WCCO-TV’s David Schuman reports: “A Hennepin County judge is at the center of a legal battle between prosecutors and public defenders. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has asked to remove Judge William Koch from presiding over all felony cases assigned to him. ‘Our issues are not about any adverse rulings that he made. It’s the issue of how he treats our lawyers and how he runs his courtroom,’ said Dan Mabley, the chief criminal deputy with HCAO. Prosecutors’ court filings say Koch’s demeanor is ‘frequently arrogant, dismissive, patronizing, condescending and disrespectful.’”
For the Star Tribune, Jessie Van Berkel and Hunter Woodall report: “In the year since the federal government allocated $1.9 trillion to a pandemic stimulus package, Minnesota has used some of the cash on everything from the expected — supporting hospitals and students — to boosting participation in the Girl Scouts and providing financial aid to crime victims. And there’s more to spend. State government has yet to decide how to use more than a third of its $2.8 billion. Cities, towns and counties have until the end of 2026 to spend their $2.1 billion.”
A Bring Me The News story says, “Three suspects carjacked and kidnapped a random man, holding him for hours in an abandoned Minneapolis gas station as they beat him and demanded money — a nightmarish ordeal that ended with a quick-thinking escape after one of the culprits suddenly died. … The trio demanded money from the victim, beating him with a screwdriver and hammer when he initially said he didn’t have any, then tying him to a left-behind piece of furniture, according to the criminal charges. Scared for his life, the victim eventually gave up his banking information and, three times over the course of the night into the next day, money was withdrawn from his bank account.”
At MPR, Tim Pugmire reports, “Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation Wednesday that provides $20 million for ALS research and another $5 million for ALS caregivers. The legislation was championed by Independent Sen. David Tomassoni of Chisholm who was diagnosed with the disease last year. Using communication technology, Tomassoni thanked the governor and others for their support of the bill. He said the bill means hope.”
In the Duluth News Tribune, Teri Cadeau says, “The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office has declined to charge a county sheriff’s deputy in a shooting that occurred last September. The deputy, Jason Kuhnly, who has been with the Sheriff’s Office for eight years, will not be charged for firing at Jesse Logan Ferrari, 29, who had allegedly fled deputies on an all-terrain vehicle in the city’s Gary-New Duluth neighborhood in the early morning of Sept. 28, 2021. Ferrari was injured in the shooting.”
Also in the Star Tribune, Janet Moore reports: “Results from a survey taken last fall aboard Metro Transit’s most popular bus and light-rail routes provide a detailed snapshot of ridership on public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Metropolitan Council’s On-Board Survey, which queried some 4,000 riders, indicates that older men, passengers with disabilities, people earning less than $60,000 a year and people of color made up Metro Transit’s core ridership during the pandemic.”
Brittney Ermon reports for KSTP-TV: “Downtown Minneapolis restaurants and bars are looking forward to thousands of people coming downtown to dine in over the course of the NCAA Women’s Final Four this weekend. The tournament, hosted at Target Center, is expected to generate a windfall of revenue for Minneapolis, city officials say. … Steve Cramer, Minneapolis Downtown Council president, predicts the three-day weekend will bring about $25 million in revenue to Minneapolis. He says that money won’t just be spent at local restaurants and bars.”
Duluth’s WDIO reports: “The Citizen Review Board hosted a special meeting Wednesday evening where the Duluth Police Department presented results from their outside-sourced Demographic Disparity Analysis. The analysis was brought about after the Duluth NAACP raised concerns about racial disparities in policing in the city. The 172-page report that came out of the analysis included statistics like black Duluthians being 9 times as likely to be reported as a suspect of crime than the population average. For Duluth’s Native population, that statistic jumped to nearly 10 times as likely.”
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