The city of Grant has hired longtime area city administrator Kristina Handt to be its new interim city administrator and treasurer.

Her first day on the job was Monday.

Handt takes over the position from Kim Points, who had held the position for 20 years.

The Grant City Council and Points mutually agreed earlier this month that her last day of employment would be Dec. 31, said Mayor Jeff Giefer. Giefer said Tuesday that he could not give details surrounding the separation agreement.

Handt, the former interim city administrator in Forest Lake, most recently served as interim finance director in Oakdale. Her last day was Friday.

Kristina Handt (Courtesy photo)

In addition to her duties as city administrator, Handt will be serving as city treasurer. The Grant City Council plans next month to adopt a resolution to combine the city administrator and city treasurer roles, Giefer said.

“We look forward to the skills and experience Kristina brings to the position,” Giefer said.

Handt and the city entered into a six-month contract for the interim position; her salary for the six months is $60,000, Giefer said. At the conclusion of her six-month contract, both parties may choose to enter into a permanent position/contract, he said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to serve a small, rural community like Grant, which offers unique strengths and has a strong sense of place,” Handt said. “I look forward to supporting the mayor and council in advancing their priorities of good governance, transparency and making sure essential services, including public safety and road infrastructure, are delivered effectively.”

The Forest Lake City Council voted last year to dismiss Handt from the interim city administrator position. She had previously served as city administrator in Lake Elmo and Scandia.

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By GENE JOHNSON and CEDAR ATTANASIO

SEATTLE (AP) — Oil company BP has found the source of a leak in a major Pacific Northwest pipeline system, allowing it to restart the flow of jet fuel to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday and help avoid any major disruptions to Thanksgiving travel.

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Separately, Washington state regulators announced they were fining the company $3.8 million for a 2023 spill from the same pipeline system nearby.

The 400-mile-long Olympic Pipeline is the backbone of the region’s system for moving gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products from refineries near the Canadian border to distribution terminals in the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades, including major cities in Washington and Oregon.

BP shut the pipeline system down on Nov. 17 following intermittent shutoffs after a farmer discovered a gas sheen in a drainage ditch on a blueberry farm near Everett, north of Seattle, on Nov. 11. That prompted Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson to declare an emergency last week, lifting restrictions on how long truck drivers could work to enable them to deliver fuel to Sea-Tac by road. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek issued a similar order Monday.

But late Monday, after excavating in an area where two pipes run alongside each other — one that carries gasoline and another that carries jet fuel — BP said it found the leak in the gasoline pipeline. That allowed it to restart the flow of fuel to the airport and to begin devising a repair plan for the gas pipeline.

Officials and BP are still assessing how much gasoline leaked. Responders have set out recovery equipment to contain and clean up the spill, and no gasoline has been observed outside the area of the response, BP said.

“It will take a couple of days to replenish fuel reserves at the airport, but early indications suggest that travel will not be impacted,” Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell said in a statement. “This is why we need strong pipeline safety oversight and better leak detection technology.”

In a letter to BP last week, Cantwell said the fact that the company didn’t notice the leak before the blueberry farmer did raised serious questions about its inspection, maintenance and leak-detection capabilities.

Delta and Alaska Airlines, which had added fuel stops to some flights, said Tuesday they were resuming normal operations while continuing to truck in some fuel until the airport’s reserves are replenished.

Previous shutdowns of the pipeline have prompted gas prices to spike in Washington and Oregon.

The pipeline has a lengthy history of leaks, including a 1999 fireball that killed three young people recreating along a creek in Bellingham, Washington. The accident led to an overhaul of federal pipeline regulation.

In 2023, a 25,000-gallon spill near Conway, north of Seattle, sent fuel into nearby streams and wetlands.

The state Ecology Department on Monday announced that the cause of that leak was a corroded carbon-steel nut on an assembly used to monitor the pipeline’s pressure. The company’s inspections failed to identify the nut as a problem, though it shouldn’t have been used due to the likelihood of corrosion, the department said.

The department said it was seeking more than $4.6 million from BP for that spill — $3.8 million in fines plus $822,000 in response costs.

The company, which has until Dec. 18 to appeal, said it is reviewing the department’s findings.

“As noted by the Washington Department of Ecology, our collaborative, robust response with our partners limited the affected area, reduced environmental impacts and prioritized public health,” BP said in a statement.

Rights groups on Tuesday slammed the Trump administration’s decision to end protected status for Myanmar citizens due to the country’s “notable progress in governance and stability,” even though it remains mired in a bloody civil war and the head of its military regime faces possible U.N. war crimes charges.

In her announcement Monday ending temporary protection from deportation for citizens of Myanmar, also known as Burma, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cited the military’s plans for “free and fair elections” in December and “successful ceasefire agreements” as among the reasons for her decision.

“The situation in Burma has improved enough that it is safe for Burmese citizens to return home,” she said in a statement.

Minnesota has a large population of refugees from Myanmar. More than 20,000 members of the oppressed Karen minority live in the Twin Cities, mainly St. Paul, making it the largest Karen community in the country. Advocates say Minnesota is also home to more than 3,000 refugees from other ethnic groups in Burma.

The Burmese military under Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power from democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and is seeking to add a sheen of international legitimacy to its government with the upcoming elections. But with Suu Kyi in prison and her party banned, most outside observers have denounced the elections as a sham.

“Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem is treating those people just like her family’s dog that she famously shot down in cold blood because it misbehaved — if her order is carried out, she will literally be sending them back to prisons, brutal torture, and death in Myanmar,” Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, said in a statement.

“Secretary Noem is seriously deluded if she thinks the upcoming elections in Myanmar will be even remotely free and fair, and she is just making things up when she claims non-existent ceasefires proclaimed by Myanmar’s military junta will result in political progress.”

The military takeover sparked a national uprising with fierce fighting in many parts of the country, and pro-democracy groups and other forces have taken over large swaths of territory.

The military government has stepped up activity ahead of the election to retake areas controlled by opposition forces, with airstrikes killing scores of civilians.

In its fight, the military has been accused of the indiscriminate use of landmines, the targeting of schools, hospitals and places of worship in its attacks, and the use of civilians as human shields.

An arrest warrant was also requested last year for Min Aung Hlaing by International Criminal Court prosecutors accusing him of crimes against humanity for the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority before he seized power.

The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, established by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats after the military took power in 2021, said it was saddened by Homeland Security’s decision.

NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt said the military is conducting forced conscription, attacking civilians on a daily basis, and that the elections were excluding any real opposition and would not be accepted by anybody.

“The reasons given for revoking TPS do not reflect the reality in Myanmar,” Nay Phone Latt told the Associated Press.

In her statement, Noem said her decision to remove the “TPS” protection was made in consultation with the State Department, though its latest report on human rights in Myanmar cites “credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention.”

And the State Department’s latest travel guidance for Americans is to avoid the country completely.

“Do not travel to Burma due to armed conflict, the potential for civil unrest, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, poor health infrastructure, land mines and unexploded ordnance, crime, and wrongful detentions,” the guidance reads.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 30,000 people have been arrested for political reasons since the military seized power, and 7,488 have been killed.

Still, Homeland Security said that “the secretary determined that, overall, country conditions have improved to the point where Burmese citizens can return home in safety,” while adding that allowing them to remain temporarily in the U.S. is “contrary to the national interest.”

John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said that “extensive reporting on Myanmar contradicts almost every assertion” in the Homeland Security statement.

The decision could affect as many as 4,000 people, he said.

“Homeland Security’s misstatements in revoking TPS for people from Myanmar are so egregious that it is hard to imagine who would believe them,” he said in a statement. “Perhaps no one was expected to.”

“An estimated 158,214 households are eligible for SCRIE or DRIE—but only 67,132 are currently enrolled. That means nearly 57.6 percent of tenants who could be protected may still face avoidable rent hikes in the months ahead.”

An early evening games of dominoes at Serviam Gardens, an affordable housing complex for seniors in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx. (Adi Talwar)

For decades, Vincient Grillo, a 61-year-old lifelong New Yorker in Upper Manhattan, lived quietly in his family’s rent-controlled apartment. Like many older New Yorkers on fixed incomes, he worried about what would happen when his lease expired and his rent increased. 

“I was ready to pack my bags and leave,” he said. 

Thanks to the city’s Rent Freeze Program—which includes the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE)—Vincient’s story took a different turn. Connected through the Tenant Helpline to Outreach Specialist Michael Luat, he applied for the benefit with hands-on support. 

“I had given up. But Michael kept texting, even when I wasn’t responding. He never gave up on me,” Vincient recalled. Through the Rent Freeze Program, his rent was reduced $900 to $563, allowing him to remain in the apartment his family has called home since 1959. 

“This apartment is more than just four walls—it’s the only home I’ve ever known. It’s my safety net,” he said. “Without Rent Freeze, I wouldn’t have made it.” 

The Rent Guidelines Board recently approved new increases for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments. The most recent order applies to leases commencing on or after Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. If your lease renews during this time, a one-year lease may rise by 3 percent, while a two-year lease could increase by up to 4.5 percent. For many older adults and people with disabilities, those hikes come on top of already rising costs for groceries, medications, and utilities. 

But these increases are not inevitable. Through SCRIE and DRIE, tenants who qualify can lock in their rent at its current amount. Landlords receive a tax credit to cover the difference, while tenants gain long-term stability and peace of mind. Once enrolled, the benefit carries forward year after year through renewals. 

The challenge is that far too many eligible New Yorkers never apply. According to the most recent data, an estimated 158,214 households are eligible for SCRIE or DRIE—but only 67,132 are currently enrolled. That means nearly 57.6 percent of tenants who could be protected may still face avoidable rent hikes in the months ahead. 

At the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, Robin Lee sees first-hand the frustration of tenants who have tried and failed to navigate complex systems. “When people tell us they’ve given up,” she said, “it’s our responsibility to make sure the system itself isn’t what’s standing in their way.” 

Navigating government paperwork is difficult even in the best of times. That’s why the NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU), the NYC Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (OTA), and the NYC Department of Finance (DOF) are working together to ensure tenants like Vincent don’t fall through the cracks. 

As Jasmin Batista, who leads tenant outreach at the Public Engagement Unit, explains, her team’s approach starts on the ground: meeting people where they are—at their doors, on their phones, and in their neighborhoods. “No one should lose their home over bureaucracy,” she said. “Programs like Rent Freeze only work when people can actually access them.” 

Together, PEU, OTA, and DOF have helped thousands of New Yorkers apply or renew their Rent Freeze benefits. But thousands more remain eligible and unenrolled. If you are age 62 or older or living with a qualifying disability, rent a rent-stabilized apartment, and meet the income requirements, you may be eligible to freeze your rent before the rent increases take effect. 

At the Department of Finance, Commissioner Preston Niblack describes Rent Freeze as one of the city’s most effective tools for keeping people housed. Through partnerships with PEU and OTA, he said, “we’re cutting through red tape and reaching tenants who might otherwise never hear about these protections.” 

Help is available right now. You can call the PEU Rent Freeze Hotline at 929-252-7242, visit nyc.gov/rentfreeze, or get in-person assistance at a NYC Department of Finance office. Don’t wait. Freezing your rent today could save you thousands of dollars over the years ahead. More importantly, it could be the key to staying in the home you love. 

Programs like Rent Freeze don’t just shield people from rising costs—they protect dignity, independence, and the ability to age in place. At a time when affordability feels increasingly out of reach, that kind of stability has never been more important. 

Jasmin Batista is the outreach director for the Tenant Support Unit at the NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit. Robin Lee is the taxpayer advocate at the NYC Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.

The post Opinion: As Rents Rise Again, Too Many Seniors Don’t Know They Can Freeze Theirs  appeared first on City Limits.