By: Benjamin Farniok

State legislation that would place new insurance requirements on Uber and other ride-sharing services is facing fierce opposition from advocates and company leaders.

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By: Allison Kronberg

University of Minnesota alumnus Kevin Lines made the decision to work in conservation during a seventh grade field trip to help declining deer populations in his hometown of Milaca, Minn.

But hunting made him care about the animals in the first place — Lines hunted with his father when he was young, and he now hunts with his own son.

“It’s kind of in our blood,” Lines said.

Something else in Lines’ blood, though, took him away from his passion and the career he loved before he was ready to leave it.

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Minneapolis Public Schools announced last Monday that it is in the process of dismissing about 160 district employees. The layoffs, up from the previous estimate of 120, include both part-time and full-time administrative workers from the district’s central office.

The goal is to allocate about $11.6 million back into the schools themselves. This money will support initiatives such as reducing class sizes and boosting special education programs. The district also has a goal to hire about 350 new teachers next fall.

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By: Jared Rogers-Martin

With the seasons changing, birds and other migratory animals slowly return to their luscious lakefront properties in Minneapolis. However, one type of animal is demonstrating its choice not to return to our city. That animal is the human child enrolled in the Minneapolis School District.

In the last five years, more than 17,000 children have left the city’s school district to enroll in suburban schools and other charter schools. Schools in Columbia Heights opened their doors to 570 Minneapolis students last year, and Robbinsdale accepted another 1,000.

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The Associated Press on Wednesday released an investigative report detailing instances of slavery in the global fishing industry, perpetuated primarily in countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar.

The AP tracked the slavery-tainted supply of seafood and found that major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Sysco had incorporated it into their supply-chain systems.

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By: Camille Galles

Widely recognized to be a diverse and Democratic city, Minneapolis has the opportunity to set a precedent for a more inclusive liberal agenda. City officials and all Democrats can accomplish this by reaching out to an unlikely ally — religious groups.

Religion is often associated with the right side of the political spectrum, and many religious groups and leaders mobilize around hot-button conservative issues. For example, conservative religious groups were some of the largest supporters of Minnesota’s proposed same-sex marriage ban in 2012.

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By: Ethan Nelson

If there’s a field that hasn’t suffered a dip in job openings since the recession, it’s agriculture.

As the number of available positions in the field increase, the number of those interested in working in it is decreasing. To combat this continuing shortage, the University of Minnesota is working to clarify what kinds of positions are available to agriculture majors, while state legislators are drafting a bill that would allocate funding to promote awareness of the field.

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By: Charlie Bartlett

Come summer, the College of Liberal Arts will have a revamped leadership team.

Two new associate deans will begin representing the two corridors of CLA: social sciences, and arts and humanities. Each associate dean will serve as the gateway between the college’s administration and individual departments housed within their respective corridors. School leaders hope the change will break down communication barriers currently lingering between the two.

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Murals have finally returned to the second-floor student cultural centers in Coffman Union.

While this may seem like an insignificant development, it’s one of great importance to the groups who felt demoralized when the artwork was taken down in favor of white walls during remodeling.

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Several highly publicized cases of child abuse and death in Minnesota during the last year have prompted a review of current child protection laws. A Task Force on the Protection of Children, established by Gov. Mark Dayton in September 2014, found several flaws in the current system of statutes on child protection.

Based on its findings, the task force made a series of initial recommendations  in December for improving child protection laws.

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