>>Slain MPD Officer Jamal Mitchell honored at memorial service, posthumously awarded department’s Medal of Honor and Purple Heart
(Maple Grove, MN) — Top honors for slain Minneapolis Police Officer Jamal Mitchell during today’s memorial service at Maple Grove High School in the northwest metro. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says Mitchell was the “epitome of a guardian” and did not hesitate to answer what would be his final call. Those at the service applauded when O’Hara announced, “For Jamal’s courageous, selfness and unequivocally heroic actions on that day, he has been posthumously awarded the two highest honors of the Minneapolis Police Department: the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told mourners Jamal Mitchell chose the profession of policing post-2020 (after George Floyd), and he chose Minneapolis. “Of all the places in the world, of all the professions in the world, of all the cities in the world, he chose us. Officer Jamal Mitchell was here for a reason,” Frey said. Mitchell’s aunt Dee-Dee, Denise Raper, says Jamal’s Christian upbringing echoed the principle that, the only time you look down on a man is when you’re picking him up. She drew applause telling those assembled, “This was Jamal’s mission, and through our tears and heavy heart, we collectively say, mission accomplished.”
>>Top analyst: Hunter Biden conviction likely won’t move the needle in presidential race
(Undated) — Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three felony charges, after prosecutors alleged he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form in 2018, stating he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Hamline University political analyst David Schultz says doesn’t think either the felony convictions of President Biden’s son or those of former President Donald Trump will make much difference for either presidential candidate’s campaign. Schultz says it “might move a few people, but for the most part I think the public has made up their mind — and even if it moves a few people, we’re still approximately four to five… months away from the election. It might be forgotten by then.”
>>Legislative auditor: Some ineligible people received COVID-19 front-line worker checks
(St. Paul, MN) — A just-released Legislative Auditor’s report finds state agencies approved COVID-19 front-line worker payments to applicants who were not eligible, and to those who eligibility could not be determined. More than one million people received payments of 487 dollars each, and the auditors say they could not determine eligibility for roughly 30 to 40 percent of them, and that as little as under a percent or as much as nine percent of the checks might have gone to people who were not eligible. The agencies respond the payments to front-line workers were over a year late and lawmakers designed the program to favor expediency over stringent verification that would have caused further delays. House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth says Republicans offered amendments making it easier to prevent fraud but “the Walz administration, by ignoring fraudsters and tacitly condoning fraud, has cost frontline workers real money.” Legislative Auditor Judy Randall notes the program had “a fixed amount of state funding … to be divided equally among all eligible applicants. The more applicants (that) were approved, the less each applicant received.”
>>Lynx All-Star forward Collier going to Summer Olympics
(Las Vegas, NV) — Minnesota Lynx All-Star forward Napheesa Collier is headed to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Collier was officially named to the 12-player Team U-S-A roster today (Tues) in Las Vegas and given her number 11 red jersey. Collier says playing in the Olympics is the highest caliber and she’s really honored and excited and “can’t wait to go to Paris.” Her Lynx teammates were chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A,” after she met with a U-S National Women’s Team official. Collier won her first Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo which were played the following year due to the COVID pandemic.
>>North Branch Man Hospitalized After Farm Accident
(Stearns County, MN) — A North Branch man was airlifted to a local hospital after a farm accident near Sauk Centre Sunday morning. Stearns County first responders learned 51-year-old Eric Bergum was backing a tractor off a trailer at a farm in Getty Township when the tractor rolled backward, pinning him underneath. Bergum was brought to Sauk Centre Hospital with severe leg injuries and later airlifted to St. Cloud Hospital for treatment. His current condition is not available.
>>Authorities Searching for Man Who Left Mankato Hospital on Foot
(Mankato, MN) — State officials are asking the public’s help in finding a man who left a Mankato hospital on foot Monday. 61-year-old Charles Lemert left Mayo Clinic Health System-Mankato around 12:30 p.m. Officials say Lemert has been diagnosed with multiple medical conditions. He was last seen wearing a hospital scrub top and pajama pants. Anyone with information should call 911.
