Not the way to treat a customer, or anyone for that matter. The Star Tribune’s Pat Pheifer report: “An administrative law judge ruled Thursday that a Washington, D.C., cabdriver who harassed Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar last December is guilty of discrimination and offensive language. … Omar, the nation’s first Somali-American legislator, was in the cab with her sister on Dec. 6 when driver Uka Onuma threatened to remove her headscarf and called the sisters ‘filthy’ and ‘ISIS.’”
What kind of reverberations will this have in Richfield? The San Francisco Chronicle’s Thomas Lee reports: “Yes, they carry badges and drive black-and-white vehicles. But some Geek Squad agents appear to have taken the ‘agent’ part of their titles a bit too literally. … Best Buy, the consumer-electronics giant that owns the on-call computer-repair service, recently admitted that four employees took money from the FBI after the agency received information from the agents about customers suspected of possessing child pornography. As a result, the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco is suing the Justice Department to disclose the extent of the FBI’s relationship with Best Buy.”
Congratulations. Also from the Star Tribune’s Pat Pheifer: “Patty Wetterling, the mother of Jacob Wetterling, has been honored with the 2017 Gail-Burns Smith Award, given by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.”
Nice profile of a St. Paul Olympic hopeful. MPR’s Nancy Yang writes: “‘Oh my God,’ Sunisa Lee says after landing a vault in practice at Midwest Gymnastics in Little Canada on May 10, 2017. … Sunisa Lee was in the middle of her tumbling pass on the floor when a foam block came flying right at her. … She was so focused that she didn’t even notice. (The fellow gymnast responsible for the errant foam block, on the other hand, looked aghast — but no harm done) … ‘Nice concentration,’ her coach, Jess Graba observed.”
In other news…
Kids these days: “Despite Minnesota’s high voter turnout, youth and minority participation lagged” [Star Tribune]
YIKES: “School bus swerves into south Minneapolis yard to avoid another school bus [VIDEO]” [City Pages]
Including our own Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “Why So Many Senators Wore Seersucker Today” [HuffPo]
Because they definitely weren’t before: “MN Drivers can now pass bicyclists in a ‘no passing’ zone” [KXLT]
Remodeling 28 stores: “Here’s what your new Aldi will look like (slideshow)” [Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal]
Think the Current had already stretched the whole Prince thing as far as it could? Think again! “Music News: Minnesota lightning forms Love Symbol on Prince’s birthday” [The Current]
Hooray: “Family of ducks unhurt after waddling through Lowry Hill Tunnel” [Star Tribune]
New podcast for you: “‘Here to There’ Podcast Explores Human Impacts of Twin Cities Commuting” [streets.mn]
