Elizabeth Dunbar covers the environment for MPR News.
A business on East Lake Street in Minneapolis is showing off its roof, which will soon be home to a community solar garden. No, there won’t be any plants on that roof, but the concept is similar to a community garden: People invest in the array to cover their electricity needs, just as Read more →
Hennepin County is planning a major reconstruction of Minnehaha Avenue in south Minneapolis, and planners are asking the public for advice about how to handle bicycle traffic along the busy corridor. The county has come up with two options: an off-road, two-way cycletrack like the one pictured above, or buffered bike lanes on both sides Read more →
A contractor worked Friday to remove tree trunks and large branches causing a logjam on the Mississippi River at Raspberry Island in St. Paul. A backhoe supported by a barge picked up the debris and loaded it onto another barge. The work was about halfway complete by midday Friday, said city spokesman Joe Campbell. Many Read more →
Four teams will receive instructions from the city of Minneapolis today in a competition to redesign Nicollet Mall. The four teams are comprised of 10 different architecture and design firms. Only two of the companies are based in Minneapolis; the rest hail from as far as Copenhagen, Montreal and Berkeley, California. The teams will Read more →
The Twin Cities Pride Festival, the Minnesota Twins and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will draw thousands of people to downtown Minneapolis this weekend. City officials are urging people to use public transit for the events, and light rail trains will have three cars during the events to accommodate more riders. On Saturday, the end Read more →
The St. Paul Police Department is still investigating two separate robberies in the parking lot of the Kowalski’s on Grand Avenue. Sgt. Paul Paulos says investigators are looking through surveillance tape to see if they can identify the suspect. In both cases, the victims were forced by gunpoint to drive to an ATM and withdraw Read more →
What’s the buzz at Minneapolis City Hall? Honeybees. Mayor R.T. Rybak and the chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Charlie Vig, will show off City Hall’s new beehives today. No, they won’t be buzzing around the hallways stinging the parking enforcement officers, they’ll be on City Hall’s green roof. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated Read more →
In this photo taken on Monday, June 25, 2012, kittens are seen at an animal shelter in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) The Walker Art Center has deemed its first cat video film festival such a success that the museum has decided to do it again this year. This time the festival will take Read more →
The bicyclists, transportation planners and others who attended a national summit on Monday in Minneapolis discussed dozens of small and big changes to improve bike safety. The stakes are high, because many people living in cities won’t ride because they don’t feel safe. Below is a list of five of the ideas discussed during the Read more →
It’s been the kind of week in the news business that begs for a story about baby penguins. The Minnesota Zoo has come to the rescue, announcing today that it’s set up a webcam for people to watch its two African penguin chicks. The chicks, which were born in March, aren’t on display at the Read more →
Elizabeth Dunbar