Happy Thursday!

• Cooler but dry. Highs in the mid 50s, NWS says.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Amy Werdine, Kathi Burke and Lisa Linnell!

Today’s newsletter is 1,104 words — a 4-minute read.

Nearly 50 years after one of the worst planning decisions in city history, Nicollet Avenue is slated to reopen at Lake Street next month.

Why it matters: The "Nicollet Wall," which was a Kmart store, severed a major commercial corridor in 1977, and city leaders have spent decades — and millions of dollars — trying to undo the blunder.

Driving the new (Nicollet): A city engineer confirmed to Axios that the street is tentatively planned to reopen Nov. 24 after two years of road construction and a Midtown Greenway bridge improvement.

Follow the money: It cost the city a whopping $22 million to acquire the land and to buy Kmart — at the time in bankruptcy — out of its sweetheart lease 33 years early.

Catch up quick: It's been a rough stretch for Eat Street businesses on the north side of the intersection.

• First there was civil unrest in 2020, followed by homeless encampments.
• Then, last winter, Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents on the block, and Operation Metro Surge brought a heavy dose of immigration enforcement to the area.

What they're saying: Tammy Wong's Rainbow Chinese has been operating on Eat Street for nearly 40 years.

• She's excited about the end of construction and more access to the neighborhood, but said business owners remain concerned about the city's long-term plans for the Kmart site.
• "We're not quite sure what else they're developing in that area that will help us be more successful or stay in business."

What we're watching: How soon the city's vision for a remade corner comes to life.

• The City Council in April selected Trellis for the first phase of the overhaul.
• The developer pitched 119 affordable apartments but said the earliest construction could begin was 2028.

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Minneapolis Public Schools enrollment fell about 1,000 students short of projections this year, the district told parents this week.

Why it matters: The miss raises fears of an acute budget crisis in MPS as the enrollment dip will cost the district $12.9 million in per-pupil revenue.

What they're saying: MPS officials blamed Operation Metro Surge, writing in an email that English learners accounted for most of the drop.

Zoom out: Other districts have reported similar misses in their enrollment projections — including St. Paul, where the school board recently considered extremely rare midyear layoffs to close the budget gap.

• MPS has not said whether layoffs will be necessary, the Star Tribune reports.

⚖️ James O'Keefe and another conservative media figure face felony charges for misrepresenting their identities to election judges in Minneapolis during the Aug. 11 primary, according to prosecutors. (MPR News)

• O'Keefe's team filmed themselves visiting a polling place while wearing burqas to test Minnesota's vouching laws.

🐘 Republicans are outspending DFLers on statewide and state legislative races for the first time in recent memory, a new analysis shows. (Star Tribune)

🏛️ Feeding Our Future co-conspirator Salim Said was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the pandemic food aid fraud scheme. (KSTP)

🍺 Sisyphus Brewing says it must close or relocate by January after Dunwoody College declined to renew the brewery and comedy club's lease. (Fox 9)

💼 Doug Stang, a former state representative who's served in top government affairs roles for LegalZoom and 3M, will be the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's next president and CEO.

Voters in parts of St. Paul will do something on Election Day that they haven't done in 30 years: choose a new Ramsey County commissioner.

Why it matters: County governments often fly under the radar, but in Minnesota they wield massive power over social safety net programs — everything from homelessness response to food benefits.

• They also oversee a huge portfolio of transit, public safety and housing programs.

Context: Ramsey County commissioners often serve long tenures, and incumbents are difficult to beat — making Rafael Ortega's retirement from the District 5 seat he's held since 1994 a rare opportunity.

State of play: DFL state Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega is facing St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker on Nov. 3 — and results of the three-way August primary suggest a tight race.

Noecker joined the race because of her "heartbreak" over the cancellation of the Riverview Corridor transit project after years of study. It would've linked downtown St. Paul with MSP Airport.

• Noecker was also "tired of never really seeing our commissioner [Ortega] show up," she tells Axios.
• Top priorities: Better case management in the county's homelessness response; strengthening the county's separation ordinance to protect immigrants and other vulnerable groups; and "mov[ing] with urgency" to redevelop county land.

Pérez-Vega shares Noecker's frustration with the collapse of the Riverview project, which she worked to fund in the Legislature — but disputes the claim that Ortega, who has endorsed her, was disengaged.

• "She keeps asking, 'Where was the county?' Where was she?" Pérez-Vega tells Axios, criticizing Noecker's responsiveness on homelessness and to a tenant crisis at a downtown apartment tower.
• Top priorities: Downtown redevelopment; constituent engagement; and chiefly, preserving safety net benefits facing federal cutbacks: "That's going to impact the families that need food in their fridge," she tells Axios.

Go deeper: Candidate Q&As with the Pioneer Press

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👋 Torey here. I'm a big fan of my neighborhood's "Buy Nothing" Facebook boards.

• The reason: The forums help us all save money, reduce waste and build community.

I've claimed my fair share of toys over the years and gifted items big and small.

Yes, but: While I love the spirit of generosity, I've also seen some real head-scratchers in my feed, like a long-expired bottle of salad dressing or a broken drinking fountain for cats.

• My reality check: Sometimes your trash isn't someone else's treasure!

📣 So I thought I'd ask: What's the best thing you've scored from a Buy Nothing group — and what's the most mind-boggling item you've seen someone give away?

• Hit reply to share. We may use your answer in a future newsletter.

👵 Torey wants to know who's best at natural-looking Botox in the Twin Cities. (She's asking for a friend. Obviously.)

👴 Nick began writing about the efforts to reopen Nicollet Avenue 15 years ago and he can't believe it's actually happening.

🫩 Audrey is attempting to find party appetizers that are easy, cheap and satisfy at least four different dietary restrictions.

🎤 Kyle had a long (but fun!) night at high school speech auditions.

Today's newsletter was edited by Larry Graham.