Dec. 9, 2020
Mostly clear skies not only help temperatures soar Wednesday but also allow for viewing of a possible northern lights show into Thursday morning. Check out the latest from Updraft.
Minneapolis officials are poised to make historic cuts to the city’s Police Department in a budget measure they look ready to approve tonight. Mayor Jacob Frey already proposed a $14 million cut to the police budget for next year, part of the impact of COVID-19 on city finances. The City Council cut further, and plans to reduce the force to 750 officers after next year, more than 100 officers below what Frey has proposed. A federal jury has found Michael Hari, an Illinois militia leader, guilty on all counts in a civil rights and hate crime trial. Prosecutors said Hari was the mastermind behind a pipe bomb attack against the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington in 2017. Two men he recruited for the attack have already pleaded guilty and testified against him. COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota jumped significantly in the latest data from state health officials, posting the third-highest toll so far in the pandemic. Eighty-two deaths were reported today. It's a significant jump over the rolling seven-day average for deaths reported by the Minnesota Department of Health. Hospital admissions also remained above the recent average, at 215 in the latest data, although the total number of COVID-19 patients in Minnesota hospitals has been drifting down since early November. You can get more of the latest news, in just a few minutes, via the Minnesota Today podcast. — Tim Nelson | MPR News | 