>>GOP Senator Limmer Calls for Minnesota Law Change on Property Seizures
(St. Paul, MN) — The state is agreeing to pay 109 million dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit by people whose properties were seized and sold for nonpayment of taxes, but the government kept all the proceeds, not just what was needed to satisfy unpaid taxes. But Republican Senator Warren Limmer from Maple Grove says state law should also be changed to reflect a recent U-S Supreme Court ruling in the case of a 95-year-old woman from Hennepin County. He says, “there’s no need for government keeping the excess money on a sale of property of a taxpayer who ran into some bad luck somewhere down the road.” Limmer says he’s been asking for a hearing on his bill for a year. Leaders of the Democrat-controlled Minnesota Senate weren’t immediately reachable for comment.
>>Capitol Hearings on Rumble Strips, Grocery Bag Bans and Digital Citizenship
(St. Paul, MN) — Rumble strips would have to be installed by a certain timeline on all state highways with speed limits of 55 or over — that under a bill being debated in a Minnesota House committee this morning (Tues 830am). Also at the State Capitol today, a hearing (830am) on a bill that would change current state law so that municipalities would again be able to ban retailers from providing merchandise bags to customers. There’s a Senate hearing (11am) on a bill that would set up a task force to make recommendations on so-called “digital citizenship” curriculum in Minnesota schools, including Internet safety and responsible use of technology. And a House panel (1pm) debates a bill that would affect the hospitality industry, requiring the full amount of any gratuity paid by credit or debit card go to the employee.
>>St. Paul Central Softball Team Headed to Washington to Visit VP Harris
(St. Paul, MN) — Members of the St. Paul Central High School softball team are headed to Washington, D-C today (Tues) after getting an invite from Vice President Kamala Harris. They will be part of a Women’s History Month event Wednesday at the vice president’s residence. The team was practicing on March 14th when Vice President Harris showed up unexpectedly in St. Paul. She talked about the importance of women in sports and later invited the team to the nation’s capital. A Central High School Go Fund Me page raised more than 17 thousand dollars for the trip.
>>Wet, Heavy Snow Helps Alleviate Some Drought Issues in Minnesota
(St. Paul, MN) — The wet, heavy snow from the late March storm is good news for areas of Minnesota suffering from drought conditions. State Climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld (BLOOM’-in-feld) says we really needed the moisture after an extremely dry winter. He says this will help alleviate some if not many of the short-term deficits in precipitation that we’ve accumulated over the last three or four months. The U-S-D-A reported that more than 99 percent of Minnesota was abnormally dry and 74 percent was in a moderate drought last Thursday. Blumenfeld says a lot of people are excited to get around two inches of precipitation from this storm system. There’s more snow and a rain-snow mix in today’s (Tues) forecast.
>>Litchfield Woman Killed in Crash with Semi on Highway 12 in Meeker County
(Litchfield, MN) — A woman from Litchfield is dead after a two-vehicle crash on snow-covered Highway 12 in Meeker County. The Minnesota State Patrol says a westbound S-U-V driven by 26-year-old Miranda Castro and a semi driven by 28-year-old Kadar Ismail of Willmar collided Monday morning. The report says Castro died at the scene and was not wearing her seat belt. Ismail wasn’t hurt in the crash.
>> U of M Police to Handle More Calls in Neighborhoods near Campus
(Minneapolis, MN) — The University of Minnesota Police Department will be taking more 9-1-1 calls in neighborhoods near the Minneapolis campus. The mutual aid expansion will help the short-staffed Minneapolis Police Department. U of M Chief Matt Clark told the Board of Regents that there have been some delayed response teams in the Dinkytown, Stadium Village and Marcy Homes neighborhoods. A spokesperson for the Minneapolis P-D says they will continue to work closely with U of M police in the campus area. Officers from Minneapolis will still handle major crimes in those neighborhoods.
>>Moorhead Woman Sentenced for Hit and Run that Injured a Boy
(Moorhead, MN) — The sentence is 60 days in the Clay County jail for a Moorhead woman in a hit and run crash last April that injured a 12-year-old boy. Sixty-year-old Jacqueline Swanson plead guilty to criminal vehicular operation in January and a second charge was dropped. The judge sentenced Swanson 18 months in prison, but she won’t have to serve as long as she follows terms of her probation for five years. Police say Swanson hit 12-year-old Zamir Rayford while he was riding his bike and fled the scene. Zamir suffered serious injuries and was treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
>>Southwest SMDC Wins MN SBDC 2024 Award
(Minneapolis, MN) — The Southwest Small Business Development Center is the winner of Minnesota’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) 2024 Excellence and Innovation Award by the U-S Small Business Administration. The Southwest S-B-D-C provides consulting, training, and research to assist small business owners in the start, growth, and transition phases throughout 18 counties. Minnesota Director Andy Donahue says the Southwest plays a crucial role in fostering economic development in the southwest part of the state, particularly for Native American residents.
>>Falcons Owner Claims Team Did Not Tamper in Cousins’ Free-Agent Signing
(Flowery Branch, GA) — The owner of the Atlanta Falcons claims his team is not guilty of tampering with then-Vikings’ free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins. Arthur Blank told reporters at the N-F-L’s annual meeting in Orlando that the Falcons will deal with the outcome of the league’s investigation, whatever it may be. Blank said, “the tampering deal, we obviously don’t believe we tampered, and we shared all the information with the league.” Cousins signed a four-year, 180-million-dollar deal with Atlanta on the first day of free agency. He revealed during his initial news conference that he had spoken to the Falcons’ athletic trainer and head of P-R on the phone before the legal negotiating window, which is against the rules for pending free agents.
