In the Strib, Rochelle Olson says, “Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson, who has been out on medical leave since May, will lose his peace officer license for 30 days because of his drunken-driving crash last December. Hutchinson signed an agreement with the Minnesota Board of Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) on Sept. 6. It’s rare for the board to suspend a license for a first offense, but Hutchinson agreed that he should he held to a higher standard, according to a statement by the board Tuesday.”
For KMSP-TV Theo Keirth says, “As Minnesota temporarily put the brakes on dozens of new meal locations sponsored by Feeding Our Future in spring 2021, a state lawmaker was privately lobbying for one new site to be added to the system. State Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, sought help for a nonprofit in her legislative district. The group ultimately won a rare approval from state regulators as more than 100 other pending applications sat.”
For MPR News, Michelle Wiley says, “Some 350 mental health workers at M Health Fairview have reached a tentative agreement in their first contract. The group, which is made up of psychiatric associates and behavioral assistants, voted to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa in 2021. According to the press release, this first 1.5-year contract includes immediate wage increases, averaging 6 percent, and an additional 2.75 percent increase in March, as well as increased paid time off.”
At KARE-TV Devin Ramey writes, “With the latest COVID-19 vaccine booster, people can lower their chances of getting seriously ill from the coronavirus and their chances of dying from it, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The new booster is called ‘bivalent’ because it protects against the original strain of COVID-19 and the newer Omicron variant. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, only 67.5% of Minnesotans have completed their vaccine series. Since the bivalent booster became available on Sept. 7, 4.3% of eligible Minnesotans, or 239,059 people, are up-to-date with their vaccine doses.
This from Joe Nelson at BringMeTheNews, “The snow outlook for Minnesota (is) a 50-50 toss up for above or below normal, with the exception of the Iron Range and northeastern Minnesota, including Duluth, where AccuWeather is predicting 125-149% of normal snowfall. The average annual snowfall in Duluth is 81 inches, so 25-49% more would mean an additional 20-40 inches. That’s a big winter. Duluth has topped 100 inches 18 times in recorded history, most recently in 2019 when 129.7 inches piled up over the course of the cold season, ranking No. 4 all time for the city. AccuWeather’s range for the Twin Cities is 75-124% of normal, which means it could be below average or above average. Annual snowfall in the Twin Cities based on the modern 30-year average (1981-2010) is 54 inches, so AccuWeather’s range falls between 40 and 67 inches.”
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story by Kelly Meyerhofer says, “A conservative Wisconsin law firm on Tuesday sued to overturn President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers, the latest in a flurry of lawsuits nationally that allege the move is unfair and unwise. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, also known as WILL, filed the lawsuit against Biden and the U.S. Education Department in U.S. District Court in Green Bay on behalf of the Brown County Taxpayers Association. The taxpayers association promotes limited government and includes more than 100 members who pay federal taxes and are ‘on the hook’ to pay for Biden’s plan.”
Tim Nelson at MPR News reports, “A popular drive along Minnesota’s Lake Superior shore is shutting down for emergency repairs, at the peak of fall color season. The closure starts next Tuesday, Oct. 11. St. Louis County officials say a slope on the lake side of Scenic Highway 61 northeast of Duluth is failing. They are closing the road to traffic for what they say will be five weeks of repairs to shore up the road for the winter. The damage is across the highway from the New Scenic Cafe, between Duluth and Two Harbors, where the road runs near the shoreline, high above the water.”
Stribber Ryan Faircloth says, “Nine Minnesota county attorneys endorsed Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison‘s re-election campaign Tuesday, two weeks after nearly two dozen county sheriffs endorsed his Republican opponent. The county attorneys backing Ellison are Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo, Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken, Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman, Stevens County Attorney Aaron Jordan, McLeod County Attorney Michael Junge and Lake of the Woods County Attorney Jim Austad.”