Good morning and happy Friday.
The state prison in St. Cloud is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Kirsti Marohn reports. The Minnesota Department of Corrections reported this week that there are 87 confirmed positive COVID cases among people incarcerated in the St. Cloud prison. A department spokesperson says surges in COVID-19 cases in Minnesota's prisons have coincided with spikes in the wider community. The St. Cloud prison typically serves as the intake facility, where everyone entering the state corrections system is first admitted. Roughly 60 percent of the staff and nearly three-fourths of people incarcerated at St. Cloud are fully vaccinated. The Department of Corrections said it's taking steps to mitigate the outbreak, including temporarily moving intake processing to Faribault, requiring St. Cloud prison employees to wear N-95 masks, and random testing of staff. In-person visiting is on hold. Staff and people incarcerated in all state prisons will be offered booster shots starting next week.
State officials say more Vets Centers are needed in Minnesota and around the country. MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports that Vet Centers are community-based counseling facilities that help veterans readjust to civilian life and cope with issues such as PTSD. Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Herke said during an event at the St. Paul Vet Center that veterans often feel more at home using the small facilities. But he said the state only has three, two in the Twin Cities and one in Duluth. “We need more,” Herke said. “There’s really a gap in the southern and the western and the northern part of the state that really needs to be filled.” Members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation are working on the issue. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Reps. Angie Craig and Dean Phillips joined Herke and Gov. Tim Walz to stress their support for more Vet centers. Those members of the state’s congressional delegations are working on federal legislation to expand vet centers nationwide. Read more here.
A state court advisory committee meets Friday to discuss whether to allow more video coverage of criminal proceedings in Minnesota,the Associated Press reports . Chief Justice Lorie Gildea directed the panel to study the issue in June after coverage of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd got widespread national viewership. "While the decision to allow camera coverage of this trial was based on the unprecedented public health restrictions in place during the pandemic, it would be a mistake for us not to reflect on the lessons learned and experiences gained through this process," the chief justice said at the time. The panel, which is in the early stages of its work, is due to report its recommendations by next July. The advisory committee meeting comes just days after a judge reversed her earlier decision and agreed to allow video coverage of the upcoming trial of ex-Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter in the death of Daunte Wright.
Minimum wage increases in Minneapolis and St. Paul didn’t lead to widespread job cuts, but some low paying restaurant jobs were eliminated. That’s the conclusion of a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Kavita Kumar reports in the Star Tribune that about 80 percent of workers at limited-service restaurants, which includes fast-food joints, in both cities were making below $15 an hour in 2017, according to the study. "So the restaurant sector in Minneapolis was very exposed to the minimum wage increase," said Anusha Nath, a Minneapolis Fed researcher who conducted the study along with University of Minnesota professors Loukas Karabarbounis and Jeremy Lise. The two cities commissioned the Minneapolis Fed to do a multi-year study on the impact of the wage policies which took effect before the pandemic. Some supporters of the higher minimum wage expressed skepticism at the initial report.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has awarded $2.1 million in grants to private entities for electric school bus pilot projects to address climate change.MPR’s Hannah Yang reports five state school districts will receive services from eight electric school buses and electric charging stations through the MPCA’s electric school bus pilot project. “This is the beginning of hopefully bigger projects to help local partners and school districts, private and public bus lines electrify their fleets,” said MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler. “That will help meet local goals as well as state goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions… and improve air quality over time.” Grant recipients include Faribault, Osseo, Columbia Heights, Morris and Fergus Falls school districts. The districts will work with the MPCA over the next few years in evaluating and gathering data on energy performance, cost and maintenance. | 