🗼 Lakeville’s Space Needle?

Lakeville’s Space Needle?

America’s next World's Fair-style expo might be headed to our very own Lakeville. Expo 2031 will be an international horticulture exposition, lasting six months and expected to draw “millions” of visitors. Organizers signed a purchase agreement for about 57 acres, at the southwest corner of Interstate 35 and County Road 70. Expo 2031 CEO Wendy Meadley tells the Star Tribune that organizers were drawn to the amount of land available and the suburb’s 80,000 “forward-thinking” residents. Taylor Swift is not guaranteed, but Meadley is more than open to the idea. [Star Tribune / South Metro Scoop]

• What’s in it for us? Seattle got its iconic Space Needle from hosting a world exposition in 1962. South Metro Scoop reports Expo 2031’s permanent installations will include an expo hall, hotel, amphitheater and “Bellagio-style fountain” – Lakeville’s own landmark. Organizers assure the City Council they’ll be seeking state and private investment, not municipal. We’ll see. [South Metro Scoop]
• Billion with a “b”: The project boasts a nearly billion dollar budget, so I’m not sure why organizers opted for images that appear AI-generated. Still, local officials and business leaders are hopeful; organizers predict the project will create 17,000 jobs and $200 million in state and local taxes. Is this our redemption arc? In 2023, Bloomington lost to Serbia in its bid to host Expo 2027. [Star Tribune / KARE 11]

Waiting game: About 700 students of Minneapolis Public Schools are waiting to be transferred to the school of their choice. For some parents, the backlog is yet another sign of chaos at the district amid proposed closures. One teacher worried transfers during the school year will especially impact students with disabilities. [Sahan Journal]

Favoritism: A five-year audit of Minneapolis’ violence interrupter program shows it was enabling contractor favoritism and at risk of fraud. The audit is part of a settlement from two years ago, when a lawyer sued alleging a lack of oversight. The mayor has proposed cutting the program budget by $2.6 million. [Star Tribune]

Transparency: St. Paul City Council members Molly Coleman and Saura Jost are calling for more transparency after Police Chief Axel Henry sued the mayor and city. Coleman said in a Facebook statement she wants the full report on Mayor Kaohly Her’s conduct to be released. According to Coleman, council members have only viewed the two-page summary released by the city’s Human Resources director, which cleared the mayor of sexual harassment allegations. [Pioneer Press]

Throwback: In search of a nostalgia hit, host Sean is putting together a map of all the Peanuts sculptures in the Twin Cities area. These were originally installed in the summer of 2000, in honor of the cartoon’s Minneapolis-born artist Charles Schulz. On today’s show, we talked to former St. Paul employee Jeff Freeland Nelson who oversaw the project installation. “I will totally admit, I was 100% against the idea,” Freeland Nelson joked. [City Cast Twin Cities]

News on local news: Sahan Journal founder Mukhtar Ibrahim is launching Somali Brief, a news publication focused on the Somali community. The timing is purposeful, following federal attacks on the state’s Somali community. “Americans were seeing claims about Somalis, but where could they go to actually learn about Somali Americans? That is the space I want the Somali Brief to fill,” Ibrahim wrote in a press release. [Star Tribune]

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