Josh Verges writes in the Pioneer Press: “St. Paul teachers will decide next week whether to authorize another strike, two years after a labor stoppage that canceled four days of school. The St. Paul Federation of Educators said Thursday night that its executive board agreed to ask members on Feb. 17 to authorize a strike. If the vote passes, the union must wait 10 more days before walking off the job. The parties have been in mediation since late November. The school board has said it can afford pay increases of just 1.5 percent each year of the two-year contract. The union wants 2.5 percent raises, as well as smaller class sizes and mental health teams in every building, among other initiatives.”
KSTP-TV reports: “A North High School student who was shot Wednesday has died, Minneapolis Public Schools announced Thursday. ‘We cannot begin to express the sadness we feel as a result of this devastating loss,’ said MPS Superintendent Ed Graff. ‘This bright young man had everything to live for and a promising future ahead of him.’” Thursday evening, the high school and a GoFundMe page identified the student as sophomore Deshaun Hill Jr. … Hill was No. 9 and the quarterback for North’s football team, and No. 13 on the basketball team.”
Steve Karnowski writes for the AP: “Three former Minneapolis police officers on trial for violating George Floyd’s civil rights should have intervened to stop fellow Officer Derek Chauvin when he had his knee on the Black man’s neck, the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide unit testified Thursday. … He added that the duty can also mean intervening to begin first aid if another officer fails give it, and that it can mean moving an officer out of the way if necessary.”
The AP reports: “A judge restored federal protections for gray wolves across much of the U.S., including Minnesota and Wisconsin, on Thursday after they were removed in the waning days of the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act, putting a halt to any potential 2022 hunting season in Wisconsin.”
The Star Tribune’s Kim Hyatt writes: “The largest church in Minnesota wants to build its 10th metro area campus in Minnetonka, despite the opposition of residents who don’t want a megachurch in their neighborhood. Eagle Brook Church leaders are proposing a 60,000-square-foot church on the site of a vacant retirement home near a wetland off Wayzata Boulevard, west of Interstate 494. … An online petition opposing the church’s plans drew nearly 400 signatures in less than 24 hours, following a virtual meeting hosted this week by church leaders and attended by dozens of concerned residents including Kristen Gildemeister.”
Also in the Pioneer Press, Bob Shaw writes: “Supporters of the Gold Line haven’t crossed the finish line, but they can see it from here. They announced this week that Washington County will kick in $120 million in funding — a critical piece of financing for the $505 million project. Washington County Transportation Planner Lyssa Leitner said the Gold Line still awaits federal funding. But even without it, officials would continue with approval from Ramsey and Washington counties. Supporters are now confident enough to talk about a groundbreaking — next fall. With the funding from Washington County, Leitner doesn’t see anything that will prevent the $505 million project from starting this year.”
A KSTP-TV story says, “The Minneapolis City Council has approved the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation as the next head of the city’s Public Works Department. Margaret Anderson Kelliher will start her new Public Works director role on March 2. Gov. Tim Walz said Anderson Kelliher will stay as MnDOT commissioner until March 1, at which point Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer Nancy Daubenberger will serve as the interim commissioner until a new one is appointed.”
Says Joe Nelson at BringMeTheNews, “The ‘Dave Ryan gave me crabs’ billboards that have been on major roadways in the Twin Cities and the greater metro area for the past week were nothing more than a Valentine’s Day publicity stunt by KDWB. It was pretty obvious from the jump, but KDWB’s Dave Ryan finally addressed the billboards that have left Minnesotans scratching their heads trying to figure out if the message was a humorous gimmick or something more malicious.”
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