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VOL. 125 NO. 29 www.whitebearpress.com $1.00
BREAKING RULES: Docks restricted at Commercial Bay PAGE 9
Anti-Rush Line letters attract committee’s attention BY DEBRA NEUTKENS STAFF WRITER
Next up for the Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit project is May publication of the long-awaited Environmental Assessment for review by the Federal Transit Administration. Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt is hoping the 100-plus-page document will help answer questions and quell public misperceptions about the $457 million project, which is currently in its two-year environmental analysis phase. Construction is expected to start in four years. The phase identifies where the electric buses will have their own lanes or operate in mixed traffic, determines how the Rush Line and Bruce Vento Trail will share the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority right of way, determines benefits and impacts on low-income and/or minority communities, and strategizes ways to avoid or minimize negative impacts. Negative impacts from the BRT, particularly to downtown White Bear Lake, are something residents have been expressing of late in letters to the editor in the White Bear Press. That printed opposition was pointed out by a Rush Line Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) member at a Zoom meeting last week. “There is brewing dissent,” noted Sheila Kelly, a local attorney who represents the White Bear Area Chamber of Commerce on the committee. She wondered if county staff planned any meetings in White Bear to field growing questions about the project. At this point, nothing is scheduled, said Planning Specialist Frank Alarcon, deputy project manager, adding that staff always responds to emails and comments placed online. White Bear Township Supervisor Scott McCune is also a PAC member. He agreed with Kelly, suggesting that some kind of public engagement be scheduled downtown, perhaps during Marketfest, to address project concerns. Commissioner Reinhardt commented that opinions like those expressed in letters to the editor are “always welcomed,” but “there are some things that are not accurate. SEE RUSH LINE, PAGE 10
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White Bear Lake boating buddies An early season angler and his canine companion had White Bear Lake mostly to themselves as they floated offshore near Manitou Island during a brief burst of sunshine late last week. According to the Minnesota DNR website, fishing seasons open for walleye, bass, northern pike and lake trout on Saturday, May 15. This year’s date is the latest possible opener under Minnesota statute, which sets the fishing opener as the Saturday two weeks prior to the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
Volunteer group refurbishes, donates bikes BY NOELLE OLSON STAFF WRITER
Have an old bike just sitting in your garage collecting dust? Consider donating it to MNRecyclery, a bike repair shop that refurbishes old bikes and donates them to organizations throughout the area. The shop is run by 11 volunteers led by Vadnais Heights resident Lynn Kapaun. Group members share a love of tinkering with bikes and refurbishing them to working condition. MNRecyclery was founded by Jim Muellner of White Bear Lake. “Jim was doing it out of his garage, and he owned the bike shop, Just Two Bikes, in White Bear Lake.
He just started dabbling into fixing bikes up for kids,” Kapaun said. After reading an article in The White Bear Press about the bikes, Kapaun decided to volunteer. Two days later, Muellner handed him the keys and said, “You’re in charge now.” Volunteers spend five days a week working on the bikes. Kapaun said they sometimes cannibalize some of the old beat-up bikes for parts. Currently, he is having a hard time getting parts for the bikes and is having parts shipped in from all over the country. After 10 years, the operation has grown with volunteers and donations. SEE MN RECYCLERY, PAGE 11
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Lynn Kapaun and Dale Daul work on a couple of the hundreds of donated bikes currently in their workshop.
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