News
Minneapolis investigating major landlord for discrimination, hostile housing environment
The Minneapolis Civil Rights Department is investigating allegations of discrimination and retaliation against one of the metro area’s biggest landlords, according to public records obtained by the Reformer. The city’s civil rights agency has spent nearly six months investigating Sherman Associates for alleged violations at Riverside Plaza, a complex of six towers in the Cedar […]
Walz says safely re-opening Minnesota would require widespread COVID-19 testing
Gov. Tim Walz on Monday said his strategy to begin re-opening the state’s economy would depend largely on the widespread availability of COVID-19 testing and the ability to monitor both active infections and those who have recovered. “We have to have an accurate way to understand who is infected currently and who has been infected,” […]
Legislature taking up COVID-19 tweaks to help with marriage licenses, drivers licenses
The Minnesota Legislature will take up a number of minor tweaks intended to ease the disruption of COVID-19 to day-to-day aspects of life. They include a time extension to out-out-state drivers licenses, and allowing people to get marriage licenses without in-person appearances. Lawmakers will also take up affordable insulin legislation after the issue first failed […]
Air travel plummets as Americans avoid airports during COVID-19 pandemic
Airports across the United States are nearly deserted as Americans avoid travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just 90,510 people passed through airport security checkpoints on April 12, compared to more than 2.4 million on the same Sunday last year, according to Transportation Security Administration data. The number of people flying from U.S. airports each day […]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, bipartisan group of lawmakers want broadband aid in next COVID-19 legislation
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are urging congressional leaders to prioritize emergency funding for high-speed internet access in upcoming coronavirus relief legislation. More than two dozen lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, sent a bipartisan letter asking Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. House and Senate to set aside funding for a temporary emergency relief fund at […]
First two homeless Minnesotans test positive for COVID-19
Two people experiencing homelessness tested positive for COVID-19, the Minnesota Department of Health confirmed Friday. Both individuals live in Hennepin County but don’t appear to be connected. One person is in their 50s and the other is a young adult over 18 years old. Neither are in critical condition and both are in isolation. Around […]
Sen. Scott Jensen’s national profile rises, while medical authorities question his claims
State Sen. Scott Jensen has rocketed to national notoriety this week after suggesting that the Minnesota Department of Health was “coaching” doctors to rule COVID-19 as a cause of death in some suspected cases without lab confirmation. The implication — even if unintended by the Chaska family doctor — is that COVID-19 deaths are being […]
Analysis: A crack in Minnesota’s bipartisan wall against the pandemic
Gov. Tim Walz has done what would have been unimaginable just a month ago. He’s forced Minnesotans to postpone weddings and graduations. He’s shut down favorite watering holes and restaurants. He’s decided who can go to work, and even the acceptable reasons for leaving home. The pain — more than 350,000 Minnesotans have already applied […]
Minneapolis has closed more miles of road to cars than any city in America
Minneapolis’ park system, rated No. 1 six years in a row, has a new title: most miles of road closed to cars during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 27, when Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order first took effect, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has closed more than 18 miles of road around lakes and […]
Fifty Minnesotans have died of COVID-19
Just over a month after Minnesota reported its first case of COVID-19, 1,242 residents have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the state announced April 9. Fifty people have died of COVID-19 in Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed 11 deaths between April 8 and April 9, the state’s largest […]
Top Republican says he opposes continued stay home order
Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, an East Gull Lake Republican, tweeted Thursday that he’s opposed to Gov. Tim Walz‘s continued stay home order to Minnesota residents, in what could be the first crack in what had been a unified state government response to the COVID-19 crisis. I do not approve of the Governor’s unilateral decision […]
Scott Jensen, GOP senator, family doctor, makes debut on Fox News’ ‘Ingraham Angle’
State Sen. Scott Jensen, the Republican family doctor from Chaska, made his debut appearance on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” to criticize recently issued CDC guidance on how to classify COVID-19 deaths. Jensen joins a chorus of Fox News personalities and contributors like Tucker Carlson and Brit Hume, who have begun arguing that the country is […]