Wedge LIVE!

Seven city council wards have held their DFL conventions so far (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12,13). We have endorsements in five of them - several with North Korea margins. There's six more wards to go, plus the city convention. Joining me for analysis of the action so far: Josh Martin, Taylor Dahlin, and America's favorite pundit meat squeezed through a tubed casing: Hot Dog Larry Jacobs, aka Jason Garcia.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Katie Cashman, who's running for reelection to the Minneapolis City Council, as we ride our bikes through Uptown and the lakes neighborhoods of Ward 7.

https://www.katieforcouncil.org/

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

Kyle Jones is a small town Minnesota boy who came to the big city, trusted too many people, and has learned some valuable life lessons. In part one, Kyle was pepper sprayed after using the 311 app to report an Amazon delivery truck blocking both a bike lane and a bus stop. In today's episode, Kyle returns to tell us about having a gun pulled on him in a nearly identical circumstance -- while using the 311 app to report a car blocking a bus stop.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with Aurin Chowdhury, who's running for reelection to the Minneapolis City Council in Ward 12.

https://www.aurinchowdhury.org/

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My conversation with Damla Erten, owner of Sencha Tea Bar and founder of the Uptown Community Coalition, about her opposition to the creation of a business improvement district for Uptown. The push for a BID comes from the Uptown Association, which represents their member businesses in the area. Damla says the problem with a BID is that it gets voted on only by property owners, not by renters or businesses that lease their spaces, and amounts to an extra tax smaller businesses can't afford. And even if the services live up to what's being advertised, some of them are so basic they should already be covered by regular property taxes. We also get into Uptown transportation politics and the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction.

For more on the Uptown Community Coalition: https://www.instagram.com/uccmpls/

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

It's your favorite syndicated tabloid entertainment TV show that's actually a podcast: Loring Stories with Taylor Dahlin.

On today's episode, an attack on the first amendment - Taylor captured exclusive video of herself being physically assaulted by a smaller, much older woman in Loring Park. Plus a tree fell down. Then, executive producer John Edwards bids farewell to the mayoral campaign of Emily Koski.

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A harrowing personal story from Curt Myran of Whittier, who talks about how his life changed the day they rearranged the Aldi at 26th and Lyndale.

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Minneapolis Caucus Night 2025 is in the books and if anyone is qualified to draw premature conclusions, it's the Wedge LIVE news team. Taylor Dahlin and Jason Garcia are in studio. Josh Martin is here via his landline telephone. Which city candidates have the edge heading into DFL convention season? Who needs a little help? Does Ward 8 candidate Josh Bassais really drive a Mustang with the vanity license plate "BAA SAY"?

Plus: Minneapolis DFL Chair Conrad Zbikowski makes a special appearance in the hot seat for a local news quiz (via the encrypted Signal app).

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee

A conversation with three founders of a group called "Seniors for All." After becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way they were being represented by the Minneapolis DFL Senior Caucus, they decided to do something about it. They organized for change. This grew into a movement that swept new leadership into power. Along the way, they were falsely accused of infiltrating the Senior Caucus. The truth is, their only crime was trying to make the city a better place for themselves, their children and grandchildren.

Cara Letofsky, Susan Lynx, and Jim Davnie are founders of Seniors for All and members of the Minneapolis DFL Senior Caucus.

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A conversation with Paula Chesley, who's running for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 7.

https://www.paulaforward7.org/

You can participate in the Minneapolis DFL caucuses on April 8, 2025. For more info: https://minneapolisdfl.org/

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Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee