House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler announces run for Hennepin County Attorney

Winkler seeks nod. KARE’s Diane Sandberg reports: “The former Majority Leader for the Minnesota House of Representatives is stepping down from his position and throwing his hat in the ring in a bid to become Hennepin County’s top prosecutor. … ‘I’m running for County Attorney because we need progressive leadership that will bring people together around a common vision for addressing public safety and racial justice,’ Winkler announced on his website Tuesday morning. … The website lists Winkler’s priorities as public safety, police accountability, criminal justice reform, immigration and scams and financial crimes.”

Today in COVID-19 news. The Star Tribune’s Christopher Snowbeck reports: “The Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday opened a new clinic in St. Paul that’s meant to improve access to a promising COVID-19 treatment for patients in the Twin Cities metro. … The new clinic is near Interstate 35E and Arlington Avenue West. … Patients with mild to moderate symptoms that started within the past 10 days are eligible for the treatment, which consists of monoclonal antibodies administered through an IV infusion. The treatment is limited to patients at high risk for serious COVID-19 illness.”

That’s one way to create jobs. In the Guardian, Hilary Beaumont reports: “The Canadian company Enbridge has reimbursed US police $2.4m for arresting and surveilling hundreds of demonstrators who oppose construction of its Line 3 pipeline, according to documents the Guardian obtained through a public records request. … Enbridge has paid for officer training, police surveillance of demonstrators, officer wages, overtime, benefits, meals, hotels and equipment. ”

An encampment cleared. The Star Tribune’s Susan Du reports: “Minneapolis city workers arrived early Tuesday to clear dozens of tents that had been staked in the median along congested East Franklin Avenue near Cedar Avenue South. … Police directed traffic as yellow-vested Regulatory Services workers used Bobcats to scoop up a crush of bicycles, clothes and furniture into dump trucks. They encountered no protesters, a contrast with the failed effort to clear another encampment on the Near North Side in March that led to a violent clash.”