Minnesota News Network

Influential Democrats in the Minnesota House want to restrict use of drones by law enforcement agencies, generally requiring search warrants before they’re deployed. Baxter Police Sergeant David Timm objects, saying drones are very helpful at events like Brainerd’s Ice-Fishing Extravaganza. Timm says, “Literally thousands and thousands of people get on a lake with thousands of holes…. We might use our U-A-Vs there just as a resource to help observe from afar in case something were to happen to direct emergency personnel, keep an eye on things.” But Bill author, Saint Paul Democrat John Lesch contends it shouldn’t be allowed. “There might be some people that have a difference of opinion about that,” he says. “They think that people think it makes them feel safer. Doesn’t make me feel safer. It creeps me out.”

Saint Cloud Police Lieutenant Martin Sayre says, “Most of the public is happy to know that we are above our festivals, watching rooftops…. If their children is lost, we can quickly tell the operators their physical descriptions and they can look for them and locate them — and we have done this.” Lesch responds, “You can’t just fly drones over a music festival outside and scope people out, zero in and see what they’re doing. That’s a little creepy.”

House lawmakers will decide later whether to include the measure in a major public safety bill.

With serious spring flooding possible, Governor Tim Walz is urging the legislature to quickly replenish the state’s Disaster Assistance Fund — currently depleted. The governor says, “That’s the money that we use to pre-position the sandbags and some of the different things, so it just would be prudent for us. It’s 10 million dollars that needs to go into that. It’s really important we have that now, because we’re already working on this.”

Walz was briefed by state and federal officials Friday as preparations continue for what’s expected to be significant flooding — or worse — by the last week of March.

National Weather Service Chief Meteorologist Dan Luna told top state officials Friday that Minnesota will experience major flooding on rivers statewide if there’s a fast snow melt — with temps in the 50s during the day, and 40s or 30s at night. And Luna says if we also get a couple inches of rain there will be “terrible flooding.” He says, “Any significant flooding, if we experience it — and we will — probably won’t occur until we get into the last week of March and certainly into April. And it will really be predicated by, how fast does it warm up, and if we get rainfall.”

Luna says even if there’s a perfect slow snowmelt, river levels will be high and there’s potential for significant flooding all the way into May — and maybe even the summer.

About a thousand high school and college students and others rallied on the steps of the State Capitol Friday, calling for action on the “Green New Deal” to address climate change and economic inequality. Wayzata High School sophomore Farrah Bergstrom says for too long legislation has been influenced by big corporations. “I think it’s time that legislators listen to real people, especially us, the next generations who will be affected by climate change the most,” Bergstrom says.

A bill expanding the disaster recovery loan program for farmers impacted by heavy snow is headed to the desk of Governor Tim Walz, after the Senate and House unanimously passed the measure Thursday. Representative Paul Torkelson from Hanska says, “It’s not just about building collapses right now. It’s also about the fact that milk prices are low and have been low for a long time, at the same time as we’ve seen a sharp increase in hay prices.”

Representative Steve Drazkowski from Mazeppa says producers have been “beaten down with four years of negative prices, and for these types of catastrophic, uncontrollable situations to come on top of… [that] is just more than they can bear at this point.”

House lawmakers are also urging the Senate to quickly pass a bill providing 100 thousand additional dollars for mental health counseling support to farm families and business operators.