Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 2:11 pm
A select few got to see the reality of a promise made to lawmakers at the Capitol many years ago. The promise was to keep one of the most coveted pieces of real estate in public hands: Lake Minnetonka's Big Island. The public park which Minnesotans once flocked to had been sold to private developers, but the last-minute action of a few politicians saved it for the public.
The governor's Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Clark Dyrud stood on the old steps of the once grand entrance to the old veterans' park to announce the official re-opening of the park to the public. Veterans were on hand along with Sen. Gen Olson, former Rep. Barb Sykora, Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein and representatives for Congressman Jim Ramstad.
It was the first time in nearly a century that the historic boat the Minnehaha made the trip back to Big Island. It represents something little at the Capitol that produced big results. We included the history of the park and the boat in our series Almanac: Hands-On History, a clip of that can be seen on the August 18, 2006 episode of Almanac. It was nice to experience a historic moment and see the tangible fulfillment of a promise made to the legislature.
A select few got to see the reality of a promise made to lawmakers at the Capitol many years ago. The promise was to keep one of the most coveted pieces of real estate in public hands: Lake Minnetonka's Big Island.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007 - 4:04 pm
Gov. Pawlenty just announced the state is going to try to acquire the first new major state park in nearly 30 years. The site is Lake Vermilion, which the governor says National Geographic once named one of the most beautiful lakes in the nation. U.S. Steel had already been in years of negotiations with private developers to turn their mine into as many as 150 lakeshore homes. If the state can swing the deal and raise tens of millions of dollars, it would have 5 miles of lakeshore right next to the Soudan Mine State Park, which would total 10 total miles of undeveloped adjacent lakeshore. The governor said with mom-and-pop resorts going extinct, giving every Minnesotan a chance to go up North to the lake is more valuable than ever. If all goes as planned a new state park could be up and running in three years. But it's far from a done deal. Only one lawmaker was there and that was a fellow Republican, even though the governor said he had been talking to lawmakers from the area like Sen. Bakk and Rep. Dill. It might have been smart to include them in the press conference too, not just a metro-Republican (Sen. Gen Olson). Another stumbling block officials admitted could be the lack of environmental and safety assessments. The state does not know what it's getting into with this old steel plant.
Gov. Pawlenty just announced the state is going to try to acquire the first new major state park in nearly 30 years. The site is Lake Vermilion, which the governor says National Geographic once named one of the most beautiful lakes in the nation.
Take a look inside the education conference committee with Chair Mindy Greiling and Sen. Gen Olson.
Senate committee approves bill to start school before Labor Day, a ten-cent per-drink liquor tax is introduced, the full Senate votes to nearly double its per diem payments, environmentalists rally at the Capitol.
