We're covering some of 2024's biggest Minneapolis stories in a special crossover episode hosted by Jay Boller and Em Cassel of the Racket Cast podcast. John Edwards is usually your host, but today he's just a guest alongside Taylor Dahlin and Hot Dog Larry Jacobs himself, Jason Garcia -- who spends the whole episode in a hot dog costume.

Thanks to Jay and Em of Racket for hosting, and Jay for editing this episode. Visit racketmn.com for more.

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John is joined by Taylor Dahlin and Ryan Brown for an uncomfortable Thanksgiving conversation about the state of the online world. John and Taylor have been doing double duty on both bluesky and twitter in recent weeks. Ryan wonders if he'll ever post again, as he tries to figure out what he wants from social media. We talk about the ups and downs of both platforms and try to convince Ryan to join us on bluesky as soon as possible. Plus, John wonders why his police chief pec popping video didn't get traction on either platform; and responds to Adam Platt's sorrowful parting shot at migrants to bluesky. And Taylor mercilessly attacks the people and culture of bluesky, while John only sees a vibrant and growing local community of posters.

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Because our broadcast signal does occasionally bleed across the river, John is joined by Garrison McMurtrey, a candidate for a seat on the Ramsey County Board that controls an annual budget in excess of $800 million. We talk about the challenge local governments face under a second Trump administration, streets, health care, housing, homelessness, transit, and more.

The special election for the district 3 seat in Ramsey County is happening on February 11, 2025.

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Council Member Linea Palmisano takes me on a bike tour of the future E Line bus rapid transit route through Ward 13 (about a quarter of the total route). We talk about the exciting prospect of a 17 minute bus ride from Linden Hills to downtown, the pain of street infrastructure upgrades for local business in her ward, her thoughts on the Davis Moturi shooting and MPD Chief Brian O'Hara's initial reaction, the City Council's worsening relationship with Mayor Frey, and a look ahead at next year's city election.

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My conversation with Cody Fischer - whose company Footprint Development builds small-scale, sustainable, multi-family housing - about imminent changes to the City of Minneapolis's 4d tax incentive program for affordable housing. We also talk about unique energy efficiency features he puts into his buildings and how the 4d program makes those possible. Plus an update on "single stair" building legalization in Minnesota.

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Robin Wonsley, who represents Ward 2 on the Minneapolis City Council, is here to help me recover from the devastating results of the presidential election. We also talk about her work on regulating off-duty jobs for police officers, local efforts to turn socialists into a punching bag, and a look ahead to the 2025 city election.

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With the 2024 election and the fate of the nation still hanging precariously in the balance, the 2025 city election season has already begun. This is my conversation with Rev. Dr. DeWayne Davis as he embarks on his mayoral campaign (recorded Oct 23, 2024).

Davis is the lead minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in the Steven’s Square neighborhood; served as co-chair of Mayor Frey's Community Safety Work Group in 2021; is a former congressional staffer; and served as chaplain of the MN State Senate.

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Kim Ellison is running for re-election to an at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board, which means every voter in the city will have her on their ballot

There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats.

In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommend reading the candidate interviews in Minneapolis Schools Voices (https://www.mplsschoolsvoices.news) and Sahan Journal (https://sahanjournal.com).

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Shayla Owodunni is running for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis School Board, which means every voter in the city will have her on their ballot

There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats.

In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommend reading the candidate interviews in Minneapolis Schools Voices (https://www.mplsschoolsvoices.news) and Sahan Journal (https://sahanjournal.com).

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

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Greta Callahan is running for Minneapolis School Board in district 6, located in southwest Minneapolis.

There are two competitive school board races this year. One is for a citywide at-large seat and the other is in district 6. This is one of four episodes with candidates for those two seats.

In addition to listening to this podcast, I recommend reading the candidate interviews in Minneapolis Schools Voices (https://www.mplsschoolsvoices.news) and Sahan Journal (https://sahanjournal.com).

Watch: https://youtube.com/wedgelive

Join the conversation: https://twitter.com/wedgelive

Support the show: https://patreon.com/wedgelive

Wedge LIVE theme song by Anthony Kasper x LaFontsee