Jennie Lissarrague and Stephen Tellier * September 22, 2015

The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to investigate whether to boost the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

At a meeting Tuesday morning, the council agreed to hire an outside company to conduct a study of the impact a minimum wage increase would have on Minneapolis, as well as Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The study will examine a $12 minimum wage, as well as a $15 minimum wage, and would cost $150,000.

The hope is that it would be completed by next spring.

Tom Scheck · Oct 1, 2015

Buying health coverage through MNsure will get a lot more expensive for many people next year.

Average rate increases for individual and family coverage will range from 14 percent to 49 percent compared to 2015, the agency said Thursday. The highest average rate increase — 49 percent — will come from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the state's largest insurer.

Full Agenda Keeps SD 49ers Busy at September Dinner Meeting

SD 49 members and guests congregated at Calvary Lutheran Church in Edina for our monthly dinner meeting to elect a new senate district vice chair, hear speeches, and join together for an evening meal. Chef Barb Nazarian, Russ Burnison and Dar Gray served up a delicious dinner guaranteed to quench hearty appetites and sustenance to last the evening.

Fun Was Had By All at Our Annual Picnic

“It was such a great afternoon!” That is how people will describe the SD 49 / 50 Republican picnic that happened on Sunday the 13th at Bush Lake Park in Bloomington.

Bloomington residents Lew Coffey and Bill Reichert opposed the city council's request for authority to issue bonds without asking voters. Here's the story.

Reading Corps, a program designed by our former state representative and Minnesota commissioner of education Alice Seagren, has been successful statewide and in 11 states in closing the achievement gap for at-risk students from three-years-old to third grade. Alice says, "In Bloomington, 90 percent of 4-year-olds enrolled in the Minnesota Reading Corps made great gains on three key literacy measures, helping them be ready for kindergarten." Read more here.