CLIMATE-SOLAR-RESTORING THE LANDSCAPE

Bees, sheep, crops: Solar developers tout multiple benefits

MONTICELLO, Minnesota (AP) — Solar is a renewable energy source that can help wean the world off fossil fuels that produce climate-warming gases. But it also could benefit the environment and economy in ways not as well known. As panels spread across the landscape, the grounds around them can be used for native grasses and flowers that attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Some solar farms are being used to graze sheep. And scientists are growing tomatoes, peppers and other crops beneath the panels. Advocates say such beneficial uses can lower resistance from critics who say solar panels waste farmland and look unattractive.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER

Judge: Behavior errors on table at ex-cop’s homicide trial

A judge says attorneys for a former suburban Minneapolis police officer on trial for fatally shooting a Black motorist can call a witness at trial to testify about behavior errors. Defendant Kim Potter said she meant to use a Taser instead of a handgun when she shot and killed Daunte Wright after he was stopped in April for a traffic violation. Defense attorneys have said they plan to call forensic and police psychologist Laurence Miller to discuss “slip and capture errors,” which they believe caused Potter to mistakenly fire her handgun at Wright instead of her Taser. Prosecutors had filed a motion to exclude or limit Miller’s testimony, arguing that it was “not relevant and would not be helpful to the jury.”

AP-US-ELECTION-2021-MINNEAPOLIS-POLICING

Activists keep police reform push despite Minneapolis loss

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police accountability activists are vowing to keep fighting for change despite the failure of a ballot proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a reimagined public safety unit. The vote came 18 months after George Floyd died under the knee of a police officer. JaNaé Bates of the Yes 4 Mpls campaign says the ballot measure has been the catalyst for a national conversation on policing. But 56% of the city’s voters rejected it. That came as a disappointment to activists across the country, who had looked to Minneapolis as a model for what might be possible. They are now discussing what comes next.

ELECTION 2021-MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR

Frey wins 2nd term as Minneapolis mayor after bitter race

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis voters have reelected Mayor Jacob Frey after a bitter race that focused on calls for changes to policing and racial justice. More than a dozen candidates ran to be mayor, including many who took issue with the way the Democratic incumbent has handled changes to the police department since one of its officers killed George Floyd last year. Frey positioned himself as an opponent of an effort to eliminate the police department and of the most vocal liberals who were seeking a symbolic victory in Floyd’s city. The results were announced Wednesday after Frey didn’t get enough votes in the first found Tuesday night to win outright under the city’s ranked-choice voting system.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA-CHILDREN

COVID-19 vaccinations for younger children begins this week

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz says health care providers and others will begin vaccinating 5- to 11-year-old children this week, now that the Pfizer coronavirus shot has received federal approval for that age group. Walz says the vaccine will arrive in waves this week and that Minnesota providers have ordered as many doses as possible from the federal government. More than 500,000 children across Minnesota are now eligible for the vaccine. The state has launched a new webpage to help parents and guardians of 5- to 11-year-old children find a vaccine and answer questions they may have. The website is mn.gov/vaxforkids. 

HOTEL DEATH

Death of woman, injuries to man investigated in Eden Prairie

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Police in a Twin Cities suburb are investigating the death of a woman found in a hotel room along with a badly injured man. Officers were asked to do a welfare check at the Residence Inn in Eden Prairie Tuesday and discovered the two. City spokeswoman Joyce Lorenz says no arrests have been made, but police believe it was not a random attack. Lorenz says the man suffered significant injuries and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. His condition was not released. The cause and manner of the woman’s death will be released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. Identities of the man and woman have not been disclosed.

AP-US-ELECTION-2021-MINNEAPOLIS-POLICING

Minneapolis voters reject replacing police with new agency

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis voters have rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety — an idea that arose from the May 2020 death of George Floyd. The initiative would have changed the city charter to remove a requirement that the city have a police department with a minimum number of officers. Supporters of the proposal said a complete overhaul of policing was necessary to stop police violence. Opponents said the proposal had no concrete plan for how to move forward and could make communities already affected by violence more vulnerable as crime is on the rise. 

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICER TRIAL

Judge releases names of jurors in Derek Chauvin’s trial

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The judge who presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin has made public the names of jurors who convicted the former Minneapolis police officer of murder in the death of George Floyd. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill also Monday released the names of alternates who watched the trial but did not deliberate, as well as questionnaires they filled out during jury selection. The release followed a request by The Associated Press and other news organizations to make the names public. Some jurors have spoken out since their verdict in April. Attempts by the AP to reach other jurors have been unsuccessful.

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