Glencoe is one step closer to getting an artificial intelligence data banking center, a bipartisan education bill wants to send legislators back to school for 12 hours each term, and the Mayo Clinic will build a 2.8-mile rapid transit link to connect their campuses in Rochester.
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: Today we hear about a new AI data banking center opening in Glencoe that comes with some controversy, why lawmakers may be forced to spend more time in state schools, and, what's with all the construction chaos in Rochester? I'm Gracie J.
Revolve Labs is moving forward with plans to build an AI data banking center in Glencoe, which is southwest of the Twin Cities. The Colorado-based company already operates a crypto-currency mining facility in Glencoe. This comes after Revolve dropped plans to build data centers in Mountain Lake and Windom after resident opposition. AI data centers run services like medical records, financial transactions, and navigation apps. Those supporting data centers say they will bring jobs and money to the economy. Opponents point to environmental concerns.
Coming up, Minnesota lawmakers may be forced to go back to school. A bill originally aimed at legislators who serve on education committees could end up applying to all members of the Minnesota house and senate. As Xan Holston explains, while the bill has bi-partisan support, there's concern about how it will get funded.
[sound element: school bell]
Xan Holston: That's a sound Minnesota lawmakers may have to hear more often. The new bill at the Minnesota Capitol would require lawmakers to spend 12 hours over a two-year period in a K 12 school following teachers or school administrators. Representative Andrew Myers, a Republican from Tonka Bay, a suburb in the western Metro, introduced the bill hoping to address teachers’ frustrations that school-related legislation often overlooks what teachers deal with on a regular basis.
Andrew Myers: We've got to do a little better job of listening to what our local schools need and not trying to do more of a top-down you know, state run school board approach.
Xan Holston: Myers says lawmakers frequently hear from educators and advocacy organizations at the Capitol, but the bill would give legislators a chance to hear directly from classroom teachers, voices that don't always make it to committee hearings.
Andrew Myers: You know, we hear a lot from the same people that come down here, and I think this is that opportunity to talk to that teacher that can't get away, either because they can't afford or they're really committed and it puts us in in, you know, their classroom, listening and talking to them.
Xan Holston: The bill originally applied only to members of the Education Policy and Education Finance Committees, but an amendment proposed by Representative Sydney Jordan, a Democrat from Minneapolis, broadened the language to include all legislators.
Sydney Jordan: So seeing bills like this, where we can really make sure that we are having legislators and decision makers understand what our teachers and students are going through in their classrooms is really good.
Xan Holston: White Bear Lake special education teacher Claire Luger testified in support of the bill. She also said that while learning the perspective of School Administrators is valuable, it's important for the bill to focus on teachers.
Claire Luger: To have folks who are watching how teachers do that and make those you know, like, 8 million decisions a minute is very, very different than like an administrator who has the ability to sit down one to one with a student in their office and process through a situation.
Xan Holston: Not everyone supports the bill. Representative Jenny Claiborne, a Democrat from Plymouth, another West Metro suburb, raised concerns about mandating legislators work, calling it a slippery slope. You're talking about permanent rules, you're talking about ethics violations, you're talking about tracking legislative work
Ginny Kelvorn: You're talking about mandating legislative work, and you're not taking into account any of the costs for any of this.
Xan Holston: The Education Policy Committee laid the bill over to be considered again on a later date, or for inclusion in a larger education bill. Meyer says he's optimistic the bill will move forward.
Andrew Myers: You know, we all go to ribbon cuttings, we all go to other events, and I think, you know, it's a good way to prioritize the things that we probably should be going to a little bit more when we're passing policies that have very sweeping impacts on our on our teachers and our kids and our community.
Xan Holston: I'm Xan Holston for North Star Stories.
ANCHOR: You are listening to North Star Stories.
Construction season is upon us, and Rochester is preparing for a busy one. The southern Minnesota city is home to Mayo Clinic, which in 2023 unveiled "Bold. Forward. Unbound." The multiyear initiative has, as one of its aims, the revisioning of Mayo's Rochester campus to better meet patient needs. This spring, Mayo will build a 2.8-mile rapid transit link connecting their campuses. The health center is also building a logistics center that will use robots and automation to transfer resources to care teams on the medical campus. Annually, more than a million patients travel to Mayo in Rochester.
HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.