In St. Paul, minimum wage hike take effect: Rate for large businesses remains $15.57, $14 for small

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Minimum wage increases for large, small, and micro businesses in St,. Paul went into effect Monday.

For large business of 101 to 10,000 employees, the a hourly rate of $15.57 stays the same — it set at that amount on Jan. 1, 2024. For small businesses of six to 100 employees it means $14 an hour and for microbusinesses of five employees or fewer it means $12,25 an hour.

To determine the size of a business, employers must count all employees, whether employed full-time, part-time, jointly with another employer or on a temporary basis, including employees not located in the city.

The ordinance was signed into law y Mayor Melvin Carter on Nov. 14, 2018 following approval by the city council.

For more information on the wage go to stpaul.gov/departments/human-rights-equal-economic-opportunity/labor-standards-enforcement-and-education.

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St. Paul: Breakaway Music Festival draws fans — and noise complaints

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The Breakaway Music Festival, a two-day celebration of electronic dance music and the DJs and fans who love them, tuned up the area around Allianz Field in St. Paul’s Midway this weekend, drawing thousands of EDM enthusiasts in a variety of outfits — from a man dressed as a banana to some flashy ravers not wearing much at all.

It was the first major music event outside Allianz Field since the soccer stadium’s opening in 2019. Neighboring bar owners and others happy to see signs of night life in the Midway beyond soccer games celebrated the independent festival’s arrival. But for some homeowners, the bass was too booming, the beats were too loud.

The festival drew a flurry of complaint calls to police and city offices, with some residents at least as far away as Highland Park assuming there was a party going on nearby.

Ben Christianson, who lives near Portland Avenue and Pascal Street, turned on a white noise machine to get his small kids to sleep, but the sound of eff-bombs from enthusiastic DJs irked him enough on Saturday to inspire him to jump on a bicycle and head up to the festival himself to see if he could convince organizers to turn the volume down a notch.

“I just told them I was a neighbor and it was really loud, just asking if they could turn it down. I wasn’t under any illusions that they would,” Christianson said. “They reassured me that they were within their permit and I should follow up with the city if they had any concerns. I called the city and they said there wasn’t anything they could do. There wasn’t any recourse.”

“What really got me was you could hear the DJ interject every once in a while, using swear words,” Christianson added. “They were really dismissive. When I told them I had a 5-year-old, they told me ‘I’m sure he’s heard worse.’ I lost my cool a little bit. I’m sure he has, but it hasn’t been for hours and hours in our backyard.”

97 decibels at 50 feet

Headlined by famed EDM DJ Illenium, the outdoor festival featured more than two-dozen local and national acts, most of them DJs, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. No one besides event organizers testified before the St. Paul City Council on June 5 during a public hearing for a requested sound level variance. The city granted permission for “97 decibels at 50 feet from all sound sources during the event hours.”

The orientation of the stage and speakers, pointed south, likely had an impact on who was subjected to an unsolicited rave.

During soccer games, noise from Allianz Field tends to be muffled by its inset bowl shape — the playing surface is technically below ground — and by the architecture of the stadium itself. The festival, however, was situated in the parking lot and grassy area outside the stadium itself.

“I’m fine with it,” said Bill Childs, who lives in Mac-Groveland. “We live in a city. Did I love hearing it until 11 p.m.? No. That’s not the music I’m interested in seeing or hearing, but I’m excited to see activity in the city. That’s the trade-off for what I love about being in the city. It was loud, but I’m a season ticket holder to Allianz Field. It’s a big old plot of land that mostly sits empty. I assume a lot of those people wouldn’t have been coming into the Midway otherwise.”

A range of opinions

On social media channels such as X, Facebook and Reddit, St. Paul residents sounded off with their locations and a variety of reactions this weekend, ranging from outraged to supportive:

“Randolph and Snelling–Kept hearing a deep deep bass line as if a car was driving by with the subwoofer cranked.”

“Not a chance this was 80-90 decibels!”

“Whoever approved this one needs a talking to.”

“I live in Midway, it was music and not much louder than a soccer game or State Fair concert. Glad they are utilizing the stadium.”

“I thought there was a huge party going on behind my house so I called the police non-emergency line at 9:30 p.m. … I’m a mile away.”

“Is this ok??? This is NOT ok. Our whole house is shaking and it’s supposed to go until 11pm? Not ok.”

“Highland Park. It was pretty loud… but meh, I was young once and it’s summer. Enjoy it while you can.”

“Friday night heard it (in) Mendota Heights. Not as pronounced on Saturday.”

“We’re less than a mile from Allianz (south and east in Merriam Park) and it was barely noticeable except when outside. I’m early to bed and sleep with the windows open.”

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Twins seeing ‘ideal version’ of reliever Jorge Alcala

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It’s not uncommon to see 98- and 99-mph pitches from Jorge Alcala. Sometimes even 100. But when 101 flashed on the T-Mobile Park scoreboard on Saturday night, it was a ‘wow’ moment from the 28-year-old Twins right-hander.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

But not, apparently, to Alcala, who somewhat downplayed his excitement over the fastest pitch of his career, which was officially clocked at 101.2, per Statcast.

“Very happy,” Alcala said through interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “But the most important thing right now is that I’m feeling healthy.”

That’s something the Twins haven’t seen for a sustained period of time from Alcala in quite a while.

In 2022, Alcala threw just 2 1/3 innings at the major-league level, landing on the injured list with an elbow issue in April and never returning, eventually undergoing surgery. Last year, he threw 17 1/3 innings as he was slowed by a radial stress fracture in his forearm that cost him most of the season.

But the Twins always knew he had the stuff to be a late-inning reliever. It was just a matter of keeping him healthy.

“He’s worked very hard to get to this point,” Baldelli said. “He’s overcome some things and this is what I think the ideal version of Jorge Alcala looks like, and it’s always been in there. This is a guy that we’ve always believed in.”

Though the upside with Alcala has always been high, the Twins haven’t really gotten to see much of him at his best at the major-league level. Even this season, Alcala began the year with the Twins but was optioned twice to Triple-A before returning in late May and starting to establish himself as a later-inning option.

“Whenever you have the opportunities, take advantage, and right now I just feel great that I’m in these types of opportunities,” Alcala said.

The reliever has a 1.88 earned-run average in 28 2/3 innings this season and, the Twins have been pleased with how he has responded to what they’ve asked of him.

Specifically, Baldelli noted that Alcala was coming in and throwing his best stuff right out of the gate, something which they addressed with him after he would enter games throwing in the lower 90s earlier this season.

“When you throw one inning most of the time, you have to come in ready to go. You have to come in throwing strikes,” Baldelli said. “You have to come in with your best stuff, and you have to go right at the hitters. He’s doing a wonderful job of that right now from the first pitch on. Earlier in the year, some of those things I think weren’t taking place consistently.”

Case in point: Seattle’s Luke Raley, the first batter Alcala faced in the seventh inning on Saturday, saw three pitches above 97 miles per hour to begin his at-bat.

The next batter, Ty France, got the 101.2 mph heat from a healthy Alcala showing the potential the Twins knew was in him.

“It’s the best, just to feel healthy,” Alcala said. “You can focus on a lot of things, you don’t have to worry about your body. For me, being healthy right now is the best thing that has happened.”

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Supreme Court sends Trump immunity case back to lower court, dimming chance of trial before election

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for the first time that former presidents have some immunity from prosecution, extending the delay in the Washington criminal case against Donald Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and all but ending prospects the former president could be tried before the November election.

In a historic 6-3 ruling, the justices returned Trump’s case to the trial court to determine what is left of special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump. The outcome means additional delay before Trump could face trial.

The court’s decision in a second major Trump case this term, along with its ruling rejecting efforts to bar him from the ballot because of his actions following the 2020 election, underscores the direct and possibly uncomfortable role the justices are playing in the November election.

“Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. “And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.”

Roberts was joined by the other five conservative justices. The three liberal justices dissented.

“Today’s decision to grant former presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a scathing dissent.

Sotomayor, who read a summary of her dissent aloud in the courtroom, said the protection afforded presidents by the court “is just as bad as it sounds, and it is baseless.”

Trump posted on his social media network shortly after the decision was released: “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”

Smith’s office declined to comment on the ruling.

The ruling was the last of the term and it came more than two months after the court heard arguments, far slower than in other epic high court cases involving the presidency, including the Watergate tapes case.

The Republican former president has denied doing anything wrong and has said this prosecution and three others are politically motivated to try to keep him from returning to the White House.

In May, Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony, in a New York court. He was found guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made during the 2016 presidential election to a porn actor who says she had sex with him, which he denies. He still faces three other indictments.

Smith is leading the two federal probes of the former president, both of which have led to criminal charges. The Washington case focuses on Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The case in Florida revolves around the mishandling of classified documents. The other case, in Georgia, also turns on Trump’s actions after his defeat in 2020.

If Trump’s Washington trial does not take place before the 2024 election and he is not given another four years in the White House, he presumably would stand trial soon thereafter.

But if he wins, he could appoint an attorney general who would seek the dismissal of this case and the other federal prosecution he faces. He could also attempt to pardon himself if he reclaims the White House. He could not pardon himself for the conviction in state court in New York.

The Supreme Court that heard the case included three justices appointed by Trump — Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — and two justices who opted not to step aside after questions were raised about their impartiality.

Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginni, attended the rally near the White House where Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, though she did not go the Capitol when a mob of Trump supporters attacked it soon after. Following the 2020 election, she called it a “heist” and exchanged messages with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, urging him to stand firm with Trump as he falsely claimed that there was widespread election fraud.

Justice Samuel Alito said there was no reason for him to step aside from the cases following reports by The New York Times that flags similar to those carried by the Jan. 6 rioters flew above his homes in Virginia and on the New Jersey shore. His wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was responsible for flying both the inverted American flag in January 2021 and the “Appeal to Heaven” banner in the summer of 2023, he said in letters to Democratic lawmakers responding to their recusal demands.

Trump’s trial had been scheduled to begin March 4, but that was before he sought court-sanctioned delays and a full review of the issue by the nation’s highest court.

Before the Supreme Court got involved, a trial judge and a three-judge appellate panel had ruled unanimously that Trump can be prosecuted for actions undertaken while in the White House and in the run-up to Jan. 6.

“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” the appeals court wrote in February. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who would preside over the trial in Washington, ruled against Trump’s immunity claim in December. In her ruling, Chutkan said the office of the president “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”

“Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability,” Chutkan wrote. “Defendant may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken while in office.”

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