Stribber Matt McKinney reports, “Weeks into the job, Minneapolis’ new police chief raised concerns Thursday about staffing after the City Council cut several civilian positions and about $1 million from the proposed 2023 Minneapolis police budget. The moves shaved about half a percent off the proposed budget of $195 million. The council also cut civilian positions from the department to fund new positions elsewhere in the city for auditors, a city attorney, and three positions at the Performance Management and Innovation Department. Even with the cuts, the proposed budget is more than what the police department had in 2020, before the killing of George Floyd sparked a worldwide protest over policing.”
For the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Ethan Nelson writes, “2020 was the year of the statement, Anne Phibbs says. The Minneapolis-based diversity and inclusion expert, who’s held various roles in the DEI space since the 1990s, said that was a good start, but only that: a start. That’s partly why the Business Journal started producing its three lists to track employer diversity last year, wherein Minnesota organizations are ranked by the percentage of their workforces that don’t identify as white. … Companies that responded to the survey or otherwise made this information available in annual filings reported on average that their workforces were 32% nonwhite, up from 29% last year. Worth noting is the fact that these lists are made up of organizations that chose to submit their information, so the average racial makeup for all companies in Minnesota is likely more white than this sample.”
Paul Walsh of the Strib reports, “A man waved a loaded handgun in a downtown Minneapolis bar with a largely LGBTQ clientele and shouted a derogatory epithet while threatening to kill a bartender, according to felony charges filed this week in state and federal courts. Conell W. Harris, 29, of Minneapolis, was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with making threats of violence with reckless disregard of risk and with illegal weapons possession in connection with the incident late Monday at the 19 Bar located near Loring Park on W. 15th Street just west of Nicollet Avenue. Harris was arrested at the scene after a brief scuffle, according to a police report, which noted that the gun had been stolen.”
For Patch William Bornhoft writes, “Children’s hospitals across the country are seeing a surge of sick kids. In Minnesota, pediatric bed occupancy was running at nearly 90 percent as of Wednesday, according to an NBC News analysis of Department of Health and Human Services data.”
For Axios Nick Halter says, “Owners of some of the most expensive office towers in the Twin Cities are choosing to walk away from their properties instead of continuing to make loan payments. … Real estate experts predict more distressed office properties will follow suit, in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the suburbs. Why it matters: Commercial properties make up nearly 30% of property taxes collected by Minneapolis. Auctions like the one for LaSalle Plaza will likely reduce the value of office towers, dealing a blow to the city’s tax base.”
For The Hill an opinion piece by Carl Tobias says, “The U.S. Senate must promptly appoint nominee Jerry Blackwell to the U. S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Blackwell, whom President Biden nominated on June 15, supplies valuable experience. Blackwell has impressively excelled in law’s upper echelon over 35 years, and he recently participated in the highly successful prosecution of Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd. The vacancy that the nominee would ably fill has been open for 11 months. Thus, the Senate needs to rapidly confirm Blackwell. … when the Senate returns next week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) needs to expeditiously proffer a floor debate and rapid vote, which confirms Blackwell for the Minnesota District vacancy that has remained open so long.”At KMSP-TV Nick Longworth says, “Beyond McDonald’s vs. Burger King, a new study conducted by Pricelisto claims to know what Minnesotans’ favorite fast food restaurants. The study was conducted by price-tracking experts who analyzed Google U.S. data for the most popular fast-food restaurants based on search interest and popularity over the past 12 months. According to the results, the top three fast-food restaurants in the state of Minnesota are:
- Dairy Queen
- Chipotle
- Jimmy John’s.”
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