibble said.

The MnDOT said in a statement that their department is “monitoring each announcement” and looking at how to determine impacts. “But we have concerns that any delay in funding could impact projects and timelines.”

The Minnesota Legislature convened on Monday, June 9, for a one-day special session to finish passing the state budget for 2026-27, which must be enacted by July 1 to avoid a partial government shutdown. The federal government is currently in the process of passing a federal budget, which must be approved by Oct. 1.

The Metropolitan Council declined to provide a comment for this story.

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Transportation, steelworkers and public safety: This week in the Minnesota Legislature

Mary Murphy — Fri, 02 May 2025 17:26:37 GMT

ST. PAUL — Lawmakers officially moved into their last month of session this week. Budget bills are being voted off the Senate and House floors, where leaders will soon take their budget proposals to conference committees to hash out differences Gov. Tim Walz.

House passes transportation budget

The Minnesota House passed its Transportation budget on Monday, April 28 in an 85-49 vote following two hours of debate.

The bill, HF2438, allocates $476 million in spending for the 2026-27 budget — meeting its budget target of zero net increases. The transportation bill was negotiated by co-chairs Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, and Rep. Erin Koegel, DFL-Spring Lake Park.

“Obviously, we have a divided-balance Legislature and this bill reflects that,” Koznick said on the floor Monday. “We are also … facing a $6 billion deficit. And so we had to dig a little bit deeper into the numbers to do some great work with a zero target. We’re pulling the plug on some failed projects to save taxpayers millions of dollars and then reinvesting those dollars.”

The bill increases funding for the Blatnik Bridge in Duluth, $650 million, $454 million in state road construction and $50 million to the resilient pavement program. The bill makes cuts to the Metropolitan Council transit system operations at $40 million Greater Minnesota transit at $12 million and the Office of Traffic Safety Drug Program at $6 million.

Democrats on the floor attempted to introduce a few amendments, including to eliminate the bill’s delay for meeting greenhouse gas emissions goals from 2027 to 2028.

“I think that this bill is not quite as balanced as we'd like to think, because I think a lot of it is in the past and not looking towards the future,” Koegel said on the floor Monday.

Laid-off steelworkers win unemployment insurance

A bipartisan amendment to give unemployment insurance to recently laid-off steelworkers was successfully added to the Senate Jobs and Labor budget bill on Tuesday.

The amendment, co-authored by Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, and Sen. Rob Farnsworth, R-Hibbing, extends unemployment protections for steelworkers recently laid off.

Over 600 steelworkers on Minnesota’s Iron Range will be laid off as Cleveland-Cliffs announced in late March plans to temporarily close its Minorca Mine in Virginia and partially idle Hibbing Taconite, citing a surplus of taconite pellets caused by decreased steel demand in 2024.

“There’s an old saying on the Range that when the U.S. economy sneezes, the Iron Range catches a cold, and right now, we’ve caught a bad cold,” Farnsworth said on the floor Tuesday. “Layoffs like these hit the Range hard; many of these workers don’t know when or if they’ll be called back. In the tradition of what we’ve done for decades, we’re making sure these workers have the support they need to stay here and be ready when the mines restart.”

The unemployment protections were originally introduced in a standalone bill earlier this year — the Minnesota Miners Relief Act. The amendment allows steelworkers laid off between March 15 and June 15 to be eligible for up to 26 additional weeks of support through the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.

“When our miners are laid off, it doesn’t just impact their families — it threatens the economic fabric of the entire Iron Range,” Hauschild said in a statement after passage. “This amendment gives laid-off workers at Minorca and HibTac a critical lifeline while we fight to restart production and secure the future of mining in our region.”

Senate passes Judiciary and Public Safety budget

The Minnesota Senate passed a $3.84 billion Judiciary and Public Safety budget Wednesday in a 34-32 vote. The bill, SF1417, authored by Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, includes funding boosts for victim services, law enforcement training and judicial staffing.

“This budget reflects our commitment to a criminal justice system that protects Minnesotans, addresses serious crimes, and supports our partners in public safety,” Latz said in a statement following passage. “It’s a responsible approach with smart, targeted investments.”

The budget includes over $106 million in new spending for fiscal years 2026-27, and funds initiatives such as the Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund and expanded benefits for families of fallen officers.

Eleven amendments were adopted during Wednesday’s seven-hour floor debate, including restoring expiring police training funds and increasing oversight of violence prevention grants. Republicans unsuccessfully pushed an amendment that would target provisions surrounding sentencing guidelines and early release.

Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, lead Republican on the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said in a statement after passage that he is glad his caucus added funding for law enforcement officers and “held nonprofit organizations accountable.”

“Unfortunately, this bill continues a troubling pattern from Democrats of letting more violent criminals out of prison early,” Limmer said. “That policy is going to make our communities much less safe and put innocent families at risk.”

Bills in motion

SF3229: The Senate Labor Committee heard a bill that would create bargaining rights for Uber and Lyft drivers on Thursday. The bill was laid over for later consideration.

HF3220: The House Capital Investment Committee heard a bill Tuesday that would fund secure lock boxes at schools to allow law enforcement access to schools in an emergency. The committee heard the bill on an informational basis and took no action.

SF856: The Senate Finance Committee heard a bill to establish the Office of the Inspector General on Thursday. The bill was laid on the table and will be heard again on Tuesday.

Gov. Tim Walz signs seven bills into law

HF124: Permits certain public safety officers and state agencies to receive gifts that honor or commemorate a public safety officer related to a line-of-duty death.

HF1792: Modifies contracts for deed, with a focus on those involving "investor sellers" to prevent predatory practices such as churning.

HF2184: Exempts the Office of Ombudsperson for American Indian Families from paying court fee requirements in certain cases, such as child custody matters, marriage dissolution and guardianship of a minor.

HF747: Modifies the Minnesota Business Corporation Act, such as procedures in the event of an emergency and limitations on a board’s authority to manage a corporation.

HF1058: Amends the jurisdiction of the North Koochiching sanitary sewer board.

HF129: Requires the state’s director of Child Sex Trafficking Prevention to submit a report every other year to the Legislature and the Minnesota Department of Health evaluating the Safe Harbor program.

HF1346: Enforces training requirements for mandated reporters, such as medical professionals, attorneys, mental health professionals and social workers to better identify signs of child abuse.

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Amtrak ridership in Minnesota up 176% since 2021, up 89% in North Dakota

Hannah Shirley — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT

GRAND FORKS — For a town like Rugby, North Dakota, where the population is about 2,400 and the nearest commercial airports are roughly an hour away, the local passenger train is a point of pride and a part of daily life.

“We’re very proud of our Amtrak station, the fact it’s still a stop here and the train does stop here,” said Laurie Odden, the director of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and visitors bureau. “I think as family members, friends, we love to be able to drop someone off at the train station, or pick them up, or what have you, or entertain them between the times it picks up and drops off.”

Later this year, Amtrak will cut the ribbon on interior and exterior improvements to the town’s historic train depot, including a new heated outdoor platform. It will also unveil similar upgrades at the Devils Lake station. The Grand Forks station has been upgraded in recent years as well, and renovations at the Fargo station are expected to wrap up later in 2025.

Amtrak and some city officials hope the multimillion-dollar updates will attract even more passengers to its Upper Midwest lines, which have seen ridership grow every year since 2021. Although Amtrak ridership in North Dakota still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, ridership in the state has roughly doubled in the past four years. Ridership in Minnesota has nearly tripled, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers.

Nationwide, Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari painted an even rosier picture.

“Our ridership is above and beyond what it was before COVID,” he said. “And that’s pretty much the picture across the country.”

In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Dakota and Minnesota saw annual passenger rail ridership numbers of 101,119 and 131,973, respectively, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In 2021, those numbers hit their lowest point at 44,950 and 65,827.

In 2024, the most recent data available, 85,199 riders took the train in North Dakota, an 89.5% increase since 2021. In Minnesota, that number was 181,716, a 176% increase.

Minnesota ridership was boosted last year by the introduction of Amtrak’s new Borealis route between St. Paul and Chicago. It exceeded ridership expectations — Amtrak and MnDOT initially projected annual ridership on that route would be around 125,000. Instead, Borealis saw 100,000 riders in just its first 22 weeks.

Amtrak ridership
Infogram

The uptick can be attributed to several things, like population growth, pent-up desire for travel left over from the pandemic, and even milder winters the past few years, which frequently translates to higher ridership in the winter months, Magliari said.

But in the numbers, he also sees a demand for “other options that are more comfortable, safer, more reliable than driving.”

“People are looking for options besides, you know, an 18-wheeler in their rearview mirror, and someone next to them yacking on the phone that they’re holding, or people in the car on the other side shaving or putting on lipstick,” he said. “I mean, driving is not as wonderful an experience as maybe it once was, and I think you’ll hear the same thing about flying.”

Dale Niewoehner, a former Rugby mayor who has lobbied to Amtrak for more than 35 years, said the value of regular passenger service to a small, rural community like Rugby can’t be overstated.

“A lot of people want to bring up the fact that it’s nostalgic or history,” he said. “Well, that’s fine, but it’s still a method of transportation here in rural America.

“You know, Grandma wants to go to Seattle, she can come up here, get on this train, and nobody’s going to frisk her or anything,” he continued. “She can sit herself down in a chair or in a sleeper and safely get to Seattle without any hassle. And she can leave her car at the depot, and when she gets home, she can jump in her car and go home. And I think that’s really important.”

And where the train stops, economic and tourism benefits follow, Odden added. Current Rugby Mayor Frank LaRocque said that judging by the license plates that frequent the depot parking lot, many Manitobans travel to Rugby to catch the train. So do people from across neighboring counties. Last year, 3,361 people got on or off the train in Rugby, according to Amtrak data.

Rider
Infogram

“They use the hotels if they have an early morning train. … They eat in the restaurants,” he said.

Magliari heard similar feedback in a recent visit to Red Wing, Minnesota, one of the stops on the new Borealis line.

“Folks in that community were very, very clear about what a great improvement that’s been for business in Red Wing, to make it easier for people to go back and forth between Red Wing and Chicago and St. Paul, for new business and for tourism,” he said. “So there’s certainly a great Midwestern example.”

In North Dakota, for decades, the only passenger rail line has been the Empire Builder, which travels from Fargo to Grand Forks and west through Williston on its way between Chicago and Seattle and Portland.

There are hopes for that to change in the coming years. On Dec. 20, the federal government published the Long Distance Service Study, which included aspirations for more long-distance routes across the country, including the North Coast Hiawatha line. That line was decommissioned in North Dakota in the 1970s, and today is operated in Montana by the Big Sky Rail Authority.

The hoped-for expansion would connect Chicago and Seattle through Fargo, servicing the bottom half of the state. There has also long been interest in extending service to St. Cloud and Fargo, Magliari added.

Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation, meaning it operates like a private business but is government-owned. In Niewoehner’s experience, the federal government can be fickle at times — investments and projects can come through one day and be discontinued the next. He still remembers a time decades ago when there were discussions of ending daily Amtrak service in Rugby.

Still, he has high hopes that Amtrak’s multimillion-dollar investment in the state in recent years means passenger rail service is here to stay.

“I hate to think of the time that this train is not going to stop here, if it just goes whizzing by,” he said.

As for LaRocque, he hasn’t taken the train in many years. When it comes to travel, for LaRocque — a state trooper of 20 years — it’s tough to beat his love of driving.

Recently, though, he’s been thinking it might be time for a trip.

“I was just thinking about it yesterday. I should go for another train ride. It’s been a while,” he said, adding that he would like to go out west, perhaps to see the famous Pike Place fish market in Seattle. “And I’d like to go through the mountains — just ride out there, spend a couple days, and jump back on and ride back to Rugby.”

Following are year-over-year numbers for stations along Amtrak's Empire Builder in North Dakota and Minnesota, comparing 2024 numbers to 2023:

Devils Lake: 3,092 (2023), 3,922 (2024) Fargo: 17,545 (2023), 19,986 (2024) Grand Forks: 9,863 (2023), 13,018 (2024) Minot: 19,962 (2023), 22,680 (2024) Rugby: 2,718 (2023), 3,361 (2024) Stanley: 2,440 (2023), 2,960 (2024) Williston: 17,213 (2023), 19,192 (2024) Detroit Lakes: 4,182 (2023), 5,580 (2024) Red Wing: 5,609 (2023), 11,031 (2024) St. Cloud: 8,169 (2023), 9,358 (2024) St. Paul-Minneapolis: 77,597 (2023), 130,328 (2024) Staples: 5,931 (2023), 7,977 (2024) Winona: 10,847 (2023), 17,442 (2024)]]>

Paul Bunyan Transit community feedback survey launches March 10

Pioneer Staff Report — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 14:00:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — Paul Bunyan Transit encourages the public to fill out a community feedback survey starting Monday, March 10, to help the agency make improvements to its service.

The survey seeks feedback to help the transit agency understand the need for and improve the public transit service in Beltrami County and the city of Bemidji, Roseau County (including the cities of Roseau and Warroad) and Lake of the Woods County (including Baudette).

The survey will be open through March 24 and takes about five minutes to complete, a release said.

“We want to hear from both current riders and members of the public who don’t currently use the service,” Executive Director Lezlie Grubich said in the release. “Ridership history provides valuable information, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Community input is crucial for us to understand how we can best serve everyone.”

The survey allows members of the public to voice their needs, support a more sustainable and efficient transportation network, and help PBT identify gaps in the current transportation system.

To complete the survey, visit surveymonkey.com/r/PBTransit. Paper copies of the survey will be available on Paul Bunyan Transit buses.

For more information about the community transit survey, please email survey@paulbunyantransit.com or call (218) 441-5138.

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Minnesota rideshare drivers push for ability to unionize

Mary Murphy — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:13:54 GMT

ST. PAUL — Minnesota Uber and Lyft drivers gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 25, to unveil a push backed by lawmakers for the right to unionize.

The Tuesday morning press conference outlined legislation that has not yet been introduced but would give drivers the right to organize a labor union and to engage in collective action to improve working conditions.

Greg Nammacher, president of SEIU Local 26, said his union was proud to be part of a driver-led coalition in the last two legislative sessions, that “those were important first steps,” but that drivers need more.

“It’s also clear that without a voice at the table, without a permanent voice where drivers can make sure that they are negotiating and figuring out how to make these jobs good jobs that can actually support their families … these problems are going to continue to come back to the Legislature, and the Legislature does not need to be the HR of huge multimillion-dollar global corporations like Uber and Lyft,” he said.

An SEIU spokesperson explained that since drivers are technically independent contractors and not employees, this right isn’t already afforded under state and federal law.

Last year, the Legislature passed a higher minimum wage that mandates Uber and Lyft drivers to be paid $1.28 a mile and $0.31 per minute. The wage increase was met with resistance from Uber and Lyft, which both threatened to leave the state of Minnesota before reaching an agreement.

Dawit Kassa, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to a task force that helped inform last year’s legislation, shared the story of how he was deactivated from Uber in 2022, he believes from a rider’s review.

“Drivers are falsely accused and deactivated because of riders who didn’t like them … or sometimes for no reason at all,” Kassa said. “I’m one of the victims of this. I’m still deactivated and not allowed to work for Uber since 2022. This is our job, and people don’t understand that we can have it taken away at any time and not even have a clear understanding of why.”

Another driver at the press conference, Said Mohamed, said despite the new minimum wage, Uber and Lyft sometimes take weeks to pay their wages in full. They said this is an issue they would hope to address with the ability to unionize.

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Minnesota I-494 project awarded $138 million in federal funding

Mary Murphy — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:56:00 GMT

ST.PAUL — Minnesota has received $138 million in federal funding to help with unfinished and new construction on Interstate 494, Gov. Tim Walz announced on Monday.

According to a Monday, Oct. 21, press release from Walz’s office, the money will be used to help complete the I-494 Airport to Highway 169 corridor project, which the Minnesota Department of Transportation started work on in spring of 2023.

The project is expected to cost a total of $377 million and is intended to help curb flooding, reduce runoff into the Minnesota River and improve rush hour traffic and overall safety, among other goals, according to MDOT’s project overview. The project is expected to finish in 2026.

This leg of the project will add pass lanes on I-494 in both directions between Highway 169 and East Bush Lake Road and between I-35W and Highway 77.

“Interstate 494 is both a critical connection to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and a vital trucking route in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest,” Walz said in the press release. “These dollars will help us ensure the long-term economic vitality of the region while improving the safety and efficiency of our transportation system.”

The funding announced this week will also replace the railroad bridge over I-494 between Lyndale Avenue and Nicollet Avenue and be used for improvements to the interchange at I-35W and 82nd Street.

“This funding will both improve this corridor for the traveling public and help us with efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled by encouraging more options and car-sharing while also improving mobility and safety,” Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger said in the release.

The funding comes from President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Infrastructure and Rebuilding America program.

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Leading the charge: Red Lake unveils new electric school buses during ribbon-cutting ceremony

Mathew Holding Eagle III / MPR News — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 20:16:46 GMT

RED LAKE, Minn. — Red Lake �� District 38 held a ribbon cutting event Friday, Sept. 27, to unveil two new electric school buses. The day began with a drum ceremony and dancers followed by speakers who made the buses two-year acquisitions possible.

Red Lake Tribal chair Darrell Seki Sr. lauded the benefits of electric vehicles.

“There’s less pollution, it will be more air quality for our children, but you know, green energy, I guess this a new way of life because there’s electric vehicles now,” he said. “I’m honored to be here.”

After the ribbon cutting event the schools’ superintendent Tim Lutz said he was pleased that Red Lake is one of the first educational institutions in the state to use electric school buses.

“I’m so excited to be able to be as a school district, leading the way with sustainable energy and clean school buses for our students and for our community,” he said. “It was a little bit humbling to tell you the truth. And I do hope that our gamble pays off and that this does work out the way we have been claiming that it will, but I’m confident that it will.”

Part of Lutz’s confidence comes from using electric vehicles in his personal life. He also said the new buses will “lower fuel and maintenance costs while reducing the district’s carbon footprint.”

They were funded through an EPA Clean �� Bus Program grant award.

Red Lake ��s partnered with Highland Electric Fleet to acquire the vehicles. CEO Duncan McIntyre flew in from their headquarters in Boston for the event. He told the crowd less than 2 percent of school buses in the U.S. are electric.

“An electric engine is so simple. There’s no fuel filters, there’s no particulate filters, there’s no oil filters, it works,” he said. “Supporting electric school bus adoption is really a gathering of public and private funding and a tremendous amount of stakeholders.”

Highland Electric Fleets is active in 30 states and Canada. The event wrapped up with a tour through Red Lake on one of the electric buses led by Lutz.

Red Lake �� District 38’s student body is 99.8 percent Native American. The new buses are already being used to transport students.

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Camelina-based sustainable aviation fuel takes first flight from Minnesota

Noah Fish — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:03:22 GMT

ST. PAUL — The first Sustainable Aviation Fuel has arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to a coalition of Minnesota businesses committed to scaling production of SAF in the state.

The Minnesota SAF Hub announced on Tuesday, Sept. 24, that the first 7,000-gallon shipment of blended SAF made from winter camelina grown by Minnesota and North Dakota farmers arrived at the MSP fueling facility.

Delta Air Lines has designated flight DL 2732 from Minneapolis to New York City on Wednesday, Sept. 25, as the symbolic first flight to be fueled in part by SAF from MSP Airport, as part of Climate Week NYC.

For the winter camelina SAF-fueled flight to come to fruition, many stakeholders and partners were involved, according to the Minnesota SAF Hub.

In collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative, Cargill worked with Minnesota and North Dakota growers last fall to plant 2,000 acres of winter camelina, which was harvested this summer and used as a feedstock for the SAF.

The camelina was processed at Cargill’s West Fargo crush plant and then sent on to Montana Renewables, where it was refined and blended into SAF. The camelina SAF was sold to Delta and transported by Shell Aviation to the MSP Airport fueling facility where it entered the fuel supply.

While this current supply of SAF was produced and blended in Montana, the Minnesota SAF Hub recently announced that a new SAF blending facility at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend facility will blend SAF by late 2025.

“This initial SAF delivery is another example of how we are making SAF real in Minnesota and showing the world how to do it right,” said Peter Frosch, CEO of GREATER MSP, which spearheaded the Minnesota SAF Hub. “This first batch of camelina SAF is a demonstration of how we plan to decarbonize air travel and improve water quality on agricultural lands while providing new income sources for farmers in and around Minnesota.”

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called the effort an “important part of our goal to make Minnesota a global leader in solving climate change.”

“Minnesota is uniquely positioned to lead in this developing industry. We are not just tackling emissions within our borders, but we want Minnesota to be the place where big solutions are created and exported across the globe,” she said.

Feedstocks for SAF

The SAF delivered this week to MSP Airport was made from the winter camelina plant that produces an oil-rich seed, which can be crushed, refined, and used to produce SAF. It has one of the lower carbon intensity scores of the many feedstocks being used for SAF production today, according to the Minnesota SAF Hub.

At the recent North American SAF Conference and Expo in St. Paul, Heather Buechter, director of communications for Clean Fuels Alliance America, said feedstocks that can be used for SAF include corn, soybeans, canola, continuous living cover crops, agricultural biomass, woody biomass, hydrogen, waste oils, fats and more.

“What we’re trying to figure out, and what a lot of our research is centered around, is the low (carbon intensity) scores,” she said.

Clean Fuels Alliance America is a national trade association representing the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel industries. It was founded over 30 years ago by soybean farmers, who Buechter said today are looking for ways to involve their crop more in the SAF industry.

“We need to get the carbon intensity score for soybeans down more to make it more competitive,” she said.

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High speeds and drunk drivers add up to unsafe roads in Minn.

Cari Spencer and Chandra Colvin / MPR News — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:09:02 GMT

ST. PAUL — It’s been a dangerous year on Minnesota’s roads.

Earlier this summer, Bayport police stopped a driver speeding 30 miles per hour above the limit with a suspended license — and an unbuckled child in the car.

A driver with a blood alcohol content four times what’s legal was caught by Rochester Police careening 57 miles per hour above the speed limit.

And a street racer in the Twin Cities west metro was clocked blasting 127 miles per hour down the road.

Altogether, 68,723 tickets were issued during a four-month speed enforcement campaign, coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety. Eight drivers were cited for accelerating at least 120 miles per hour or more.

“No destination is worth the risk of losing a life,” said Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson in a statement. He pointed out the numbers were “only the people who were caught.”

The extra enforcement and awareness campaign ran from May 1 through Sept. 2, with 259 law enforcement agencies taking part statewide. Dozens of agencies tracked speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

In an interview with MPR News earlier this month, Hanson said a positive trend toward safer driving reversed in 2020, during the pandemic.

“The problem that we’re seeing today is those high-risk driving behaviors, specifically those really high speeds, we haven’t gotten those back under control,” he said. “And we have to figure out how we can get back to understanding that that speed limit is there for a reason.”

He said it’s not unusual for law enforcement to encounter more than one 100-mile-an-hour-plus violation in a single shift. Speed is the No. 1 factor that determines the outcome of a crash, he added: “more energy, more injury, more death.”

Traffic fatalities are up 12.6% compared to one year ago. According to preliminary data, 322 people have died on Minnesota roads as of Sept. 20. During the same time frame last year, that number was 286.

In Minnesota, both speed and DWIs are the leading cause of traffic fatalities. So far, 94 deaths have been tied to speed, with 80 deaths tied to alcohol.

During a two-week DWI campaign around Labor Day, law enforcement arrested 1,235 drivers for taking the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, prescription medications or other substances.

The highest blood alcohol content recorded was an Eagan driver who blew a 0.443 blood alcohol content, which is more than five times the legal limit.

The sobering numbers come on the heels of recent high-profile reminders that vehicles can be weapons — whether used intentionally or not.

Earlier this month, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced additional third-degree murder charges against Derrick Thompson — who allegedly ran a red light at 95 miles per hour, plowing into a car and killing five young women. She also added a third-degree murder charge against Steven Bailey, the alleged drunk driver accused of killing two people and injuring nine others with his car at Park Tavern in St. Louis Park.

At a press conference last week, Moriarty urged the public to remember the legal consequences of reckless and negligent driving.

“It is an intentional act to get into a car after you’ve been drinking or using substances,” she said. “You also have to live with the fact that you’ve taken somebody’s life.”

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Minnesota man buys vintage 'Woodie Wagon' that once belonged to iconic actress Bette Davis

Robin Huebner — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 09:15:00 GMT

GLYNDON, Minn. — An iconic movie star has been gone for more than 35 years, but a piece of her life will live on with a Glyndon couple.

A 1940 Buick "Woodie Wagon" that once belonged to Hollywood actress Bette Davis now belongs to Gary Myhre and his wife, Kari.

Myhre, 73, a retired insurance adjuster, already owns multiple "woodie," or wood-bodied vehicles, that he's restored over the years, but this one is special, for obvious reasons.

Famous for many roles, Davis won Oscars for "Dangerous" and "Jezebel" in the 1930s, and was nominated eight more times, including for "All About Eve" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

Davis was known for her versatile acting style and unique eyes. In 1981, about eight years before her death, her name became known to younger audiences through the hit song "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes.

While restoring Davis' old vehicle might seem an impossible amount of work, Myhre sees promise.

"It looks like, you know, a rough car but it's gonna turn out really nice," he said during an interview at the couple's property, dedicated to all things "woodie."

Myhre came across this vehicle the way he often does, with a heads-up from a friend or a search on the internet.

People commented online about how rare the car was, and that it would be impossible to find the expertise for restoration.

"Some of them said, ‘You'll never find anyone to do the wood. Those guys are all dead,' and I thought, ‘Well, one of ‘em ain't,'" Myhre joked.

Others said any potential buyer would be financially "upside down" from the start.

For those reasons, there was minimal activity on the car. Myhre put in a bid for what he was willing to pay and got it.

He picked up the car earlier this month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a bank had possession of it.

Asked whether he'd reveal the purchase price, Myhre said, "I'd better not. Everybody will think I'm crazy. Everybody will know I'm crazy."

'It's her car'

Myhre bought the Bette Davis Buick sight unseen and told a neighbor he was picking it up in Oklahoma.

The next day, halfway to Tulsa, he got a call from his wife, who said the neighbor insisted the Bette Davis car was actually in a museum space at a Bulgari jewelry store in Italy.

Myhre called his contact at the bank, who quickly reassured him that he had, in fact, purchased the Bette Davis car and that it has all the documentation for proof.

Turns out the car in Italy was owned by Warner Bros., the movie studio Davis worked for, but it wasn't the one she drove.

Myhre said the car he bought was last owned by an investment company employee who got caught in a Ponzi scheme and ended up doing prison time.

The man's entire vehicle collection was repossessed, but the bank didn't know about the Bette Davis car at first because it was being worked on in a restoration shop.

When the shop alerted the bank to the car's existence, the bank took ownership. Once the bank finally got a title for it, the car was listed for sale.

Myhre received the best of all surprises when he returned home to Glyndon with the car.

He popped the hood to see a new engine, new wiring harness and other restoration had already been done.

The car Myhre owns is number 486 of the 500 or so made.

Documents show it was originally registered to Gary Merrill, actor and husband of Bette Davis, but she drove it. Still in place are wood blocks stacked under the bench seat so Davis could see over the hood. A "Hollywood" decal remains at the bottom of the windshield.

Davis is shown driving the car in a scene from "Now, Voyager," another movie for which she was Oscar-nominated.

Myhre and his wife watched the black and white film and noticed the car was dark colored, not light blue as it is now.

But there was more proof: the plate on the firewall of the car states its original color was maroon.

"There's no doubt in my mind, it's her car," he said.

Records indicate Davis traded in the vehicle in 1950, after which time it went through a handful of owners and the failed investor before landing with Myhre in Glyndon.

'Couldn't give a woodie away'

There are few Buick Woodie Wagons still in existence, Myhre said.

Of those roughly 500 made, he has a copy of a registry compiled more than 25 years ago that indicated only about a dozen of the vehicles remained.

Surfers bought woodie wagons not because they were "neat," Myhre said, but because they were cheap and could haul surfboards and a lot of friends.

Owners were supposed to sand and varnish the wood on the vehicle every six months, but people didn't bother and that's why the car didn't survive.

"You couldn't give a woodie away back in the ‘50s and ‘60s," he said.

The wood on the sides of the Bette Davis car is northern ash and the inset panels are made of mahogany.

Much of it is in decent condition and mainly needs restoration, he said, though he will have to rebuild some pieces that have rotted out.

Myhre will also restore the wood grain dashboard, which was painted white somewhere along the way.

He said he'll seek the expertise of others for replacing glass, upholstery, and paint, which will be returned to its original maroon.

Cars then had locked gas caps, the key for which was still in the glove box, along with interesting memorabilia.

A placard reflected the gas rationing happening due to World War II, reading "Save tires, drive under 35. Share your car, check air pressure weekly," and lastly, "Is this trip really necessary?"

A lifelong love

Myhre was first introduced to a woodie-style vehicle while attending college in Minot, North Dakota, in the mid '70s.

The local school district was selling off a fleet of old cars and Myhre landed a '48 Chevrolet Woodie.

People often ask if his dad was into cars and the answer is no.

"In fact, when I brought that Woodie home … my parents made me park across the street. I couldn't park in front of their house," he said.

Myhre bought a small bandsaw and used it during school to fix all of the rotted wood on the vehicle.

It seemed every Chevrolet Woodie of that vintage developed rot in the corner posts.

Myhre saw a business opportunity, turning out piles of corner posts in his shop. He put an ad in the National Woodie Club publication, hoping they'd sell.

"Sold all 80 of them," he said.

Between customer jobs and working on his own cars, Myhre figures he's restored up to 40 Woodie vehicles.

When potential customers ask now, he mostly declines because he still has too much on his plate.

He does have restorations promised to two customers, but only because they're in Minnesota and he'll likely be able to see the very final, finished products.

But before he can even get to restoring the Bette Davis car, Myhre wants to fix up one more in storage: a 1932 Auburn Boattail Speedster.

"There's still something fun about driving an old car," he said.

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