Says Mara Gottfriend in the Pioneer Press, “St. Paul’s police chief fired five officers Thursday after an investigation determined they did not intervene when a man assaulted a patron outside an East Side bar and restaurant. The assault last June involved Tou Mo Cha, a former St. Paul police officer, according to a Police Department source. Cha resigned as a police officer 14 years ago after he was accused of lending his department-issued handgun. Someone then used the gun to shoot into a restaurant and a house.”
The Star Tribune’s Andy Mannix reports: “Medical staff at HCMC continued to sedate people with ketamine and collect data for a study for months after the hospital’s leadership told elected officials they had voluntarily halted the research in response to questions over ethics and patient safety. … HCMC officials have already responded to the reports, vigorously rebutting many of the findings. Two inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) visited the Twin Cities hospital 17 times, collectively, in April as part of an investigation into HCMC’s sedative research.”
A KSTP-TV story says, “The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday that 20 candidates have qualified for the party’s first presidential debates later this month, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts were the only major candidates out of the two dozen Democratic hopefuls who failed to meet the polling or grassroots fundraising measures required to get a debate spot.”
Also from KSTP: “After months of negotiations have failed to lead to a new contract between Children’s Minnesota and its nurses, a strike may be on the horizon. On Thursday evening, the nurses voted down the latest offer from Children’s. About 1,500 nurses were expected to vote on the contract, following months of negotiations. A strike vote was “overwhelmingly authorized,” according to a Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) spokesperson.”
The Pioneer Press’ Josh Verges writes: “Regents are looking for ways to rein in a proposed 2.5% increase for University of Minnesota undergraduates. President Eric Kaler recommended a 2.5% increase for resident students in the Twin Cities and 1.5 percent for the four other campuses. But several members of the Board of Regents say that’s too high.”
This from Paul Walsh of the Star Tribune, “A National Guard member was caught surreptitiously video-recording a stranger in the next bathroom stall at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, and then admitted to police that he’s been at it for months, according to charges filed Thursday.”
Brian Bakst of MPR reports, “Depositions, correspondence and other records generated in a state board’s investigation into irregularities in Rep. Ilhan Omar’s campaign spending provide extra details about how questions over the Democratic lawmaker’s tax filings were first raised and handled. … The tax issue arose because of a $1,500 payment to the Fredrick & Rosen, Ltd. accounting firm. Regulators were trying to establish whether the expense was for Omar personally or had a campaign purpose. In addition to the campaign work, Omar said she has since used one of the firm’s principals, Tom Rosen, as a personal accountant whom she pays through personal funds.”
Also at MPR, this from Kirsti Marohn, “When Pat Held walks out to what used to be the beach at the lakefront home he’s owned for 28 years, he’s now standing ankle-deep in water. Every year, the waters of Lake Shamineau keep rising, and his beach keeps disappearing. … Held relies on a cement dike and eight sump pumps to keep the lake water out of his house. … The last several years of above-average precipitation have posed a particular challenge to landlocked lakes like Shamineau, which has no natural outlet.”
