• Sunday, May 17, is Syttende Mai, Norway’s Independence Day.
• Kids from one school bus stop are biking to school together for Bike Walk to Work Week.
• Minneapolis City Councilmember Ralph Remington on the black experience in America.
• Charles Hallman of the Spokesman-Recorder, who (along with Stephen Litel from DT/SW Journal) provides the best Lynx coverage in town) previews the Lynx going into the team’s 10th season and the WNBA’s 12th season. Home opener is Sunday at 5:00 against the Detroit Shock and will be broadcast on FSN North. FanFest will be happening out on 6th Street from 2-4pm.
• Vandals damage governors’ portraits in the Capitol. Harold LeVander, Elmer Anderson, and Jesse Ventura. Colonel Mustard, in the rotunda, with a marker.
• Mary LaHammer previews her Almanac interview with Jesse Ventura. Dude’s all over the place pimping his new book.
• Sornie: “When I attend the Minnesota State Fair, I love to wander through the ‘varied industry building’ or as I refer to it as ‘people peddling crap that doesn’t deserve shelf-space at the As Seen on TV store at the Mall of America building’.” It doesn’t even matter what the rest of the post is about.
• St Paul Issues Forum is doing happy hour tonight. O’Gara’s. 5-7pm. SPIF is also looking for candidates for their executive committee. Deets at happy hour.
• My favorite Rake blog is Just Passing Through. Guest blogging by all sorts of interesting folks.

While I was working on yesterday’s roundup, I came across Metro Transit’s Bike2Benefits program.

Since I live four miles from where I work, I decided that it would probably not be nearly as bad as I imagined to commute to work on my bike. I did that for the first time today and it didn’t suck! So I was all proud of myself, but then I noticed that there are prizes involved in Bike2Benefits, so I went ahead and signed up for that.

Choose any eight-week period before Dec. 31 to start commuting by bicycle. Track your trips and mileage at this website. When you complete the program, you will automatically be entered in our year-end prize drawing. You’ll also receive a Twin Cities Bike Map (while supplies last). Once your eight weeks are over, continue tracking your commutes and you’ll be eligible for even more incentives!

Bike2Benefits is open to anyone 18 or older who lives and works in these counties: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington. There is no fee to participate.

Here’s how it works:

Bike/Walk Related:

• R.T. Rybak wins the Great Commuter Challenge on his bike, beating out the Ramsey County Commissioner who walked/took public transit and Roadguy who drove a car. I did not bike to work today for Bike Walk to Work Day, but I give my potential bike commute a dry run on Monday evening and may do it yet this week, since Bike Walk to Work Day is just one part of Bike Walk to Work Week.
• Minneapolis and St Paul mayors unveil community bike program. The program is called “Freewheelin” and is sponsored by insurance company Humana. “Solar-powered kiosks will be stationed throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul during the [Republican National] convention, which will be Sept. 1-4. People will be able to take bikes from these kiosks, travel anywhere and drop them off when they’re done. The only requirements will be online registration and a credit card number — not to be charged, but to hold people accountable when bikes are damaged or go missing.” 70 bikes will be left behind to continue the program after the convention and the program may expand for the following spring. IMO, going into the winter is not the best time to fire up the program, but at least it’s there.
• Cycling in the city. vita.mn on bike culture in the TC. (via east-lake)
• Bike2Benefits is a Metro Transit program somewhat similar to the commuter challenge (but focusing on biking, obviously). (via twin_cities)

The Rest:

• You know that big bronze (kind of scary) rabbit sculpture on Minnehaha Parkway at Portland? This Saturday at 10am there will be kids out there planting clay bunnies around it. Not sure why, though… (via @nxt)
• The Rake has a new Call for Artists section. Current listings are for actors for a Fringe show and exhibitions to display at various Hennepin County Library locations in Minneapolis. (via @RakeMag)
• In case you just moved here and aren’t sure what the white lights on the traffic signals are. I find it extra confusing that the white lights also blink along Hiawatha when the train is coming. Is LRT an emergency?
• Bon Iver on Pitchfork.tv (via east-lake)
• Taylor Carik = Bon Iver (I so told Taylor that months ago.) And, yeah, they do both look like every guy that hangs out at the 331 Club.
• Least Dangerous Game, everyone’s favorite Twitter hide and seek game, starts again on May 24 after its winter hiatus.
• Living on the Minnehaha Homestead has a multimedia presentation on the May Day Parade.
• Localized job boards that are not Monster/CareerBuilder/etc.
• Strib blog: “Patent Pending will provide you the latest information and commentary on the people, companies, and trends driving innovation in Minnesota. From visionary entrepreneurs to game changing technologies, this blog will offer a window into the future of Minnesota’s economy.”
• Graffiti = Killing Puppies
• Firsthand account of the immediate aftermath of an armed robbery in the parking lot of the E Lake Street Cub Foods.
• Local crazies. Fun to discuss unless they’re actually crazy.
• Best Buy sucks the big schlong.

• twin_cities: ISO grassy metro parks for a guinea pig festival! “The grass has to be chemical free as dozens of hungry guinea pigs will be snacking on and simultaneously fertilizing it.” OMG SO KYOOT!
• MPR: College of St. Catherine to become a university. “The new name hasn’t been determined, but will include ‘St. Catherine’s’ and ‘university.’”
• Minneapolis Issues Forum: Do Idaho’s bike safety statutes make more sense?
• MinnPost: How we’re doing so far. Joel Kramer reports in on the first six months of MinnPost. “MinnPost.com has more than 100,000 absolute monthly unique visitors, as measured by Google Analytics. This makes us the most-visited local-news website in Minnesota that is not driving traffic to itself from a legacy medium, like TV, radio or print.”
• Minnesota Monitor: Congress studies wrong city for RNC disaster preparedness. “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center did not have sufficient capacity to handle a terrorist attack. The committee completely overlooked St. Paul’s Regions Hospital, which would be the first responder in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on the RNC.”
• Southwest Journal: Neighborhood organizations are adjusting their fundraising strategies in preparation for the loss of NRP funding. They mention Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association; Elliot Park Neighborhood, Inc.; and East Harriet Farmstead Neighborhood Association.
• City of Minneapolis: Sustainability Initiatives
• City of St Paul: Sustainable Saint Paul
• The Deets: Ed looks at recent reports on the link between local food environments (i.e., stores/restaurants in your neighborhood) and obesity and diabetes. Ed’s theory: “The distance you drive to buy groceries effects how you shop.”