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| |  | The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) in downtown Minneapolis. (Bruce Bispig/Star Tribune via Getty Images) |
| Trash debate on fire | Last week, three activists pushing to close the Hennepin County trash incinerator ended their 12-day hunger strike. Advocates say air pollution released by the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) is a health hazard, especially in an area with above average rates of asthma. The strike ended without any public commitments from officials, but activists say the strike successfully brought attention to the issue. [MPR News] | - The issue: Though activists counted conversations with lawmakers and Minneapolis officials as a win, their main struggle is with the Hennepin County commissioners. The county has agreed to close the HERC sometime between 2028 and 2040, but advocates want a firm date – which commissioners have been reluctant to set. The HERC burns about half of the county’s trash, which commissioners worry could go to landfills if they don’t have alternatives ready yet. But advocates insist every day the incinerator burns is another day neighbors are exposed to air pollution. [Sahan Journal / 🎧 City Cast Twin Cities]
- The fight: The HERC debate has been highly contentious, with writers trading blows over the science behind the health risks in the Star Tribune’s opinion pages. Above all, officials will need to contend with the optics: that neighbors, many who are people of color, see the big trash-burning machine as a symbol of environmental injustice.
- Interesting: One of the hunger strikers Nazir Khan said a whistleblower previously reported “severe” worker injuries at the HERC to the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, but they haven’t been able to get in touch with any more employees there. [Mother Jones]
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|  | Pagliacci, 2024 © Brent Delanoy for The Glimmerglass Festival |
| | For a traveling theater troupe, painted smiles and colorful costumes belie infidelity and betrayal. The façade is shattered when a hidden affair is revealed and a night of theater gives way to jealousy, suspicion, and ultimately violence. As the line between performance and reality blurs and the drama onstage begins to mirror the turmoil offstage, Pagliacci begs the question—does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? | | Tickets at MNOPERA.ORG. |
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| What the Cities Are Talking About |
| Renter protections: The Minneapolis City Council is looking to protect immigrant renters with two new ordinances. The council is prohibiting landlords from asking both current renters and applicants about immigration status, and temporarily extending the pre-eviction notice window from 30 days to 45. [Sahan Journal] | | MPD missteps: An audit of how the Minneapolis Police Department handled a homicide case is raising red flags. Days before her death, Allison Lussier reported to police that she was experiencing domestic abuse. Later, Chief Brian O’Hara said of Lussier: “Someone dead and decomposed with needles everywhere is not a sign that a crime occurred.” The audit recommends O’Hara apologize to Lussier’s family for the remarks. [Spokesman-Recorder / MPR News] | | Libraries are for lovers: Five couples said “I do” at the Minneapolis Central Library over the weekend. They exchanged vows in front of an arch made of books, danced to music from the library’s collection, and guests went home with a gift bag. The special weddings were held in celebration of National Library Week. [Star Tribune] | |  | Agents draw their guns after loud bangs were heard during the White House Correspondents' dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2026. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images) |
| Local angle: Rep.Tom Emmer and Mayor Jacob Frey were at the White House correspondents’ dinner over the weekend when a shooter opened fire. Both are unharmed. Independent journalist Georgia Fort was also in attendance; Fort planned to walk out during the president’s speech in protest, but that plan was stymied by the shooting. [Star Tribune / MPR News] | | Smelly factory: Northside neighbors are living with tar-like smells emanating from the Owens Corning shingle factory. The factory has been around for 80 years, and Minneapolis has received 22 complaints about the factory’s smell since 2024. Residents are organizing to get more regulatory attention. [Sahan Journal] |
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| | Tuesday, Apr 28 | | | Wednesday, Apr 29 | | | | |
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| | | French electroacoustic composer Félicia Atkinson weaves dreamy soundscapes from field recordings and poetry into music stirring quiet revelation. Opening is beloved Twin Cities bassist Liz Draper, reinvigorating her celebrated solo album Meno on upright bass. An evening that sounds like spring's exhale. Reserve your contemplative spot — only at Berlin. |
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| Are you ready for this list of superstars? Thank you to our newest Neighbors: John H., Abraham W., Zach D., Christine K., Lucas M., Julia B., Meg M., Lisa H., Lindsey R., Leslie J., Richard B., Antonio B., and Katrina R. | | Becoming a member is a no-brainer, but today’s crossword might make you work a little. All the answers share a name with a Minnesota lake. Good luck! |
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