Susan Du and Liz Navratil write for the Star Tribune: “Minneapolis cannot enforce its controversial long-range plan eliminating single-family zoning, but it could do so in the future if it meets certain conditions, a Hennepin County district judge ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by a trio of environmental organizations. … At the heart of the legal case is a question of whether the city needed to complete an environmental review of the 2040 plan or evaluate each construction project individually.”
At MPR, Matt Sepic says, “A group working to identify and nullify racist language in Twin Cities property records is out with new data on Ramsey County. Researchers with the Mapping Prejudice project combed through reams of documents and found more than 2,000 homes that were off limits to people of color until the mid-20th century. Racially-restrictive covenants have long been illegal, but supporters of the project say acknowledging past wrongs is the first step toward reversing Minnesota’s homeownership and wealth gaps, which are among the worst in the nation.”
Also at MPR, Nina Moini reports, “The Minneapolis FBI is searching for more victims of a five year sextortion scheme aimed at teens. Earlier this month, 31-year-old Yue Vang of St. Paul pleaded guilty in connection with the online sextortion scheme using 75 different accounts and personas. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Brenda Born said that as of Wednesday, her investigative team had identified 500 girls across the country but that evidence shows there may have been hundreds more targeted. … ”
In the Star Tribune, Jeremy Olson says, “Minnesota’s Mall of America community vaccination site could start taking appointments as soon as Monday to administer COVID-19 shots to preschoolers, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday. Walz issued a statement following news that a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel voted Wednesday to recommend COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for children age 6 months to 5 years old. Minnesota health care providers can’t give the shots until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues a formal recommendation — a decision that could come this weekend.”
FOX 9’s Babs Santos reports: “The city of St. Paul is getting closer to offering reparations to the descendants of slaves in Minnesota’s capital city. At a city council meeting on Wednesday, they discussed direct cash payments intended to address disparities in homeownership, healthcare, education and more among African Americans. ‘The city of Saint Paul and the Saint Paul Recovery Act is on the right side of history,’ Trahern Crews said. He chairs an advisory committee on the subject, and argued that because the African American community’s enslaved ancestors worked without pay, their descendants should be compensated for harm caused by slavery; as well as decades of discrimination and racism after it. … St. Paul city council signaled its support, in a 6-0 vote this week.”
This from Jared Goyette at KMSP-TV, “As the Minneapolis City Council prepares to vote Thursday on Mayor Jacob Frey’s nomination to have Heather Johnson for city coordinator on Thursday, the city employees who have opposed the move are once again speaking out, raising new concerns over how the process has been handled and the potential impact her confirmation could have on staff morale. ”
This from Briana Bierschbach at the Star Tribune, “As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling expected to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, Minnesotans will hear a lot about a different court case. In 1995, the Minnesota Supreme Court went even further than Roe in the case of Doe v. Gomez, issuing a ruling that not only affirmed women’s constitutional right to abortion on the state level but also allowed low-income women to use the state’s Medical Assistance program to cover the costs of the procedure.”
Scott Bauer from the AP writes: “A judge on Wednesday issued a scathing ruling against the investigator hired by Republicans to look into the 2020 election in Wisconsin, accusing him of unprofessional and misogynistic conduct, forwarding his decision for possible disciplinary action against Michael Gableman. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington ordered that Gableman be fined $2,000 a day until he complies with his earlier ruling. He also determined that Gableman violated his oath as an attorney following his ‘disruptive and disrespectful’ appearance in court last week. At that hearing, Remington found a defiant Gableman to be in contempt after he refused to answer questions under subpoena in the courtroom. His attorneys tried unsuccessfully to block the subpoena.”
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