Latest news with #Justen
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Businesses ‘locked' out of key to success unless Minnesota lawmakers act
The Brief A 2023 state law banned lead in a lot of products including toys, jewelry, cosmetics, and keys. It took effect in Jan. 2024, but the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency isn't enforcing it until this coming July. Key makers and retailers say there aren't viable alternatives at this point. MPCA says some companies have alternatives, but they're recommending the legislature delay enforcement for three years. Bills eliminating the ban on keys are making their way to conference committees for votes, so stakeholders are rallying for change. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The keys in your pocket are already illegal to replace in Minnesota. Enforcement coming soon The state isn't really enforcing a new law yet, but it will start as of July, and a lot of small businesses are hoping to unlock a change before lawmakers go home. A 2023 law banned the sale of lead in products like jewelry, toys and ban included keys, but the people who make keys say there's no way to do it without a little lead. "Approximately 75% of all products that we stock have become prohibited for sale," said Rob Justen of Doyle Security Products. Lead is the key to staying in business for Justen's business. But a Minnesota law could lock them out soon. "It really does make it illegal to sell or replace the very keys that Minnesotans use every day, your house keys, your car keys, your apartment key, your boat key," said Bruce Nustad of the Minnesota Retailers Association. Urgency arriving The law banning new lead keys took effect in January 2024, but the sense of urgency is new for retailers and security companies. "[The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency] has been gracious in its enforcement," Nustad said. "The issue of sort of pending doom hasn't risen until just now." A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to take keys out of the ban and their changes are bolted to bills still moving in the legislature's final week. Compromising on keys Key makers say there's no viable alternative to make functioning keys, but they're open to lead limits like California implemented back in 2001. "Going back to the California standard would legalize every key that's in your pocket today," Justen said. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is saying some companies are already using alternatives, but they're also recommending a three-year delay in enforcement to give these businesses a chance to catch up with new technology.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Store manager along Robert Grissom Parkway hopes to see improvements to ‘dangerous' intersection
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The South Carolina Department of Transportation has proposed safety improvements to Robert M. Grissom Parkway in Myrtle Beach from Stalvey Ave to Executive Avenue/Cannon Road. FASTSIGNS assistant manager Blaire Justen said after working for the business right next to the intersection near Highway 501 for five years, she has seen some horrific accidents. She vividly remembers one fatality. 'I remember a few years ago, it was a motorcyclist and he wasn't wearing a helmet and golly,' Justen said. 'All the time there were crashes . . . brains on the road with that motorcyclist, it's horrific.' She said the intersection is so dangerous she avoids it at all costs. 'We will go out of our way up Seaboard to hit something with an actual light because coming out of it, it's just not worth it. We've seen people die,' she said. 'Every new hire that we have, I tell them to avoid that intersection at all costs.' A drop-in public information meeting took place Thursday with SCDOT to discuss improvements on the intersection. The intersection was picked through SCDOT's Pedestrian and Bicycle Action Plan. Although the plans for the project aren't final, the elements proposed include the following: High Visibility Crosswalks ADA Ramps Leading Pedestrian Intervals Countdown Signal Heads New Pavement Markings Intersection Improvements Pedestrian Crossings Access Management Practices in areas with a high frequency of crashes. Justen said these improvements are needed to keep the community safe. 'Not only do you have the traffic coming both ways, but you have U-turns and blind corners. People are going so fast,' she said. 'Something needs to happen.' Justen said accidents at this intersection happen so frequently it seems as if law enforcement isn't surprised anymore. She's thankful law enforcement handles each accident quickly, but says they shouldn't be happening in the first place. 'Whenever an accident happens — which at this point is once a month, once every two months, we call the police and we say 'It happened again' And they're like, 'Really?' And we're like, 'yes,'' she said. 'Because we can hear the crash, we're back there, we hear metal. We all run out just to make sure everybody's OK.' Justen said not that long ago there was an accident just feet away from the store, coming onto the sidewalk and through the bushes. She said if there was a company car parked there it would've been hit badly. Justen is originally from Indianapolis, so she said she knows busy intersections. But this is one, she says, is no joke. She said with more people moving to the coast, the intersection needs improvements as soon as possible. 'It is really starting to get a lot more residential traffic as well. So the traffic has just increased exponentially and I think it's relatively low on the list because it's more of like a side street, but more and more people are using it connecting to seaboard and stuff for further north,' she said. 'Something has to be done. There needs to be an actual light with the flow of traffic that we currently have.' Justen said many of the accidents involve children, and the business has a shop dog that will go out to check on those in the accident. She said she brings her dog to help comfort those involved in the crash after reading that it helps with trauma victims. Construction is tentatively set to take place in the fall of 2026. 'Hopefully enough has happened that they're finally like, 'fine, we'll do something,'' Justen said. If you did not attend Thursday's drop-in meeting but would like to voice your input on the intersection, you can do so until Feb. 21 by clicking here. * * * Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
