AP-OLY-GYM-LEE-MINNESOTA

'Happy tears': Lee's gold sparks joy at home in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Family and friends in Minnesota broke into cheers and screams for Sunisa Lee. She was one of their own, and the 18-year-old gymnast had captured the women's all-around gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Her triumph delighted all of Minnesota but carried special resonance in the state’s large and close-knit Hmong American community. Dozens of Lee family members and friends gathered to watch the broadcast from Tokyo. The Hmong fought for the U.S. in Laos during the Vietnam War and many resettled in Minnesota. Her victory sparked an outpouring of pride across the community, where many saw it as an “Only in America” story.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

Minnesota offers $100 rewards to unvaccinated who get shots

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz says Minnesota will join in the Biden administration’s plan to provide $100 incentives to residents who get COVID-19 vaccinations by mid-August. President Joe Biden announced the rewards as part of sweeping new pandemic requirements for millions of federal workers as he denounced an “American tragedy” of rising-yet-preventable deaths among unvaccinated people. Starting Friday, unvaccinated Minnesotans 12 and older who get their first shot by Aug. 15 will get a $100 Visa gift card to spend however they choose. All Minnesotans qualify for free COVID-19 shots through health care providers, pharmacies and other sources.

POWER PLANT SALE-REVIEW

Minnesota co-ops to vote on North Dakota power plant sale

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Minnesota electric company that wants to sell its coal-fueled power plant in North Dakota expects to know Friday if its member utility cooperatives will endorse the deal. Bismarck-based Rainbow Energy announced last month it would buy Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station. The deal includes Great River purchasing electricity over the next decade from the new owner. The companies have not publicly disclosed terms of the deal that includes an associated transmission line. Great River supplies electricity to 28 rural Minnesota cooperatives. A company spokeswoman says two-thirds of the cooperatives are required to endorsed the sale.

CRASH-TWO KILLED

Man surrenders in crash that killed 2 near Lake Minnetonka

ORONO, Minn. (AP) — An Orono man who crashed his car, killing two passengers, has turned himself in to police. Authorities say high speed and alcohol were factors in the crash that happened near the driver’s Lake Minnetonka home about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The 51-year-old driver crashed into some trees after veering off North Shore Drive, killing 24-year-old Sam Schuneman and 20-year-old Mack Motzko. The driver was treated for injuries at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale and released. A friend of the victim says they met the man at an Excelsior restaurant that night and he invited them to his house for a party.

TRIPLE SLAYING-WISCONSIN

Sheriff: 3 dead at Wisconsin quarry were shot over $600 debt

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Authorities say three men who were found dead at the entrance of a quarry in western Wisconsin were forced to kneel on the ground and shot multiple times over a $600 debt. La Crosse County Sheriff Jeff Wolf said Thursday that 44-year-old Khamthaneth Rattanasack and 33-year-old Nya Thao have each been charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide. Wolf said two workers discovered the bodies of Peng Lor, Nemo Yang and Trevor Maloney shortly before 5 a.m. on July 23 outside the Romskog Quarry by two workers. The quarry is about 14 miles northeast of La Crosse, which is along the Minnesota border.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

Minnesota health leaders recommend masks at schools in fall

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials are recommending, but not requiring, that all students, teachers and staff wear masks in schools this fall, regardless of whether or not they are vaccinated. That's in line with new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. State health officials are also recommending that all people age 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to in-person schooling, sports or other activities. The recommendations come amid concerns about a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant. House Republicans say masking decisions should be made at the local level, with no pressure from the state.

AP-US-RED-LAKE-OFFICER-SLAIN

Man charged with killing officer on reservation in Minnesota

RED LAKE, Minn. (AP) — A man has been charged in the killing of a Red Lake Nation police officer who was fatally shot while responding to a call to a residence on the tribe’s reservation in northwestern Minnesota. Twenty-eight-year-old David Donnell Jr., of Redby, is charged in federal court with one count of second-degree murder and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in the death of Officer Ryan Bialke. The 37-year-old Bialke was killed Tuesday after he went to Donnell’s home on a report of a suicidal male with children possibly in the residence. Federal authorities say Donnell was standing outside the porch when officers arrived, and then went inside the house. Donnell began firing after officers broke down the door.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BONUS PAY

Panel weighs COVID bonuses for Minnesota's frontline workers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Health care, school and food workers who risked their lives at the height of the pandemic have made pitches for a piece of the $250 million in COVID-19 relief money that Minnesota plans to allocate as bonuses to essential frontline workers. They told their stories Wednesday as a bipartisan panel of nine Minnesota lawmakers began sorting out who should get the money and how much. The working group faces difficult decisions over the next six weeks to determine which groups of potentially hundreds of thousands of workers are the most deserving. The more workers who get the money, the smaller the payments must be.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021