Reading the Highland Villager #42 (August 3rd - 17th Edition)

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. That's why I'm reading the Highland Villager so that you don't have to. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free.]

Total # of articles about sidewalks: 11
Total # of articles about sidewalks written by Jane McClure: 9


Headline: Mannillo challenges endorsed Tolbert in Ward 3; Candidate takes issue with conduct of DFL endorsing convention
Reporter: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: The runner-up for the DFL endorsement in Ward 3's (Highland Park's) city council race is going to stay in the race. Article includes list of alleged convention shenanigans [all of which are par for the course... DFL endorsement conventions are political equivalent of a trained cat circus. -Ed.]

Headline: City's seemingly yearly exercise in fiscal belt-tightening begins; State's unexpected $12 million cut in LGA has St. Paul scrambling for more cost savings
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The recent budget agreement cut $12M from St Paul's Local Government Aid money. The city has a hiring freeze in place. Article includes no other details. Article includes the fact that “next year could be worse.”

Headline: Inpatient facility, five single-family lots proposed for Bush site
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: People in the Summit Hill area are nervous about how a new clinic for people with eating disorders will impact parking in the neighborhood. [In other news, mosquitoes bite your legs more often at dusk. -Ed.] An old empty building is being turned into the latest Emily Program clinic at the corner of Osceola and Grotto [in a fancy fancy part of town]. Includes anonymous quote from one neighbor woman about the increased use of the back alley: “steam is coming out of my ears.”

Headline: Jefferson Ave. traffic diverter may come to a vote Aug. 17 [Note the use of the noun 'traffic diverter' in place of the noun 'bike boulevard'.]
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The latest in the [interminable, frustrating, asinine, petty, petulant, Neanderthal] debate over the Jefferson Bike Boulevard. The [see previous list] Mac-Groveland Community Council is going to make a recommendation [they recently abstained from taking a side on the issue, if my Pioneer Press headline was correct]. The issue of whether or not to build traffic medians [like the ones along the Riverlake Greenway on 40th over in Minneapolis, which somehow got built without a great deal of hair-pulling and Soucheray-inspired car politics hystrionics] will come to a vote this month in all likelihood before the City Council. [The issue poses a political pickle for the Council, as it challenges the typical turf-centric stance that the Council likes to adopt, whereby each Council Member is allowed to effectively 'veto' projects in his or her own ward. Because outgoing District 3 CM Pat Harris does not approve of the pedestrian median, will the rest of the Council go against his wishes? Will the political lobby of the transportation non-profits such as TLC be able to outweigh the voices of Harris, poopular car columnist Soucheray, and assorted NIMBY neighbors? Stay tuned! Same time, same channel. -Ed.] Article includes tedious detailed history of Cleveland Bike Boulevard issue, including the [infamous farcical] “test phase.”

Headline: Wild Onion's suit against city for patio license moved to federal court
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The owners of the [terrible] Grand Avenue bar / club Wild Onion have sued the City of St. Paul over the allegedly unfair enforcement policies over liquor licenses. The $50K suit is now in federal court. Article includes tedious detailed history of Wild Onion's patio liquor license issue, including the [infamous farcical] 90% consent petition requirement.

Headline: Council awards STAR funds for bike repair shop, other local
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: A bike shop at Lexington and Hamline called “Youth Express” got a $8,500 grant for renovation from the city. Because of the money a bike mechanic will get a full-time job. Other things also got grants, including two churches and a handicapped-accessible apartment building. Some people did not get grants.

Headline: Public lines up on both sides of House of Hope fence issue
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: A garden with a rabbit-proof fence built by a [large] Summit Avenue church is being challenged by ex-members of the Heritage Preservation Commission. Fence qualities found particularly egregious include its size, its “cedar and galvanized steel composition.” Article includes quote from CM Carter III stating that he will not make the church tear down the fence. [I do hope that this issue becomes a perennial evergreen Highland Villager bit, extending this debate for many many years into the future. -Ed.]

Headline: Editorial: What would Jefferson Say?
Reporter: Michael Mischke

Short short version: [Typically embittered] editorial from Publisher Mischke on how the bike boulevard, and the larger “so-called Bike Walk Twin Cities initiative” are destroying America, undermining the “values of self-sufficiency, self-government, and individual responsibility” and likely have [Thomas] “Jefferson rolling in his grave in Monticello.” Article includes [odd] claim that Publisher Mischke doesn't “have a dog in the fight over the addition of the traffic diverter.” [Article is accompanied by a rather neutral editorial cartoon featuring a bicycle and a debate.]

Headline: Federation begins renovating former brewery offices, rathskeller
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: [After all these years] the old Schmidt Brewery is being restored by the West 7th/Fort Road Federation. It will be ready by next year. Includes admittance that the air inside the rathskeller was “dank.”

Headline: Despite service cuts, taxes are expected to rise in Ramsey County
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: See above headline, earlier story on LGA.

Headline: With cleanup under way, city eyes 2012 reopening of Jimmy Lee fields
Reporter: Jane McClure

Short short version: The land for the proposed ball fields near the Jimmy Lee rec center is being cleaned up. The fields will be open by next year.