MPR’s Matt Sepic reports students and staff at Harding High School in St. Paul are grieving the loss of 15-year-old Devin Scott, who police say was stabbed to death by another student at the school on Friday. Along with many others in the Twin Cities, Vanessa Young heard the tragic news Friday about the killing, but it wasn’t until Monday that Young learned the victim was someone she knew. Young is a co-founder of 30,000 feet, a St. Paul nonprofit that provides art classes and technology apprenticeships for youth, and Devin was in her program. ‘He was a young person who was dedicated to getting his coding certificate. So he’d come to our program on Mondays and Wednesdays and even sometimes online working diligently to get his coding certificate,’ she said.”
Stribber Christopher Snowbeck reports, “Sanford and Fairview health systems say their proposed mega-merger would invest about $500 million in strategic capital in hospitals, facilities and growth initiatives across the Minnesota communities where Fairview currently operates. Additionally, the CEOs at the health systems say benefactor Denny Sanford has pledged to make Sanford Health the primary beneficiary of his estate subject to certain conditions, including that the combined company locate its headquarters in Sioux Falls, S.D.”
In The Guardian, a story by Sam Levine says, “Voting is under way in an under-the-radar race that could wind up being the most important election in America this year. At stake is control of the Wisconsin supreme court. Because control of state government in Wisconsin is split between Democrats and Republicans, the seven-member body has increasingly become the forum to get a final decision on some of the most consequential issues in the state – from voting rights to abortion. Since Wisconsin is one of the most politically competitive states and a critical presidential battleground, these decisions have national resonance. Millions of dollars have already begun to pour into the race, which is widely expected to become the most expensive supreme court election in state history.”
A Business Journal story by Kelly Busche says, “Developer Alatus is moving forward with plans to build a 27-story apartment tower just across the river from downtown Minneapolis. The tower, located on Central Avenue near the Third Avenue Bridge, would have 359 apartment units on top of retail space and parking.”
A Washington Post story by Drew Harwell says, “One company advertised the names and home addresses of people with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress or bipolar disorder. Another sold a database featuring thousands of aggregated mental health records, starting at $275 per 1,000 ‘ailment contacts’. For years, data brokers have operated in a controversial corner of the internet economy, collecting and reselling Americans’ personal information for government or commercial use, such as targeted ads. But the pandemic-era rise of telehealth and therapy apps has fueled an even more contentious product line: Americans’ mental health data. And the sale of it is perfectly legal in the United States, even without the person’s knowledge or consent. In a study published Monday, a research team at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy outlines how expansive the market for people’s health data has become.”
A CNBC story by Mike Winters says, “The median price for single-family homes in the U.S. dropped by $19,400 in the last three months of 2022, although prices for the year were up 4% overall, new data reveals. While home-price growth decreased, prices were still elevated in 90% of the 186 metro areas examined by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Of those, almost a fifth had double-digit price increases, primarily in the South. Here’s a look at the top 15 hottest markets in the U.S. right now, in terms of price growth in 2022 …
For KARE-TV Samie Solina says, “The eyes may be the window to the soul, but Jim Johnston’s view outside his window fills the soul. ‘I think my favorite part of it is the fact that I get to see these really extraordinary sunsets’. He’s called his Columbia Heights apartment home since April, but before that, he had a different view. ‘Where would I wake up? Usually in a shelter’, he said. ‘Yep. Usually in a shelter’. … The county bought a total of five properties, which was made possible with about $25 million in federal pandemic recovery funding. A total of 1,137 people who were homeless stayed in the properties at one point between March 2020 and March 2022 for protective shelter, according to the county.”
A Strib story by Hunter Woodall and Rochelle Olson says, “U.S. Rep. Angie Craig said she fought off a man last week who attacked her on an elevator before she could escape. ‘He wasn’t going to let me out of that elevator if I hadn’t fought my way out’, the Minnesota Democrat said in an interview with KARE 11 that aired Monday night. … Craig had gotten coffee in her apartment building’s lobby last Thursday morning when she noticed a man — later identified as Hamlin by police — pacing. After she said ‘good morning’ to him, Hamlin followed Craig into an elevator, told her he needed to use the bathroom and was going to her apartment. After Craig told Hamlin he couldn’t, he blocked the elevator door and hit keypad buttons. When she attempted to get out, Hamlin punched Craig, and got behind her and put his hand on her shoulders and grabbed her collarbone, the report said. Craig threw her hot coffee at Hamlin and was eventually able to get out of the elevator. She called for help and the assailant fled, the report said, and Craig was left with bleeding on her lip and pain from being punched.”
For KELO-TV in Sioux Falls Jazzmine Jackson writes, “Less than a week after the Minnesota House of Representatives advanced a bill to guarantee free school meals, neighboring South Dakota voted to kill a similar bill. Monday the House Education Committee heard testimony on HB 1221, a bill that would provide free school lunches for all public school students. Democrat Kadyn Wittman told the committee that no child should go hungry due to circumstances out of their control. … Republican Senator Jim Bolin also spoke in opposition to the bill citing his experience as a former teacher. ‘What you’re really doing here, if this bill were to pass, is providing what I would call, sort of the equivalent of a middle-class entitlement for those that can afford lunches already’, Bolin said. ‘It doesn’t seem right to me’. Bolin continued saying that he doesn’t believe that this would be a good teaching lesson for students. ‘What I think we’ve created here, especially during the pandemic time, is that everything comes from the government. Everything’s free, everything’s free and comes from the government’, Bolin said. ‘I don’t think that’s a good lesson to be communicating to students at this time’.”
How many prior behavior incidents did the perp in the Harding stabbing have that went unpunished?
My guess was many.
I guess the secret to avoiding criticism from conservatives for anyone who wants to murder in a school is that they should do so with an AR-model firearm. That way, conservatives will send their thoughts and prayers and claim there was nothing more that could be done. All while cutting funding to mental health care, school counseling, and any other effective social programs that might cost them an extra $100 a year. They need that money to pay for home defense ammo.
Are developers and their supporters at the city in a race to see how quickly they can over build Northeast Minneapolis? Inquiring minds want to know.
Yes, a 27-story building will look completely out of place next door to the other four 20+ story residential buildings within two blocks of that location.
You have to work for your gruel. That’s the lesson to communicate to students.
By the way, I don’t think a second-grader thinks of her grade school as “the government.” I think she thinks of it as “the community.” But Senator Bolin’s point is just as valid. We don’t want to raise kids to think the community cares whether they go to bed hungry.