Minnesota health workers sue over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Talk about plaintiffs with no shot… MPR’s Brian Bakst reports: “Nearly 200 Minnesota health workers have filed a federal lawsuit over the pending requirement that they be vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their job. … The lawsuit was filed late Monday in U.S. District Court against federal health officials and about 20 Minnesota health care providers that operate hospitals and clinics throughout the state. It contends that the lack of alternatives to vaccination infringes on the rights of those employees, who range from doctors and nurses to respiratory therapists and technicians.”

Going against the grain … farmer. The Star Tribune’s Paul Walsh reports: “A 68-year-old grain farmer in northwestern Minnesota has been charged with receiving more than $540,000 by filing false insurance claims that reported weather-related crop damage in recent years. … Kevan J. Nelson sought unwarranted payouts in connection with his claim of corn and soybean crops in Becker and Clay counties that were ‘lost to excessive moisture,’ according to a felony charge filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. … In 2018 and 2019, Nelson ‘falsely reported losses in those years to obtain crop insurance payments to which he was not entitled, resulting in his receipt of $548,695 in fraudulent payments,’ the court filing read.”

Hey, who among us has never asked for an extension? KARE’s Kiya Edwards report: “A Minneapolis Public Schools high school principal has been stripped of his title for failing to get properly licensed, but there’s a chance he could earn it back. … In a letter to the Minnesota Board of School Administrators dated Sept. 20, 2021, Brett Stringer writes that he worked as a licensed principal in Colorado for eight years. When he moved to South High School in the fall of 2019, he had two years to get a Minnesota-approved principal license. … In the letter, he admits he didn’t take the steps to get one, which would’ve required five semesters of course work in an approved licensure program.”

Your day brightener. In the Brainerd Dispatch, Emily Beal reports: “It normally takes the Olsonawski family 10 days to complete their annual sugar beet harvest. … This year, it took less than 24 hours. … Tractors, trucks and machinery of every color, shape and size filled the Olsonawskis’ acres on Monday, Sept. 27, with a steady stream of sugar beets falling into carts. Though sugar beet harvest will not officially commence in the Red River Valley until Friday, Oct. 1, neighbors, friends and fellow farmers gathered with one common goal: to help a farming family in need. … Paul Olsonawski died suddenly at age 55 in July, leaving his wife and four children behind. His wife, Dawn, has had a lot on her plate. Getting this year’s sugar beet crop out of her late husband’s fields will not be one of them.”