>>Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to Launch Minnesota Veterans for Biden-Harris
(North St. Paul, MN) — U-S Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is stumping for President Joe Biden’s re-election today in (Fri 1pm) North St. Paul. Buttigieg will join Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan to kick off Minnesota Veterans for Biden-Harris. The campaign says Buttigieg will tout President Biden’s accomplishments for veterans including expanding access to V-A health care, record-low veteran unemployment, and the PACT act for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and substances. The transportation secretary is a Navy veteran.
>>AG Ellison’s Office Sued by AstraZeneca in Relation to Lower Drug Prices
(Minneapolis, MN) — The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is being sued by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, claiming a new state law lowering drug prices goes against federal law. The lawsuit alleges a new Minnesota statute requires drug manufacturers to make Section 340B-discounted drugs available to all pharmacies under certain contracts, extending discounts beyond what’s allowed by the federal program. Ellison’s office said the A-G has a “duty to defend statutes and plans to vigorously defend this one in court.”
>>First Case of Mosquito-Borne Dengue Fever Confirmed in Minnesota
(St. Paul, MN) — The C-D-C is confirming the state’s first case of dengue fever this summer. Department of Health epidemiologist Elizabeth Schiffman says it is considered a “travel associated” disease in Minnesota. She says, “we have a lot of mosquitos in Minnesota, but we do not have right the kind here to transmit dengue fever. Schiffman says they see a few cases every year in Minnesotans who traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Southeast Asia. She says West Nile virus is the most common tick-borne disease in our state.
>>MnDOT Awards 13 Grants for EV Fast Charging Stations
(St. Paul, MN) — The Minnesota Department of Transportation is awarding more than 7.8 million dollars in grants to 13 applicants to build and maintain electric vehicle (EV) fast charging stations. The funding comes from the National Electric Vehicle Program. The locations of the 13 E-V charging stations are along the designated I-94 and I-35 Alternative Fuel Corridors. Station installations are expected within the next year. Here’s the list applicants selected by MnDOT:
-Circle K Stores, Moorhead – $497,735
-Pilot Travel Centers, Alexandria $783,554
-Circle K Stores, Sauk Center $497,735
-Universal EV, St. Cloud $590,952
-Kwik Trip, St. Michael $660,662
-Francis Energy Charging, Brooklyn Park $758,677
-Circle K Stores, Proctor $497,735
-Kwik Trip, Moose Lake $746,764
-Circle K Stores, Forest Lake $497,735
-Francis Energy Charging, Burnsville $828,952
-Tesla, Albert Lea $546,512
>>Pedestrian Struck and Killed by Vehicle in Blaine
(Blaine, MN) — The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a deadly pedestrian crash Thursday evening in Blaine. The report says an S-U-V on Highway 47 was entering an intersection with a green light when a woman attempted to cross and was struck. Troopers say 47-year-old Lavonne Louise Piipke died at the scene. The S-U-V driver wasn’t hurt, and alcohol was not involved.
>>44-Year-Old Infant Fatality Case in St. Augusta Closed
(St. Augusta, MN) — The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is identifying the parents of Baby Jane Doe, a dead infant whose case has been open since April 3rd, 1980. Deputies found Doe dead in St. Augusta, about five feet off the roadway; her cause of death was never determined. In 2018, the Minnesota B-C-A exhumed the infant to get a D-N-A profile. The D-N-A was connected to a previous autopsy of an adult female in 2021. This year, the baby’s father was determined out of three men and denied any knowledge of the child’s death. The case was closed after it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was responsible for Doe’s death.
>>North Central Iowa Man Convicted of Killing Algona Police Officer
(Spirit Lake, IA) — A north central Iowa man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the fatal shooting of a police officer in Algona last September. Forty-three-year-old Kyle Ricke was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Officer Kevin Cram on Thursday. Ricke fled the area after the shooting and was arrested at a relative’s home near Sleepy Eye in southern Minnesota. The mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Iowa is life in prison without parole.
>>Woman Arrested for Shooting at Car in Sherburne County
(Zimmerman, MN) — A woman is jailed after allegedly shooting at a car Thursday morning near Zimmerman. The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office says the driver reported the suspect was shooting at him with a .22 caliber revolver. Deputies found the 61-year-old woman barricaded inside her home and she surrendered several hours later. She was taken to the hospital for an evaluation before being booked in jail pending second-degree assault charges. The car was hit by several bullets, but the driver wasn’t hurt.
>>Minnesota Twins Infielder Castro Added to American League All-Star Team
(San Francisco, CA) — Minnesota Twins infielder Willi Castro is headed to his first All-Star Game next week in Texas. Castro was named to the American League team Thursday as a replacement for Houston second baseman Jose Altuve. Castro is hitting .268 with seven homers, 29 R-B-I, and ten stolen bases in 93 games for Minnesota. Shortstop Carlos Correa is also playing in the 2024 All-Star Game on Tuesday. The Twins open a three-game series tonight (Fri 9:15 pm) at the San Francisco Giants.
