Minnesota Midday: Minneapolis data center vote, Appleton ICE facility and a cold snap
Minneapolis City Council votes on data center rules and a police chief nominee, a former prison in Appleton opens as an ICE detention facility, and much colder air settles over Minnesota.
The Minneapolis City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on a compromise ordinance for new data centers, which would limit them to existing downtown buildings, cap server space at 150,000 square feet and require larger centers to join a renewable energy program. A six-month pause on most new data centers expires November 21. The council is also set to consider Mayor Jacob Frey's nomination of interim police chief Bill Peterson, who has led the department since this summer, and whether to override Frey's veto of a contract extension with crisis responders Canopy Roots.
Supporters of the ordinance sayLabor groups and proponents say data centers bring jobs and tax revenue and are needed for cloud storage and artificial intelligence; the mayor's office says he supports the framework of the compromise.
Opponents sayThe city received about 1,600 public comments, mostly opposed, and almost half called for an outright ban. Council member Soren Stevenson said, "We don't need more computers in our downtown"; Council member Robin Wonsley cited noise, energy use and possible water contamination.
A former private prison in Appleton, which sat vacant since 2010, has opened as the Appleton Detention Facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with space for about 1,600 detainees. The Department of Homeland Security told KSTP it opened November 9 and says the site gives ICE immediate detention and removal capacity without waiting years for new construction. MPR News reports that ICE has not confirmed any detainees are held there yet, while the ACLU says attorneys have received credible reports that at least one person is. The federal government bought the site from CoreCivic for $495.6 million.
The federal government saysDHS says the facility gives ICE immediate detention and removal capacity without waiting years for new construction.
Critics sayACLU Minnesota's John Boehler cites concerns about conditions after 15 years of vacancy and difficult attorney access in a remote location. Local activist Brian Wojtalewicz asks what happens to people released into the rural area.
Some residents saySome residents welcome the facility, hoping for jobs in a town whose economy relied on the prison.
Colder November air settles over Minnesota Thursday, with statewide highs in the 30s and low 40s and the Twin Cities near 40 degrees, according to FOX 9 and CBS Minnesota. Early Friday is expected to bring the lowest temperatures of the season, in the mid 20s in the Twin Cities, with some spots statewide dipping into the teens. Sunshine returns Friday and the weekend, with highs in the low to mid 40s, and no precipitation is mentioned until a chance of rain next Thursday.
