COVID-19
Racial vaccine data still shows major inequities, despite Walz administration and MDH efforts
Two weeks after the Walz administration announced it would redouble efforts to make COVID-19 vaccine distribution more equitable, rates of vaccines among different races remain identical. White Minnesotans are still receiving more than 90% of vaccines, 3.5% have gone to Black Minnesotans, 1.7% to Latino Minnesotans and 0.7% to American Indian Minnesotans, according to the […]
Pandemic restrictions in Minnesota to ease dramatically starting March 15
Gov. Tim Walz on Friday dramatically loosened COVID-19 restrictions, expressing optimism that life in Minnesota would soon return closer to normal a year after he first declared a peacetime emergency because of the pandemic. Starting Monday, social gatherings with multiple households will be allowed, with up to 50 people outdoors and 15 indoors, largely the […]
Walz includes a $6 million cash injection for K-12 mental health services in budget proposal
Gov. Tim Walz is proposing $6 million in one-time spending for school mental health grants, aimed at expanding care for children affected by COVID-19. The Department of Human Services says that Minnesota childrens’ mental health needs have increased since the start of the pandemic, echoing reports from around the county. The grants could help more […]
Minnesota is moving onto the next phase of vaccine rollout early
Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday that Minnesota will surpass the 70% threshold of vaccinated 65+ residents, and Minnesota will move on to the next phase of vaccination earlier than expected. The next phase includes essential workers in food processing plants and people with specific underlying conditions — sickle cell disease, Down Syndrome, active cancer treatment, […]
Walz administration announces the full vaccine rollout
Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday that all Minnesotans should be able to get a COVID-19 vaccination by summer with the state prioritizing seniors followed by people with certain pre-existing conditions and essential workers before opening up eligibility to the rest of the state. To date, more than 40% of Minnesotans older than 65 have received […]
Minnesota rolls out new online COVID-19 vaccine registry
Minnesota is rolling out an online registry that will notify residents when they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Tim Walz announced on Thursday. Minnesotans who have not yet been vaccinated are encouraged to sign up for the registry. Dubbed the COVID-19 Connector, the portal will alert Minnesotans when they are eligible for vaccination, […]
Q&A: Ann Bauer is incensed that kids aren’t back in school
Not long ago, Ann Bauer was a successful but little known Twin Cities writer who had published a few well-reviewed novels, as well as essays in national publications including Elle and the Washington Post, on subjects like grieving for her son in an angry America. Then Bauer sat in on a Zoom meeting that a […]
Q&A: Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, a rising player in the GOP caucus
Rep. Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, is serving her third term in the Minnesota House and has quickly risen the ranks into leadership. Neu Brindley had been a prominent Republican operative who managed the congressional campaign of former Rep. Chip Cravaack in 2010, helping him upset longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar. Neu Brindley’s late husband, […]
The K-shaped recovery requires help for lower wage workers | Opinion
Click through national news stories these days and you could be easily confused about how our economy is doing. Click one story and you can read that the stock market is soaring — a “record-breaking” year, some call it. Click another and read that one in six Americans struggle to get enough to eat. Readers […]
Once again, left behind: Too many people with disabilities are waiting far too long for the vaccine | Opinion
As a professional sick person for almost twenty years, I thought I’d gotten used to being left behind. At age 12 I was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a degenerative liver disease; and Ulcerative Colitis, an irritable bowel disease. At 14, I had my first liver transplant, and I had another at 25. Then at […]
Health care worker: The vaccine lottery is leaving behind our most vulnerable | Opinion
I’ve been a physician assistant at a metro area hospital for nearly eight years, most of that time practicing cardiology. I have been disheartened to see our most vulnerable Minnesotans fall behind in access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Since last March we’ve put signs in our yards thanking workers. We’ve heard local, state and national […]
Pandemic learning loss shows need for school choice | Opinion
The COVID pandemic has made the need for school choice more evident than ever. For tens of thousands of Minnesota public school children — especially in the metro — distance learning is their only option. Kindergartners learning to read, students with disabilities, a high schooler struggling through algebra — there is no other option. My […]