Football teams across the East Metro will play Friday for a chance to reach the state tournament. Here are our thoughts and predictions on each game.

Class 6A, Round 2

Moorhead (5-4) at Woodbury (7-2), 7 p.m.

Woodbury is aiming for its first state tournament trip since 2021. It’ll have to win a rematch against a Spuds team that’s whole again with the return of star quarterback Jett Feeney. He was injured in the Week 2 matchup between the two teams, which Moorhead hung on to win 34-27, and didn’t return to action until the final week of the regular season.

The Royals must find a way to at least slow Moorhead’s passing attack, while scoring a healthy amount themselves.

Our pick: Moorhead 35, Woodbury 28

East Ridge (5-4) at Maple Grove (9-0), 7 p.m.

Credit to East Ridge quarterback Cedric Tomes, a star basketball player who made the effort to work his way back from a finger injury to finish out his senior football season.

The Raptors are always a tough postseason out, but there’s little to suggest the Crimson can be had. The defending champs have obliterated everything in sight all season.

Our pick: Maple Grove 34, East Ridge 19

Shakopee (6-3) at Centennial (8-1), 7 p.m.

One of the more intriguing matchups Friday. Centennial has dominated the battle up front all season. Can the same be true against the tough Sabers?

Our pick: Centennial 22, Shakopee 14

St. Michael-Albertville (4-5) at Rosemount (8-1), 7 p.m.

Our pick: Rosemount has officially flipped its record from a season ago, going from 1-8 to now 8-1. But Round 2 is never the goal for the Irish, especially not with a defense surrendering just 10 points per game.

Our pick: Rosemount 21, St. Michael-Albertville 10

Mounds View (5-4) at Lakeville South (7-2), 7 p.m.

A rematch of a season-opening matchup in which the Cougars ran all over Mounds View. That could again be the case Friday, but Mounds View has found more offense in recent weeks thanks to a reliance on the arm of quarterback Beckham Wheeler.

Can the Mustangs keep pace?

Our pick: Lakeville South 27, Mounds View 17

Class 5A., Section 3 final

Two Rivers (5-4) at St. Thomas Academy (9-0), 6 p.m.

Our pick: Two Rivers avenged its heartbreak in last year’s section semifinals by breaking through this fall. Its reward is a date with perhaps the best team in Class 5A. The Cadets are again a major threat to win the state title that’s been so elusive for the program. They figure to come out ready to perform at every step along the way.

Our pick: St. Thomas Academy 45, Two Rivers 17

Class 5A, Section 4 final

Cretin-Derham Hall (6-3) at Mahtomedi (8-1), 7 p.m.

These two teams played a thriller just three weeks ago, with a Cretin-Derham Hall unsuccessful 2-point attempt late serving as the difference in a one-point Zephyrs win. Expect something similar Friday.

Our pick: Cretin-Derham Hall 27, Mahtomedi 20

Class 5A, Section 6 final

Buffalo (6-3) at Spring Lake Park (9-0), 7 p.m.

Spring Lake Park ran for 252 yards against Buffalo in a 21-7 victory a few weeks back. That’s what the Panthers have done to all comers this fall.

It’s difficult to foresee a different result this time around.

Our pick: Spring Lake Park 17, Buffalo 10

Class 4A, Section 3 final

South St. Paul (8-1) at Hill-Murray (8-1), 6 p.m.

Hill-Murray comfortably won the regular-season meeting between these two teams, but South St. Paul started that night off on the wrong foot with a turnover.

The Packers have a veteran squad who will be prepared to meet the moment, though it’s the Pioneers who have more experience in this spot in recent years as a program.

Our pick: Hill-Murray 27, South St. Paul 22

Class 3A, Section 4 final

St. Croix Lutheran (10-0) at Minneapolis North (9-0), 6 p.m.

Immovable object, meet unstoppable force. Two teams that have blitzed everyone in their paths all fall finally meet with everything on the line.

The Crusaders are likely going to have to hit a few plays in the pass game in order to keep pace.

Our pick: Minneapolis North 34, St. Croix Lutheran 20

Wisconsin Level-2 playoff games

La Crosse Central (7-3) at River Falls (9-1), 7 p.m.

Our pick: River Falls 42, La Crosse Central 21

Platteville (6-4) at Baldwin-Woodville (10-0), 7 p.m.

Our pick: Baldwin-Woodville 30, Platteville 13

Hudson (8-2) at DePere (6-4), 7 p.m.

Our pick: Hudson 24, DePere 21

Wauwatosa East (6-4) at Rice Lake (9-1), 7 p.m.

Our pick: Rice Lake 38, Wauwatosa East 14

Oshkosh North (9-1) at New Richmond (8-2), 6 p.m.

Our pick: New Richmond 17, Oshkosh North 7

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Los concejales afirman que la legislación tiene como objetivo ayudar a la ciudad a responder mejor a las necesidades de los casi 34.000 migrantes que aún se encuentran en su sistema de acogida. “Sinceramente, no hay excusa”, afirmó la concejal Alexa Avilés, que preside el comité de Inmigración del Concejo Municipal. “Tenemos una población muy numerosa a la que atender, y no ha desaparecido. Sigue aquí”.

Una mujer y su hija en uno de los refugios para familias de la ciudad a principios del año pasado. En los últimos meses, la ciudad ha cerrado la mayoría de esas instalaciones, ya que el número de personas llegando ha disminuido. (Ado Talwar/City Limits)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 29 de octubre. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

Según una ley local aprobada el año pasado, la ciudad debía haber encuestado a inmigrantes en el sistema de refugios sobre sus necesidades en materia de desarrollo laboral y salud, y compartir los resultados en un informe para el Concejo Municipal antes del 30 de septiembre.

Sin embargo, casi un mes después, la administración de Eric Adams aún no ha presentado estos resultados y tampoco ha comenzado a realizar las encuestas, según ha descubierto City Limits.

“El desarrollo de estudios de esta magnitud requiere tiempo y una coordinación deliberada entre múltiples organismos municipales para garantizar que la encuesta sea precisa, se distribuya de forma rigurosa y arroje los resultados necesarios y fiables que se necesitan”, afirmó un portavoz del Departamento de Salud e Higiene Mental de la Ciudad de Nueva York (DOHMH por sus siglas en inglés), uno de los dos organismos municipales encargados de realizar las encuestas.

Los concejales y los defensores de los inmigrantes criticaron el retraso, alegando que la legislación tiene por objeto ayudar a la ciudad a responder mejor a las necesidades de los migrantes que están bajo su cuidado. Aunque el número de recién llegados lleva meses disminuyendo, todavía hay cerca de 34.000 personas en el sistema de refugios, la mayoría de ellas familias con niños.

“[Estoy] increíblemente frustrada por todo esto. Sinceramente, no hay excusa alguna, salvo la falta de interés en cumplir con los mandatos de la ley”, afirmó la concejala Alexa Avilés, presidenta del comité de inmigración del Concejo Municipal. “Tenemos una población muy numerosa a la que atender, y no ha desaparecido. Sigue aquí”.

Con la ley del año pasado se encargó a dos agencias municipales realizar encuestas: el Departamento de Salud es responsable de encuestar a los migrantes sobre sus necesidades de salud a largo plazo, sus enfermedades crónicas y su acceso a la atención médica como parte de la Ley Local 74.

La Oficina de Desarrollo del Talento y la Fuerza Laboral del Alcalde, creada por la administración de Eric Adams en 2022 con una orden ejecutiva, se encarga de estudiar sus oportunidades económicas y los obstáculos para el desarrollo de la fuerza laboral en virtud de la Ley Local 73.

Las encuestas deberían haberse entregado al personal de los refugios hace 11 meses, en noviembre de 2024, según la ley local, mientras que los resultados debían haberse facilitado al comisionado de estas agencias a más tardar el 31 de mayo de 2025.

“Estamos trabajando diligentemente con nuestras agencias asociadas y nos complace informar que la encuesta estará disponible en las próximas semanas”, dijo un portavoz del DOHMH, aunque no proporcionó una fecha exacta ni otros detalles.

“Además del tiempo, los proyectos de esta magnitud requieren una reflexión cuidadosa sobre la comunidad a la que intentamos llegar y cómo podemos hacerlo sin aumentar el miedo y la preocupación que ya puedan estar experimentando”, dijo el portavoz. 

En los últimos meses, los agentes federales han aumentado las detenciones como parte de la campaña de represión migratoria que lleva a cabo la administración Trump, incluso en los tribunales de la ciudad de Nueva York y en las calles. Recientemente, se detuvo a varias personas frente al Row Hotel, un refugio de emergencia para migrantes gestionado por la ciudad, y a vendedores ambulantes en una concurrida calle de Chinatown.

Al mismo tiempo, la ciudad ha ido cerrando su red de refugios de emergencia para migrantes, ya que cada vez llegan menos personas al sistema. La mayoría de las familias migrantes se alojan ahora en refugios tradicionales gestionados por el Departamento de Servicios para Personas sin Hogar.

“La administración municipal lleva inexplicablemente casi un año de retraso en la elaboración y distribución de estas encuestas entre los inmigrantes más recientes de la ciudad, que en su mayoría ya han abandonado los refugios”, afirmó un portavoz del Concejo Municipal en un comunicado. “Este fracaso supone una oportunidad perdida para aprender de la última ola migratoria en la ciudad de Nueva York”.

La realización de las encuestas no es la única ley que la administración Adams ha retrasado: todavía no se ha aplicado otra ley que permite a los ciudadanos denunciar las malas condiciones de los apartamentos vacíos de su edificio. La alcaldía también se ha negado a aplicar un paquete de leyes que amplían el programa municipal de vales de alquiler, una disputa que ahora se está dirimiendo en los tribunales.

“La incapacidad de la ciudad para completar una encuesta entre el ahora reducido número de solicitantes de asilo que permanecen en nuestro sistema de refugios pone de manifiesto el fracaso de esta administración a la hora de dar prioridad a las necesidades de nuestras poblaciones más vulnerables”, afirmó Carlos Arnao, de la Coalición de Inmigración de Nueva York, en una declaración a City Limits. “Instamos al alcalde Adams a que tome medidas proactivas para cumplir con la ley durante los meses que le quedan de mandato”.

Para ponerse en contacto con el reportero de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post Alcaldía incumple plazo para cumplir con ley del Concejo que exige encuestar a inmigrantes en refugios appeared first on City Limits.

LW’s Bierstube in Inver Grove Heights will close today, Oct. 30, for good after 42 years of serving the community.

The owners sold the business, and another restaurant will take its place. No word yet on what that will be. But Bierstube’s other locations in Oakdale, Hastings and Red Wing will remain open.

“We are very sad — the Inver Grove Heights community and customers have been so loyal and supportive over all these years,” said owner Jodi Yanz, whose father-in-law opened the restaurant.

LW’s Bierstube: 6434 E. Cahill Ave., Inver Grove Heights; 651-451-8073; thebierstubes.com

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Eric Adams is considering appointing new members to the Rent Guidelines Board before his term expires, which could make it harder for frontrunner Zohran Mamdani to fulfill his promise to freeze rent for the city’s 2 million stabilized tenants. If Adams makes those appointments, it would leave the board split, sources say.

The last Rent Guidelines Board vote, pictured here in June, where members voter to increased rents for stabilized apartments by 3 percent. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s promise to “freeze the rent” for the city’s 2 million rent stabilized tenants has captured the race for mayor, and won him support of many New Yorkers concerned about the cost of housing.

But the controversial proposal could be under threat from outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, as he considers appointing new members to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), the body that sets allowable rent increases for the city’s rent stabilized apartments each June, as the New York Post first reported.

Those new members could make getting the necessary votes to freeze the rent more difficult for a potential Mamdani administration.

“This is unprecedented that a lame duck mayor would last minute stack the Rent Guidelines Board to subvert the next mayor,” said Ritti Singh, communications director with the New York State Tenant Bloc, a group organizing for the freeze.

The board has nine members, all of whom are appointed by the mayor: four public members, two landlord representatives, two tenant representatives, and a chair. They serve two, three, or four year terms.

Currently, seven members of the board are serving in “expired” terms, which means that they can step down or be reappointed or replaced by the mayor at any time. Mayors often let RGB members stay on after their terms expire because it provides them maximum flexibility to control the board, sources say.

Before the end of the year, Adams could replace two public members, one landlord member, and one tenant member who would serve the remainder of terms that extend through 2026.

(Credit: Patrick Spauster/City Limits)

Adams could also replace one additional landlord and tenant representative, Robert Ehrlich and Adan Soltran. But they would serve just two months before the end of the term, when a potential Mamdani administration could replace them in January.

A spokesperson for City Hall did not deny that Adams was considering appointing new members. The mayor has been critical of Mamdani’s rent freeze idea, which he said is “bad policy, short-sighted, and only puts tenants in harm’s way.”

Adams is not running for re-election, and recently endorsed Mamdani’s competitor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the race. 

“Just as he inherited appointees from the Rent Guidelines Board when he took office, Mayor Adams has the authority to appoint members to the board,” said City Hall Spokesperson Kayla Mamelak in a statement.

During the Adams administration, the board voted four times to raise rent, totaling a 12 percent increase, according to the Community Service Society.

If Adams makes all possible appointments to the board before his term ends at the end of the year, it would leave the next mayor with a split board. There would be five Eric Adams appointees—four new appointees with one holdover—and should he win, four new spots Mamdani could fill.

Assuming four new Adams appointees would be against the rent freeze, and four new Mamdani appointees would be for it, that would leave one member in between administrations: Alex Armlovich.

“Just as I wouldn’t want the next mayor to just make political picks… I wouldn’t want the current mayor to pick all public members who are actually just landlord members,” Armlovich told City Limits.

Armlovich, a housing policy expert with the Niskanen Center, was appointed by Adams in March 2025 and is serving a term that runs through the end of 2026. Because his term has not expired, he cannot be replaced before its end. He voted for a 3 percent hike on rent stabilized leases earlier this year, but told City Limits he does not know how he would vote next year.

“Our obligation is to look at the data,” he said.

That board breakdown would leave a Mamdani administration with a challenge. They would either need to convince Armlovich or a new appointee to vote for the freeze, apply public pressure, or replace them. RGB members can only be removed “for cause,” making firing a member legally complicated, as Gothamist reported.

Mayor Eric Adams and mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani. (Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office, Ron Adar/Shutterstock.com)

If Adams does appoint new members, any path to a freeze would also involve the hypothetical Mamdani administration finding a landlord member willing to vote for a rent freeze to replace the expiring term of Robert Ehrlich. Adams would also need to find a tenant member willing to raise the rent.

“We are very confident that [potential Mamdani administration officials] are going to do everything possible to make sure they deliver on this campaign promise,” said Singh.

“It’s possible that the existing composition of the Rent Guidelines Board in January will, by June, vote for a rent freeze. It’s possible that by June we are going to have a different set of Rent Guidelines Board members than we did in January,” she added.

Were the RGB to vote for a rent increase in 2025, it would take until 2026 for a Mamdani administration to have full control over the board’s appointees, when the terms of four new appointees would expire.

Armlovich told City Limits that he would consider a rent freeze if the data supported it. “You bring in flat cost data, we could freeze rents,” he said. 

He’d also consider it if there was a plan to lower costs for distressed rent stabilized buildings: improving hardship programs, reforming property taxes that overburden multifamily apartment buildings, or address rising insurance rates. 

He said he was encouraged to see mayoral frontrunner Mamdani talk about programs and reforms that could tackle those costs. 

Whether the data—which is usually a year old when the RGB is deliberating—actually supports a freeze or an increase is hotly contested. The Tenant Bloc pointed to a 12 percent increase in landlord profits this past year, and 10 percent the year before. But landlord groups counter that those numbers include many buildings that have both market rate and rent stabilized units, and that buildings with all rent stabilized buildings can’t keep up.

“For the past decade, the RGB has adjusted rents below inflation and well below operating costs, as the property tax burden has continued to grow. The result has been the severe defunding of thousands of buildings, leading to physical deterioration and worse living conditions for many renters,” said Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association, in a statement.

Burgos and other landlord groups have highlighted the RGB’s legal responsibility to look at updated data about landlord costs, arguing that a premeditated freeze would not be allowed.

At the first mayoral debate, Mamdani said he believed the data would justify a rent freeze next year, and criticized the sitting mayor for looking to pack the board on his way out. 

“It is a fitting end to an administration that has been a betrayal of working-class New Yorkers,” he said in an interview with the news outlet Hell Gate.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post Can Eric Adams Really Block a Mamdani Rent Freeze? appeared first on City Limits.