Democratic Senator Al Franken says he will oppose President Trump’s nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras, to the federal bench on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Franken says Stras’ statements indicate he would be “a deeply conservative jurist” in the mold of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who Franken says “embraced a rigid view of the Constitution that favored powerful corporate interests, was blind to the equal dignity of LGBT people” and refused to acknowledge laws that perpetuate the racial divide. Franken is on the Senate Judiciary Committee which reviews federal judge nominations. Minnesota Republican Party officials are not immediately available for comment.
A 15-year-old Glenwood boy was injured after falling off the bumper of a moving SUV Sunday morning. Officials say three teens were inside the vehicle–one was driving and two were reaching through the windows attempting to hold down a goose blind being transported on the roof the vehicle. Dylon Jorgenson was standing on the bumper, helping hold down the blind when the wind caught the blind knocking him off the bumper and onto the pavement. Jorgenson was taken to the hospital and treated for a head injury.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling saying “no” to five people claiming to be half-siblings of Prince who want part of his multi-million-dollar estate. One group of four claimed that their father, Loyal Gresham Junior, was Prince’s biological parent, while another woman claimed her father Albert Jackson was Prince’s dad. But a special administrator overseeing distribution of the estate determined John Lewis Nelson was Prince’s “genetic father” under Minnesota law. The district court threw out claims of the others and the appeals court agreed, saying because John L. Nelson is Prince’s presumptive father under the parentage act, he is the only person who can be his “genetic father” under probate law which governs distribution of an estate when there is no will. The ruling re-affirms six heirs to Prince’s estate: his sister, Tyka Nelson, plus five half-siblings.
A 22-year-old man is in custody awaiting charges after the fatal stabbing of another man in St. Cloud early this morning. Officials say the victim was stabbed in the torso after an argument with the suspect. The victim died a short time later at the hospital. Investigators say the victim and suspect, both from Iowa, were friends. The victim’s name has not yet been released.
Experts say Lake Superior’s annual “cool down” might be starting earlier than normal. The Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab says the big lake is three degrees cooler than it was in late August last year. Parts of northern Wisconsin have had temperatures in the 30s on and off during the past week, and researcher George Leshkevich says cooler air temps have affected the water. Last year at this time, many areas of the Upper Midwest were still in the 80s on a daily basis.
A record total of one-million-997-thousand-320 people attended the Minnesota State Fair this year. This surpasses last year’s record of one-million-943-thousand-719. Daily attendance records were set on Monday August 28th, Friday September 1st and Sunday September 3rd. As vendors continue to tear down, plans for the 2018 Great-Minnesota-Get-Together are already in the works.