Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday already.
Gov. Tim Walz says he’s working with police groups and school districts to clarify a law banning the use of prone restraints on students. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports: Walz told reporters Tuesday that his administration has spoken with local leaders to explain the law and how it should be implemented. And he said he’s open to calling a special legislative session to tweak the policy. Several police groups and Republican lawmakers have urged Walz to bring the Legislature back to rewrite the policy, which they say would limit school resource officers. And a handful have decided not to staff school resource officers this year because of concerns about officer liability. “The issue is that there’s not clarification. That’s why we’re trying to find a solution,” Walz said after welcoming students on the first day of school at a Bloomington elementary school. “I’ve said, if we need to, there needs to be a clarification in the law. Let’s figure out how we work that together, striking that balance between students’ safety, trusted adults in the building and appropriate use of physical force, if needed.”
On the first day of school for many students, MPR’s Angela Davis had a good discussion yesterday about breakfast and lunches in Minnesota schools this year. Listen here.
The commission whose job it is to come up with a new state flag and official seal met for the first time Tuesday. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports there was concern about their Jan. 1 deadline to finish: About half an hour into the initial meeting, commission member and Secretary of State Steve Simon broached the idea of petitioning lawmakers for more time. “We have two big tasks ahead of us – a flag and a seal,” Simon said. “Even one would make this an ambitious project by Jan. 1.” Simon said he was concerned about shortchanging public input. It might take a law change to push the deadline out; and barring a special session, the Legislature won’t return to the Capitol until February. Other panelists, including a couple of state legislators attached to the commission as non-voting members, echoed Simon. Community college history instructor Anita Talsma Gaul, appointed by Gov. Tim Walz, is among those open to asking the Legislature for more time. She was elected the commission’s vice chair. “As a teacher, I’m going to say I would rather get a quality piece of work after the deadline than a piece of crap at the deadline,” she said. “So I am in support of, if necessary, maybe we should think about an extension.” But Aaron Wittnebel, a designee of Minnesota’s Ojibwe communities, was troubled by the opening tone. “One of the things we're tasked with is getting this done by Jan. 1. I don't like we're starting off with our first meeting, and somebody suggesting asking for an extension.”
If you think you’re still due a rebate check from the state, watch those return addresses carefully. The Star Tribune reports: Minnesotans expecting a tax rebate check to arrive this month should keep an eye out for a piece of mail coming from Montana. The state of Minnesota worked with a vendor called Submittable Holdings, Inc. out of Missoula to get the checks sent to taxpayers' homes, which has caused some confusion from people who received them in the mail. The Star Tribune received several emails from individuals about the return address on the checks and and the Department of Revenue has been contacted by Minnesotans wanting to confirm that they are legitimate. Department of Revenue spokesman Ryan Brown said they worked with Submittable and U.S. Bank to issue the payments because they've been vetted and approved on past projects — including the frontline worker checks program — so the state is familiar with their process and security.
The St. Paul City Council will consider an ordinance today to ban the use of cannabis on city owned property. MPR’s Jon Collins has the background: The proposed ordinance would make it a petty misdemeanor to smoke cannabis flower, cannabis products and hemp-derived products on city-controlled property. It would ban smoking cigars, joints, blunts, pipes or vapes. It would also ban possession of a lit joint, pipe or other smoking device. The proposal is sponsored by Ward 3 Council Member Chris Tolbert and describes the need to protect city residents from the dangers of second-hand smoke and to protect people under 21 from exposure to marijuana. The regulation would also cover tobacco use because St. Paul doesn’t currently have an ordinance that bans cigarette smoking in city-owned spaces, Tolbert said as he introduced the bill last month. Ward 4 Council Member Mitra Jalali said that she understands the need to ban marijuana use from places like playgrounds, but is concerned about the level of restrictions in the proposal, which she said could undermine the Legislature’s intent in legalizing marijuana to advance racial equity and avoid unnecessary penalties. “This is far-reaching language that would be sweeping in effect to all different types of parks facilities… it could extend to the public right of way, to sidewalks,” Jalali said. “Based on the language I’m reading, you would not be able to smoke cannabis legally virtually anywhere in the city unless you own and live in a single-family home as your own property.”
A judge on Tuesday sentenced the accomplice of sex trafficker Tony Lazzaro to three years in federal prison. MPR’s Matt Sepic reports: Gisela Castro Medina, 21, admitted that in 2020 she recruited and groomed five girls to be sex partners for Lazzaro, 32, a one-time Minnesota Republican Party operative and top donor. At the time of the crimes, four of the girls were 16 years old and one was 15. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Castro Medina pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and obstruction and spent a full day on the witness stand testifying against Lazzaro at his trial in March. In August, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz sentenced Lazzaro to 21 years. In the same courtroom, Castro Medina read a five-minute statement in which she apologized to her victims. “Sorry doesn’t begin to make up for what I did,” Castro Medina said. “I do not expect or deserve their forgiveness, but I still apologize to them.”
In Washington, a long prison sentence for the former leader of the Proud Boys. The Associated Press reports: Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 election, capping the case with the stiffest punishment that has been handed down yet for the U.S. Capitol attack. Tarrio, 39, pleaded for leniency before the judge imposed the prison term topping the 18-year sentences given to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one-time Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean for seditious conspiracy and other convictions stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Tarrio, who led the neofacist group as it became a force in mainstream Republican circles, lowered his head after the sentence was imposed, then squared his shoulders. He raised his hand and made a “V” gesture with his fingers as he was led out of the courtroom in orange jail garb. His sentencing comes as the Justice Department prepares to put Trump on trial at the same courthouse in Washington. | 