Dozens of people gathered outside the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater Monday to protest living conditions inside the prison.

The gathering followed a peaceful protest put on by close to 100 incarcerated people on Sunday to decry reduced shower, phone and recreation time, as well as dangerously hot rooms and poor water quality.

Protesters outside the front of the facility carried signs reading “Decarcerate MN” and “My dad deserves water.” They stood at a gate outside the building and shouted “We hear you, we see you, we love you, we’re with you,” as inmates inside shouted and whistled in response.

When Kevin Bright looks past the wire fencing and upturned soil in front of Rochester City Hall, he sees a greener future. The two geothermal wells being drilled here will eventually provide carbon-free heating and cooling for the city’s headquarters. 

The wells are one part of the city’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100 percent over the next three decades.

“After it’s completed and the project’s done, we’ll have the second city hall in Minnesota that is electrically heated and cooled with geothermal, which is pretty exciting,” he said.