Sen. Sandy Pappas plans to retire in 2026 after 42 years in the state Legislature, the St. Paul lawmaker announced on Thursday.

Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)

Pappas, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party representing Senate District 65 in the heart of St. Paul, was first elected to the Minnesota House in 1984. She was elected to the Senate in 1990 and served as Senate President from 2013 to 2016.

Pappas is chair of the Senate Capital Investment Committee, which reviews borrowing and funding proposals for large public projects. The powerful committee is responsible for advancing bonding and other spending bills that fund billions of dollars in infrastructure projects.

Neighborhoods in her district include Midway, Frogtown, North End, West Seventh, Summit-University, downtown, as well as the West Side and parts of West St. Paul.

In a news release announcing her retirement at the end of the 2026 legislative session, Pappas expressed gratitude for more than four decades of representing her community.

“The Legislature has been so much a part of my life that leaving is like saying farewell to my family,” Pappas said. “I have worked alongside Minnesotans on issues from reproductive rights to pension policy; traveled from the Northwest Angle to our Iowa border on countless bonding tours; and collaborated with hundreds of colleagues to improve Minnesotans’ lives.”

The Senate DFL Caucus, in a statement, described Pappas as a “steadfast ally to workers and unions; and an advocate for social and economic equality for women and people of color.”

Besides her work on the Capital Investment Committee, Pappas has backed bills requiring employers to provide workers with “sick and safe time,” establishing a child protection program and eliminating the statute of limitations on sexual assault.

Pappas led the effort to pass the 2014 Women’s Economic Security Act, a bill aimed at protecting and promoting opportunities for women in the workplace. She also sponsored legislation creating the St. Paul Sales Tax Revitalization program, which provides funding for neighborhood and arts projects.

Projects funded by Pappas’ bills include downtown St. Paul’s Pedro Park, reconstruction of the Third Street-Kellogg Bridge, the new North End Community Center and Union Depot.

Related Articles

St. Paul gun ordinance: From ‘100% against’ to strong support, City Council hears from residents

Two more special elections coming to Minnesota Capitol

Minnesota to beat state record of most special elections in one year

DFL holds on to Senate majority in special elections; GOP holds Wright County seat

MN House Speaker Lisa Demuth announces bid for governor

The Minnesota Legislature has not passed a bonding bill for infrastructure projects since the DFL-controlled state government passed a record $2.6 billion borrowing and spending package in 2023. Pappas will have one more opportunity to pass a capital investment bill during the 2026 session in a now-divided state government.

Pappas is just one of several state lawmakers to announce plans to leave the Legislature in 2026. In September, Senate Taxes Committee Chair Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, announced she would retire at the end of her current term.

Rep. Kelly Moller, a Shoreview DFLer elected in 2018, and Ron Kresha, a Little Falls Republican elected in 2012, announced they wouldn’t run for new terms earlier in October.

“Every step we need to take to get out of the shelter system involves using the internet to access resources, apply for jobs, and submit rental applications. You might think shelters would provide us with a Wi-Fi connection. You’d be wrong.”

Wi-Fi hotspots. (William Alatriste for the New York City Council)

How many times today have you used the internet? Maybe you sent an email, found directions, paid for the subway, or talked to a doctor? In 2025, the internet isn’t a luxury—it’s how we access our everyday lives.

The internet may feel universal, but not everyone enjoys equal access. While the New York City Council and state government have worked to expand internet access, people living in the New York City shelter system, like us, are still left out. Every step we need to take to get out of the shelter system involves using the internet to access resources, apply for jobs, and submit rental applications. You might think shelters would provide us with a Wi-Fi connection. You’d be wrong. 

Last month, the New York City Council passed a requirement for the city to develop an Internet Master Plan to achieve low-cost access to broadband internet in homes throughout the city. But what about the hundreds of thousands of people, like us, who don’t have homes? People sleep every night in shelters that don’t provide internet connectivity. The city’s omission of our needs is a glaring disservice at a moment when New York’s homelessness crisis is only getting worse.

When you’re choosing between groceries and a cellular plan, personal internet access isn’t a given—and that makes rebuilding your life nearly impossible. Finding a job, submitting housing applications, communicating with legal services, or applying for benefits all require going online. So do telehealth appointments, online coursework, and banking/managing bills: all of which are important resources for a stable life. 

Coalition for the Homeless estimates that 40 percent of shelters for adults lack Wi-Fi, based on data collected from its monitoring of the Department of Homeless Services shelter system. Without Wi-Fi, people experiencing homelessness are forced to travel and pay for insecure public networks unsuitable for telehealth or legal matters. 

VOCAL-NY and Takeroot Justice surveyed the shelter system to understand how homeless New Yorkers access the internet, and the findings from their “Wi-Fi for All” report were disheartening. Only 30 percent of surveyed single-adult shelters had computer rooms, and nearly 80 percent of those included restrictions such as time limits, too few machines, restricted hours, and privacy concerns. In shelters that do provide Wi-Fi, 80 percent of those attempting to access it on their personal devices reported issues, including a slow/inconsistent network, limited coverage areas, outages, and monitoring concerns. 

When people who live in shelters are not able to reliably access the internet, the consequences can be devastating. Of those surveyed in Wi-Fi for All, a lack of internet access caused 53 percent to lose housing opportunities, 48 percent to miss job opportunities, 30 percent to experience healthcare disruptions, and 16 percent to miss court dates. Lack of access can be isolating, preventing communication with friends and family, or life-threatening for those who rely on medical devices that require an internet connection, like heart monitors. 

The problem isn’t limited to the city. Gov. Kathy Hochul has invested more than $1 billion to transform the state’s digital infrastructure and expand access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet through the ConnectAll program. Although the program notes that providing Wi-Fi in shelters and homeless service facilities is critical for connecting people who do not have access to a home broadband connection, shelters have been left out of the funding equation. This discrepancy is a major injustice to the thousands of people like us who live in shelters. State lawmakers should respond by passing A1755/S8026, which would guarantee statewide Wi-Fi in temporary housing using the ConnectAll funding stream. 

The consequences of limited internet access for an already vulnerable population are severe—and entirely avoidable. Both the City’s Internet Master Plan and the State’s ConnectAll program fail to address the needs of people living in shelters throughout our state, creating barriers for people like us to exit homelessness. 

New York must act to require building-wide internet in every shelter, with minimum speeds for video and uploads, access in rooms and common areas, and privacy protections. Bringing Wi-Fi into shelters isn’t just about connecting people to the web—it’s about opening pathways out of homelessness for the people who need it the most.

Troy Walker is a member of the Coalition for the Homeless Client Advisory Group. Reynaldo Medina is a member of VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union. 

The post Opinion: Wi-Fi Isn’t a Luxury appeared first on City Limits.

The Twin Cities Girls on the Run 5k race is this Sunday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The race has 1,300 participants from 70 metro area schools, according to organizers.

The event is a non-timed, non-competitive race that starts at 9:30 a.m. Before the race, there will be free drinks from Caribou Coffee.

To register as a runner, those interested must pay a $40 fee (or what they can afford), according to a press release.

According to Kathleen Canon, the executive director of Girls Run on the Run, each girl will be paired up with a buddy, such as a parent or guardian over 18 years old.

Laura Schleede, the coach for Girls on the Run, said that for eight weeks, the girls train for the 5K race and learn about important social skills.

“So we’re doing a lot of training every practice where the girls are going at a happy pace and then they’re also incorporating those skills,” Schleede said. Girls on the Run is a youth program for 3rd- to 8th-graders that helps develop confidence and different social skills needed for adulthood.

Canon said girls face unique pressures about their bodies and how they are supposed to look.

Related Articles

Record $1.4 million raised from Twin Cities marathon, organizers say

Photos: 2025 Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon winners and runners

How and what to watch at Twin Cities Marathon

“We know that girls, as they grow older, experience a really unique mix of pressures from society about how they look, how they feel, the way they move their body, what is and is not acceptable,” Canon said.

Schleede, whose daughter finished the race before, said the event always gives her and the girls a sense of pride after they cross the finish line.

Schleede said she;s happy to see girls “put their mind to something and achieve it … And we see them grow over the season, having it culminate with the 5K.”

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — The world’s richest man was just handed a chance to become history’s first trillionaire.

Related Articles

The FAA is slashing flights because of the shutdown. Here’s what travelers can expect

National Retail Federation predicts first $1 trillion holiday shopping season

St. Paul City Council orders demolition of former CVS at Snelling and University

Denmark eyes new law to protect citizens from AI deepfakes

What to know about 10% reduction in flights at U.S. airports caused by the government shutdown

Elon Musk won a shareholder vote on Thursday that would give the Tesla CEO stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade. The vote followed weeks of debate over his management record at the electric car maker and whether anyone deserved such unprecedented pay, drawing heated commentary from small investors to giant pension funds and even the pope.

The vote is a resounding victory for Musk showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with plunging sales, market share and profits in no small part due to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the company this year as he has ventured into politics both in the U.S. and Europe and trafficked in conspiracy theories.

The vote came just three days after a report from Europe showing Tesla car sales plunged again last month, including a 50% collapse in Germany.

Still, many Tesla investors consider Musk as a sort of miracle man capable of stunning business feats, such as when he pulled Tesla from the brink of bankruptcy a half dozen years ago to turn it into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

The vote clears a path for Musk to become a trillionaire by granting him new shares, but it won’t be easy. The board of directors that designed the pay package require him to hit several ambitious financial and operational targets, including increasing the value of the company on the stock market nearly six times its current level.