Secrets of the City

Barring one final vote in the Senate, same-sex marriage is well on its way to becoming legal in our state. Yesterday afternoon, the Minnesota House passed the gay marriage bill after an emotionally-charged session, with legislators split mostly along party lines. Four Republican representatives voted in favor of the bill, and only two DFLers voted against it.

It doesn’t happen often, but it’s pretty neat when trends start in the Midwest and ripple toward the coasts. Oakland, Calif., will be hosting its own version of the Internet Cat Video Festival, which originated here in Minneapolis last summer. Working in collaboration with the Walker Art Center, the copy-cat cat fest will go down this weekend in Oakland’s Uptown. Organizers expect around 5,000 cat-lovers to attend, but given the fact that more than twice that number showed up at last summer’s event, it could certainly be a lot more.

Though St. Louis Park just became the 12th city in Hennepin County to launch an “organics recycling” program, homeowners are hesitant to participate in the move toward composting.

“It’s not rocket science,” the county’s frustrated organics recycling program manager John Jaimez, said to the STrib. But there are barriers to participation—namely, a $40 yearly fee for materials and a list of acceptable compostables to keep the system efficient. Last year, a mere one percent of compost materials came from homes; the rest was recycled by businesses and schools. St. Louis Park started up the program because residents requested it, so perhaps the city will give the program the momentum it needs to catch on throughout the Twin Cities.

Drinking and driving is never a good idea. And if there was ever a night where “only having a couple” and deciding to get behind the wheel could get you into trouble, tomorrow night (May 10) would be that night.

According to KSTP, the Department of Public Safety will conduct its largest-ever one night DWI enforcement–one for the Guinness Book of World Records? Could be. The highways will be aglow with red and blue as 150 cop cars will be on the lookout for drivers suspected to have had a few too many. Not only is getting arrested for a DWI embarrassing enough as it is, but to add more shame to the crime (and another blow to the ego), the department will post each arrest made on Twitter (#May10DWI).