MNSURE PREMIUMS

MNsure says 2022 premiums will be lower, with more choices

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota families who get their health insurance through MNsure average of $684 per year and will have more plans to choose from in 2022. The Minnesota Department of Commerce and MNsure released information Friday on rates and options for 2022 in advance of open enrollment, which begins Nov. 1. They say average premiums will be lower because more Minnesotans than ever before will be eligible for tax credits to lower their costs, thanks to federal stimulus funding. Every county in Minnesota will have at least two insurers offering individual market plans, with all but seven counties having three or more insurers.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA-STANDOFF

Minnesota lawmakers at odds on division of $250M COVID fund

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers have $250 million in federal COVID-19 aid to give away, but they can’t agree on how to spend it. The Frontline Pay Working Group is tasked with figuring out how to divide the money among frontline workers. The panel blew past a Labor Day deadline, and the St. Paul Pioneer Pres reports that its Republican and Democratic members are still at loggerheads over who should get the money and how much they should receive. Republicans want to offer the tax-free bonus to those workers who they say took on the greatest risk. Democrats want to spread the money more widely. 

PHEASANT SEASON

South Dakota pheasant season nears with promising numbers

SOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota pheasant hunting season gets underway in two weeks, and the numbers look more than promising. According to the Game, Fish and Parks Department, last year’s season was spectacular in South Dakota, with hunters harvesting over 1 million birds. And the department says 2021 is shaping up to be even better. A mild winter plus a dry spring and summer have contributed to potentially record pheasant numbers. Pheasant hunting in South Dakota is a long-standing tradition for many hunters across the country and the Midwest. KELO-TV reports some believe the state could see even more out-of-state hunters this year because of its loose pandemic rules.

AP-US-RACIAL-INJUSTICE-RIOT-CHARGE

Man pleads guilty to firing 13 times during Floyd protest

MINNNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Texas man who says he is affiliated the anti-government “boogaloo” movement has pleaded guilty to opening fire on a Minneapolis police station last year during unrest over the death of George Floyd. Ivan Harrison Hunter was accused of firing 13 rounds from a semi-automatic assault-style rifle on the Third Precinct police station while protesters were inside the building. The Boerne, Texas, man pleaded guilty to a federal riot charge. A judge ordered a presentence investigation. Floyd died in May 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. His death sparked protests around the world.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA PRISONS

More prison inmates vaccinated than corrections employees

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Corrections has been more successful getting inmates immunized against the coronavirus than it has for its own employees. As of this week, about 80% of prisoners in Minnesota have been fully vaccinated, while the immunization rate for corrections employees is just over 65% and at some prisons, it’s lower. Fewer than 60 percent of staff at Moose Lake and St. Cloud have gotten the shot. A new mandate took effect this month which requires all Minnesota state employees working in the office or on site to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing for COVID-19. Corrections officials say about 1,400 unvaccinated staff members are being tested on a weekly basis.  

MIDWEST ECONOMY

Midwest report: Business confidence in economy plummets

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new monthly survey of business leaders in nine Midwest and Plains states shows their confidence in the economy over the next six month plummeted to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year. The overall index for September of the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions released Friday dropped to 61.6 from August’s 68.9. Any score above 50 on the survey’s indexes suggests growth. But the survey’s business confidence index, which looks ahead six months, fell more than 16 points to 37 from August’s 53.5. The monthly survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

FATAL STORE SHOOTING

Guilty plea entered in fatal convenience store shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a stranger at a Minneapolis convenience store during a brief encounter has pleaded guilty to murder. Thirty-three-year-old Chaz Stubblefield entered his plea Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the death of 46-year-old Ryan Decker, of St. Cloud, outside the Stop N Shop earlier this year. According to the criminal complaint, on his way out of the store, Decker brushed Stubblefield, who then punched Decker in the back, followed him outside and accused him of uttering a racial epithet. After Decker denied the accusation, Stubblefield spit in his face and shot him.

POLICE REFORM-MARYLAND

Racial protests reckoning: Maryland police reform laws begin

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Several far-reaching laws aimed at boosting police accountability and transparency are set to take effect in Maryland this week. One of the laws going into effect Friday involves improving accountability in the investigations of deaths at the hands of police officers. Another will add transparency to the handling of misconduct complaints against officers. The laws are in response to protests against racial injustice that swept the country last year after George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minnesota. Maryland’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly approved the laws earlier this year. 

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