Here's the latest news from across the state to start your day. ☕
WEATHER
🥶 Chilly air continues to linger over Minnesota. We’ll have a fair amount of sun with partly cloudy skies Monday and high temperatures ranging from the upper teens in the southeast to the single digits north.
☀️ The colder air retreats midweek. Highs will be mostly in the 20s across southern Minnesota Thursday into the weekend with teens to near 20-degree high to the north.
Minneapolis leaders will meet Monday morning to review a tentative agreement on a federal consent decree. The consent decree — a federal tool for oversight of police — will likely mandate extensive reforms to the Minneapolis Police Department. City officials have been working with the Department of Justice to reach an agreement since June 2023, when a federal investigation found patterns of racism and excessive force in MPD.
Nonmedical exemptions for required childhood vaccinations have risen steadily since 2020. Medical professionals say exemption counts are near the point where Minnesotans should be extremely concerned, especially when it comes to schools.
NEWS ROUNDUP
🏛️ Jan. 6 still divides people. Is there a productive way to move past it? The riots at the U.S. Capitol continue to divide people who see the day’s events differently. MPR News correspondent Catharine Richert spoke with Braver Angels co-founder Bill Doherty about why the events of Jan. 6 still divide people.
⚖️ Lawyers challenge guilty verdicts in human smuggling case that left four dead at U.S.-Canada border. The two defendants convicted in a human smuggling case continue to argue for their innocence, filing separate motions for acquittal or new trials to the U.S. District Court in Fergus Falls on Friday. 👷🏻 Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel takeover creates uncertainty for U.S. Steel workers. By blocking a Japanese company’s takeover of U.S. Steel, President Joe Biden says he is protecting good jobs in the American heartland. He may be putting them at risk instead. 💸 Sales of Minnesota blackout license plates exceed 250,000 in first year. More than a quarter-million vehicles in the state now have the plates featuring a simple design of white letters and numbers on a black background.
MUST LISTEN
🎧 Music critic: Bob Dylan biopic hits right notes but gets a few facts wrong. The new Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” made its IMAX debut Friday. And like many movie biographies, it plays a little loose with the facts.
🎧Heart and Hearth: An MPR News special broadcast. As nights remain cold and daylight is meager, nothing sounds better than warming by a fire with loved ones. Help celebrate this time of year with “Heart and Hearth,” a special broadcast from MPR News.
