Minnesota News Network

A new survey of around 9,700 members of Education Minnesota found high levels of stress and anxiety–especially for educators who are now simultaneously teaching online and in-person. Education Minnesota President Denise Specht says “about 30% of people taking the survey are thinking about quitting or retiring, that’s a lot of people considering that we already have a teacher shortage in Minnesota.” Specht says educators are “overwhelmed, frustrated and worried about their mental health” amid COVID-19. And she says information from the Teachers Retirement Association of Minnesota shows applications for retirement benefits increased by 35-percent in August and September 2020 compared to the same period last year. Here’s more with Education Minnesota’s Denise Specht.

Governor Walz will keep his emergency COVID powers after the Democrat-led state House voted Monday (69-64) to support a 30-day extension. State House Speaker Melissa Hortman says the powers remain essential amid the pandemic and “the covid 19 emergency has not ended and our country has experienced needless death and suffering due to the president’s failed leadership.” Republican Representative Anne Neu of North Branch acknowledged the seriousness of COVID-19 but said no executive orders have been issued on the pandemic for months and added “this is like groundhog’s day. We’ve been here every month doing this since March, and yet very little has changed, almost nothing has changed.” Earlier in the day, the Republican-led Senate voted 36-31 against extending the governor’s emergency powers.  Democratic Senator Jeff Hayden of Minneapolis voted “no” and said, “unfortunately, I believe that my friends across the aisle have been lacking the leadership needed to beat the virus and to keep people safe.” But Republican Senator Scott Jensen, who revealed on the Senate floor that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and voted “yes” said the vote is not a condemnation of the governer’s efforts to deal with coronavirus and added, “I see this as an affirmation that we know he can invite the legislature with judicial oversight to the table and we can do this better.”

A fifth special session gets underway today at the State Capitol. Governor Walz called the session to extend his COVID-19 emergency powers for another 30 days. Republicans have criticized the governor for not including them in the process of making key decisions about the pandemic. Walz says “if (Republicans) have a better way that they can do testing for Minnesotans, and they want to run it through the legislative process, I have been open to that from the beginning.” It’s expected that once again, the Republican-led Senate will vote against the extension and the Democrat-majority House will vote in favor of it. It remains to be seen whether lawmakers reach an agreement on a long-delayed public works bill this special session. A Senate committee this morning held an informational hearing on a $1.3 billion compromise bonding bill that would help pay for infrastructure projects around the state.

A former tennis coach at Holy Family Catholic School in Victoria is charged with criminal sexual conduct. The Carver County Sheriff’s Office has identified the suspect as 59-year-old Timothy James “TJ” Garin of Mound. School officials were notified on September 4th that a former student had been sexually assaulted by a coach beginning in 2015. Deputies learned Garin sent text messages complimenting the victim’s appearance and detailing desired sexual activities. He also allegedly touched the outer clothing covering the victim’s buttocks, legs and groin area and sent the victim pictures of his genitals while requesting nude pictures from the victim. Garin was arrested Tuesday. His next court appearance is set for October 23rd.

Derek Chauvin, one of four former officers charged in George Floyd’s death, has been released from prison on bond. Chauvin was released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights to post bail in Hennepin County just before 11:30 am this morning. Chauvin’s unconditional bail was set at $1.25 million, or $1 million with conditions. According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s roster, he was released on conditional bail. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Floyd’s death in May sparked days of protest and riots in downtown Minneapolis and elsewhere in the country.

Governor Tim Walz has called a special session for Monday to extend his COVID-19 emergency powers. Republicans want to cancel the governor’s powers and have ousted his labor and commerce commissioners in previous special sessions. Walz says he’s making it known to Republicans he doesn’t want to see something like that happen again and “the idea that they would–and they’ve said so, that they would release my Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm, who by all accounts is doing this as well as anybody in the country, I want to make clear that if we’re going to come back and we’re going to do another special session, we’re not going to go down that road again.” Republicans previously voted to remove Labor Commissioner Nancy Leppink and Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley. Walz says “the COVID-19 virus is unpredictable, and as we have seen over the past few weeks, it continues to devastate our communities.” And he adds, “it’s imperative that we have the tools necessary to respond to this public health emergency and protect the health and wellbeing of each and every Minnesotan. This emergency is not over.” This will be the fifth special session tied to the governor’s emergency powers.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today announced the launch of HelpSealMyRecord.org. It aims to allow prosecutors to assist Minnesotans to expunge their criminal records at no cost. Ellison says it will “help Minnesotans in every part of the state from the Twin Cities to Albert Lea to Ely to Moorhead to Baudette and everywhere in between be able to get an expungement of a misdemeanor or felony offense if it’s one of the enumerating ones, as long as they are eligible.” Ellison says without an expungement, people who have satisfied all the terms of their sentence for a crime that is eligible to be expunged can have trouble getting good jobs, education or housing. Ellison says it’s not right “to hold somebody out of the economy for a lifetime when they did something so many years ago that they have made up for and gotten on the right path and become law-abiding.” HelpSealMyRecord.org is a joint initiative of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Ramsey, Washington and Hennepin County Attorney’s Offices.