Says Marianne Combs at MPR, “American Public Media Group has fired Minnesota Public Radio’s only Black classical music host Garrett McQueen. … McQueen said he was taken off the air after his shift on Aug. 25. He was then given two warnings — one of which was about his need to improve communication and the other warning was for switching out scheduled music to play pieces he felt were more appropriate to the moment and more diverse, McQueen told MPR News. ‘When things happened in the news or when there were hours of programming that only represented dead white men, I would take it upon myself to change that,’ said McQueen.”
In the Pioneer Press, Mara H. Gottfried writes: “As officials closed a large homeless encampment on the edge of downtown St. Paul on Thursday, the people who remained packed up to go elsewhere. The city estimated 72 people, as of last week, were living in tents above Interstate 35E near Kellogg Boulevard and down the hill from the Cathedral of St. Paul. St. Paul officials announced in August they would be clearing the encampment and notified occupants. There were about 30 people remaining on Thursday morning and most gathered their things up on their own, according to Suzanne Donovan, St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections spokesperson. Vans were on hand to assist people with moving belongings, if they needed transportation, Donovan said.”
Says Jeff Wald for KMSP-TV, “The University of Minnesota will be cutting men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis following the end of the 2020 – 2021 season, Athletic Director Mark Coyle announced on Thursday. Coyle shared the news in an open letter to the U of M athletics community. He explained the decision comes due to a projected $75 million loss of revenue due to the postponement of the fall sports season, largely from a potential loss in football revenue, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Says Miguel Otarola or the Star Tribune, “A proposal that would relocate the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct to a rented building has run into trouble with the City Council, whose members are reluctant to create a new police station while the department remains largely unchanged since the killing of George Floyd. A City Council committee Thursday voted to reject a $1.2 million-a-year lease on a warehouse located about a half a mile north of the precinct. The vote was a significant blow to the proposal, which is still scheduled for consideration by another committee and the full City Council next week.”
At Slate Jennifer Beam Dowd writes, “A new working paper by economist Dhaval Dave and colleagues is making headlines with their estimate that the Sturgis rally led to a shocking 266,796 new cases in the U.S. over a four-week period, which would account for a staggering 19 percent of newly confirmed cases in the U.S. in that time. … it relies on strong assumptions that rarely hold in the real world.”
For USA Today, Bob Nightengale writes, “Major League Baseball and the players union are moving towards an agreement for the final three rounds of the postseason, with the entire World Series to be played at a neutral site. Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, would stage the World Series as well as the National League Championship Series, two officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports. … The American League postseason will shift to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego for the two division series, with Petco Park, home of the Padres, hosting the best-of-seven ALCS.”
Also in the Star Tribune, Torey Van Oot reports: “A powerful statewide police group is pulling its endorsements of several Democratic state legislators, marking the latest turn in a deepening political rift over a DFL-endorsed candidate’s conduct at a rally outside Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll’s home. The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) board voted this week to back Republican challengers to Democratic incumbents in at least two potentially competitive seats, according to social media posts from the GOP candidates.”
At FOX 9, Paul Blume reports, “Last month, the Minnesota State High School League voted to move the football season to the spring due to coronavirus concerns, but some parents are pushing for the games to return this fall. Dawn Gillman and her fellow parents in Dassel-Cokato refuse to give up the fight. They want a fall high school football season in Minnesota. Not just practices – they want games for their student-athletes. … In Minnesota, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives told FOX 9 he’s on board. ‘I think we’ve already figured out how to interact with each other safely and this is just a small thing we can all rally behind and do safely,’ said Rep. Kurt Daudt (R – Crown), the House Minority Leader.”
