The city’s legislative hearing officer will recommend that the St. Paul City Council order the demolition of the vacant CVS store at the corner of Snelling and University avenues.

The eyesore property has become a visible metaphor for the city’s retail challenges and general setbacks plaguing the Green Line, the Midway and the once-promising University Avenue business corridor. Before the installation of protective fencing around its parking lot, as many as 40 loiterers at a time could be seen gathered outside the building at 499 Snelling Ave. N., which had developed a reputation as one of the neighborhood’s most embarrassing open-air drug markets.

Legislative hearing officer Marcia Moermond held two public hearings over the past month on potential repair or demolition orders for the building, which dates to just 2007. In addition to a $5,000 performance deposit, she said last month that property owner would need to provide a complete abatement plan laying out future lighting, cameras, bids for trade labor improvements in particular parts of the structure and other evidence of a detailed scope of work.

On Tuesday, in light of obvious damage and neglect, she recommended ordering the property owner to remove the building within 15 days, with no option for repairs.

The city council will hold a public hearing on the demolition orders on Nov. 5, at which point Moermond is expected to present her formal recommendation to the council.

Related Articles

Self-described ‘right wing libertarian’ damaged pride flags, anti-Trump signs in St. Paul, charges say

St. Paul man, 65, sentenced for fatally stabbing apartment neighbor, 70, in fight over money

‘Huge boom’ as driver crashes through wall of business on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue

St. Paul Public Schools using taxpayer funds on special levy. But is it advocacy?

Carnegie libraries, including three in the east metro, will each get $10,000

Two parties have expressed interest in purchasing the property, but representatives of the building owner and CVS did not appear at Tuesday’s hearing, according to Jay Willms, the city council’s director of operations.

If the demolition order is approved by the council, the building owner would then have 15 days to demolish the structure, or it would fall to the city to put removal out to bid and pursue a hazardous materials inspection and utility disconnections, a process that could take several weeks.

Pointing to the often unseemly condition of nearby vacant lots, some residents have expressed concern that if the property owner simply sits on the lot without selling it after demolition, the site would remain a dirt lot for the foreseeable future.

CVS permanently closed the store in April 2022, and it has since become a visible magnet for litter, graffiti and vandalism.

By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is voting on legislation Wednesday that would nullify U.S. tariffs on Canada, just as President Donald Trump is engaged in trade talks in Asia as well as an increasingly bitter trade spat with U.S.’s northern neighbor that is one of its largest economic partners.

Related Articles

What shutdown? Trump isn’t canceling travel, golf or his ballroom even with the government shuttered

A ticking clock: How states are preparing for a last-minute Obamacare deal

Food aid at risk of expiring as effort to fund SNAP benefits fails in Senate

Federal health officials push effort to spur cheaper biotech drugs

Louisiana and Virginia take steps toward redistricting in a growing battle for US House power

Senators have taken a series of votes this week to terminate the national emergencies that Trump has used to impose tariffs. While the resolutions won’t ultimately take effect, they have proven to be an effective way for Democrats to expose cracks between the president’s trade policy and Republican senators who have traditionally supported free trade arguments.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, the Democrat pushing the resolutions, said that higher prices caused by tariffs would force Republicans to break with Trump. “It will become untenable for them to just close their eyes and say, ‘I’m signing up for whatever the president wants to do,’” Kaine told reporters.

The Senate passed a similar resolution applying to Brazilian tariffs on Tuesday, and it has already passed a resolution on Canadian imports in April.

Kaine, joined by other Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, has forced the votes under a decades-old law that allows Congress to block a president’s emergency powers. However, House Republicans have passed new rules that allow leaders to prevent such resolutions from getting a vote in that chamber, and Trump could veto the legislation even if it did clear Congress.

Wednesday’s vote happened as Trump was in Asia to advance trade talks with partners there. The president has also been jousting with Canadian officials amid a delicate negotiation to reduce tariffs between the two countries.

Sen. Mike Crapo, the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, acknowledged in a floor speech that many “may be nervous about what comes next” as Trump remakes global trade. But he urged Congress to stay out of the way.

“Let’s truly get a balanced, fair playing field in trade,” Crapo added.

Yet there is increasing tension between GOP senators and the president over how soybean farmers have suffered from the trade war with China, as well as his administration’s plans to allow the purchase of more beef from Argentina.

Vice President JD Vance visited Republicans during a closed-door luncheon this week and also argued that they should steer clear of trade policy while the president negotiates deals. But Vance’s efforts appeared to have little impact on those determined to vote against the tariffs.

“Retaliatory tariffs on American products have turned agricultural income upside down for many of Kentucky’s nearly 70,000 family farms,” said Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Republican Senate leader, in a statement. “Bourbon has been caught in the crossfire from day one. And consumers are paying higher prices across the board as the true costs of trade barriers fall inevitably on them.”

Trump said earlier this week he wanted to impose another 10% tariff hike on imports of Canadian goods because of an anti-tariff television ad aired by the province of Ontario. The television ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been trying to engage with Trump to ease the import taxes that have hit Canada hard. The U.S.-Canada economic relationship is one of the largest globally, totaling $909.1 billion in 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion U.S.) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.

Canada has also tried to turn to Asian trading partners amid the trade war.

Democrats argued the trade war was impacting a range of industries, from farmers to shipbuilders. They also said it made little sense to engage in a trade war with a close military ally.

Trump has invoked a national emergency to impose the tariffs, saying that fentanyl and other illegal drugs are entering the country from Canada. So far this year, less than 1% of the total fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 66 pounds, was seized at the northern border.

Kaine argued in a floor speech that Trump’s trade policy was actually hinging on his personal feelings. He claimed that Trump had “such thin skin that an ad on television quoting Ronald Reagan” had hurt his feelings and prompted an end to the negotiations.

He asked, “How about that as a rationale for trade policy?”

Fewer people were displaced by the fire and power outage at a high-rise apartment building in St. Paul than Skyline Tower officials initially thought.

The apartments on St. Anthony Avenue off Interstate 94 have a total of 773 residents and all were evacuated Sunday, said Barbara Koch, CommonBond Communities interim vice president of development, on Wednesday. The 1,500 announced on Monday was an estimate and the actual number was determined by tenant rent rolls, according to Koch.

CommonBond, an affordable housing nonprofit that serves low-income communities, lined up hotel rooms for many residents, while some chose to stay with family or friends.

“We are working as quickly as possible to move families back into their Skyline homes and we will provide updates as soon as we know more,” Koch said.

Firefighters responded to a fire on the 25-story building’s 12th floor at 12:23 a.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported.

The fire activated the building’s fire protection sprinklers on the 12th, 13th and 14th floors, and the water caused a power outage, according to the fire department. The building’s elevators, fire suppression system, heat and water supply went out.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation; there were not signs that it was suspicious, said Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Smith.

Information about donating to residents and volunteering can be found at commonbond.org/skylinetower.

Related Articles

Capitol security: Threats to MN officials increase in 2025

Wisconsin man killed in two-car crash on I-94 in Afton

‘Huge boom’ as driver crashes through wall of business on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue

Eagan, Dakota County officers involved in Cottage Grove man’s jail death should be fired, inmate advocates say

Crisis situation closed down U.S. 61 in Forest Lake late Sunday

Following the accidental death of their 8-year-old son, a northwestern Minnesota couple have been charged with gross misdemeanor negligent storage of firearms for making them accessible to a child.

Theodore Charles Stewart, 42, and Danielle Elizabeth Stewart, 39, of Roosevelt, each face up to 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.

First responders were dispatched to their home on Sept. 4 after receiving a report that an 8-year-old had been shot in the neck. The injured child was taken to a hospital, where Roseau County Sheriff’s Office staff confirmed he died of his injuries later that day.

One of his four siblings told law enforcement that when their father left for work, they — along with their 8-year-old brother — took out a .22-caliber rifle and laid it on their parents’ bed, according to the statement. The child said they did not put any bullets in the gun, and they thought they checked to see if it was loaded, but when the gun was set down, it fired and struck the 8-year-old.

Theodore Stewart confirmed that he had just left for work, the children were all inside and their mother was outside walking at the time of the incident.

A probable cause statement in the case said law enforcement found 34 firearms throughout the home. Of them, one was secured; the remainder were in places the five Stewart children could easily access, the statement said.

Charges were filed via summons on Sept. 30. The couple’s first court appearances are scheduled for Monday.

Related Articles

Self-described ‘right wing libertarian’ damaged pride flags, anti-Trump signs in St. Paul, charges say

Tim Walz orders audit of Medicaid billing as fraud prosecutions continue

Appeals court blocks order requiring Bovino to brief judge on Chicago immigration sweeps

Investigators seek suspect in Vadnais Heights sexual assault case

St. Paul man, 65, sentenced for fatally stabbing apartment neighbor, 70, in fight over money