Welcome back to winter. Strong winds, below zero wind temperatures, flurries and rough driving conditions. The latest from Updraft.
Autumn Ridge Church executive pastor Otis Hall with some of the coats the church collects and donates in Rochester, Minn., Nov. 30, 2021. Ken Klotzbach for MPR News
Rochester is expected to welcome 20 refugee families from Afghanistan by early next year — and some have already arrived in the region. But distant landlords and a chronic shortage of affordable housing in the city have made it hard for refugee families to find a place to live.
John Meyers can remember a time when finding housing for refugees was the least of his concerns as he and his team at Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota worked to settle newcomers in the region.
"Five to six years ago, we could find apartments, we had landlords that we could call them up and the next day we could have a unit available for us,” said Meyers, director of refugee resettlement.
Bottlenecks created by the pandemic also stunted refugee resettlement. Both these factors have made it difficult for Catholic Charities to fire up old relationships with local landlords.
Meanwhile, affordable housing remains scarce, and some local landlords have sold their properties to out-of-state companies as Rochester's housing market booms under the Destination Medical Center, a massive economic development plan aimed at making the city more of a medical destination.
“We had built up those relations, and then all of a sudden, the company gets sold, the apartment complex gets sold. And you're dealing with a different office, and that has made it such a challenge,” Meyer said. Read more about the solutions being explored in Rochester.
What else we're watching
MN House starts work on redistricting that courts will likely finish The typical way new political districts are drawn every 10 years in Minnesota is that the courts do it. It's happened that way for decades, mostly because Legislatures and governors haven't been able to agree on plans and pass them into law. But that doesn't mean they don't try, and that's what's going on in the Minnesota House now.
Kimberly Potter trial: A look at the case before the trial begins Wednesday Opening statements are expected to begin Wednesday in the trial of Kimberly Potter. The former Brooklyn Center police officer is facing manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Daunte Wright — a 20-year-old Black man. Jury selection wrapped up last week.
