Minnesota News Network

A Hennepin County judge has granted prosecutors’ request to move up the trial of fired Minneapolis officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng to October 24th. About two weeks ago, Judge Peter Cahill pushed the trial back from this month to January 5th of next year citing pretrial publicity, but the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asked for an earlier date on behalf of George Floyd’s family. They wanted an August trial, while co-defendant Kueng’s (KINGS) attorney asked the judge to reconsider the date because of a personal commitment in January. The Star Tribune reports Judge Cahill, in agreeing to an October trial, said he was still weighing the need for publicity to die down, from the officers’ federal trial and from ex-officer Thomas Lane’s guilty plea in May to aiding and abetting manslaughter. Thao and Kueng are both charged with aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder.

Governor Tim Walz is touting Minnesota breaking another record for low unemployment — two percent in May, down two-tenths of a point from a record-low jobless rate in April. The governor says, “Minnesota’s economy is strong, and Minnesotans are working hard. I am proud to break another record with these historically low unemployment rates.” Walz adds the state is in a stable and secure position during a time of global uncertainty and high inflation. He says, “We’ll continue working to provide financial relief for Minnesotans and ensure our economy remains strong.”

Republican challenger Scott Jensen wasn’t immediately available to comment.

As forecast it’s turning into the first real scorcher of the season for the southern two-thirds of the state, with (noon) temperatures well into the 80s and some 90s through most of central and southern Minnesota. An excessive heat warning is in effect for the Twin Cities metro through 8pm tonight (Tues), and a heat advisory through then for south-central, east-central and southeast Minnesota. The Weather Service says it will be lot cooler tomorrow with highs in the 70s and 80s — but climbing back to the 100-degree mark in west-central Minnesota by the weekend. At last check, the cool spot in Minnesota was Grand Marais on the North Shore at 55 degrees.

“Small first step,” says the leader of anti-gun-violence group Protect Minnesota about the bipartisan gun safety deal announced in the U-S Senate over the weekend. Rashmi Seneviratne applauds the mental health initiatives, but says proposed gun regulations react only to the Texas shooting:  “What about the next school shooting?… Are we just gonna let school shootings keep happening and mass shootings keep happening, and we react to that one situation and not the kind of comprehensive problem?”

The Senate proposal would tighten background checks on potential gun buyers between age 18 and 21 — but Seneviratne asks, what about older people who commit mass shootings?

A judge in bench trial has found Duluth firefighter guilty of felony third-degree assault for injuring a woman on a western Duluth trail in July 2020. 50-year-old Conrad Sunde the Fourth was on his bicycle with three off-leash dogs when 65-year-old Mary Modec called him out for violating the city’s leash law. Modec reached for her phone to take a photo, and Sunde testified he saw a pepper spray canister around Modec’s neck, “instantly reacted… and knocked her down. I was in fear of my safety,” he testified. Sunde said he lost his balance and fell, but Modec testified “he was on top of me.” Modec’s nose was broken, and she said her eye is permanently bruised and she must have surgery if she wants to again breathe normally.

The framework of a gun safety agreement U-S Senate leaders announced over the weekend is getting mixed reviews from the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus. Spokesman Rob Doar says they’re glad for finally a focus on areas everyone can agree on, such as school security and mental health resources — but questions any “red flag” orders that treat the firearm as the issue instead of helping the individual.  “Any type of red flag orders that just go in and take firearms without addressing the individual that’s in crisis we would likely oppose,” Doar says.

The Senate proposal also includes more time for authorities to do background checks on prospective gun buyers under age 21.  Doar says his group is worried that “lawful gun owners could get caught up in the middle of it.”