The Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance requiring the city to report data on homeless encampment removals to increase transparency and address the root causes of homelessness. 

The encampment reporting ordinance passed with a veto-proof nine-to-four vote on Sept. 19. 

The ordinance requires the city to report data on homeless encampment removals, including all information on the encampment’s location, removal plan and information on how people who lived at those encampments were affected by its removal. 

Council Member Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12) said in a statement to the Minnesota Daily that the ordinance is part of the commitment to reducing homelessness the city council implied when they declared homelessness a public health emergency in 2023. 

“We need good data to make informed decisions and create the necessary solutions,” Chowdhury said in the statement. 

Chowdhury said encampment removals in the city have had little oversight or transparency in the past. 

“For years, the public and policymakers have not known accurately how city resources are spent or used on evictions and have not been able to understand what happens to the unhoused person in an encampment that has been evicted,” Chowdhury said in the statement.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who approved the ordinance on Saturday, said in a statement to the Minnesota Daily that the majority of the ordinance contains actions the city was already doing while ignoring the reality of homeless encampments.

“What it doesn’t do is address the fact that encampments are dangerous and inhumane,” Frey said in the statement. “While the Council is focused on procedural tweaks and making it harder to close encampments, my administration is focused on expanding access to shelter, combating the fentanyl epidemic and continuing our nation-leading affordable housing work.”

The ordinance does not prevent encampment removals but dictates that quarterly reports must be made on any removals that do take place.

While encampment removals in Minneapolis are not new, some have continued to make headlines like Camp Nenookasi and The Wall of Forgotten Natives encampment. According to data from the city, there are around 250 people living in the 32 active homeless encampments throughout the city.

The reports must include other information, like if another encampment had been removed there or within a mile in the past year, how long the encampment was there and the start-to-finish timeline of the removal.

By understanding factors like how much time and money is spent on removing encampments, the city can more effectively come up with solutions, Chowdhury said in the statement.

“I want to understand how much of these resources can be used differently to get to the root of the problem to reduce unsheltered homelessness instead of this whack-a-mole approach,” Chowdhury said. 

The ordinance also calls for the reports to include how many people were displaced by the removal, what housing or shelter options were available, if these options were accessible and the number of people arrested during removal. 

Additionally, the quarterly report must include if people were given notice before the removal took place, if there was an offering to store their belongings and if people were offered housing, Chowdhury said in the statement.

“Unhoused people are humans and the impact of encampment evictions on them is not well documented by the City of Minneapolis,” Chowdhury said. 

Encampments are the result of an uncoordinated plan to reduce homelessness, in addition to a growing housing crisis, the lack of a rapid rehousing plan and the lack of an action-oriented plan to combat the opioid epidemic, Chowdhury said in the statement. 

“This ordinance is a step forward to help the City Council form these solutions and have oversight of a practice that isn’t addressing the root causes of unsheltered homelessness or reducing homelessness,” Chowdhury said.

The St. Paul charter currently mandates that city elections occur on odd years, but a question on the November ballot might change that.

St. Paul voters will decide if city elections should move from odd to even years in a ballot question in the November election.

The change could increase voter turnout and save the city money, according to Peter Butler, a member of the petition effort to get the question on the ballot. 

According to Butler, the odd-year city elections result in only one-third of registered voters voting. 

“Usually when you have an incumbent mayor running, there is even less turnout (for city elections),” Butler said. “(Turnout) can be two to three times higher in a presidential year.”

The change would also save the city money, as it costs about $1 million to hold an election, Butler said.

A team of six people acquired most of the 5,500 signatures required to petition the question for the November ballot, Butler said. 

“I was involved in an earlier effort seven years ago,” Butler said. “We didn’t have enough signatures, so we started again.”

Butler said he believes people will vote “yes” on the question because people will think about how this change would affect them personally.

“I think the question itself is self-explanatory,” Butler said. “I think people will say, ‘This is very convenient, this makes it easier for people to vote.’” 

With the question on the November ballot alongside the presidential ticket, the question will reach more voters who do not typically participate in city elections, Butler said.

“Many people who are voting this November typically do not vote in odd-year elections, so the very people we want to have participating in our city elections are voting on this question,” Butler said. 

However, not everyone supports this proposed change. St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali (Ward 4) posted on X in August that she opposes the move to even-year elections because it could take voters’ focus away from important city issues.

Jalali said in the post that passing this question could increase the need for transportation and voter education work to make sure marginalized communities understand the change and have voting access.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter echoed a similar sentiment in a statement to the Minnesota Daily. Carter said local issues would have to compete with national issues for voters’ attention. 

“Local issues have the most immediate impact on our lives, but often garner the least attention,” Carter said in the statement. “While I am concerned that critical issues like neighborhood safety, trash collection and street maintenance cannot compete with the clamor of a national campaign cycle, the city will follow the will of the voters with regard to this ballot measure.”

According to Butler, similar ballot questions have passed without much campaigning in other cities throughout the country.

“I don’t think there really are any negative consequences,” Butler said.

Metro Transit is adjusting bus and light rail frequency to meet the high demand for public transit around campus.

Adding extra trains and buses, hiring more operators and drivers, and coordinating with the University are all ways Metro Transit is addressing the needs of riders, Metro Transit Chief Operating Officer Brian Funk said. 

“We’re looking at more of a surgical approach, so where do we need the capacity specific to address the high travel times when these classes start,” Funk said.

Starting in August, Metro Transit lowered wait times for trains at light rail stations from 15 minutes to 12 minutes after 10 a.m., Funk said.

“We know that when trains are coming every twelve minutes, even if they’re the shorter two-car variety, that we’re not seeing (rider) numbers that are overwhelming,” Funk said.

Metro Transit is also looking to add extra trains during busy travel times, Funk said. This is meant to address the high number of people riding the train near the University campus, specifically the Prospect Park, Stadium Village, East Bank and West Bank stations. 

“We’re looking at strategies to be able to insert an extra train during those really high periods so we can just have one come through and scoop up people three or four minutes ahead of the planned train,” Funk said.

Funk said Metro Transit is addressing the high demand for buses in similar ways by scheduling extra trips near the University. However, construction around campus, particularly along 4th Street in Dinkytown, has complicated those efforts, Funk added.

“(The construction) eventually is going to lead to really good service, but in the meantime, it causes us to get delayed, primarily buses,” Funk said.

In addition to inserting extra trips into the schedule, Metro Transit is continuing to hire new bus drivers and train operators, Funk said. Metro Transit is currently training 50 new bus drivers and 17 new train operators.

To ensure Metro Transit buses run smoothly alongside University buses, Metro Transit has collaborated with the University for many years on coordinating their schedules with the University to prevent traffic and backups at bus stops, Funk said.

Metro Transit also collaborates with the University through combined public safety efforts with the Metro Transit Police Department and the University of Minnesota Police Department, Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras said. 

“Our police department has been partnering with the University police department to have them help patrol trains at certain points in time, but in general, there’s a strong partnership,” Kandaras said.

Kandaras said Metro Transit is “actively implementing” the Safety and Security Actions Plan created in 2022.

“One key part of that is increasing official presence on our system,” Kandaras said. “In addition to the Metro Transit Police Department, we’ve added additional layers of presence.”

Sometimes the “presence” is in the form of security, but it is also achieved through the Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP) agents, Kandaras said. 

“Our (TRIP) agents are not police, but they are out riding the light rail, checking fares, assisting customers, answering questions, and really being eyes and ears out there,” Kandaras said.

Funk said since the program launched in February, Metro Transit has between 35 and 40 TRIP agents and hopes to have 100 by the end of next year. 

While ridership on campus is high, Metro Transit is still looking to accomplish its goal of increasing ridership across the city, Funk said.

“Even with the increase in ridership over here on campus, we’re still not anywhere near where the ridership was before the pandemic,” Funk said.

St. Paul is considering banning new drive-thrus to improve pedestrian safety, reduce noise and prevent car gas emissions. 

The St. Paul Planning Commission discussed the potential ban during their meeting on Sept. 13. Following a public hearing in early November, the St. Paul City Council will vote on whether to adopt the change, St. Paul Planning Manager Bill Dermody said. 

“Drive-thrus have been an issue going back more than a decade in St. Paul,” Dermody said.

The proposed ban would only prevent new drive-thru restaurants from being built in the city, Dermody said. Businesses with existing drive-thrus would be allowed to remain.

St. Paul is not the first city to issue concerns about drive-thrus. Minneapolis banned the construction of new drive-thrus five years ago, Minneapolis Manager of Code Development Jason Wittenberg said.

With few complaints from residents and businesses, Minneapolis has no plans to reverse the prohibition anytime soon, Wittenberg said.

“The issues we identified five years ago are as prevalent as they were when the ordinance change was adopted,” Wittenberg said.

If the ban goes forward, the Twin Cities would be the largest metropolitan area in the country to ban drive-thrus. 

Wittenberg said prior to the city banning, all new drive-thrus would create concerns about light, noise and traffic impacts. 

“(Drive-thrus) weren’t something that people were really looking forward to having as a neighbor,” Wittenberg said.

Most plans for drive-thrus are potentially contrary to the safe pedestrian designs the city tries to prioritize, Dermody said. 

“Most of the drive-thrus in (St. Paul) right now would not abide by the proposed regulations,” Dermody said.

Drive-thrus require drive-ways for cars to reach the restaurant, which can make restaurants difficult to safely walk to, Dermody said. He added if they become overcrowded, the line of cars spills out on the road and blocks sidewalks. 

One of these overcrowded drive-thrus was the Starbucks on the corner of Marshall Avenue and Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, Dermody said. Cars would fill up the driveway, causing others to block sidewalks and spill onto the road, Dermody said. Starbucks later decided to close the drive-thru, solving the problem.

Additionally, banning drive-thrus can decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, Wittenberg said.

“Turning off your car and going into the business does reduce vehicle emissions compared to sitting and idling in a drive-thru,” Wittenberg said. 

Dermody said while the drive-thru will reduce emissions, they are a small part of the city’s overall emissions.

“Driving doesn’t just stop because the drive-thrus go away,” Dermody said.

St. Paul has not announced an exact date for the public hearing on the ban, but it will be sometime in early November, Dermody said.

Matthew Beckman, head of the biology department at Augsburg University, arrived at his office on the morning of Aug. 27 to find the giant cottonwood tree outside his office had fallen. 

“I pulled into the parking lot, and I burst into tears,” Beckman said. “I saw the tree was down.”

The tree was just one of many that went down or were damaged in the pair of thunderstorms that hit the Twin Cities at the end of August. 

The storms had winds up to 65 mph, resulting in over one thousand debris clean-up orders in Minneapolis, according to a statement from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Among the fallen trees was a cottonwood tree on the Augsburg University campus which fell early in the morning on Aug. 27, according to Augsburg University plant biology professor Leon van Eck. 

“It’s a plains cottonwood, so it’s really, really large,” van Eck said. “When it had collapsed it basically filled the entire greenspace where it was planted.”

The tree, locally known as The Loveliest of Trees, was a treasured part of the community for people on and off the Augsburg campus, van Eck said. 

The tree sat in a greenspace near the Augsburg community garden and was visited by many people throughout the day, Beckman said.

“I’ve worked here for 17 years and I’ve been watching this tree out of my office for the last six years,” Beckman said. “Every day I would see people under the tree having lunch, just relaxing, having community there, so we’re gonna miss that.”

Van Eck said he was inspired to write an obituary for the tree after hearing how important it was for the local community.

“My first reaction was that this tree was special to me and a lot of people,” van Eck said. “I knew that I wanted to commemorate it in some way.”

The obituary combined emotions people had for The Loveliest of Trees and the biology behind its death, van Eck said.

“This is a sad day for Augsburg University: No longer will we be able to watch a bald eagle take flight from the regal branches of The Loveliest of Trees,” van Eck said in the obituary. “But a plains cottonwood was always meant to have an ephemeral existence, being a fast-growing pioneer species of the Mississippi River floodplain.”

The obituary, posted to the Augsburg Greenhouse Instagram, is not the only way Augsburg is preserving the memory of The Loveliest of Trees. Some Augsburg faculty, including Director of the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship Alexander Fink, organized a memorial service for the tree, Beckman said.

The memorial was held on Aug. 30 and was opened by two campus pastors, Babette Chapman and John Schwehn, who began by saying a few words about the tree, Beckman said.

Afterward, the memorial was opened to members of the community to share their thoughts and feelings on the fallen tree.

“On the surface, you may not think a memorial for a tree would be important, but it really did bring the community together,” Beckman said. 

In addition to the memorial, cuttings and samples of the tree were taken to keep and study, Van Eck said. Two University of Minnesota professors, Daniel Griffin and Kurt Kipfmueller, took samples of the tree to determine the tree’s age.

According to Beckman, it is thought the tree was about 70 to 80 years old. 

People connect with trees in ways they do not with other plants because they can seem like permanent fixtures in people’s lives, van Eck said.

“It’s easy to see how people can ascribe a lot of meaning to a particular specimen of a tree species,” van Eck said. “The changes that you see in the tree kind of reflects the changes in your own life.”

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is proposing a wastewater permit limiting the amount of hazardous chemicals allowed to be dumped into the Mississippi River from 3M’s Cottage Grove plant. 

The MPCA draft permit would be the first to put hard limits on what chemicals the 3M plant can release into the river and would mandate the removal of some chemicals. 

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or forever chemicals, are long-lasting chemicals used for decades in products for water and grease resistance. PFAS do not break down in the environment and can cause negative health effects over time. 

The new permit would require the 3M plant in Cottage Grove to limit pollutants in the wastewater that flows into the Mississippi River and treat the water to remove PFAS to the level of low detection, a statement from the MPCA said.

While the 3M plant is in Cottage Grove, the wastewater from the plant is released into a creek that flows into the Mississippi River. 

Once finalized, the MPCA is expecting the permit to result in less PFAS pollution in groundwater and in discharge to the Mississippi River, Adam Olson, a spokesperson for the MPCA, said in a separate statement to the Minnesota Daily. 

“Lower PFAS levels in groundwater and the Mississippi mean less PFAS in drinking water drawn from that groundwater and less PFAS in fish and other wildlife in the Mississippi’s ecosystem,” Olson said in the statement.

Minnesota passed a law banning PFAS in food packaging and other products in 2023, and will prohibit more PFAS products starting in 2025.

Additionally, 3M, who has used PFAS since the 1950s, will stop making the chemicals by the end of 2025, according to a 3M statement made in 2022. 

The MPCA is now reviewing public comments on the permit before finalizing the draft to be enacted in early 2025. 

The Met Council issues concerns about the draft

One comment about the permit was submitted by the Metropolitan Council, which operates nine of the regional water treatment facilities in the Twin Cities. 

According to the Met Council’s comment, written by Met Council’s General Manager of Environmental Services Leisa Thompson, the agency has many concerns about the feasibility of the draft permit. Among those concerns are on how the water quality criteria was determined, the attainability of lowering PFAS to the desired levels and how water quality will be accurately measured.

“The Met Council appreciates MPCA’s efforts to address PFAS in Minnesota waters,” Thompson said in the Met Council comment. “However, the Met Council has substantial legal, policy and scientific concerns regarding the PFAS-related requirements in the Draft Permit.”

The technology required to lower PFAS to undetectable levels is not available, Thompson said. 

“Our understanding is that there are no available control technologies that will reduce PFAS to the proposed levels,” Thompson said.

Instead, the MPCA should determine PFAS limits based on what can be attainable with current water treatment technology, Thompson said. In addition, the Met Council is concerned that the PFAS limit in the draft permit cannot be accurately measured. 

“This violates basic due process rights by subjecting a facility to possible enforcement actions for alleged violations even though there is no way to know what levels are actually being discharged,” Thompson said.

Olson said the PFAS limits for the 3M plant draft permit were finalized in May 2024 and are based on site-specific water quality criteria which resulted from years of research.  

Under the current draft permit, the 3M Cottage Grove plant has to meet the determined PFAS limits by December 2026.

Minneapolis has announced the construction of a biochar facility near Huntington Bank Stadium to help achieve the city’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Construction was set to begin in fall 2024, but the project’s unexpected costs after the planning stage pushed construction to spring 2025, according to Minneapolis carbon sequestration manager Jim Doten. 

Biochar is a specialized charcoal created from heating wood or other biosolids that helps reduce carbon dioxide in the air, improve soil health and reduce tree waste, Doten said. He said they are currently reworking the facility’s design to keep it affordable.

“What we’re doing is capturing that carbon and putting it to good environmental use,” Doten said. 

To combat an invasive insect that infects ash trees, Minneapolis and St. Paul have worked to remove ash trees throughout the Twin Cities. A side effect of that effort is the removal of these trees results in a lot of wood waste, which can release stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere over time, Doten said. 

“We have a large imbalance in our wood waste right now and a lot of that had originally been driven by emerald ash borer,” Doten said. 

For the biochar facility, the city is working with BluSky Carbon to create pyrolyzers, the spinning drums used to heat the wood. 

BluSky CEO and Co-founder William Hessert said biochar is a promising method for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“The more (the pyrolyzer) runs, the less gas is used,” Hessert said.

Additionally, BluSky Carbon will provide censors and general assistance or help for the facility, Hessert said. 

“If Jim needs something, I’m happy to help,” Hessert said. 

Due to its low levels of emissions, the facility does not require a permit from pollution control, according to Doten.

“If you burn this wood, it’d be a lot dirtier,” Doten said. “But what we’re doing is heating it up, de-gassing it and then using that gas in order to drive the process. There’s no flame that encounters the wood and that’s how we’re able to alter the carbon instead of destroying it.”

Biochar and environmental justice

Biochar can be used in planting projects to improve soil and plant health, Doten said.

The biochar produced in the facility will primarily be used in the city’s green zones, areas of the city with high diversity and high air pollution, and on projects to create carbon sinks, improve greenspace and reduce temperatures in marginalized communities, according to Doten.

“Climate change affects everybody, but not everybody is affected by climate change the same,” Doten said.

The equity of the biochar program is one of the reasons Minneapolis became one of seven cities worldwide to receive funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropy Grant, according to Doten. The other six cities are Darmstadt, Germany; Helsingborg, Sweden; Sandnes, Norway; Lincoln, Nebraska; Helsinki, Finland and Cincinnati, Ohio.

This grant will enable Minneapolis to become a leader in utilizing biochar, Doten said. 

“We were the first ones to set up a program to systematically use (biochar) in projects,” Doten said. “We pioneered the use of municipal biochar and now this is seen as an example globally.”

The biochar program is currently working with some University researchers and professors but are looking to expand University collaboration in the future, Doten said. Internship opportunities and research projects through the University’s Institute on the Environment could be available in the future.

Biochar’s ability to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere makes it a valuable resource in achieving carbon neutrality, Doten said. 

“It’s a Swiss Army Knife of climate tools,” Doten said.

The Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution on July 18 to give $2,500 to the Minneapolis Fire Department to purchase approximately 28 glucometers. 

Glucometers, also known as glucose meters, are devices commonly used by patients with diabetes to monitor blood sugar. The Council voted in favor of the resolution on July 18 and Mayor Jacob Frey approved it on July 24. 

The money to purchase the glucometers comes from the 2024 Community Safety Grant from CenterPoint Energy. 

By purchasing these glucometers, the fire department can effectively treat patients at the scene of an incident, Council Member Jason Chavez (Ward 9) said in an email statement to the Minnesota Daily. 

“I was glad to author a resolution for the 2024 Community Safety Grant for glucometer kits,” Chavez said in the statement. “CenterPoint Energy awarded the Minneapolis Fire Department a community partnership grant to purchase glucometer kits so firefighters have the ability to check blood glucose levels of patients on scene during an incident.” 

A person without diabetes can have blood sugar readings between 80 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) and 180 mg/dL, depending on when they last ate, said Dr. Amir Moheet, a University of Minnesota professor in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. People with diabetes can have blood sugar readings far higher or lower than readings from people without.

Moheet said a person’s blood sugar can dip or spike for many reasons, but for diabetics, it is usually a side-effect of medications such as insulin. If a person does not take enough insulin, their blood sugar rises and if they take too much, it lowers. Fire departments having the ability to test for abnormal blood sugar could help provide someone with an early diagnosis. 

“There are a number of different conditions that could be causing (abnormal blood sugar),” Moheet said. “However, if it is due to a glucose abnormality, then checking glucose would rapidly identify the problem and could potentially lead to early treatment.” 

In a dire emergency, the fire department can check the blood sugar level of someone who has passed out and determine if it is a blood sugar-related issue, Moheet said. From there, they can administer insulin if the person has high blood glucose or give them sugar in case of low blood glucose.

“This could lead to the identification of a treatable problem quickly,” Moheet said. 

If someone has very high blood sugar, in the range of 500 mg/dL or above, they may experience immediate effects like dehydration or fatigue, and may fall into a coma if not treated, Moheet said. High blood sugar can also cause long-term complications such as damage to the eyes, kidneys or nerves.

Similarly, low blood sugar can have dangerous effects because sugar is vital for proper brain function, Moheet said.

If someone has low blood sugar, 70 mg/dL or below, they could have difficulty thinking or get confused, Moheet said. If their blood sugar goes below 55 mg/dL they can pass out, and if it continues to lower, could have a seizure or fall into a coma. 

“Glucose is the main fuel for the brain,” Moheet said. “If the glucose is low in the blood, that can affect our cognitive abilities.”

By having glucometers, the fire department can immediately help patients who passed out due to low blood sugar, Moheet said. The quicker low blood sugar is treated, usually with something with lots of sugar, like fruit juice, the less negative long-term effects it may cause. 

“If they can initiate treatment right away, they can quickly reverse the low blood sugar and the patient can regain consciousness,” Moheet said.

Minneapolis residents in some areas of the city can apply for a free tree to be planted in their yard through the Minneapolis Department of Health’s free city trees program, an effort to increase the city’s tree canopy.

Residential property owners can apply for a free tree through the program’s website. The city partners with Tree Trust, a local landscaping company, to help property owners pick out a tree species for their yard and plant it for them, said Sydney Schaaf, the city trees program coordinator for the Minneapolis Department of Health.

Those living in green-zone neighborhoods, identified as environmental justice areas by the city, are eligible for the program, Schaaf said. These areas have high levels of pollution and experience racial, political and economic marginalization. 

“There were a lot of different factors taken into account to establish these areas, but one of them that was included was tree canopy,” Schaaf said.

Dustin Ellis, the acting forestry supervisor for Hennepin County, said areas with lots of buildings and asphalt often do not have a healthy tree canopy, have high population density and high poverty rates. These communities are often a majority Black, Indigenous and people of color. 

“It’s an equity issue when suburbs are much more built up with trees and natural areas,” Ellis said. 

Areas without a sufficient tree canopy get very hot due to lack of shade, meaning fewer people want to spend time outdoors, Ellis said. Trees also help manage water run-off, sequester carbon dioxide and create habitats for local wildlife. 

The free trees are specifically for residents of the two green zones in the city — the northside green zone and the southside green zone, according to Schaaf. 

The southside includes portions of the Cedar-Riverside and Phillips neighborhoods. The northside includes portions of the St. Anthony West, Hawthorne and Sheridan neighborhoods

“We know that private property is the largest opportunity to increase tree canopy in the city,” Schaaf said.

Trees in cities are under more pressure from different threats or stressors than trees in forests or other natural environments, said Alicia Coleman, assistant professor in Urban and Community Forestry. These stressors can include dense amounts of pavement and sidewalk, water run-off that picks up nutrients and debris and diseases or invasive insects. 

“Minneapolis is like any city and will experience the latest invasive species outbreak,” Coleman said. “Unfortunately, no city is immune in that way.” 

One of the key ways people and governments can protect urban tree canopies is by implementing a system that requires new trees are planted after some are removed, Coleman said.

“A sustainable urban forest has different stage classes of trees,” Coleman said. “Tree planting strategies are always a great way for people to be sustaining the health and diversity, or at least the age diversity of an urban forest.”

It is important to pick species of trees that withstand its environment, Coleman said. The University’s Urban Forestry Outreach and Research website has information on how to pick trees fit for an environment and how to properly care for them.

The city also has programs that offer inexpensive trees to businesses, nonprofits and residents, regardless of whether they are located in a green zone, Schaaf said. 

“Our largest program is probably our residential tree sale,” Schaaf said. “Residents can order up to three trees per address for $30 each.”

Sign-up for the next tree sale opens on Aug. 4, Schaaf said. Through this sale, the city aims to plant over 2,000 trees this fall.

Schaaf said they always encourage rental property owners to apply for tree plantings and help renters who are interested in the program get in contact with their property owners.

“We also always offer to reach out to the rental property owner and talk to them to answer any questions,” Schaaf said.

The presidential election, Israel-Palestine and reproductive rights will be key issues in the upcoming Minnesota state primary election.

The primary election is on Aug. 13, but early voting began on June 28, according to the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. 

Despite early voting having begun by the time President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign may affect voting turnout in August by generating excitement throughout the Democratic Party, said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University.

“I could see it affecting the primary,” Schultz said. “But we don’t really know how to calculate that.”

After Biden announced he was no longer running for a second term, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) endorsed Harris.

“Our party must now rally behind Vice President Harris and emerge as a united front ready to defeat Donald Trump in November,” DFL Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. 

Schultz said the Democratic race for the 5th Congressional District seat in Minneapolis between incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar and Don Samuels may be impacted the most by the recent announcement of Harris’ campaign.

“In Minneapolis, we may actually get a fairly high turnout because we’ve got a primary again between Omar and Samuels,” Schultz said. “I do think Harris potentially motivates more progressives to come out compared to Biden, and I think that helps (Omar).”

The ongoing war in Gaza is another key factor in the Omar versus Samuels race, Schultz added. While it could potentially be a dividing issue for the Democratic primary, Omar’s criticisms of Israel may be an advantage in her district. 

“Given where a lot of college students are and given the composition of her district, criticizing Israel may help her in the Democratic primary compared to where Samuels is,” Schultz said. 

Omar has been critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza since October 2023 and appeared at a student-led pro-Palestine protest in April. Samuels, who is in favor of U.S. support of Israel, has been critical of Omar’s stance.

“Congresswoman Omar is simplifying this thing to concepts like their pro-genocide and anti-genocide students, and unable to understand the complex forces involved in this and the need for discipline, and a balanced response that does not alienate any side of the debate,” Samuels said in a Q&A with the Minnesota Daily.

Additionally, Schultz said Omar is running a more competitive campaign than she did against Samuels two years ago when Omar narrowly won the Democratic primary by 50.3% of the vote compared to Samuels’ 48.2%. 

“This time, she is running a much better campaign and talking about issues such as reproductive rights,” Schultz said. “I tend to think that Omar this time is not going to be caught surprised.”

While reproductive rights are protected in Minnesota since Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation guaranteeing Minnesotans the fundamental right to an abortion in January 2023, it is still a major issue in the primary, especially for Democrats, Schultz said.

“Given the fact Minnesota has become a sort of pro-choice island in the midwest, I think to some democrats preserving that is important,” Schultz said.

Other issues such as the economy, LGBTQ+ rights and crime will also influence voters for many of these campaigns, Schultz said.

In Samuel’s previous effort to oust Omar, he said she was soft on crime, criticizing her support for a ballot initiative that would have fundamentally changed the Minneapolis Police Department. 

For Republicans, the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump motivated many in the Republican Party nationally, Schultz said. However, he added it is hard to know how that will affect voting in Minnesota in the primary.

“The Republicans (in Minnesota) have not been as motivated as they could have because it’s a state that appears to be so overwhelmingly democratic,” Schultz said. “I think (Trump) coming and appearing in St. Cloud helps motivate the base, although the crowd up in St. Cloud is already overwhelmingly Republican.”

With voters in urban areas more likely to vote Democratic and rural areas more likely to vote Republican, Schultz said the real “battleground” in Minnesota is in the suburbs. 

“Early voting (for the general election) starts the last week of September, so we’re looking at 30 days, 45 days from the end of the primary,” Schultz said. “What happens by primary day might actually be a pretty good sign of giving us some clues for general election voting.”