‘Cover Stories’ Archives
High Voltage Lines Public Meeting Feb. 10 “Draft” Environmental Impact Statement is Released
by Midtown Greenway Coalition The Minnesota Department of Commerce released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on January 8, 2010 regarding Xcel Energy”'s proposed high voltage transmission lines and two new substations along the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. The 463-page document will inform proceedings by an Administrative Law Judge and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regarding a route permit for the transmission lines. The Midtown Greenway Coalition is pleased that an underground route, as compared to an overhead route on 70 to 115-foot-tall towers, was identified as a potential mitigation measure for impacts related to land use, structures, safety and health, recreation and tourism, aesthetics, utilities systems, and transportation. On the other hand, these potential mitigation strategies are not stated in the form of recommendations and many steps remain before a route is determined. Furthermore, a route now under consideration is underneath [...]
Xcel Energy Letter to South Minneapolis State to Hold Public Hearing on Hiawatha Project
By Betty Mirzayi, Hiawatha Project Manager The Hiawatha Project is entering another regulatory phase and, once again, we are asking you to get involved. Recently you and your neighbors received a postcard about upcoming meetings involving this project. We encourage you to participate and offer your input on this very important investment in your community”'s electric infrastructure. On Wednesday, February 10, the Office of Energy Security will hold a public meeting and comment session on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The statement can be viewed at the following Web site: For information about the public meeting and how you can submit your comments in writing visit. The need for the Hiawatha Project is driven by increases in population, increased use of consumer electronics and other electrical devices, and economic growth in south Minneapolis. The existing infrastructure that serves these homes and businesses is not adequate to meet the current and [...]
The Alley is Bound for the Future
Bound for the Future has two meanings for the Alley Newspaper in 2010: First, it means that the first 30 years of The Alley Newspaper”'s issues are now reprinted on good quality book paper instead of lower quality newsprint paper, and the over 4,000 pages are bound into two sets of 13 hardcover volumes. One set is available to the public at the Central Library downtown on Hennepin Avenue and the other is available at the Franklin Library on Franklin Avenue. This making of The Alley”'s into hardcover volumes was initiated by the Hennepin County Library. Alley Communications, the nonprofit that produces The Alley Newspaper, began raising money to have another set at the Franklin Library. An Alley volunteer spent a couple of hundred hours compiling a complete set for the Library to use for reprinting. Subsequent to the printing completion, the Library was able to use some left-over funds to pay for the Franklin Library set. This allowed The Alley to redirect the funds donated [...]
