| Good morning and happy Saturday. The Minneapolis City Council began the process of ending the city's Police Department as it currently exists. State officials this week reported relatively stabilizing numbers of hospitalized cases and patients needing intensive care, but they warn the situation could deteriorate if Minnesotans get complacent. More news after weather. Sunny and pleasantly warm weekend. We’ve earned this, Minnesota. The weekend forecast looks rather too perfect to believe -- sunny and clear skies with highs in the 70s to 80s across the state. There is a chance of rain in central and southern Minnesota Saturday. The Minneapolis City Council council announced its intent to begin the process of adding a November ballot question that calls for the removal of Minneapolis police from the city's charter. The council voted Friday to amend the meeting's agenda by adding two items: One begins efforts toward getting a charter amendment referendum on the November ballot. The proposal would eliminate the Minneapolis Police Department as a charter department and create a new public safety organization. The other adds a resolution to create the process allowing city staff to take steps toward developing what they call a “transformative new model” for public safety. That process is expected to take a year. Currently, the city of Minneapolis is required under the charter to fund a police department. If voters favor excising the Minneapolis Police Department from the charter, the council could then abolish it.
Hospitalization, ICU cases continue to plateau. While it’s cause for celebration, health officials warn that “we’re not out of the woods, yet,” and the virus could surge again later this year along with flu. Here are the latest coronavirus statistics: 29,795 cases confirmed (490 new) via 395,202 tests 1,274 deaths (25 new) 3,557 cases requiring hospitalization 403 people remain hospitalized; 191 in intensive care 25,028 patients no longer needing isolation Nursing homes account for half of COVID-19 deaths in the state Meanwhile, early results of COVID-19 testing of those who attended Floyd protests show a low positivity rate. Four testing sites are open in Minneapolis and St. Paul on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout June, and anyone, with or without symptoms, can get tested for free. 100 years after Duluth lynching, a black man gets posthumous pardon. On Friday, the Minnesota Board of Pardons approved the posthumous pardon application of Max Mason, who was convicted by an all-white jury in the alleged rape of a white woman -- the case that led to the 1920 lynching in Duluth. Gov. Walz said “there is a direct line with what happened to George Floyd in the streets of Minneapolis ,” citing the state’s inability to “address this stain on the soul of our state.” It’s the first posthumous pardon in the state’s history. ‘Narratives shift and change over time, and rightfully so.’ The Christopher Columbus statue was erected on the Capitol grounds about 90 years ago, in support of Italian immigrants in Minnesota. “As we move forward in time, certain voices are added into this narrative that were previously excluded,” says Dakota scholar Kate Beane. The statue, Beane says, served to erase centuries of Native American history and glorified a person who enslaved Native people. — Jiwon Choi, MPR News | @ChoiGEE1 | 