Tag: Tim Walz

Prior to Youth Sports Pause, Minnesota State Officials Admitted to Lack of Evidence, Emails Suggest

Ohio Star Staff
Young boy hitting a baseball

In the weeks leading up to Gov. Tim Walz’s “pause” on youth sports, state officials were privately scrambling for evidence to support the restrictions, at times admitting that “there isn’t much,” emails released Monday reveal.

“Here’s the way it should work: There is data, then there is a decision, then there is communication,” Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, explained at a Monday Senate hearing. “It’s not, ‘We need a message. Go find me the data that matches it.’”

Benson and her Republican colleagues published a trove of emails between state health officials and members of Gov. Walz’s staff ahead of Monday’s informational hearing.

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Pace of Minnesota Unemployment Slows, But Claims Still Near 440,000

Ohio Star Staff

 Even as Gov. Tim Walz allows more sectors of the economy to open, Minnesota unemployment ticked upward to 439,550 total claims in the week ending May 30, compared to 417,084 claims the prior week ending May 23.

All told, 22,466 new unemployment claims were filed in the state last week, a drop of 4,745 claims from the 27,211 claims initiated the prior week, an 18.5 percent week-over-week decrease.

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Jail Records Contradict Claims That Most Rioters Are from Out of State

Anthony Gockowski

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Gov. Tim Walz all have suggested that many of the rioters wreaking havoc on the Twin Cities are from out of state, but jail records seem to show otherwise.

“We’ve seen long-term, institutional businesses overridden. We’ve seen community institutions set on fire. And I want to be very, very clear, the people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything that we have built over the last several decades. The dynamic has changed over the last several days,” Frey said during a joint Saturday press conference.

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A City in Ruins: Three Nights of Riots Leave South Minneapolis Looking Like War Zone

Anthony Gockowski

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – Three consecutive nights of rioting in response to the alleged murder of an unarmed black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer have left stretches of the city in ruins, producing scenes most accurately described as a war zone.

Officer Derek Chauvin, the man filmed pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed George Floyd, was arrested Friday on charges of murder and manslaughter. He and three colleagues involved in the incident were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department Tuesday.

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Mayor Frey Says George Floyd Would Be Alive ‘If He Were White,’ Calls Incident Murder

Anthony Gockowski

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he thinks George Floyd was murdered and claimed Floyd “would be alive today if he were white.”

Video from the tragic Monday night incident shows a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed Floyd, who repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken into custody.

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Gov. Walz Activates National Guard in Response to Minneapolis Riots, Declares Emergency

Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday afternoon that he has signed an executive order activating the Minnesota National Guard to help respond to the riots in Minneapolis.

Wednesday night’s riots were marked by widespread looting, vandalism, and arson, leaving portions of south Minneapolis in ruins. In one case, a construction site being developed for low-income housing was set ablaze early Thursday morning and collapsed into the street below it as rioters cheered.

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Analysis: Minnesota Has Highest Percent of COVID-19 Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities in the Nation

Ohio Star Staff

About 81.7 percent of Minnesota’s COVID-19 deaths were in nursing homes and residential care communities, the highest percentage state in the nation that reports such data.

That’s according to data from The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), a Texas-based nonprofit think tank.

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Vice President Pence Addresses Criticism for Not Wearing Mask at Mayo

Anthony Gockowski

Vice President Mike Pence visited the world-renowned Mayo Clinic Tuesday to discuss its fight against the coronavirus, but the media obsessed over the fact that he wasn’t wearing a mask.

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Jesse Ventura ‘Testing the Waters’ for Green Party Presidential Bid

Anthony Gockowski

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said Monday that he has decided to “test the waters” on a third-party presidential bid.

“If I were going to run for president, the Green Party would be my first choice. I’ve endorsed the party and I’m testing the waters,” the former professional wrestler said on Twitter.

Ventura said he hasn’t filed for candidacy but simply authorized a letter of interest sent to the Green Party on his behalf.

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Minnesota and Michigan Mayors Signed Letter Asking for Continued Refugee Resettlement

Anthony Gockowski

Dozens of mayors from across the country recently issued a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ask for continued refugee resettlement in their respective cities and townships.

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Despite Budget Surpluses, Tax Increases Still Debated in Minnesota as May 20 Deadline Looms

Ohio Star Staff

by Bethany Blankey   Joint conference committees continue to hash out differences with the hope of reaching the May 20 deadline and closing a $2 billion gap between conflicting budget priorities. Still up for discussion in the Minnesota legislature are proposed fees on drug distributors and manufacturers to pay for…

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Conference Committees Meet to Hash Out Tax, Spending Increases in Minnesota Budgets

Ohio Star Staff

by Bethany Blankley   With 17 days to go before the end of session, legislative conference committees began meeting Friday to hash out differing proposals for three of the most contentious omnibus bills yet to be voted on by the full Legislature. The Omnibus tax bill, Omnibus Health and Human Services…

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EXCLUSIVE: MyPillow’s Mike Lindell Opens Up About Trump, Crack, ‘Evil’ Ellison, and More

Anthony Gockowski
Mike Lindell

Mike Lindell, founder and CEO of MyPillow, first met President Donald Trump the summer before the 2016 election. “When I met him, I go: ‘Wow, there’s nobody on this planet I’d rather have be my president than Donald Trump,’” he told The Minnesota Sun, a state-focused news site that, like…

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Democrat Congressional Candidate in Minnesota Supports Making It A Sanctuary State

Anthony Gockowski
Dean Phillips

In a heated first debate, incumbent Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN-03) squared off against his Democratic challenger Dean Phillips in their battle for Minnesota’s Third Congressional District. Although Paulsen has safely held the seat since 2009, Minnesota’s Democractic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party is hopeful that their candidate can pull off an upset, since…

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Johnson and Walz Spar Over Taxes, Refugee Resettlement In First Minnesota Gubernatorial Debates

Anthony Gockowski
MN Governor Debate

It’s been just one week since Rep. Tim Walz and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson won their respective primaries, but the two are already hitting the debate circuit in their race for Minnesota’s governor seat. On Friday, the two went head-to-head in front of a live audience in Nisswa, Minn.,…

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In Upset Over Pawlenty, Johnson Will Face Off Against Dem Walz in Minnesota Gubernatorial Race

Anthony Gockowski
Jeff Johnson, Tim Walz

After a shocking upset over former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Republican nominee Jeff Johnson is set to face off against Rep. Tim Walz in the Minnesota gubernatorial contest. Pawlenty, the last Republican to occupy the Governor’s mansion, failed to secure the nomination from the state party, but vastly outspent the Hennepin…

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