U.S. District Court vacates sentence for ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic, orders resentencing

 The U.S. 10th District Court has ordered Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, be resentenced following his conviction in the murder-for-hire plot of Big Cat Rescue’s Carole Baskin.

According to court documents, the judge affirmed Maldonado-Passage’s conviction but has decided to vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

In 2018, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic” and former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Animal Park, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of murder-for-hire.

Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage gave a person $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to Florida to carry out the murder of big cat activist Carole Baskin and “allegedly agreed to pay thousands more after the deed,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.

DFL chair says he's 'disappointed' Rep. Thompson accused St. Paul police of racial profiling

The DFL Party chairman issued a statement Sunday evening in response to the latest controversy surrounding Rep. John Thompson.

Thompson made headlines recently after he accused a St. Paul police officer of racial profiling during a traffic stop. According to a police report, the St. Paul representative was pulled over on July 4 for driving without a front license plate. 

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell responded to Thompson's acusations, saying the traffic stop had nothing to do with race after watching a video of the encounter. He also asked Thompson for an apology.

In a statement, DFL Chairman Ken Martin said he was "disappointed" in Thompson's claims.

City council denies new liquor license for Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville

The Lakeville City Council moved to deny a new liquor license for Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville.

The bar and restaurant previously had its liquor license suspended for violating COVID-19 restrictions in December and was found in contempt of court for repeated violations in January.

The Minnesota Department of Health then filed a lawsuit also in January for operating without a license.

The city filed documents this month that indicated Jose Colon entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Alibi Drinkery from previous owners Lisa Zarza and Ricardo Baldazo. Colon said Michelle Rene would continue managing the business as Rene had done since it was opened. 

'I Will Never Recover From This Heartbreak': Brianna McNeal Loses Appeal of Five-Year Suspension

After qualifying at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month, Brianna McNeal should be defending her 100-meter hurdles championship in Tokyo later this month. But due to a brazen lack of compassion on behalf of governing bodies for the Olympic Games, she won’t get the chance.

On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied the 29-year-old gold medalist’s appeal of a five-year ban for violating anti-doping policies. The ban, which was placed upon McNeal last month, initially stemmed from her missing a doping test in January 2020. McNeal explained to The New York Times that she missed the test because she was recovering from a recent abortion.

Judge rules Minneapolis must hire more police officers to abide by city charter

A Hennepin County judge has ruled that the city of Minneapolis must hire more police officers to abide by its charter.

On Thursday, Judge Jamie Anderson granted a Writ of Mandamus sought by Minneapolis residents.

According to the city's charter, it must fund a police force of at least .0017 employees per resident. City attorneys argued the charter refers to the most recent decennial census, which would still be the 2010 census. However, the filing states attorneys for both the petitioners and the city agreed to have the court use the census's 2019 population estimate of 429,606.

Additionally, the city said it's projected to have 649 sworn officers by Jan. 1, 2022.

In her decision, Anderson said the Minneapolis residents were able to prove that the city's rising crime rate was caused by a lack of officers and also led to personal injury to them. The filing states one of the petitioners was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had their house shot twice. Anderson also determined the residents didn't have any other course of action to solve the lack of officers, as they wrote a letter to the interim city attorney and received a response saying the city doesn't have to have all of the police positions filled at once.

California high school stripped of basketball title after tortillas were thrown at opposing Latino players

A mostly white high school basketball team in Southern California has been stripped of its regional title after tortillas were thrown at a predominately Latino opposing team following a championship game last month, officials announced Wednesday.

"After a thorough review and analysis of the incident following the conclusion of the Division 4-A regional basketball championship game between Coronado High School and Orange Glen High School, the (California Interscholastic Federation) state executive director reiterates that discriminatory and racially insensitive behaviors toward an opponent contravene the principles of education-based athletics," the federation said in a news release.

Based on investigations of the incident, "The 2021 Southern California Boys Basketball Division 4-A Regional Championship is vacated," the release states.

On June 19, Orange Glen High School's predominantly Latino team lost the championship game to largely white Coronado High School.

Tour de France drops lawsuit against fan who caused massive crash

A 30-year-old French woman who caused a wreck during the first stage of the Tour de France is out of hot water legally after race organizers dropped a lawsuit on Thursday.

The woman held up cardboard sign during Saturday's Stage 1 and was not watching the competitors when German rider Tony Martin rode into the sign, causing a massive pileup. Nearly two dozen people were injured including some riders who had to withdraw from the tour. 

"We are withdrawing our complaint," Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said, according to Reuters. "This story has been blown out of proportion, but we wish to remind everyone of the safety rules on the race.

"If you come to the Tour, you hold your kid, you hold your pet and don't cross the road carelessly. And above all, you respect the riders -- they're the ones worthy of live TV."

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins reacts after claiming she was 'held hostage' by activists

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins released a statement after an incident over the weekend where activists surrounded a vehicle she was riding in and didn't allow the vehicle drive away until she signed a document filled with multiple demands.

One of the activists, Donald Hooker Jr., posted video on his Facebook account showing the activists blocking the vehicle, which Jenkins is seen riding in the passenger seat.

In her statement, Jenkins claimed she was verbally attacked and "held 'hostage' against my will."

Her full statement reads: 

Black pain, Black trauma, Black anger is real and justified. What is not justified is the inhumane treatment of other humans because they hold elective office. On Sunday afternoon, while attending a Pride event in Loring Park, something I’ve done on the last weekend in June for the past 20 plus years, I was verbally attacked, berated and held “hostage” against my will by a large group of angry protesters.
...(more at link)