Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The trial of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death will generate massive public interest when it begins in March, but as it stands, most people who want to watch the proceedings will be out of luck.

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A solidly blue state for the past half century, Minnesota became an unquestioned presidential battleground on Friday as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden fought for working-class voters in dueling events that marked the beginning of early voting.

WAYZATA, Minn. (AP) — For such a volatile year, the White House race between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden has been remarkably consistent.

With Election Day just eight weeks away, Biden is maintaining the same comfortable lead in most national polls that he enjoyed through the summer. He also has an advantage, though narrower, in many of the battleground states that will decide the election. Trump remains in striking distance, banking on the intensity of his most loyal supporters and the hope that disillusioned Republicans ultimately swing his way.

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Declaring it’s “crunch time” for the upcoming election, President Donald Trump zeroed in on Midwest battleground states on Monday with a law and order message to counter former Vice President Joe Biden’s show at the Democratic National Convention.

(AP) --- As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Minneapolis this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits. Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages.

While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid.

14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar roundly beat her pro-Israel opponent in the Democratic primaries on Tuesday, making her the official nominee for Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.

Omar was challenged by Antone Melton-Meaux, a pro-Israel candidate on whom the pro-Israel lobby had pinned their hopes to defeat the Palestine ally.

Omar received 57.4 per cent of 160,938 votes counted, with Melton-Meaux receiving 39.2 per cent of the vote.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rep. Ilhan Omar is about to learn whether voters in her Minneapolis-area congressional district support the mix of confrontational, anti-Trump progressivism and celebrity that she brings to the job.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz signed a police accountability bill into law Thursday that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis, though some activist groups say the legislation falls short.

The bill, passed by the Legislature earlier this week, also bans chokeholds and fear-based or “warrior-style” training, which critics say promotes excessive force. It imposes a duty to intercede on officers who see a colleague using excessive force and changes rules on the use of force to stress the sanctity of life.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd’s family filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Minneapolis and the four police officers charged in his death, alleging the officers violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force.

The lawsuit came the same day that members of a city charter commission took public comments on a proposal to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Many residents strongly favored putting the proposal to a citywide vote in November.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Video from the body cameras of two officers charged in George Floyd’s death is being made available for public viewing by appointment on Wednesday, but a judge has so far declined to allow news organizations to publish the footage for wider distribution.