John is joined by co-host Jason Garcia for a conversation about Amir Locke and police accountability with Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai.

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John has a conversation with Adam Wysopal, a man with zoning concerns about a Burger King drive thru in his backyard (NBKIMBY).

If you'd like to join Adam's zoning fight against Burger King, he's written an explainer document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W5u2vnvxVrsXOeGL4eoIbON-umwsDOlyxfLdjSU02nw

Thumbnail photo credit: Andrew Hazzard. You can read his 2020 coverage of the drive-thru saga here: https://www.southwestjournal.com/news/biz-buzz/2020/02/return-of-the-burger-king/

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John has a conversation with Ryan Winkler, MN House Majority Leader and a candidate for Hennepin County Attorney.

Ryan Winkler's campaign website: ryanwinkler.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

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John has a conversation with Simon Trautmann, a member of the Richfield City Council and a candidate for Hennepin County Attorney.

Simon Trautmann's campaign website: simonforcountyattorney.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

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John is joined by Senate District 61 Vice Chair Deborah Copperud and Minneapolis DFL digital maestro Conrad Zbikowski for a conversation about the upcoming DFL caucuses (register today!). There's a number of local and state races on the ballot this year: Hennepin County's top prosecutor, sheriff, county commissioner, school board, state house and senate. This year, like last year, is easier than a traditional caucus: take five minutes to fill out a form, check those delegate and alternate boxes, and give yourself a voice in who gets the DFL endorsement. There's also the option to show up to a caucus location to fill out or drop off the form in person on February 1.

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

Watch this episode and view other clips: youtube.com/wedgelive

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John has a conversation with Mary Moriarty, former Chief Public Defender in Hennepin County, who is currently running for County Attorney.

Mary Moriarty's campaign website: www.maryforhennepin.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

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John has a conversation with Saraswati Singh, currently a Ramsey County prosecutor, who is running for Hennepin County Attorney.

Saraswati Singh's campaign website: saraswatisingh.com

Registration for the February 1 caucus is happening right now. For information on how to participate -- and to access contactless/non-attendee forms -- Hennepin County residents should visit caucus.dfl.org and Minneapolis residents should visit minneapolisdfl.org/2022.

Watch this episode and view other clips: youtube.com/wedgelive

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John is joined by Melody Hoffman of the local news upstart Southwest Voices (SWV). We kick off the show with an ill-advised detour into parking statistics on Hennepin Avenue. We talk about the history of Wedge LIVE, Melody's deep and extremely well-placed admiration for John's contribution to the local news landscape--and how Melody might live up to that as a founding editor of SWV. How should we cover local crime stories? Is SWV going to fill the gap on school board news? Is Bryn Mawr really a part of Southwest Minneapolis? Melody talks about her appreciation for the collaborative, rather than competitive, approach of local journalists; and the "vibe of positivity and hopefulness" that SWV is delivering to readers by covering neighborhood news. John is eager to get back to a routine of regular social interactions and activities that are the foundation of a strong and healthy community; and he gets nostalgic for the deeply anti-social behavior he witnessed in the early years of covering neighborhood association meetings.

Find Melody on Twitter @melodyswv. Read Melody's and her colleagues' work at southwestvoices.news.

Read John's commentary on the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction: https://wedgelive.com/hennepin-avenue-in-pursuit-of-worthy-goals-enshrined-in-city-policy-developed-over-many-years/

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John is joined by PeggySue Imihy (city planner) and Jonathan Ahn (transit consultant) for a conversation about transit in the Twin Cities. First, we try to answer a philosophical question inspired by Linden Hills: Can trees and bus stations co-exist? We talk about the City of Minneapolis' plan to reallocate space for transit, pedestrians and bikes on Hennepin Avenue -- and the resulting uproar over car parking. As the pandemic persists and a bus driver shortage forces service cuts, Jonathan and PeggySue offer reasons for optimism. PeggySue makes a distinction between BRT (meant to serve existing riders) and rail transit (economic development). Transit fan "Sam in the Wedge" becomes our first caller to ask a question on the air (about whether the city is truly and sincerely pushing for bus lanes on Lake Street -- a street controlled by Hennepin County). PeggySue describes the many cooks in our regional transit planning kitchen, as a way of explaining why the process and results can be so confusing. We talk about the tradeoffs of free transit. Jonathan has an idea to speed up buses downtown. PeggySue helps John find the city of Crystal, MN on a map.

Blue Line light rail extension route information and anti-displacement work mentioned by PeggySue: https://metrocouncil.org/Transportation/Projects/Light-Rail-Projects/METRO-Blue-Line-Extension.aspx

Transit Assistance Program that provides reduced fares to low-income riders: https://www.metrotransit.org/tap-riders

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A special episode your host hopes you're too busy to listen to, intentionally scheduled for the week between Christmas and New Year's. John is joined by Jason Garcia and Taylor Dahlin for a rehash of the biggest story of 2021 that you didn't want to be reminded of: the bizarre rise and fall of Mickey Moore's campaign for Minneapolis City Council in Ward 9.

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