Minneapolis about to have 1st hand experience of the "laws of supply and demand"

Minneapolis City Council approves $15 minimum wage

Excerpt:

The Minneapolis City Council approved a $15 minimum wage Friday, a move years in the making that will affect hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers across the city.

The vote adds Minneapolis to a list of cities nationwide, including Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., that have approved similar measures in recent years.

“Today, we uplift all workers,” Council Member Abdi Warsame, who was absent from Friday’s meeting, said in a letter that was read aloud. “Today’s vote, while historic, is just another step in our unending journey to build a better city.”

The $15 minimum wage will be fully implemented citywide by 2024, with a faster phase-in for large businesses — those with more than 100 employees.

Only Council Member Blong Yang voted against the ordinance. Before the vote, he read a statement listing his concerns about how a $15 minimum wage might negatively affect his north Minneapolis ward, including small business owners and entrepreneurs of color and youth workers.

The laws of supply and demand apply to labor, too.

Excerpt:

Thanks to a new study from economists at the University of Washington, American progressives have learned that the laws of supply and demand apply to the labor market. Everybody already knew that, except for professional economists. The study, commissioned by the city government of Seattle and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that Seattle’s law incrementally raising its minimum wage — to $13 an hour last year, en route to $15 — resulted in low-wage workers’ earning less money rather than more. This surprised many in Seattle, who had been assured by all the best economists, including Paul Krugman, that such a thing would not come to pass.

So, what happened? The short version is: You can pass a law saying you have to pay low-wage workers more, but you cannot pass a law that says you have to hire them in the first place, or that you cannot cut back on hours when the price of hourly labor goes up. As businesses responded to the new higher labor costs by reorganizing their processes in less labor-intensive ways (the classic examples here are the replacement of wait staff with computer screens in restaurants and the replacement of bank clerks with more sophisticated ATMs), the law that was supposed to increase low-wage workers’ incomes actually reduced them — substantially, by an average of $125 a month.

The first lecture in Economics 101 is that supply and demand interact through prices. (And a wage is a price — the price of labor.) Producers will produce more of any given product at a higher price, and consumers will consume less of it at a higher price. At some point, producers’ preferences coincide with those of consumers, and that is the market price that emerges. That’s a rough model, of course, but it describes the basic reality of how commercial transactions actually happen.

When Economics 101 tells you something you don’t want to hear, the thing to do is to commission a study. As Ronald Coase observed: If you torture the data enough, it will confess to almost anything. For progressives desiring to raise the minimum wage in spite of the consequences predicted by basic economics, that study came from two Princeton economists, David Card and Alan Krueger, who in 1994 compared employment at fast-food restaurants in New Jersey to that of their counterparts across the river in Pennsylvania after New Jersey enacted a relatively modest increase in the minimum wage.

The Card-Krueger study found that raising the minimum wage had not cost jobs in New Jersey. There were many problems with the study: It used fast-food employment as a proxy for minimum wage even though most fast-food workers do not make the minimum wage; it ignored workers in other industries, such as hospitality, that might have been more strongly affected; it covered a relatively short period of time; it relied on telephone surveys of restaurant managers rather than on hard employment data.

The Card-Krueger study included only a few months’ worth of data from after the time the minimum-wage hike went into effect. Some economists suspected that while fast-food operators were unlikely to simply start hacking away at their staffs in the months following an increase in the minimum wage (which, again, would not affect the wages of most fast-food workers), they would instead change their medium- and long-term plans, choosing less labor-intensive modes of production, substituting capital for labor through automation, reducing hours to make their labor consumption more efficient, etc. And that is, in fact, what subsequent studies found: Restaurants didn’t just start firing people after the minimum wage went up, but the wage hike did significantly reduce future job growth and labor consumption.

Comment: See Seattle's minimum wage hike may be hurting workers

A Tragic House Fire - What is the True Story?

Three children killed in north Minneapolis fire laid to rest - Speakers lament conditions that led to death of 3 children

Excerpt:

Large portraits of the grinning children lined the front of the church, honoring Latorious, 6, Latoria, 5, and Latorianna Thomas, who was about to turn 2 — all young lives tragically cut short in an early morning house fire on Oct. 4. “Now we’re here looking at three babies that could be doctors, lawyers, judges,” community activist Spike Moss told more than 100 mourners at the funeral on Saturday inside the Spiritual Church of God in Robbinsdale. “We want this to be a symbol of change. The only good from this is they were so innocent that they’re on their way to heaven.”

The children had recently moved from Chicago to north Minneapolis with their mother, Taneisha Stewart. It was their first night in a new rental property on the 2700 block of Penn Avenue N., and the furnace wasn’t working. With temperatures dipping, Stewart turned on the stove so her family could keep warm. Investigators have concluded that the electric stove started the fire, but they are still trying to pinpoint the exact cause. Arson has been ruled out, but authorities don’t believe Stewart was home when the blaze erupted, as she originally claimed.

... U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., called on members of the black community to take care of one another in order to prevent further tragedies. “No child, no matter how poor they may be, should have to withstand the boiling heat of Florida in July or the cold in Minnesota,” he said. “No family should have to turn on the stove just to stay warm.”

House Fire In North Minneapolis Kills 3 Children
Excerpt:

Three young children are dead after their house caught fire Saturday night in north Minneapolis. The family had just moved into the home, and we’re told they may have left the oven open and running in the kitchen to keep warm.

The children’s mother made it out alive, but the three children were trapped inside. The three children who died in the fire have not been identified, but they are 1, 6 and 8 years old. This house isn’t supposed to be still, or empty. Just yesterday, a mom and her 3 kids moved in.

As night and temperatures fell, firefighters believe the oven stayed on and open to heat the house. “They are not vented properly. They are not a heating appliance. They are used for cooking and not heating,” Minneapolis Fire Chief John Fruetel said. And that is what he says started a fire that lit up the dark fall night. “Unfortunately last night there was so much involvement of fire that it made it very, very difficult for our fire crews,” Fruetel said.

He said once inside, his firefighters made the most emotional of discoveries, two children who lost their lives downstairs and one fighting to live upstairs who eventually also died. “We grieve when we lose a child and to lose three is unfathomable pain for the family, for the friends and for us as the city of Minneapolis,” Mayor Betsy Hodges said.

Investigator believes Mom wasn't home when kids died in fire
Excerpt:

Investigators believe that a Minneapolis mother was not at home when a raging house fire took the lives of her three children. In a search warrant filed to obtain the cell phone records of Taneisha Y. Stewart, Minneapolis Fire Department Investigator Timothy Thomas said Stewart had no soot or a noticeable smell of smoke when officials arrived on the fire scene at 2755 Penn Avenue North shortly before midnight on Oct. 3.

The warrant states Stewart showed no sign of smoke inhalation, despite her claim that she was sleeping on the first floor and awoke to find the home ablaze. Thomas also added she did not require medical assistance and smelled of an "intoxicating beverage." "We do not believe she was in the house prior to the discovery of the fire. We would like to find out where she was and it would be at the time that we might arrive at perhaps submitting a case to a prosecutor," said Sgt. Sean McKenna, an investigator with the Minneapolis Arson Unit.

McKenna is requesting Stewart's cell phone records to try and figure out where she was when the fire started. The warrant states, "The lack of a competent adult inside the home with three sleeping juveniles under the age of seven is a factor in the deaths of the children." Stewart told KARE 11 the day after the fire that she did everything she could to rescue her kids. Six-year-old Latorious, 5-year-old Latora and 1-year-old Latorianna Stewart perished in the fire. Investigators believe the fire was caused by the oven, which was being used to heat the home as the furnace was out of service. While investigators say the fire did start in the home's kitchen, the official cause of the fire is undetermined. The request for Stewart's phone records, and cell towers that would locate her whereabouts on the night of the fire that killed her children was granted by a Hennepin County Judge. Those records will help determine whether criminal charges are filed against Taneisha Y. Stewart. However, McKenna said it is too early to talk about possible charges.

Investigators: Minneapolis mom not home during fire that killed 3 kids
Excerpt:

Investigators said the mother of 3 children who died in a fire on Penn Avenue N. in Minneapolis in early October was not home when the flames broke out. Latorious, 6, Latoria, 5, and Latorianna, 1, were all killed in the fire, which officials said started in the kitchen where the oven was being used for heat. According to a search warrant application filed in Hennepin County Court on Friday by Minneapolis police Sgt. Sean McKenna: The children’s mother, Taneisha Stewart, “showed no signs of having been inside the burning dwelling. She had no soot on her person, nor a noticeable smell of smoke. She was not coughing, short of breath, or exhibiting any signs of smoke inhalation. She did not require any emergency medical assistance." The investigator noted Stewart smelled of alcohol.

“Your affiant does not believe Ms. Stewart was present inside the home at the time of the fire. The lack of a competent adult inside the home with three sleeping juveniles under the age of seven is a factor in the deaths of the children.” The search warrant application said Thomas told investigators her home did not have a working furnace and she was heating the home with an electric kitchen stove with the door open. She said she had done this at a prior residence in Chicago, and “never had a problem.” The Minneapolis home did have working smoke detectors.

Comments:

• There is no diminishing the tragedy: Three innocent young children dead by fire!
• Representative Ellison seems to be blaming "the system" (or at least that's my take)
• I have questions about the house / landlord: The smoke detectors? The furnace?
• And I have questions about the mother? Was she or not there?
• Why did the mother move to Minneapolis? Where was the father?

Escape from "the mob"

Police: Driver who lurched into crowd was 'attempting to flee from the mob'

Excerpt:

The driver who lurched into a south Minneapolis intersection packed with Ferguson protesters was “attempting to flee from the mob” when he ran over and slightly injured a 16-year-old girl as others were atop the hood of his car, police said Wednesday. The driver, a 40-year-old man from St. Paul, was questioned moments after the incident late Tuesday afternoon on eastbound E. Lake Street at Minnehaha Avenue S., and Minneapolis police said Wednesday that the case “remains under investigation.” The man was not arrested, and no charges have been filed. A few hours later, the man’s mother said in an interview that he was coming home from work and “didn’t even know what was going on” when he encountered the crowd of several hundred blocking the intersection. The girl who was run over by the horn-blaring Subaru station wagon was taken by emergency responders to Regions Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, police said. “The victim’s vehicle was damaged by a large group of people,” reads the report released Wednesday by police. “While [the driver] was attempting to flee from the mob, he struck a pedestrian. State accident report filed.” The report lists the driver as a “victim” and the injured girl under the “other” category. Much of the scene, unfolding within a few steps of the Police Department’s Third Precinct headquarters, was captured on a Star Tribune video. Additional aerial video from KSTP-TV, Channel 5, shows that the driver had paused behind a vehicle stopped in front of it, and then steered to the right around that vehicle and drove slowly into the crowd that was blocking the intersection. There were three people on the hood of his car as he knocked down the girl.

Comment: Our own drive home yesterday - a police presence was on our route. Re the girl being "other" ... you could have said "stupid"

"Thrive MSP 2040": Urban Planning Overreach

Turning the Twin Cities Into Sim City - The Metropolitan Council's plans include making sure there is a proper mix of races and incomes in each suburb.

Excerpt:

Here in the Twin Cities, a handful of unelected bureaucrats are gearing up to impose their vision of the ideal society on the nearly three million residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro region. According to the urban planners on the city's Metropolitan Council, far too many people live in single family homes, have neighbors with similar incomes and skin color, and contribute to climate change by driving to work. They intend to change all that with a 30-year master plan called "Thrive MSP 2040." The Met Council, as it's known here, was founded in the 1960s to coordinate regional infrastructure—in essence, to make sure that sewers and roads meet up. Over the years, its power to allocate funds and control planning has expanded. Now, under Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton—who appointed all 17 current members—the council intends to play Sim City with residents' lives.

....

The Thrive plan also will pour public funds into mass transit while virtually ignoring congestion relief on highways. The Twin Cities region is projected to have just $52 million available annually from 2014 to 2022 for highway congestion relief, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Yet the Met Council intends to spend at least $1.7 billion on a single light-rail project, with more rail transit to follow. The Thrive plan's most radical element may be to evaluate all future development policies through the "lens" of climate change. Over time, this could give the council a license to dramatically remake the entire metro area. One former member of the Met Council told me that in the not-so-distant future local governments seeking approval of a new sewer line may first have to meet onerous "carbon footprint" dictates. The council apparently views herding people into dense urban conclaves and restricting their use of cars as the key to reducing greenhouse gases. Yet an exhaustive report by McKinsey & Co. in 2007 found that neither driving less nor densification is necessary and that technological advances, such as fuel-economy improvements, can achieve sufficient reductions.

Comment: THRIVE MSP 2040 Official Site

Minneapolis: Clueless on how to run a utility

Minneapolis may drop homegrown utility and corporate citizen Xcel Energy
Excerpt:

Xcel Energy Inc., the investor-owned utility that has been championed for its commitment to wind power by clean energy advocates far and wide, is at risk of being dropped as the electricity provider to this city, which is its national headquarters. Among other reasons, it is accused of not being sufficiently pro-clean energy. The $14 billion Fortune 500 company, which operates in eight states and has provided electricity to Minneapolis for more than a century, faces the possible cancellation of a franchise agreement that allows it to provide power to an estimated half-million residents and businesses in Minnesota's largest city and the economic hub of the 3.3-million-resident Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The city's natural gas provider, CenterPoint Energy Inc., is also at risk of losing its franchise agreement with the city, which expires at the same time as Xcel Energy's contract in December 2014. If renewed, the utility contracts would lock in Minneapolis' electricity and gas providers for 20 years, until 2034, according to city officials. Should Minneapolis decide to divorce the utilities, it would become one of the largest municipal utility owners in the United States, alongside Los Angeles; San Antonio; Seattle; and Sacramento, Calif. A coalition of environmental and citizen advocacy groups known as Minneapolis Energy Options (MEO) has pressed elected leaders to reconsider the city's relationships with the two utility giants on grounds that Xcel and CenterPoint are fundamentally profit-driven companies that have not done enough to hold down electricity rates and improve their environmental performance.

Minneapolis mayoral candidates deeply divided over potential utilities takeover
Excerpt:

Minneapolis has commissioned a $250,000 study of the energy systems to aid in franchise negotiations with Xcel and CenterPoint. That study will be completed after the first of the year and after the election that may have the utility takeover question on the ballot.

Comment: Note the anti-business sentiment expressed: "fundamentally profit-driven companies". It would be a giant mistake!

"A desire named streetcar" - the latest urban planning fad

Bringing streetcars to Minneapolis: Some perplexing twists and turns

Excerpt:

Minneapolis is not alone in what Finance & Commerce, the local business daily, called "a desire named streetcar." Atlanta, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., among others, have either started operating a system recently or are in the process of getting one launched. Even pipsqueak Missoula, Mont., (population 67,000) has one under consideration. The revival has come partly at the behest of the federal government. In 2009, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pledged $280 million for urban-transit projects, such as streetcars, and the Department of Transportation has been doling out millions ever since.

There is a contention floating about — mainly from Randal O'Toole of the right-leaning Cato Institute — that streetcars are just the latest urban planning fad designed to benefit engineering and construction companies.

... Another looming question is: Who will pay for operating and maintaining the line?

Comment: See also Minneapolis Advances Streetcar System Plan and A train linking Minneapolis and St. Paul? We had that scoop in 1984. Perhaps they could fund them with Pull-Tabs!?

The Minneapolis equivalent of Frasier's iconic condo

$3,895,000 - Unit 701 - 601 Marquette Ave, Minneapolis

Image sources of Frasier condo: Floor plan, view.

March snow

Snow coming in stages; 12” possible for metro
Excerpt:

Snowfall accumulation in the Twin Cities is forecast to be 2 to 4 inches by sunset, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). ... During the night, the NWS said the metro area could get another 3 to 7 inches of snow. On Tuesday morning, another 1 to 2 is possible. Add it up, and the top end of the range could mean a foot of snow as temperatures stay below freezing

Comment: Both K and I are working from home today.

Sunday snow: 3-5"

Storm Warning: 3-5" Slushy Snow by Evening (another 1" tonight)
Excerpt:

A surge of warm air aloft will spark a little freezing rain this morning (glaze ice possible, especially outside the metro). A burst of wet snow may spark 3-6 inches of metro slush, but dry air sweeping in by evening should cause any mix to taper.

Comment: Now calm .... driveway plowed. Ice base.

Minneapolis 2020

Rybak offers bold vision of downtown in 2020
Excerpt:

Downtown Minneapolis will be teeming with year-round street life, criss-crossed by transit lines and a web of commercial and residential activity by 2020, Mayor R.T. Rybak told the city’s business leaders Wednesday.

In his last appearance at the Downtown Council’s annual meeting as mayor, Rybak outlined a bold vision of changes to sustain the goal of doubling downtown’s population.

The plan relies on installing streetcars, reimagining Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Ave., improving retail options and developing around the new Vikings stadium, Rybak said.

The most unusual idea? Using steam from the Hennepin County garbage burner to heat sidewalks and more on Nicollet Mall. “We may be able to grow palm trees on Nicollet Mall with all that wonderful steam that now goes up into the air,” Rybak said, seemingly in jest.

He also proposed better connections between the streets and skyways to improve street-level activity.

Comment: Image source. Of interest to me because our plan (Summer 2015) is to move into a condo in either downtown Minneapolis or downtown Saint Paul. Hyperlinks under the city names are condos we have considered and viewed.

Imagining 14 million gallons of water = 21 Olympic Pools of water!

Drinking water deemed safe after 'unprecedented' break
Excerpt:

Workers Friday morning lifted the toppled backhoe that caused a major water main break in downtown Minneapolis that flooded streets with 14 million gallons of water and cut off water to a substantial swath of the city Thursday afternoon.

Dozens of workers for the city, Xcel Energy and Centerpoint were at the scene near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, continuing around-the-clock work to clean up the area and repair the damage. Many downtown workers were sent home early Thursday because water was brown and toilets weren't working.

But the city reported Friday morning that the drinking water is safe. And toilets were flushing and water ran clear Friday morning at the Fifth Street Towers in downtown. The buildings and Caribou Coffee shut down early Thursday because of the break. "We got through it," Caribou staffer Luke Norfleet said.

At the scene Friday morning, gas company workers were checking that a nearby gas main was stable before city crews begin placing a sleeve over the break. The pipe lies about six feet away from the water pipe.

Comment: Scene at the office .... gross ... toilets filled up. People fled.

How much is 14 million gallons? Image above (source) (2000 Australian Olympic pool)

An Olympic pool (source) contains ...

660,430 gallons

Thus a spill of 14,000,000 gallons would be the equivalent of ...

21 Olympic Pools of water!

No flushing at work ...

Water main break cuts off service to much of downtown Minneapolis

Water main break is at "A". I am at red boxed building.

Excerpt:

A major water main break in downtown Minneapolis at mid-afternoon Thursday cut off or reduced water service to much of downtown and workers were not expected to finish repairs until the evening.

The break was caused when an unidentified excavation contractor working for a utility company was working near the pipe shortly after 2 p.m., according to Marie Asgian, the city’s superintendent of water distribution. The break occurred at Hennepin and 2nd St. N., she said.

Water surged through nearby streets. “We’ll work into the night, whatever needs to be done,” Asgian said. “Nobody is going home until this is complete.” She said the cast-iron pipe will be repaired by cutting it and placing a sleeve over the break. She said that will happen after the break is isolated.

Typically those pipes rest eight feet below the surface.

The main is one of several major pipes carrying water across downtown to distribute through the city and caused a major impact downtown, with reports of lower pressure extending beyond Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Comment: people are leaving! Sign on the restroom ... only use for emergency. We are working until 6

Update: Star Tribune map of affected area. (We are working from home tomorrow)

Daily Commute: Freeway or side streets

Interstates fastest during snowy commute -- or not

Excerpt:

Many commuters have different plans of attack for surviving the rush. "I seem to experience less frustration on the side streets," said Tomasz Majewski, 32, of Richfield. "Side streets even after snow seem to move at the speed limit, as opposed to the freeways, where the speed seems to be cut in half." Naomi Miller, 32, commutes from Plymouth to work on the University of Minnesota East Bank campus every day. She claims that with ever-changing road closures around the U, the interstate is more reliable. "Generally, for my commute, I stay on the freeway, because I would have to go through downtown," she said. "Because of construction, it is more congested to go through downtown." The average commute time in the Twin Cities is 22.9 minutes, according to Census figures. Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Gutknecht said that during a storm, it can take two to three times longer. Experts disagree on how exactly to speed that up.

Our 16 years of experience:

• Our commute is to 255 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55479. We have contract parking at 100 S Washington Ave
• We live on the East side of Plymouth near Old Rockford Road and Zachary.
• The freeway route (map above) is 12.5 miles
• With years of experimenting, we have found the side street route to be the consistently easiest route. Not always the fastest! But the easiest and I believe the safest. (see map below - 10.5 miles)
• On the inbound it avoids the elevated I-394 which we have found to be treacherous when icy. This section of highway has a speed limit of 55 mph but drivers often drive 65 or more along that section.
• One the outbound the side street option avoids the pinch point where I-394 commences
• If we work late ... say until past 6:30 p.m., we've found the freeway the fastest route home
• If we work on a weekend day, the freeway is the fastest as well

Occupy Minneapolis has cost Hennepin County over $ 200K

Sheriff: Box of rocks, bricks found at Mpls. protest site; protesters say it was planted

Excerpt:

The Hennepin County sheriff's office says its costs of patrolling a downtown Minneapolis protest have topped $200,000 in just over two weeks.

As of Sunday, the sheriff's office says the OccupyMN protest has cost it more than $128,000 in overtime and $71,300 in regular pay since the protest began Oct. 7.

Comment: Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly doesn't mean that one can disrupt society and run up these kind of expenses!

Tornado ... er ... Party Time

Minneapolis liquor store looted after tornado

Excerpt:

Soon after a tornado ripped through North Minneapolis pm Sunday afternoon, an estimated 20 looters ripped off Broadway Liquor Outlet.

The high winds that downed trees and tore off roofs in the area also smashed the glass storefront of the liquor store at 2201 W. Broadway Ave., which was closed.

The looters stole liquor, cigarettes and cash, said owner Dean Rose. The store had plywood boards nailed to its exterior by 7:30 p.m., but broken glass and cases of beer could be seen scattered on the floor inside. Rose said Sunday night he didn't know the extent of the theft.

Minneapolis Police on Sunday night could not confirm reports of looting.

"It's devastating," said Rose, the third generation of his family to run the store. "It puts us out of business."

Comment: Location. Not far from our home (7 miles) and an area we often drive by on our way home from work. I am working from home today but Kathee drove in along our normal path. She saw quite a bit of destruction at Xerxes and Plymouth in Minneapolis

Twin Cities home prices tank

Twin Cities home prices fall 9 percent during March

Excerpt:

House price declines in the Twin Cities during March outpaced the nation, with foreclosures leading the decline.

CoreLogic's March Home Price Index (HPI) shows that home prices, including distressed sales, in the US fell for the eighth month in a row, down 7.5 percent compared to March 2010. Prices during February were down 5.8 percent compared with February 2010.

In the Twin Cities March prices fell by almost 9 percent, compared to last March, following last months 8 percent decline.

46% have negative equity in home

Excerpt:

In the Twin Cities, 46.2 percent of single-family homeowners owe more on the mortgage than the home is worth, according to the latest report from Zillow.com. That's up from 42 percent at the end of last year and 38.7 percent a year ago.

Nationally, negative equity reached a new high with 28.4 percent of all single-family homes with mortgages underwater, up from 27 percent in the fourth quarter.

"Home value declines are currently equal to those we experienced during the darkest days of the housing recession," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist, in a statement.

The median home price fell to $159,000 in the metro area in March, down 4.8 percent in the first quarter and 15.1 percent compared to last March, according to Zillow. The declines outpaced the nation, which saw prices fall 3 percent in the quarter and 8.2 percent compared to a year ago.

The real estate research firm now predicts home prices won't hit bottom until 2012 at the earliest. Previously, Zillow had expected a bottom in home values this year. Then Zillow expects a long period of below-normal real estate appreciation.

Comment: My house ... paid for! .... now valued at 2001 level .... oh well ... not selling anyway.

Block E Casino ... a really stupid idea!

‘Block E’ Casino Complex Plans Unveiled

Excerpt:

Developers have unveiled their plans for turning the Block E entertainment complex in downtown Minneapolis into a casino.

The project, called Minnesota Live by the Alatus LLC firm, calls for the site to be privately financed. It would cost a minimum of $200 million to develop and construct.

Alatus proposes transforming the Block E site into a luxury casino complete with restaurants, retail shops and a 60,000-square-foot rooftop terrace with amenities.

Developers of the project, including the founder of Alatus LLC, Bob Lux say it could become ‘the engine of downtown Minneapolis’, driving people into the city.

Developers estimate a revamped Block E could draw an estimated 5.6 million visitors into the Twin Cities every year and add thousands of jobs.

The sketches show the corner of Seventh and Hennepin with a three-story bright, glass atrium. At the top of the building would be a 60,000-square foot roof-top terrace with botanical gardens and waterfalls.

According to the plans, the state would run the casino. Project developers said the casino could contribute an estimated $250 million in revenue every budget cycle.

Comment: Title expresses my view! Below is photo of Block E in 1908. Interesting WIKI with pics and links

Casinos attract losers and suck resources out of society!

"Give money, I gun"

Robber with grammar problem admits to Fridley bank heist

Excerpt:

A grammatically challenged ex-con has admitted that he robbed a TCF Bank in a Cub Foods in Fridley.

Joe Nathan Michael, 48, of Fridley, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Minneapolis to the heist on May 20, 2010, which briefly netted him about $2,000.

According to the plea agreement:

Michael gave the teller a note that read "Give money, I gun," leaving her confused about what he wanted.

Comment: Echoes Woody Allen's "I have a gub" (Take the Money and Run)

BANK TELLER #1: "Does this look like “gub” or “gun”?" BANK TELLER #2: "Gun. See? But what’s “abt” mean?" VIRGIL STARKWELL: It’s “act”. A-C-T. Act natural. Please put fifty thousand dollars into this bag and act natural." BANK TELLER #1: "Oh, I see. This is a holdup?"

The "Brrr!" Billboard

Minneapolis Institute of Art billboard replaced after clothes painted on nude Venus

Excerpt:

A billboard for a Minneapolis museum has been replaced after someone spray-painted clothing and the word "Brrr!" in red over its depiction of nudity from a 16th-century Venus painting.

The advertisement is for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts' exhibition of works by the Italian master Titian. The museum chose to feature the famous "Venus Rising from the Sea" painting on the billboard because "it's very typical of paintings in the show," said MIA spokeswoman Anne-Marie Wagener.

The graffiti was discovered on a billboard in Long Lake, a western suburb, last week. None of the other Minneapolis area billboards advertising the show have been damaged. The one that was vandalized has been restored to its previous condition, despite objections from museum officials.

"We said 'We think it's funny, just leave it, don't bother replacing it,'" Wagener said Thursday.

But she said Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that owns the billboard, has a policy that ads with graffiti must be taken down so as not to encourage vandalism.

The billboards are slated to come down in mid-March.

Comment: An unaltered one is on Hwy 169 in Plymouth (10th Avenue). Personally I was not offended and did not even notice it until it hit the news - too busy driving I guess. For a full view of Venus Rising from the Sea 

Metro home prices in decline

Twin Cities home values decline at record pace

Excerpt:

Zillow.com’s latest report on the housing market suggests that home prices are still falling. A lot. During the last quarter of 2010 home values in the Twin Cities metro area fell 12.1 percent, or $22,800 compared with the previous year — the highest quarterly decline on record since Zillow starting keeping stats in 1996. Quarter-to-quarter values were down 5.8 percent. Nationally the annual decline averaged only 5.9 percent and fell 2.6 percent between the third and fourth quarters.
Zillow’s home value index in the Twin Cities during that period was $166,300, down 32.6 percent or $80,500 from the July 2006 peak.

The data is different from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtor’s sales report that I write about every month. This one tracks the value of all homes, not just those that have sold. It also shows that 42.3 percent of all single-family homes in the Twin Cities with a mortgage were underwater, up slightly from the third quarter and way above the national average of 27 percent. Okay, and there’s one more piece of bad news: 36.1 percent of all home that sold during December sold for a loss — another slight increase from the previous quarter

Comment: Chart is from Zillow for my home. Underwater numbers are vastly different than reported by USAToday yesterday (blogged here). USA today was just for Hennepin CO. "Twin Cities" would include outlying counties.