Wedge LIVE!

John is joined by Grammy-nominated transportation organizer José Antonio  Zayas Cabán (Our Streets Minneapolis) for a conversation about the push  for municipal sidewalk clearing. In a northern city with significant  annual snowfall every winter, how seriously do we take our commitment  that each of our neighbors should get where they're going with bodies  unbroken? We tal...

John is joined by Josh Martin (aka "the new new Larry Jacobs") for an introduction to another Minneapolis City Council election year. Why should you get off your butt and pay attention? Will we rehash the crime-themed election of 2021 or find a new theme? What are the big issues? Which wards are especially key or likely to be competitive? Please share this episode with your friends so they can get...

John is joined by biostats grad student Jonathan Kim for a conversation about rent control. Jonathan's claim to fame is that he spent 2022 serving on two very high profile volunteer work groups for the City of Minneapolis: one to come up with a recommendation on rent stabilization policy and the other on citywide redistricting. We talk about what swayed him towards the more aggressive version of r...

This episode features endless frustration about fake environmentalism weaponized against something that's unquestionably an environmental good, with guests Adam Wysopal and Alex Schieferdecker. Adam provides an update on the 2040 Plan lawsuit, initiated in 2018 by a group of rich southwest Minneapolis residents unhappy that their neighborhoods would no longer be reserved exclusively for single-fam...

John is joined by Wedge LIVE lifestyle producer Paula Chesley for a miniseries featuring the stories of real people, not just surviving, but thriving through a Minneapolis winter. For this episode recorded January 1, 2023, we're at Lake Harriet narrating people jumping into a hole in the ice as if it's the Rose Parade. We speak with first timers, longtime ice dippers, and skeptical observers who l...

It's the Holiday Special! John, Elissa, and PeggySue talk about what this time of year in Minneapolis means. We name the persons and/or concepts that Scrooged us the hardest in 2022. And offer thanks to the people who "Saved Christmas" - which is a necessary trope of any holiday special. Elissa has tips for how you can do end of year self reflection and 2023 goal-setting in a positive way, without...

In 2021, Minneapolis voters approved a ballot question giving the go-ahead for a rent control ordinance. In 2022, the City Council and Mayor Frey formed a Rent Stabilization Work Group to make policy recommendations. Those meetings began in September and wrapped up last week. A majority of the work group (14 of 25) voted for a policy recommendation that, if placed on the ballot and approved by vot...

It's our not-quite monthly appointment with Dr. Melody Hoffmann, PhD. Melody starts us off with the farmers market report. We talk about the massive fire that destroyed a 25-unit, 100 year old apartment building at 24th and Lyndale in the Wedge -- and whether city hall failed to properly intervene to stop a public safety threat that neighbors had been predicting for months. We talk about a failed...

John is joined by Abigail Cerra for a conversation about a proposal for a  new police oversight commission in Minneapolis. Cerra is the former  chair of the Police Conduct Oversight Commission, a body that hasn't met  for most of 2022 due to the failure of the mayor and city council to  appoint new members. We talk about the draft creating the new commission  and its sever...

John is joined by Logan Carroll (a recent third place finisher for a prestigious journalism award) for a conversation about what our otherwise vibrant local news scene is lacking. He says we're missing stories that take the long view, that offer depth and accountability. He wants journalism that creates a greater understanding of what's happening at city hall. We look at Logan's 6 month analysis o...

John is joined by an excessively large panel of pundits to analyze Tuesday's election results, the Democratic wave across Minnesota, Mary Moriarty's historic and crushing victory in the race to become Hennepin County's top prosecutor - and what it might mean for Minneapolis in 2023 and beyond. On the panel: Jason Garcia, Taylor Dahlin, Dianna E. Anderson, and Josh Martin at the results desk. You w...

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; w...

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; w...

This week on the Wedge LIVE podcast, John is joined by candidates for Minneapolis School Board At-Large: Collin Beachy, KerryJo Felder, and Sonya Emerick (We weren't successful in our attempts to contact candidate Lisa Skjefte). We talk about why they want this low pay/high stress job; the candidates' leadership experience; what they're looking for when they hire the next schools superintendent; w...

After getting laid-off from her job as a college professor during the great recession a decade ago, a Minneapolis woman with a fear of bikes and strangers, takes a 420-day bike trip around the perimeter of the country with her spouse, accepting invitations to stay in the homes of strangers along the way. I met Anne Winkler-Morey at Open Streets on Franklin Avenue several weeks ago and was taken by...

John is joined by Jason Garcia and Josh Martin for a reaction to the results of the 2022 Minneapolis primary election. Though this episode premieres two days after election day, Josh announces results as if in real time, accompanied by breaking news music. We ponder the meaning of Rep. Ilhan Omar's surprisingly small margin of victory; Mary Moriarty's comfortable first place finish in the Hennepin...

John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley begin by storming the main beach at Lake Nokomis doing "person on the beach" interviews. Then we're joined by local artist and activist Patrick Scully and his friend Wendy Morris for a conversation about a different beach: Twin Lake's hidden beach. For decades it's been unofficially a place where it's ok to swim naked -- until the police show up. Patrick tel...

John is joined by Melody Hoffmann from https://SouthwestVoices.news, who is finally off podcast probation, for our regular "Monthly with Melody" conversation. Topics include: a a very brief farmers market update from an unprepared Melody; Mayor Frey's choice for Community Safety Commissioner, Cedric Alexander; the burgeoning movement against 5G towers in the Kingfield neighborhood; and we dissect...

John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley climb down a 90-year-old staircase to visit Longfellow Beach, an unsanctioned beach on the Mississippi River. Experts will advise you not to swim in it. It's full of agricultural runoff and bacteria -- and the currents might carry you off. Paula gets out the pH test strips to see how the river water compares to kimchi, a substance that is apparently safer to...

The first in our Beachcast series of episodes. John and co-host/producer Paula Chesley are joined by Minneapolis Parks Commissioner Tom Olsen at his favorite beach: Hidden Beach on Cedar Lake. We discuss planned  improvements (including an amphitheater) and past changes to Hidden Beach -- and beach politics in the Kenwood neighborhood. We talk about  park issues, including bathroom avail...

What if instead of a dog grooming station or a cable TV subscription, your landlord or condo association provided you with free transportation? John's guest is Molly Burns-Hansen from Move Minnesota, who is seeking out tenants, landlords, condo associations, and neighborhood groups in order to sign buildings up for Metro Transit's residential transit pass program. It's just $14 per month to provid...

Following the City of Minneapolis' recent loss in Hennepin County District Court, John is joined by Matthew Melewski -- a lawyer with experience in Minnesota land use and environmental law -- for a conversation about the ongoing four year legal battle over the Minneapolis 2040 Plan. We review the arguments, the law, the fake environmentalists behind this lawsuit, and anticipate the next 18 months...

On the series finale of the Pedal Pod: There's an empty seat in the pod-mobile. John faces the prospect of podcasting without a partner in conversation. Increasingly desperate, he picks up Mike Norton, logistics tycoon and Lakewood cemetery tour guide. As we pedal up and down Lyndale Avenue, we talk about the disgruntled reaction to Mike taking on his new role as vice chair of the Minneapolis DFL,...

"Pedal-Powered Podcast Week" does something we never intended: stretch into a second and final week (we promise). That's what happens when you record six hours of conversations at Open Streets on Lyndale Avenue. Today's guest is Commissioner Marion Green, who represents district 3 (which includes the Wedge, Southwest Minneapolis, Downtown, and St. Louis Park) on the Hennepin County Board. Some of...

The pedal-pod rolls on. Before we have a chance to really get to know our first guest Brian Mitchell (@BrianMitchL), John decides he's found a better guest in J.D. Duggan (@JDugganMN). J.D. is a journalist with Finance & Commerce who bears a striking resemblance to Bill Lindeke. We talk about the state of local journalism, why it seems that the only jobs remaining are with local business magaz...