Good morning. Welcome to October. Mostly cloudy. Scattered rain showers northern and central Minnesota. Lows in the lower 30s to lower 40s. More on this week's weather on Updraft
Trump was expected to haul in millions of dollars at a Lake Minnetonka fundraiser before jetting to Duluth for a tarmac rally. It’s his third visit to Minnesota in recent weeks and the second focused on the northern part of the state, where his campaign hopes to build a vote cushion given anticipated problems closer to the Twin Cities.
Hours before Trump got to Duluth supporters were lined up in rain and driving wind, with many dressed in rain ponchos.
The president’s focus on Minnesota has been intense since his narrow defeat in the state in the 2016 race. He established an early campaign presence, dispatched top surrogates and visited often himself.
But there are also signs that Trump’s campaign is scaling back its investment as Election Day draws nearer. Twice in September, the campaign slashed television ad spending it had booked for the stretch run — by more than 90 percent in the Twin Cities market this week alone.
Wednesday’s data showed new hospital admissions remained high, at levels not seen since early June. Active confirmed cases of the disease continue to trend higher than at any point in the pandemic. The state is starting to see the surge officials expected from Labor Day weekend gatherings, sporting events and college student meetups before the start of fall semester, Kris Ehresmann, the state’s infectious disease director, told reporters Wednesday. “It’s a function of what happened at the beginning of September … but sort of the ongoing ripple effect of community transmission we’ve seen all summer,” she said. Here are Minnesota’s current COVID-19 statistics:
- 2,036 deaths
- 99,134 positive cases, 89,392 off isolation
- 2,030,167 tests, 1,414,701 people tested
- 5.4 percent seven-day positivity rate
Educators from Minneapolis and St. Paul rallied on Wednesday outdoors near the Mississippi River for what unions representing the two cities’ teachers and staff called, “safe, equitable and sustainable education during the pandemic.”
"Right now, many of our families are unable to connect due to lack of interpreters for IT problems and unreliable internet access,” Nick Faber, president of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators, said in a statement. “These are problems we could fix if we made the commitment to tax those who are profiting in this time to pay for them.”
Greta Callahan, president of the teachers chapter of the Minnesota Federation of Teachers and Education Support Professionals said districts should not rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.
~ Matt Mikus, MPR News | 
