Aug. 12, 2020
The top story for today? That primary election. Rep. Ilhan Omar beat back primary challenger Antone Melton-Meaux, and Republican Michelle Fischbach won the GOP nomination in the 7th District. Many state legislative districts also saw primaries. In Minneapolis, incumbent Senator Jeff Hayden lost a seat he’s been elected to multiple times to newcomer Omar Fateh. Several longtime incumbents DFL legislators who lost the party endorsement this spring were losing Tuesday as well. See results on MPRnews.org. Gov. Tim Walz named Jim Schowalter as new head of budget and management. The current commissioner, Myron Frans, is stepping down to take a senior role at the University of Minnesota. Walz also named Brig. Gen. Shawn Manke as the next leader of the Minnesota National Guard. For the weather, it’ll be mostly cloudy tonight with a chance of showers and thunderstorms, and lows in the 60s. State emergency management officials said Minnesotans should be ready for a mixture of heavy rain, high winds, lightning and hail through Friday. More on the Updraft weather blog. The latest on COVID-19 in Minnesota: Deaths due to COVID-19 crossed into double digits (12) for the first time since early July. It was also the third straight day of new hospital admissions topping 50 people, although the total number of hospital patients and intensive care unit patients ebbed slightly. Testing also trailed the monthly average by nearly 4,000 tests in the most recent data. New cases were down, at 470 for the day. In addition to our newsletters, you can also get the latest on COVID-19 daily via the Minnesota Today podcast. Stay healthy and stay safe. -- Tim Nelson | MPR News | 