Good morning, and happy Tuesday.
Gov. Tim Walz said Monday he's activating the National Guard to create skilled-nursing response teams to help short-staffed nursing homes. Walz also wants to spend $50 million in federal funding to help long-term care facilities hire and retain staff. More than 22,000 older and vulnerable Minnesotans receive care at roughly 365 skilled-nursing facilities across the state, according to the governor’s office. Walz said 400 National Guard members will start training as certified nursing assistants and temporary nursing aides over the next seven days. The state Health Department will respond to requests from facilities that need help, and teams will be sent for up to three weeks at a time. The $50 million would come from unspent federal COVID-19 relief funds and needs the approval of a legislative commission. Grants are expected to be distributed next month. The announcement came as Minnesota Senate Republicans called on spending $150 to $200 million to help nursing homes in a special legislative session, if they can reach an agreement with Walz to call lawmakers back to St. Paul.
Two dozen U.S. Defense department medical workers arrived in Minneapolis Monday, the first of two military teams coming to Minnesota to bolster hospitals straining to care for people during a surge in COVID-19.MPR’s Tim Nelson reported that officials said that the doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists are coming to help Hennepin Healthcare set up a special 10-bed transition unit to help move patients out of the Emergency Department to make room for more. HCMC has declined as many as 50 patients a day who were being transferred to the hospital for higher levels of care. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the situation is rapidly becoming a crisis as the strain of the pandemic is taking its toll on medical personnel. ”We have one of the best medical communities if not the best doctors and nurses in the country, but right now Minnesota has 400 less medical staffed beds than we did at Thanksgiving last year,” Klobuchar said Doctors from military hospitals are also on their way to St. Cloud this week, to help meet the hospital demand there.
The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District announced that as of Wednesday it is moving to distance learning because of coronavirus infections. District officials said the COVID surge would keep learning remote through December 3rd. Last week, Shakopee schools cancelled Thanksgiving week classes. In a letter to parents, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school officials said they hoped a 12-day break from gathering in schools would help disrupt infections. They also said COVID and quarantine rules were making it difficult to fully staff district schools.
A Minnesota Department of Human Services employee is the first to be fired for violating a Walz administration policy requiring vaccination or COVID-19 testing for on-site workers. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports: No details have been released about the division where the employee worked or what led up to the dismissal. The person was fired in October. Since September, Minnesota government employees who work in a state office building or job site have been required to certify they’ve been vaccinated. If they don’t, they can opt for weekly testing instead. Eight employees have been subject to formal discipline, according to state officials. Other employees were put on no-pay status, which the state doesn't count as discipline. The latest statistics show almost 80 percent of employees covered by the policy have provided proof of vaccination.
Brian Bakst also reported this: A woman serving a 25-year sentence for killing her newborn amid what she described as an abusive relationship is on the verge of early release from a Minnesota prison. The Minnesota Board of Pardons appears ready to commute the sentence of Samantha Heiges, who was convicted in Dakota County in 2008 and has been in the Shakopee prison since 2009. It stems from the 2005 bathtub drowning death of the baby she had just delivered. Heiges, 35, would qualify for immediate supervised release. She was slated to reach that point in her second-degree intentional murder sentence in August 2025. “Even though this happened over 16 years ago, there isn’t a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse or guilt for what happened,” Heiges said. “This is a moment in my life that still weighs heavy on my heart and soul and I will never forgive myself for what happened.” The board of the governor, state attorney general and Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice ordered a release plan from the Department of Corrections ahead of final action next month. All spoke in favor of commutation.
The number of challenged ballots exceeds the margin of victory in that Minneapolis Ward 2 council seat recount.The Star Tribune reports: Democratic Socialist candidate Robin Wonsley Worlobah led by 14 votes, a smaller margin than the first count, over DFL candidate Yusra Arab, after the recount. The challenged ballots, however, were not included in that total, according to a news release from the city. Worlobah received 4,046 votes to Arab's 4,032, after the recount. The current City Council, which serves as the canvassing board that certifies the city's elections results, will have the final say on whether each challenged ballot should ultimately be included in the tallies. | 