The University of Minnesota will begin construction on a 12-acre redevelopment project known as Minnesota Innovation Exchange (MIX) in Stadium Village starting in 2025 and ending in 2029. 

Businesses in the area will be replaced with student housing, a research center and office space in light of the project.

The redevelopment plan is a collaborative project with the University of Minnesota Foundation of Real Estate Advisors and M.A. Mortenson Co. The construction from 2025 to 2029 will be the first of three stages, according to the MIX website.

Phase one will go from Huron Boulevard to Oak Street in Minneapolis. This means restaurants like Burger King, Hong Kong Noodles and Caribou Coffee will be shut down. 

Phase one will create two buildings. One of the buildings is mixed-use between housing and life science research, while the other building’s purpose is still in development, according to University of Minnesota Foundation Real Estate Advisors Managing Director Paul Macissa. 

While the idea of new housing and buildings is good for students at the University, Jillian Sexton, a third-year student, said she will miss the restaurants near Stadium Village. 

“I live further down in the Dinkytown area,” Sexton said. “When my dad was at the U, he used to go to Stub and Herbs, that would be really unfortunate.”

If it goes further as planned, other buildings at risk of being taken down include Val-U, MyBurger, Test Kitchen, and Stubs and Herbs, according to MIX’s website. 

The foundation is letting the businesses finish out their leases before construction begins, Macissa added. 

Macissa said the project was always designed to work closely with organizations outside the University.

“Our vision has always been to partner with the private sector,” Marissa said. 

Macissa said the project will give students more opportunities to work with professionals and gain research experience. 

“Whether it’s a student-led startup company or research with a U of M researcher or somebody on the private sector side that does similar work, [this] is an opportunity that we’re trying to cultivate and incubate with this project,” Macissa said. 

University Interim President Jeff Ettinger said in a statement to The Minnesota Daily the redevelopment plan will create more opportunities for students on the East Bank.

“The University is thrilled to partner with its foundation to ensure this space not only serves the needs of faculty and students but also the potential for the future health science campus as well as the wider needs of our industry and government partners,” Ettinger said in the statement.

The other two stages will extend the previous construction one block west to Oak Street and from West Avenue and Delaware Street north and south, according to MIX’s website. As part of those stages, the University will build a clinical campus east of Superblock and another project east of Huntington Bank Stadium. Stage two will begin construction in 2030 and finish in 2035. Stage three will begin construction in 2035 and finish in 2040.

Oluwatomisin Ajayi, a second-year student, said adding more student housing will hopefully lower housing costs for students. 

“I feel like it would definitely be sad to lose them, but in terms of getting new housing I think it would be better for us to have cheaper housing choices than restaurants,” Ajayi said. 

A bill in the Minnesota Legislature would increase the state minimum wage to $15, and increase every year until it reaches $20 in 2028. 

The current Minneapolis minimum wage of $15 will not see any immediate effects from the wage increase, but will in the following years. After the initial increase on January 1, 2025, the minimum wage will increase by $1.25 every year. 

Minimum wage advocates are pushing for the wage increase as the cost of living in Minnesota exceeds the state minimum wage of $10.85, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Bill author Sen. Zaynab Mohamed (DFL-Minneapolis) said the bill will help workers earn a livable wage. 

“Minnesota’s current minimum wage remains far below the living wage in every corner of Minnesota,” Mohamed said. “It has been far too long since we last raised the minimum wage, and I’m glad to hear many senators say $10.85 per hour is not enough in 2024.” 

Restaurants nearby have a different opinion on the minimum wage increase.

Katie Essler, district manager of Black Coffee and Waffle House, believes the minimum wage increase is good for employees but more needs to be done to protect small businesses.

“The idea of upping the minimum wage is a good idea, but I think a lot of other things would need to be put in place to help assist small businesses in getting to that point,” Essler said. 

If passed, the minimum wage increase will take effect in August, according to the bill.

National Federation of Independent Businesses State Director John Reynolds said he worries the increase in minimum wage will have a negative effect on small businesses in Minnesota. 

“Their biggest concern is when you increase the cost of employing workers, you make it harder to employ workers and harder to keep doors open,” Reynolds said. 

Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) said in a committee hearing on March 19 that workers need a livable wage but that the minimum wage increase in the bill goes too far. 

“We want people to earn a living wage at a rate that can help them experience the American dream,” Gruenhagen also said in the hearing. “One of the things you have to understand is this. When you grow government at a rate faster than population and private sector, you actually go backward.”

Reynolds said tax credits or subsidies are ways to protect minimum wage employees without hurting small businesses. 

“In turn, this is going to force a lot of them to cut back on employment or close their doors because they can’t afford to stay open,” Reynolds said, referring to a lack of action. “I think that that’s what state lawmakers need to strive for, is, ‘How do you help without hurting?’” 

Essler said her store will survive but hopes the legislature will consider other ways to support small businesses. 

“Larger corporations can afford to absorb it,” Essler said. “They ship so much of their labor overseas and they can ship it out to states with a lower minimum wage and it doesn’t really affect them. For businesses that are founded in the state of Minnesota and based entirely in the state of Minnesota, all of our labor and all of our product purchasing is happening here.”

Midwives received help on March 3 when the Minnesota Legislature passed and edited former laws to allow traditional midwives to obtain and administer drugs for pregnant women in hopes it may cut down on the Black maternal mortality rates.

Midwives are a form of health care provider for pregnant women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care. 

Since ancient times midwives have existed in some form, according to the International Confederation of Midwives. However, during the 1900s, midwives were ostracized by the medical community. In 1915, Dr. Joseph DeLee called midwives incompetent and suggested the use of sedatives and forceps on pregnant women. 

It was not until 1925 when Mary Breckenridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service that midwives could become professionally licensed. 

Representation among midwives 

Midwives play an important role in underrepresented communities, especially in advocating for Black women’s health, according to the Urban Institute. 

Black women account for 13% of the population, yet they represent 26% of the pregnancy mortality rate, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. 

One cause for the disproportionate representation is how Black women are perceived by the healthcare industry, according to the Associated Press. Some healthcare providers falsely believe Black women have a higher pain tolerance and recommend less pain relief help. 

Ciana Cullens, the program director for Nubian Moms, said Black midwives help give a more individualized experience for Black women. 

“I do think women place a value on seeing a provider where maybe this person can understand where I’m coming from and understand my culture, then you can build trust,” Cullens said. 

The bill clarification: Why it’s important

The need to change past laws came when pharmaceutical companies noticed the law did not clarify if traditional midwives could obtain and administer medication, according to bill author Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul).

Pappas, who worked with midwives when she had her three children at home, worked with judges and midwife lobby groups to push legislation forward when a provider said they would stop selling medication to midwives. 

The unanimous decision to pass the bill marks a step in the right direction, according to Pappas. 

“Midwives are considered essential partners in providing healthy care for women, and I’m not even feeling a stigma against people who choose to work with a traditional midwife at home,” Pappas said. “It was very different from when I, in the ’90s, was working.”

The new law ends the confusion by clarifying licensed traditional midwives can receive and administer medications, like those to prevent hemorrhages, according to Pappas

Hemorrhages are one of the leading causes of maternal deaths, according to  Rachel Voigt, a practicing midwife and the executive director at Roots Community Birthing Center. 

“Having access to those anti-hemorrhagic meds, Pitocin side attack, ensures safety for the people choosing to give birth in our centers or Homebrew settings, and for the providers choosing to be in those settings,” Voigt said. 

For Carrie Ann Terrell, division director of obstetrics, gynecology, midwifery and family planning at the University of Minnesota, the bill clarification comes at an important time for women’s health. With the recent IVF ruling in Alabama, women are afraid of unwanted pregnancies, according to Terrell. 

“What I see is women are afraid of becoming accidentally pregnant and women are afraid of having access to reproductive health care,” Terrell said. 

Voigt said with the law passed, midwives can get back to providing necessary medical care.

“I think it’ll help us do our job better because it was disruptive to the way we were doing our job for almost 20 years, and now it’s resolved,” Voigt said. “We can continue to just do our jobs.

Minneapolis City Council withdrew a ballot initiative that would have let residents vote directly for city ordinances on March 7, giving council members more time to research and connect with residents.

City Council member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) introduced the amendment, which was comparable to similar policies in cities like St. Paul, Bloomington and Brooklyn Park, in a March 4 meeting. 

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul passed a rent control policy initiative on the Nov. 7 ballot, though only St. Paul’s vote created a rent control policy. Minneapolis residents only voted to let the City Council create one.

Additionally, Minneapolis’ ballot initiative process only allows City Council members to put questions on the ballot. 

Jennifer Arnold, executive director of United Renters for Justice, said the ballot initiative helps renters directly influence the policy for rent prices. 

“It would still be helpful for us to have a citizen initiative and referendum around rent stabilization because we could move forward,” Arnold said. “Right now, the council has not agreed upon a policy to put on the ballot.”

Wonsley said in a statement to The Minnesota Daily she respects the need for council members to do more research before making a decision.

“I absolutely respect your desire to do your due diligence and I understand that the legislative timeline for charter amendments can make that challenging,” Wonsley said in the statement. “Over the next few weeks, I encourage you to bring forward legislative directives and other research, and I look forward to discussing those in committee.”

Council member Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8) said with the amount of people the council represents, it is vital they take their time on decisions.

“As it stands now, we are the deliberative body that makes these decisions as representatives of the 430,000 residents of the city of Minneapolis, so our decisions have immediate impact on our residents,” Jenkins said. 

Council member Latrisha Vetaw (Ward 4) said the timeframe of the vote did not give residents time to understand the amendment in its entirety.

“This isn’t something that we should be fighting the timeline on,” Vetaw said. “I’m not going to rush myself and I’m not going to rush the people of Ward 4 to get on board with something they don’t understand.”

Siya Shelar, an Undergraduate Student Government representative, said she is disappointed that the ballot initiative was moved back but hopes it will be brought back in the future.

“I think we’re giving them time,” Shelar said. “If it’s going to appear on the 2025 ballot, they’re going to have a whole year to look it over, talk to their constituents, any problems they have can be brought up with Robin.”