Governor Tim Walz today announced Chris Taylor as his new Chief Inclusion Officer. Taylor will help provide direction to advance the work of diversifying the state’s employees and appointments and expanding government contracts with diverse businesses. Taylor says one of his goals will to “really dig deep and look at how our systems have been […]
St Paul Police seek public’s help in finding missing teen
St. Paul Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a teen who has been missing for three days. 17-year-old Chuejee Thao was last seen around 2:30 Monday afternoon getting off his school bus at Livingston Avenue and Isabel Street on the city’s west side. Thao is five-foot-six-inches tall weighs 120 pounds and has […]
Sen Klobuchar on release of Mueller report (AUDIO)
U-S Senator and candidate for president Amy Klobuchar has not yet read the Mueller report, but she’s highly critical of Attorney General Bill Barr’s press conference this morning ahead of the report’s release and says she’s “very concerned about how the attorney general has rolled this out. He is supposed to be the people’s attorney, […]
MN GOP Chair on Trump’s visit, Omar controversy (AUDIO)
Controversy is brewing ahead of President Trump’s visit today to Minnesota in the wake of his recent tweets about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Omar says death threats have increased since the president’s tweets. Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan says as someone who’s received death threats herself, she sympathizes but adds “maybe [Omar] should stop stepping on […]
5-yr-old injured after being pushed or thrown over balcony at MOA, suspect in custody
Police are investigating after a five-year-old child was reportedly thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America this morning. Bloomington Police Chief Jeff Potts says “the child did suffer significant injuries, the child has been transported to the hospital and is currently receiving care.” Potts says witnesses also indicated “that the suspect that had […]
OLA follow-up report: “weaknesses” in fraud controls in Child Care Assistance Program
A follow-up review from the state Office of the Legislative Auditor found weaknesses in the Department of Human Services’ (DHS’s) “integrity controls” for Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program or C-CAP. The report concludes that DHS and local human services agencies must do more to effectively prevent, detect and investigate fraud in CCAP. The program has […]
MN House passes hands-free bill
The Minnesota House today on a vote of 107-19 passed a compromise version of a bill banning cell phone use while behind the wheel–unless in hands-free mode. Similar measures have failed to get much traction in the state legislature in past years and Representative Frank Hornstein of Minneapolis says what’s changed: “it’s the families, it’s […]
MN Senate passes hands free cell phone/distracted driving bill
A bill that would require drivers to use cell phones in hands-free mode passed off the Minnesota Senate floor today with strong bipartisan support on a vote of 56-10. Republican Senator Dan Hall of Burnsville voted for the measure, but with some reservations. He said, “I don’t like the way this is taking away my […]
MPD seeks help in finding armed robbery suspect
Minneapolis Police are looking for the public’s help in identifying an aggravated robbery suspect who used a gun to gain compliance from his victims. The robbery occurred at a T-Mobile store on New Brighton Boulevard on March 10th at around 2:45 pm. Three suspects pulled a gun on the store’s employees and forced them into […]
Gov Walz joins advocates to preserve health care provider tax (AUDIO)
Advocates are at the State Capitol today calling on lawmakers to preserve a provider tax on healthcare. Governor Tim Walz says he doesn’t question that Republicans want people to have healthcare but said, “what I do question is if you cannot put forward a plan as solid as the healthcare access fund, and your only […]