Mercado Central mired in quarrels: More than just a hub of Latino food, crafts and culture, the Mercado was intended by its nonprofit founders to encourage entrepreneurship, in part by offering its merchants the chance to own the building. But that goal remains elusive because of bitter disagreements among the merchants that have landed them in court and cost their cooperative thousands in legal fees. (Alejandra Matos)
City no longer a WiFi wastrel: A dramatic push at Minneapolis City Hall to integrate wireless technology into more city services may eventually salvage millions of dollars that officials once thought was wasted on unused bandwidth. The turnaround is largely the result of high-definition cameras and police squad cars, which are now helping gobble up the $1.25 million worth of bandwidth Minneapolis pays for every year. (Eric Roper)
New China Wok avoids revocation: The business owed the city $17,100 in fines for food-code violations incurred over several years. Owner Ben Lan's son paid the fines a couple days before the City Council was to vote on the revocation. The City Council withdrew the revocation from the Oct. 5 agenda. (Jane Friedmann)
Portion of Hiawatha Avenue to close for 10 days: Starting Tuesday, look for lane and ramp closings at the busy intersection, and a full shutdown of a stretch of Hiawatha Avenue in both directions starting Friday. It's all related to Xcel Energy's Hiawatha Transmission Project. The utility will place two high-voltage transmission lines beneath Hiawatha. (Tim Harlow) The state-ordered burial of the lines was a victory for neighborhood residents and supporters of the Midtown Greenway, who lambasted Xcel's original plan for overhead power lines.
Loan agent from MInneapolis loses license for fraud (Jane Friedmann)
