Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday.
The judge overseeing the state trial of three former Minneapolis police officers for the killing of George Floyd says he will not allow livestreaming of that trial this summer. Judge Peter Cahill late Monday issued an order saying that current court rules do not allow live public broadcast of trials in the state, so he won't let cameras stream the proceedings against J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Cahill did allow livestreaming of the trial of their former colleague, Derek Chauvin, last year, and had previously indicated that livestreaming would happen this summer. But in the new order outlining rules for the upcoming trial, he writes that the COVID pandemic has waned and court public health restrictions have been relaxed.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is expected to release findings later today from an investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department. The investigation sought to determine if the city and the police department engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, the state’s civil rights law. MPR’s Matt Sepic has more.
The state would spend additional money on roads and bridges, veterans housing, cybersecurity and more under a wide-ranging budget bill passed Tuesday by the Minnesota House.MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports the vote was 70-63 and came after a lengthy debate. The supplemental finance and policy measure combined four House bills covering the budget areas of transportation, state government, veterans/military affairs and pensions. Overall, the bill would spend $735 million from the general fund over two years. The state government provisions include cybersecurity upgrades, protections for election workers and budget adjustments for several agencies and offices. It also designates Juneteenth and Indigenous People’s Day as state holidays
MinnPost’s Peter Callaghan takes a step back on the big budget bills: The Minnesota Legislature has reached the stage where half the members are busy stuffing a session’s worth of work into a handful of omnibus bills while the other half are busy complaining about omnibus bills. It has become standard for both parties in the state House and Senate to resort to the use of large bills that combine not only all of the bills before a committee into one bill, but then combine several of those into mega-omnibus bills. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee combined policy and budgets related to housing, broadband and agriculture into a single bill. It then amended large packages related to state government, veterans affairs, pensions and transportation into another bill.
Efforts to change the design of Minnesota’s state flag have made some progress at the Capitol this legislative session — but face stiff headwinds from supporters of the existing flag who say it’s an important part of Minnesota's history. MPR’s Tim Nelson takes a look.
Rep. John Thompson responded Tuesday to the St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell’s account of his actions during a traffic stop, saying he “certainly would not attempt to misuse, intimidate or bully police officers with my official position.” An officer pulled over Thompson’s 26-year-old daughter in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon, after which police say Thompson arrived at the scene. Thompson issued a statement Tuesday saying he would "not attempt to misuse, intimidate or bully police officers with his official position.” He said in the statement that he responded as any concerned father would, arriving at a chaotic scene to help deal with his frightened daughter. He said she was having a mental health episode, which was "triggered by the large presence" of the police. Thompson said the law enforcement officers on the scene treated him with the utmost respect and that he wanted to highlight the exemplary job the officers did deescalating the situation. Axtell called on Thompson or his daughter to allow police body camera video of the incident to be released. The state's peace officers association later echoed that request.
A state senator coping with continuing effects of a prior COVID-19 infection was hospitalized Tuesday after a health scare at the Capitol. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, said she experienced a medical situation during debate on a health care budget bill. The Senate briefly went into recess while she was tended to by staff and colleagues. That includes Sen. Matt Klein, a doctor, and Sen. Erin Murphy, a trained nurse. A statement from Port says she was taken to Region’s Hospital for a thorough examination. Port, 39, recently disclosed that she has what is known as Long Covid, where lingering symptoms cause exhaustion and other conditions. She says her bout with the virus reaches back to 2020. Port is in her first term and seeking another this fall. | 