Flanked by protesters quietly hoisting signs calling for a Gaza cease-fire resolution, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved more than $40 million in spending on parks and streets this year, to be funded by the new voter-approved 1% sales tax that takes effect April 1. The vote proceeded without disruption, a week after a previous public hearing on a state grant was cut short by loud .
The first year of sales tax revenue will fund $10.2 million toward reconstructing Grand Avenue from Snelling to Fairview avenues this year, as well as another $500,000 toward intersection improvements at Grand and Snelling.
When the seven members of the St. Paul City Council took their oaths of office on Tuesday, not all chose to do so on a Christian Bible. Five of the seven were sworn in on books that held other meaning to them, from religious texts to academic works. Ben Hovland, a photojournalist for Minnesota Public Radio, spotted the trend from his perch in the balcony of the Ordway Center for the Performing .