Wedge LIVE!

We're at the next step of 2040 Plan implementation in Minneapolis. This time it's not about the scary things like density and building height. At the risk of oversimplifying, this isn't about how big you can build a given property, but about what that property is used for. Is this neighborhood solely residential? Are commercial uses allowed? If yes, what kind? Dry cleaning? Child care? How many sq...

John is joined by former TV weatherman Aaron Shaffer (@AShafferWX) for a conversation about the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's long term plan for the area around Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles (Cedar-Isles). We talk bathroom politics; rain gardens and water quality; scarce pedestrian space; ADA accessibility; the fate of the  trails through the wooded northeast corner of Cedar Lake...

With zero degree weather having cancelled our plans for winter sports, John and lifestyle producer Paula Chesley head indoors to spend time with award winning cats at the Saintly City Cat Club's 45th Annual Championship & Household Pet Cat Show. We hear the stories of cat show participants from all over the country, visit with a few vendors, Paula becomes notorious on the convention hall for s...

It's an election year in Minneapolis. All 13 wards are voting for who  will represent them on the City Council. With incumbent Andrew Johnson  leaving office, there's an open seat in Ward 12. I had conversations  with three of the candidates vying to replace him: Aurin Chowdhury,  Jerome T. Evans, and Luther Ranheim. We talked about public safety,  police accountability, h...

It's an election year in Minneapolis. All 13 wards are voting for who  will represent them on the City Council. With incumbent Andrew Johnson  leaving office, there's an open seat in Ward 12. I had conversations  with three of the candidates vying to replace him: Aurin Chowdhury,  Jerome T. Evans, and Luther Ranheim. We talked about public safety,  police accountability, h...

It's an election year in Minneapolis. All 13 wards are voting for who  will represent them on the City Council. With incumbent Andrew Johnson  leaving office, there's an open seat in Ward 12. I had conversations with three of the candidates vying to replace him: Aurin Chowdhury,  Jerome T. Evans, and Luther Ranheim. We talked about public safety,  police accountability, housing...

John is joined by Wedge LIVE lifestyle producer Paula Chesley for a special miniseries featuring the stories of real people, not just surviving, but thriving through a Minneapolis winter. This time we're featuring the artists and participants in the Art Shanty Projects. Music, meditation, climate awareness, winter fashion, froga (frozen yoga), bathwater ice sculpting -- this episode has something...

With city councils in both Minneapolis and St. Paul on the ballot in  2023, John has a conversation with St. Paul Councilmember Mitra Jalali  about the issues that will define this election year. What is the  conversation we should be having on public safety? What accounts for the  different approach and results in the Twin Cities when it comes to  homeless encampments? Ar...

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...