Metro Transit ends 47-day strike

Metro Transit buses resumed service Monday, ending a 47-day strike that began March 4.

According to the Star Tribune, 72 percent of Amalgamated Transit Union members approved an agreement with Metropolitan Council, which runs Metro Transit.

The agreement is a two-year contract that will lower monthly health insurance premiums for the short term. Full-time employees will receive a $1,000 signing bonus and part-time employees will receive a $600 signing bonus. Driver wages are nearly the same as those proposed in an agreement rejected in December 2003.

Metro Transit is offering several perks to riders in order to encourage people to use public transit. These perks include a half-price 31-day pass with every pass purchased, randomly distributed two-for-one Twins tickets and free newspapers for riders for one month.
 

Ruminator continues negotiations over lease

Ruminator Books is continuing to negotiate with Macalester over its lease and textbook sales operation, owner David Unowsky said.

The city council passed a resolution to provide Ruminator with a STAR [Sales Tax Revitalization] Grant of $50,000 which will go toward financing event programming, mainly book readings by authors. Unowsky said that the city council suggested that Ruminator apply for another STAR Grant, which would provide the bookstore with a total of $100,000 to be distributed over a year and a half.

Unowsky said that Ruminator is working with nonprofits to sell the Ruminator Review, a quarterly book magazine. Although the Review’s spring issue was cancelled, Unowsky said recently that the Review will publish an issue at the end of May. He said that the quarterly magazine can run without losing money and that he is looking towards a more marketable Review in the future.

Tom Welna, director of Macalester’s High Winds Fund, said that after Macalester signs a new lease with the bookstore, High Winds will actively seek a tenant to occupy 25 percent of Ruminator’s current space. High Winds manages Macalester’s commercial and residential off-campus properties and acts as a community liaison for the college.

Unowsky said that he would like a business similar to the Table of Contents, a restaurant that formerly shared space with Ruminator, to lease the space. Although some parties have expressed interest, no negotiations can occur until after Macalester reaches a formal agreement with Ruminator.

Unowsky said that although negotiations are ongoing and the terms of Ruminator’s existence are not certain until the new lease has been signed, he is confident that Ruminator will make it through this tough period. “We will be here for the foreseeable future,” he said.
 

Ramsey students attempt break-in of Macalester house

St. Paul Police briefly detained five juveniles suspected of attempting to burglarize a Lincoln Avenue house adjacent to Macalester’s campus Tuesday afternoon. As of Wednesday no charges had been filed, and police were still investigating the incident.

The house, on 1653 Lincoln Ave., is one of four houses on the block owned by Macalester’s High Winds Office, which leases them to Macalester professors. The incident marks the third burglary-related incident involving the High Winds houses since November, when two houses were burglarized in a three-week period.

At 2:19 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to a call about suspicious activity in the parking lot behind the 77 Mac building. When police arrived, they found boys ages 11-13 attempting to enter the rear of the house. The boys attempted to run away but were apprehended by officers.

The boys were handcuffed and transport ed to Ramsey Junior High School where a school resource officer identified the students. The students were released, and their parents were notified, police spokesman Paul Schnell said.

School spokesman Steve Linders said the students may face disciplinary action for truancy, but refused to speculate what the punishment might be.

Schnell said that he doubts that the youth were connected to any other crime in the area. “These are not sophisticated criminals,” he said. “None of these kids would probably do this stuff on their own.” He added that there is often a group mentality that contributes to this kind of juvenile crime.

Macalester Director of Security Terry Gorman said he planned to ban the youth from campus. He encourages community members to call security whenever they see any sort of suspicious activity.

As police cruisers departed the scene, at least one resident was empathetic about the boys’ crime. “I did the same [type of] thing,” local resident Tim Gravelson said. “I wasn’t robbing houses though.”