Category Archives: Minnesota

Huge winter storm closes US highways and prompts rare southern California blizzard warning

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Hundreds of thousands lose power and thousands of flights canceled as weather takes toll across northern and western states

A brutal winter storm closed interstate highways from Arizona to Wyoming on Wednesday, trapped drivers in cars, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and prompted the first blizzard warning in southern California in decades – and the worst won’t be over for several days.

Meanwhile, pockets of the south-east will be cooking, with record-breaking warmth expected to stretch into the mid-Atlantic spiking temperatures more than 40F warmer than normal and creating weather that feels more “like June than February”, according to the National Weather Service.

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‘Bomb cyclone’ storm could bring deadly winter weather to US

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An estimated 50 million Americans also under windchill alerts as ‘once-in-a-generation-event’ could impact holiday travel

Severe winter weather is set to affect millions across the US this week, as freezing temperatures and strong storms threaten to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans.

A burst of arctic air settling over several states this week is forecast to drop temperatures to dangerous – and potentially deadly – levels just as more than 110 million Americans are expected to set out for their celebrations.

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US National Weather Services warns of ‘widespread’ winter storm hazards

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More than 15 million people under winter advisory while several areas in midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms

More than 15 million people are under a winter advisory as of Tuesday, as several areas in the midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms, Axios reported.

Storm warnings are in effect across a dozen states, including parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota.

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Maverick the 2,560lb pumpkin triumphs in ‘Super Bowl’ of gourd fests

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Rhinoceros-size Minnesota native wins big in California and will compete once more before being retired to stud

Growers from across the country descended on the California coast carrying with them some of the world’s most gargantuan pumpkins.

The giant pumpkin weigh-off, held annually ahead of Half Moon Bay’s pumpkin festival just south of San Francisco, is considered by competitors to be a Super Bowl of sorts in the unique sport, and the behemoths entered this year – some weighing as much as an average rhinoceros – did not disappoint.

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High-profile China #MeToo case settled in US out of court

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Liu Jingyao launched civil proceedings in 2019 against retail billionaire Liu Qiangdong

One of China’s biggest and most divisive #MeToo cases, which had been set to play out with extraordinary transparency because of its US location and was closely watched by millions inside China, has been settled out of court.

Liu Qiangdong, a 49-year-old online retail billionaire who also goes by Richard Liu and is known as China’s Jeff Bezos, had been accused of sexually assaulting a then 21-year-old Chinese graduate when she was studying at the University of Minnesota and he was visiting on a business trip. Liu has always denied the assault accusations, saying it was consensual.

In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Minnesota schemers allegedly swindle $250m in largest pandemic fraud yet

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Forty-seven people have been charged in the ‘astonishing display of deceit’ over providing food for low-income children

Forty-seven people have been charged in what US authorities say is the largest case yet of pandemic fraud, accusing the defendants of a “brazen” scheme to swindle millions from a program intended for low-income children and using it to “enrich themselves”.

Those charged in the scheme are accused of creating companies that claimed to be offering food to tens of thousands of children across Minnesota, then sought reimbursement for those meals through the US Department of Agriculture’s food nutrition programs. Prosecutors say few meals were actually served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry. Authorities say $250m was ultimately stolen from the federal program.

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Progressive Ilhan Omar wins closer-than-expected House primary in Minnesota

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Democrats select progressive Becca Balint for Vermont House seat while Trump-backed candidate nominated for Wisconsin governor

Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a member of the select progressive group in the House of Representative dubbed the Squad, eked out a closer-than-expected Democratic primary victory on Tuesday night against a centrist challenger who questioned the incumbent’s support for the “defund the police” movement.

The evening went far smoother for another progressive, Becca Balint, who won the Democratic House primary in Vermont – positioning her to become the first woman representing the state in Congress.

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US judge rules in favor of pharmacist who denied woman morning-after pill

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Rights groups express concern after Minnesota judge rules Andrea Anderson’s rights were not violated by pharmacy’s denial

A Minnesota jury has ruled that a pharmacy did not discriminate against a woman when it denied to give her the morning-after pill.

The pharmacist gave “belief” as the reason for refusing to fill the prescription for emergency contraception. Although the jury decided that the woman’s rights had not been violated, it did say that the emotional damage caused by the decision amounted to $25,000.

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Ex-Minneapolis officer given two and a half years over George Floyd killing

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Thomas Lane convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights as Derek Chauvin, convicted of murder, pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee

A federal judge has sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to two and a half years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, calling Lane’s role in the restraint that killed Floyd “a very serious offense in which a life was lost” but handing down a sentence well below what prosecutors and Floyd’s family sought.

Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence was just slightly more than the 27 months that Lane’s attorney had requested, while prosecutors had asked for more than five years in prison – the low end of federal guidelines for the charge Lane was convicted on earlier this year. He said Lane, who faces sentencing in September on state charges in Floyd’s killing, will remain free on bond until he must turn himself in on October 4.

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Mohamed Noor: ex-officer who killed unarmed woman freed on parole

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Noor was resentenced to four years nine months for manslaughter of Justine Damond in Minneapolis after murder charge dropped

A former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home has been released from prison on parole, months after his murder conviction was overturned and he was resentenced on a lesser charge.

The Minnesota department of corrections website said Mohamed Noor, 36, was placed under the supervision of Hennepin county community corrections. He was freed 18 days shy of the fifth anniversary of the 15 July 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual US-Australian citizen and yoga teacher who was engaged to be married.

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Human skull found by Minnesota kayakers 8,000 years old, experts say

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Skull discovered in drought-depleted Minnesota River last summer to be returned to Native American officials

Native American officials will be given a partial skull discovered last summer by two kayakers in Minnesota after investigations determined it was about 8,000 years old.

The kayakers found the skull in the drought-depleted Minnesota River about 110 miles (180km) west of Minneapolis, Renville county sheriff Scott Hable said.

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Kim Potter found guilty over killing of Daunte Wright

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Ex-officer maintained during trial that she made a mistake when she grabbed her gun instead of her Taser

The jury in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, who shot dead 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April 2021, has found her guilty.

The former police officer, who is white, had maintained that she made a tragic mistake when she grabbed her gun, instead of her Taser, and shot Wright, who was Black, when he was pulled over while driving in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.

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US Covid infections rising again as upper midwest sees biggest jump

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Increase comes ahead of Thanksgiving as families gather in homes, and as winter approaches, forcing people indoors

America’s Covid-19 infections are climbing again, and could soon hit a weekly average of 100,000 cases a day as daily case reports increase more than 20% across the upper midwest.

The fresh worsening of the coronavirus pandemic in the US comes as temperatures cool during the approach of winter, forcing people indoors where the virus is believed to spread more readily and may presage another wave.

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Inside America’s last whites-only church – video

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In rural Minnesota, a fringe Heathen group known as the Asatru Folk Assembly has purchased a local church – and membership is strictly whites-only. They worship Nordic, pre-Christian gods and they call themselves a 'folk religion' that only accepts those with northern European ancestry. Their racially exclusive ideology is protected by the first amendment. 

Amudalat Ajasa visits the church to understand how it is gaining influence across the country and to meet the anti-racist Heathens fighting back to reclaim their religion

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Goldfish dumped in lakes grow to monstrous size, threatening ecosystems

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Minnesota pet owners warned not to release fish into wild, where they wreak havoc on native species

Authorities in Minnesota have appealed to aquarium owners to stop releasing pet fish into waterways, after several huge goldfish were pulled from a local lake.

Officials in Burnsville, about 15 miles south of Minneapolis, said released goldfish can grow to several times their normal size and wreak havoc on indigenous species.

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Keith Ellison urges Congress to act on stalled police reform after Chauvin sentencing

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Minnesota attorney general secured conviction and sentencing of former police officer who murdered George Floyd last year

The Minnesota attorney general who secured the conviction and sentencing of Derek Chauvin said on Sunday Congress must pass stalled policing reform named for George Floyd, the African American man the former officer murdered in May last year.

Related: ‘I have begged for justice’: key moments from the Derek Chauvin sentencing

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Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 and a half years for murder of George Floyd – video

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Judge Peter Cahill has sentenced Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck until he died, to 22 and half years in prison.

The judge acknowledged 'the deep and tremendous pain' felt by the Floyd family and others, but he said the sentence was not based on public opinion

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‘Deep systemic racism’: will Minneapolis’s police department ever change?

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The department has seen decades of reform efforts, but activists say racism and violence are too ingrained to eliminate

As Derek Chauvin crushed George Floyd’s neck under his knee, slowly killing him, a police officer who had just joined the force repeatedly asked Chauvin if they should adjust Floyd’s position. Chauvin, a 19-year-veteran of the department, refused.

That precise interaction – an experienced officer training younger officers to act violently – was not a one-time failure, but a “systemic” problem within the Minneapolis police department, according to RT Rybak, who served as Minneapolis mayor for 12 years.

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Derek Chauvin found guilty of murder of George Floyd

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Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, a crime that prompted waves of protests in support of racial justice in the US and across the world.

The jury swiftly and unanimously convicted Chauvin of all the charges he faced – second- and third-degree murder, and manslaughter – after concluding that the white former Minneapolis police officer killed the 46-year-old Black man in May through a criminal assault, by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe.

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Cheers erupt outside courtroom as Chauvin guilty verdict is delivered – video

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Crowds gathered outside a courtroom in Minneapolis reacted in jubilation when jurors returned a verdict of guilty on all three charges against the former police officer Derek Chauvin, on trial for the klling of 46-year-old George Floyd

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