Josh Verges writes in the Pioneer Press: “The St. Paul school board voted Wednesday night to close five schools next fall and a sixth in 2023, displacing around 2,040 students in an effort to create larger and more ‘well-rounded’ schools with greater appeal to parents. … The consolidation is one-third smaller than what Superintendent Joe Gothard and his administration called for in October. It was apparent at a meeting Monday that most board members weren’t going to support the larger plan in the face of vocal opposition from three school communities in particular. Those schools, LEAP High and Wellstone and Highwood Hills elementary schools, were spared from closure in the 5-2 vote Wednesday.”
Jon Collins, Nina Moini and Matt Sepic write for MPR: “With nine members picked so far for a jury of 12 and two alternates, opening statements may come sooner than expected in the trial of Kimberly Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer charged in the Daunte Wright killing. Prosecutors, defense attorneys and Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu have kept the work moving quickly the past two days, choosing five more jurors Wednesday among the pool of roughly 250 people who’d filled out detailed questionnaires probing their views on race, police and crime. Five more jurors need to be seated.”
The Forum News Service reports: “Cook County reported its first COVID-19-related death on Wednesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The person who died in the county, located at the far end of northeastern Minnesota’s Arrowhead, was between ages 75 and 79. Cook County still has the fewest number of COVID-19 deaths of Minnesota’s 87 counties. The next-lowest totals are in Big Stone, Lake of the Woods and Lincoln counties, which each have five deaths. … Cook County’s vaccination rates are the highest in Minnesota, with 82.6% of the total population having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 76.8% fully vaccinated. Ninety-nine percent of Cook County residents age 65 and older are fully vaccinated.”
In the Star Tribune, Jeremy Olson reports, “Anxiety disorders won’t be added next year to qualifying conditions for medical cannabis in Minnesota. State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm found too little evidence of benefits of medical cannabis use when compared with risks and existing treatments. While Minnesota will expand its program by allowing the sale of medical cannabis in gummy and chewable forms, Malcolm announced Wednesday that it would be limited to the existing 17 qualifying conditions. Minnesota is among 38 states with medical cannabis programs, including North Dakota and three others that include anxiety disorders as qualifying conditions.”
At ABC News Mariam Khan reports, “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s faith-based attacks on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim, are ‘indecent’ and ‘dangerous’ and suggested it is a publicity ploy. …‘Whether it’s ethnic, generational, gender, or gender ID, whatever. But to see the supposed people of faith denouncing other people’s faith…it’s indecent. It’s indecent,’ Pelosi said to House Democrats during a closed-door meeting, according to a source familiar with her remarks. ‘So, this is hard because these people are doing it for the publicity. There’s a judgment that has to be made about how we contribute to their fundraising and their publicity on how obnoxious and disgusting they can be. But I do think it has to be clear that there is no place for that,’ Pelosi said.”
This from WCCO-TV, “Two days after being featured on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ a Twin Cities entrepreneur closed his small specialty popcorn store after being visited by county health inspectors. On Wednesday, Zackary Redmon posted on Facebook that he closed Redmon’s Popcorn due to ‘unforeseen circumstances and reasons due to state codes and laws.’ … Redmon told WCCO that Hennepin County health inspectors visited him and hold him that he needs to have a commercial kitchen for making his product. They noted that it’s currently a hazard for him to have a line of customers in his store. For now, Redmon is sold out of popcorn. He says he’s looking for a bigger space and in the meantime will be taking online orders.”
At Bring Me The News Joe Nelson says, “After a couple of weak disturbances deliver little bits of rain and snow to Minnesota on Thursday and Friday, a more impactful storm system is forecast to move over the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend. …According to meteorologist Sven Sundgaard, most of the models agree that a swath of accumulating snow will fall across northern Minnesota, namely in places like Bemidji, Grand Rapids and perhaps Duluth. ‘The trend in the models has been north and this has pretty much been the case with all of the models that we look at,’ Sven said in his Bring Me The News briefing Wednesday.”
Says John Reinan in the Star Tribune, “A rural Minnesota teacher whose students build equipment for NASA space flights and cars that get 500 miles per gallon has been named Teacher of the Year by a national group devoted to career and technical education. Luke Becker, who teaches agricultural technology and physics at Braham Area High School, was honored by the Association for Career and Technical Education. The school in Braham, a town of 1,800 residents some 60 miles north of the Twin Cities, has about 200 students enrolled.”
0 Commentaires