Stribber Erin Adler reports, “… about 50 southwest Minneapolis residents gathered in a park building to talk with [Hennepin County Attorney Mike] Freeman and Linea Palmisano, the Minneapolis City Council member representing the 13th Ward. … Freeman told the group that he couldn’t say much about the Damond case specifically, especially regarding evidence collected. But Damond’s shooting shouldn’t have happened, Freeman said. ‘I’m saddened by the death of this fine young woman,’ Freeman said. ‘It didn’t have to happen. It shouldn’t have happened.'”
A DACA defense team is forming. Jennifer Books and Mila Koumpilova of the Strib write, “Within hours of last week’s announcement that the Trump administration is ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a diverse cast of Minnesotans with a stake in the program sprang to action. Members of the state’s congressional delegation geared up to tackle proposals that could open a path to citizenship for almost 800,000 recipients nationwide …. Supporters of the program, including recipients sometimes called Dreamers, arrived en masse in some Republicans’ offices to urge them to back such proposals.”
So not everybody loves the bridge. In the PiPress, Bob Shaw says, “Al Severson takes the new St. Croix River bridge to Stillwater or St. Paul. But the same bridge is probably going to take him somewhere else — to bankruptcy. That’s because his B&L Liquor store has seen an 85 percent drop in business since the bridge opened Aug. 2, Severson says. The Stillwater Lift Bridge that led drivers to the Wisconsin town of Houlton has been closed and traffic rerouted to the new bridge, turning his once-busy highway into a dead-end street.”
Hard to believe this is possible, but there is more bad news for Wells Fargo. Kenneth Harney of the Washington Post says: “Wells Fargo & Co., the controversy-battered big bank, has a new problem — this time directly affecting mortgage applicants. A first-time homebuyer recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging widespread abuse of a procedure well known to most mortgage borrowers: interest rate ‘locks.’ The suit alleges that Wells Fargo engaged in ‘a systematic effort’ to charge unwarranted rate-lock extension fees — sometimes costing thousands of dollars per extension — to borrowers who should not have been required to pay them.”
After we finish giving the NFL everything it wants, what will be left for Amazon? Says Rochelle Olson for the Strib, “In the 10 days of Super Bowl fever, there will be dozens of parties and events spread across the Twin Cities. [Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee’s chief operating officer, Dave] Haselman’s job is to make sure they succeed safely. One poorly executed gathering can damage the entire week of events — and the state’s reputation.”
From the Duluth News Tribune: “A 14-year-old girl died Sunday afternoon after falling off a cliff at Palisade Head, located along the shore of Lake Superior northeast of Silver Bay. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office received word of the incident shortly after 1 p.m. A sheriff’s report said the girl was visiting the North Shore landmark with friends when she accidentally fell.”
Stribber Rohan Preston writes, “Michael Friedman who shot to fame with the controversial, provocative musical ‘Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,’ died of AIDS-related causes in New York, where he lived. He was 41. Friedman wrote the music and lyrics for ‘The Abominables,’ a hockey-themed show that was commissioned by the Children’s Theatre in 2011 and is opening Friday.”
In news made for Garrison Keillor, the Methodists had a big year at the fair. Neal St. Anthony of the Strib reports, “Elaine Christiansen and Jan Bajuniemi are key players that helped their State Fair dining operation post record revenue that rose more than 40 percent to $280,000 during the just-completed 12-day run of the fair. ‘We knocked the socks off it,’ said Christiansen, 87, a 50-plus year volunteer at the Hamline Methodist Church Dining Hall.”
