TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalBill to kill up to 90% of Idaho wolves heads to governor
BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House on Tuesday approved legislation allowing the state to hire private contractors and expand methods to kill wolves roaming Idaho — a measure that could cut the wolf population by 90%.
Lawmakers voted 58-11 to send the agriculture industry-backed bill to Republican Gov. Brad Little. The fast-tracked bill that allows the use of night-vision equipment to kill wolves as well as hunting from snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, among other measures, passed the Senate last week.
Backers said changes to Idaho law could help reduce the wolf population from about 1,500 to 150, alleviating wolf attacks on cattle, sheep and wildlife.
"We have areas of the state where the wolves are having a real detrimental impact on our wildlife," said House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, one of the bill's sponsors. "They are hurting the herds, elk and deer. This allows the Wolf (Depredation) Control Board and others to control them, also, which we have not done in the past."
Read more: https://www.startribune.com/bill-to-kill-up-to-90-of-idaho-wolves-heads-to-governor/600050946/
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Law enforcement reimbursed from Enbridge-funded account, angering pipeline protesters
DULUTH, Minn. — For expenses ranging from gas masks and holsters, to moving a piano used by protesters and adding extra portable toilets at jails, northern Minnesota law enforcement and fire departments along the Line 3 oil pipeline route are being reimbursed by an Enbridge-funded account managed by the state.
From the start of Line 3 construction Dec. 1 to mid-March, agencies have been reimbursed more than $537,000 for expenses resulting from responding to anti-pipeline protests, attending training programs as far back as 2016, patrolling pipeline property, and protective equipment like helmet shields, according to Minnesota Public Utilities Commission documents Forum News Service received through a public records request.
As part of the PUC’s approval of the 340-mile pipeline’s route permit, the commission ordered Enbridge to fund a Public Safety Escrow Account to “to help existing law enforcement and social service agencies along the route in combatting drug and human trafficking during pipeline construction.”
While it is funded by Enbridge, the reimbursements to law enforcement agencies are considered and distributed by the state’s account manager.
Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2021/04/27/law-enforcement-reimbursed-from-enbridge-funded-account-angering-pipeline-protesters/
Free busing, new magnet schools, integration orders: MN agrees to $63M annual plan to settle Cruz-
Free busing, new magnet schools, integration orders: MN agrees to $63M annual plan to settle Cruz-Guzman lawsuitMinnesota officials have agreed to create a metro-wide student busing program, establish four new magnet schools and order racially-isolated charter and district schools to integrate.
The plans, which emerged from settlement talks in the ongoing school desegregation lawsuit Cruz-Guzman v. State of Minnesota, were introduced Tuesday in the House Education Finance Committee.
It’ll be up to the Legislature to approve the plan, which is estimated to cost $63 million a year.
“After two years and thousands of hours of mediation, we have the opportunity to achieve a significant positive result for children and avoid litigation,” Attorney General Keith Ellison told lawmakers.
Ellison warned that without a settlement, a judge — not lawmakers — could end up deciding what to do about metro school segregation. And a trial would cost around $10 million, he said.
Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2021/04/27/free-busing-new-magnet-schools-integration-orders-mn-agrees-63m-annual-plan-settle-cruz-guzman-lawsuit/
Derek Chauvin held a teenager down prone for 17 minutes
Three years before George Floyd, records show Derek Chauvin hit a 14-year-old boy with a flashlight and pinned him down – with his knee on his back – for 17 minutes.Even though there has already been a verdict in the state’s murder case against him, the investigation into Derek Chauvin’s past conduct isn’t over.
Now, the federal government is reviewing a case the jury never heard about.
Long before Chauvin held George Floyd down for more than nine minutes, police bodycam video shows he held someone else down for nearly twice that long.
Court records say it happened on September 4, 2017.
The person being held face-down – with Chauvin’s knee on his back – was a 14-year-old boy.
Read more: https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-derek-chauvin-held-a-teenager-down-prone-for-17-minutes/89-ddbcdc72-5288-4744-9eb4-57ca6d659d37
'The first of many': Democratic redistricting group files preemptive lawsuit in MN, PA, and LA
‘The first of many’: Democratic redistricting group files preemptive lawsuit in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, LouisianaA Democratic activist group helmed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has struck an early blow in what’s expected to be a brutal, nationwide legal battle over congressional redistricting, filing lawsuits in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, asking the judiciary to be ready to step in if mapmakers deadlock.
The lawsuits came just hours after the widely anticipated release of U.S. Census data that will point the way as mapmakers in all 50 states engage in a decennial redraw of congressional and legislative boundaries.
Minnesota barely held on to its eight congressional districts.
In a press call on Tuesday morning, Holder, joined by prominent elections attorney Marc Elias, said his group, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, was moving early to head-off what they expect will be a coordinated effort by Republicans push through gerrymandered maps that will diminish voters’ voices, particularly people of color.
The lawsuits were filed by the National Redistricting Action Fund, a nonprofit allied with Holder’s group, according to The Hill, a publication that covers Congress.
Read more: https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/the-first-of-many-democratic-redistricting-group-files-preemptive-lawsuit-in-minnesota-pennslyvanian-louisiana/
Minnesota Student Association calls for the resignation of UMPD Chief Matthew Clark
The Minnesota Student Association is calling for the University Police Department Chief Matthew Clark to resign due to his alleged refusal to “reform” UMPD and communicate with student leaders in addressing issues of policing on campus.
In a letter addressed to President Joan Gabel and Senior Vice President Myron Frans, MSA demands that Clark immediately resign and an interim chief who is “committed to diversity and inclusion, community control of policing [and the] demilitarization of UMPD” replace Clark during the hiring process.
The letter also noted Clark’s lack of response to an incident of racial profiling of a Black student that occurred at Hanson Hall.
“In his five and half years as Chief of Police at the University of Minnesota, Matt Clark has repeatedly and unequivocally disregarded student demands, failed to increase campus wellness and safety for students of color and has allowed the utilization of UMPD as a physical arm of the oppressive state to subjugate and silence community members both on and off campus,” the letter reads.
Read more: https://mndaily.com/267544/news/msa-calls-for-resignation-of-umpd-chief-matthew-clark/
Bill to kill up to 90% of Idaho wolves heads to governor
BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House on Tuesday approved legislation allowing the state to hire private contractors and expand methods to kill wolves roaming Idaho — a measure that could cut the wolf population by 90%.
Lawmakers voted 58-11 to send the agriculture industry-backed bill to Republican Gov. Brad Little. The fast-tracked bill that allows the use of night-vision equipment to kill wolves as well as hunting from snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles, among other measures, passed the Senate last week.
Backers said changes to Idaho law could help reduce the wolf population from about 1,500 to 150, alleviating wolf attacks on cattle, sheep and wildlife.
"We have areas of the state where the wolves are having a real detrimental impact on our wildlife," said House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, one of the bill's sponsors. "They are hurting the herds, elk and deer. This allows the Wolf (Depredation) Control Board and others to control them, also, which we have not done in the past."
Read more: https://www.startribune.com/bill-to-kill-up-to-90-of-idaho-wolves-heads-to-governor/600050946/
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Private Florida school won't employ vaccinated teachers
MIAMI (AP) — A private school founded by an anti-vaccination activist in South Florida has warned teachers and staff against taking the COVID-19 vaccine, saying it will not employ anyone who has received the shot.
The Centner Academy in Miami sent a notice to parents on Monday informing them of a new policy for its two campuses for about 300 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Teachers or staff who have already taken the vaccine were told to continue reporting to school but to stay separated from students.
Co-founder Leila Centner told employees in a letter last week that she made the policy decision with a “very heavy heart." Centner asked those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine to wait until the end of the school year, and even then recommended holding off.
Centner stood by the decision Tuesday in a statement sent to The Associated Press, which featured the biologically impossible claim that unvaccinated women have experienced miscarriages and other reproductive problems just by standing in proximity to vaccinated people.
Read more: https://www.mankatofreepress.com/region/private-florida-school-wont-employ-vaccinated-teachers/article_33a3c4de-67fa-5e92-b43a-3decc5a41d91.html
Mayo to build 11-story research center in downtown Rochester
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic's plans to build a new downtown Rochester research center are growing to a 11-story building from the original proposal for a four-story complex.
Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, April 27, announced that seven floors are being added to the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building, which was originally introduced in 2019.
The new center is being built in the heart of the Destination Medical Center’s Discovery Square area.
Mayo Clinic officials say the goal is to open it in the fourth quarter of 2023. Groundbreaking is expected to happen this spring.
Read more: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/newsmd/health-news/7003308-Mayo-to-build-11-story-research-center-in-downtown-Rochester
Mayo Clinic announced today that seven floors are being added to the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building, being built on the corner of Third Street Southwest and Fourth Avenue Southwest. The 11-story building is being funded primarily by donations, led by a gift of $49.3 million from the New York-based Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation. (Image courtesy Mayo Clinic)
Walz signs $7.8 million police funding bill for Chauvin trial response
ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 27, approved $7.8 million for Minnesota State Patrol and out-of-state law enforcement groups called in to police Minneapolis and St. Paul during the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer.
On a 52-15 vote in the Senate and 107-25 vote in the House, legislators approved the proposal that would put $6.3 million toward the Minnesota State Patrol and Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, while $1.5 million would be used to pay back Nebraska and Ohio law enforcement sent in to back up police groups here following the Hennepin County jury's verdict.
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday evening signed the bill into law, approving the funds to be sent out to the various law enforcement agencies.
Legislative leaders and the governor had started planning for the emergency funds months ago but disagreements in the Statehouse stalled out several proposals. Then last week, the Senate approved a $9 million plan before the final costs were hashed out.
Read more: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/government-and-politics/7003077-Walz-signs-7.8-million-police-funding-bill-for-Chauvin-trial-response
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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