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.

AP-US-RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PROPERTY-COVENANTS

State lawmakers work to strip old 'whites only' covenants

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The nation’s reckoning on race has given new momentum to efforts to help U.S. homeowners somehow disassociate their properties with historic, racially restrictive property covenants. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 10 states this year passed or are currently considering a wide range of bills concerning restrictive covenants that are based upon race or religion. Three states passed such legislation in 2020. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 ruled that racially restrictive housing covenants were unenforceable under the U.S. Constitution, many still remain today, often to the surprise of homeowners.

MALL OF AMERICA-CHILD HURT

Family of boy thrown from Mall of America balcony files suit

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The family of a boy who was thrown off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in April 2019 has filed a lawsuit accusing the mall of failing to provide proper security. The complaint filed Tuesday says the mall and its security detail knew about the previous “violent, aggressive, and erratic” behavior displayed at the shopping center by the boy’s attacker, Emmanuel Aranda. The boy, known as Landen, was 5 years old when he was thrown nearly 40 feet (12.2 meters) to the ground by Aranda. The suit seeks unspecified damages. An attorney says the family has incurred more than $1.7 million in medical expenses. Mall officials say such suits are not unexpected and they will try to find a resolution for all parities.

N DAKOTA ST-US BANK STADIUM

North Dakota State to play 2023 game at US Bank Stadium

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The perennial powerhouse of the Football Championship Subdivision is taking its show to the home of the Minnesota Vikings. North Dakota State is scheduled to play Eastern Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sept. 2, 2023. The downtown Minneapolis stadium seats more than 66,000 fans for football. It will be the second trip to the Twin Cities for the Bison. who are winners of eight of the last 10 FCS titles. They drew 35,544 fans to Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, when Trey Lance's dazzling debut wound up in a 57-10 win over Butler. Lance, now a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers, threw for four touchdowns and ran for two scores.

CRIME-MINNESOTA

Violent crime surges across Minnesota with record murders

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Violent crime surged nearly 17% across Minnesota last year, including a record number of murders. The annual Uniform Crime Report from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension covers a year marked by unrest over the death of George Floyd, staffing and morale problems within the police department in Minnesota’s largest city, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a surge in unemployment and other stresses on society. Minnesota recorded 185 murders in 2020, up 58% from 117 in 2019. That broke the record of 183 set in 1995. Republicans have seized on the data to portray Democrats as weak on crime.

TOWNSHIP CLERK-FRAUD SENTENCE

Former township clerk sentenced to prison for fraud scheme

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Twin Cities woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years in federal prison and ordered to pay back more than $650,000 she admitted to stealing from Vermillion Township in Dakota County while serving as its elected clerk. Seventy-year-old Maryann Stoffel, of Hastings, pleaded guilty in March to felony wire fraud in connection with a scheme that spanned nearly eight years. Investigators say she forged some signatures and collected some signatures on blank checks while claiming she was going to pay township bills. Instead she put the money in her personal bank account. U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schultz sentenced Stoffel Tuesday to 27 months in prison.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021