Liz Sawyer and Abby Simons write: “Newly released body camera videos by state investigators show additional angles of the chaotic seconds before 22-year-old Amir Locke was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer during a predawn raid two months ago. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Monday released its case file on Locke’s killing, less than a week after county and state prosecutors announced they would not charge the officer who shot him while executing a no-knock search warrant. The file contains 828 pages of documents, dozens of photos, interview transcripts and body camera video related to the Feb. 2 shooting of Locke, who was sleeping on a couch inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment when officers barged in looking for evidence connected to an earlier St. Paul homicide.”
The AP’s Steve Karnowski writes: “Prosecutors revealed Monday evening that they offered plea deals to three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting the murder of George Floyd, but said at a hearing that the defendants rejected them. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill held the hearing mostly to consider whether he has the authority to allow live video coverage of the upcoming trial set to begin in June for former Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. … Lead prosecutor Matthew Frank did not disclose details of the plea offers in open court but said they were identical and were made March 22 after a jury convicted the three in a separate trial in February on federal civil rights charges stemming from Floyd’s death, according to pool reports from inside the courtroom.”
At MPR, Paul Huttner is saying, “To use a technical weather term, this one looks like a doozy folks. A powerful April storm brings rain, thunder severe weather, and heavy snow into the north-central U.S. Tuesday. Minnesota will span the range from snow in the northwestern part of the state, to possible severe storms and even tornadoes in the south. … This system looks likely to drop 2 to 3 feet of snow across western North Dakota. Blizzard warnings are up for the western half of North Dakota. Snowfall will include areas of northwest Minnesota. Snowfall totals could be heavy in the northwest corner of Minnesota.”
A Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal story by Brianna Kelly says, “The latest figures from the Minneapolis Downtown Council, which has tracked the return of workers, diners and others over the past two years amid the pandemic, show the reanimation of downtown Minneapolis is roughly halfway complete. Approximately 52.5% of employees working in the largest buildings had returned to their offices in some capacity in March, compared to 44.6% in February, according to the most recent update posted online Monday.”
Says Adam Uren for Bring Me The News, “Commuters between the southeast metro and Minneapolis can expect some disruption over the coming months thanks to construction work on Hwy. 55. The Minnesota Department of Transportation says that its ‘roadway and bridge preservation project’ will start this spring and last until the fall. The project covers an eight-mile stretch starting from the heavily used Hwy. 55/62 Mendota Bridge across the Minnesota River and ending at the Hwy. 55 junction with Hwy. 52 in Inver Grove Heights.”
Also in the Star Tribune, Mara Klecker writes, “A bright yellow banner in the hallway at Sheridan Dual Language Elementary displays a timeline: Each painted mark represents a step toward renaming the school ‘Las Estrellas,’ meaning ‘The Stars’ in Spanish, and shedding a name tied to a historical figure with a problematic past. The second-to-last date on that timeline is Tuesday, April 12, 2022, the day the Minneapolis school board will vote on changing the school’s name. The board will also vote on renaming Jefferson Elementary, which is now a global studies and humanities magnet school, to Ella Baker, in honor of the human and civil rights activist.”
FOX 9 reports: “The City of Bloomington, Minnesota swore in its first Black police chief on Monday. Dr. Booker T. Hodges became the department’s police chief during the ceremony Monday night. Hodges was selected to replace former chief Jeff Potts in February. Potts retired last year after 12 years as chief. Dr. Hodges brings a wealth of experience to the city after serving as assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, chief of police in Prior Lake, and as an undersheriff with Ramsey County.”
Ross Raihala writes in the Pioneer Press: “St. Paul’s History Theatre announced Tuesday that artistic director Ron Peluso will retire effective Jan. 1. ‘I’ve been here 27 years,’ said Peluso, 71. ‘It’s been a good run. I’m very proud of what I’ve done over the course of time. But I feel like this is a good time for younger, smarter, new history makers to come in with fresh ideas. It is time for new eyes.’ The theater’s board of directors plans to work with a search firm to conduct a national search for its next artistic director. Peluso will remain in the position for the fall and holiday shows this year, with the new leader assuming artistic duties for the remainder of the season.”
0 Commentaires