Defense expert on Castile shooting: ‘There wasn’t time to do anything else’

It is an argument, and it has worked before. Riham Feshir and Jon Collins of MPR report, “St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez’s decision to use deadly force against Philando Castile during a July traffic stop was justified, his defense’s use-of-force expert told jurors Thursday. Joseph Dutton, a former Mound and Golden Valley cop, said Yanez did everything right that day and that he had no other option after Castile told him that he had a firearm and did not immediately obey the officer’s commands. ‘There wasn’t time to do anything else,’ Dutton said.”

Yet another Stephen King plot line. Says Dan Kraker of MPR, “The Minnesota Department of Transportation has stopped construction on a new bridge in far eastern Duluth after the discovery of human remains. The remains were discovered after the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa expressed concerns to MnDOT because an access road needed for the Highway 23 project crosses a historic Indian cemetery and settlement near the St. Louis River in Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood.”

At Mediaite, Joe DePaolo says, “Senator Al Franken (D-MN) spoke out Thursday morning in defense of his pal Bill Maher, days after canceling an appearance on his show after the Real Time host used a racial slur on his broadcast. Appearing on SiriusXM’s Alter Family Politics, the Senator condemned Maher for his use of the slur, but when asked if he thinks Maher is a racist, his response was unwavering. ‘No!’ Franken said. ‘He’s not a racist. I don’t think he’s a racist. But I think he just used a word that white people have no business using and he should know that.’”

We’ve got one edge on California. Kate Karpilow of The Sacamento Bee says, “More than three decades ago, some 20 states – Minnesota and California among them – passed groundbreaking pay equity laws. The aim was comparable pay for work of comparable value, whether the jobs were typically held by men or women. While employers generally put a lower price tag on ‘women’s work’, the thinking went, perhaps the public sector could set an example. Why should the government pay an office assistant less than a groundskeeper, after all? Minnesota made good on its pay equity promise. California? Not so much. Since the 1980s, Minnesota has reduced its state worker gender wage gap to 11 percent, nearly half California’s.” But … those beaches in January.

But in terms of sun power, we are movin’ up. Stribber Mike Hughlett: “Minnesota’s national ranking for solar energy capacity has climbed significantly after a flurry of new projects have come online. During the first quarter, the state ranked fourth nationally for new solar power installations compared with the same period a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade group.”

Skeptical is a mild way of putting it. MPR’s Peter Cox says, “Security guards greeted visitors to Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting, which is generally a tame, bureaucratic affair. But this time, they were ready for student protests against tuition hikes included as part of the University of Minnesota’s proposed budget that regents were publicly reviewing for the first time. While there were no student protests, several board members said they were reluctant to sign off on passing costs to students. ‘I’m just very concerned about doing everything we can to control tuition increases,’ said new board member Ken Powell, CEO of General Mills.”