MPR News PM Update
 
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Scattered showers and some thunder develop today. Heat is building in for the weekend and first days of August. Get the latest on Updraft.
Advocates push Minneapolis to provide money to support abortion access
The abortion fund, Our Justice, along with Pro-Choice Minnesota and Minneapolis City Council members Aisha Chughtai and Robin Wonsley, have launched a campaign to get the city to provide direct funding for abortion access.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ending nationwide constitutional protections for abortion, Minnesota became an island among surrounding states with restrictive abortion laws and limited services. Providers and advocates say they’re already seeing an increase in need for support and services.

“We're already at double the requests that we were at this time last year,” said Megumi Rierson, communications director with the abortion fund Our Justice.
 
St. Louis County to consider changing jail medical providers

St. Louis County commissioners will vote on Tuesday on whether to choose a new health care provider for people incarcerated in the county jail.

The board is expected to authorize a contract with St. Luke's Hospital of Duluth that would expand medical and mental health services in the jail.

St. Louis County has contracted with Sartell-based MEnD Correctional Care since 2012. A number of Minnesota counties have recently switched from MEnD to other providers.

That's partly due to the state medical board recently suspending the medical license of MEnD's founder, Dr. Todd Leonard, over his role in the death of 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell. Sherrell died in 2018 after falling ill while in the Beltrami County jail, and his pleas for help were ignored by jail and medical staff.
 
What else we're watching:
Teen sentenced in killing that led to fatal no-knock police raid. A Ramsey County judge on Monday gave a 16-year sentence to a teen convicted in the shooting death of a man during a robbery in St. Paul. Mekhi Speed is the cousin of Amir Locke, 22, whom Minneapolis police killed Feb. 2 while executing a no-knock search warrant to gather evidence in the investigation.

Crop report: 63 percent of Minnesota corn in good or excellent condition. While drought is gaining a foothold around and west of the Twin Cities, the majority of Minnesota farmers report good to excellent crop conditions as of July 25.

Wisconsin disabled voters file federal lawsuit over ballots. Four people in Wisconsin with disabilities have filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to ensure that they'll be able to get help turning in their ballots, even though the conservative-controlled state Supreme Court said no one other than the voter can return absentee ballots in person.

US to plant 1 billion trees as climate change kills forests. The Biden administration on Monday said the government will plant more than one billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands in the U.S. West, as officials struggle to counter the increasing toll on the nation's forests from wildfires, insects and other manifestations of climate change.

About 2 in 3 Americans say they favor term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices. That's according to a new poll that finds a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans saying they have “hardly any” confidence in the court.

Monkeypox explained: How to protect yourself and what to watch out for. With nearly 16,000 reported cases worldwide and counting, here's what you need to know about monkeypox, how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you have it. 
—  Samantha Stroozas, MPR News
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