Good morning and happy Thursday.
Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Wednesday ensuring that people who seek and receive gender-affirming care in the state have protection under the law. MPR’s Dana Ferguson reports the move comes after seven states – Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah – have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth and several more have taken up bills that would do the same or ban the care for transgender people of any age. “Minnesota … is a welcoming, loving, neighborly state where you are welcome and will be free from discrimination or anything else that we’re trying to see in some other states,” Walz said, calling those leading bans in other states “bullies.” “In this state, hate has no home. In this state, love and acceptance is what we preach,” he said.
Six corrections officers suffered injuries in separate incidents at two Minnesota prisons this week, reports MPR’s Matt Sepic. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said in a statement Wednesday that a sergeant and two officers were assaulted at the Stillwater prison late Monday morning while trying to break up a fight among several inmates. All three staff members were evaluated at a hospital and released. Then on Tuesday evening, a sergeant and two officers at the Oak Park Heights facility were hurt after two inmates allegedly attacked them. The corrections department says the Oak Park Heights guards also received hospital evaluations, and one required treatment for “more serious injuries” before being released. “Those responsible for these senseless and cowardly acts of violence will be fully held to account for their actions,” Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said in the statement. “These assaults are a troubling reminder of the very real risks correctional staff take in service to the public safety of all Minnesotans.”
They make up about 4 percent of the state Senate and seem to do most of the talking during the debates on the floor. The Star Tribune has the story of the three Republicans who talk a lot: GOP Sens. Steve Drazkowski, Glenn Gruenhagen and Eric Lucero rose to speak nearly 50 times combined during a 15-hour debate on a bill codifying abortion rights into state law, repeatedly blasting the Democrats' bill as "extreme." The Senate debate took nearly four times as long as the House's, despite the chamber having half as many legislators. The three former House members — known for their winding and sometimes theatrical speeches — have also chastised Senate Democrats for bills that restored felons' voting rights, allowed unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver's licenses and required state utility providers to be carbon-free by 2040. "When I see things that are fundamentally and viscerally opposed not only by myself but certainly by my constituents, I see it as really a call to action for me to respond," said Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. "The social agenda they're bringing is really just fundamentally opposite of the people who sent me here."
More details are emerging about the cyberattack on Minneapolis Public Schools. MPR’s Elizabeth Shockman reports: A portion of what appears to be data hacked from the district was posted online in a nearly hour-long video by the ransomware group Medusa on Tuesday — it has since been removed. “All signs point to the Medusa ransomware group, conducting what's called double extortion on the school district,” said Mark Keierleber, an investigative reporter at The 74. “They are downloading data, locking the district out of systems and threatening to release that data on the dark web if [Minneapolis school officials] don't pay what appears to be a million dollar ransom.” Minnesota’s third-largest district had also warned families, students and staff that private information hacked from its computer system had been posted online. A statement from a district spokesperson did not offer details about what kind of information was posted or where it was posted. Public schools often have sensitive data on families and students, including financial information, health and discipline records and other identifying material.
Workers at the Minnesota Historical Society have reached a tentative agreement on a first union contract, MPR News reports. The three-year deal between the historical society and AFSCME Local 3173 follows months of negotiations that started after the employees moved to unionize. It still needs to be ratified by union members. “This is an excellent first contract that will benefit MNHS staff greatly, and we are so proud of the years of hard work that our members have done to make this possible,” the union said Wednesday in a statement. Minnesota Historical Society leadership said the agreement is “consistent with our strategic plan, which calls for fair, sustainable market-based compensation for all staff.” The tentative agreement includes defined pay increases and a minimum wage of $18 an hour. The union includes about 250 Historical Society workers statewide, including tour guides, archivists and maintenance employees.
Minneapolis City Council members sharply split over issues of public safety and policing in discussions about their state legislative priorities Tuesday, MPR’s Jon Collins reports. The city’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee met to consider a proposal asking legislators to allow cities to require police officers to carry their own liability insurance. That proposal failed after concerns that it would hurt recruitment. Other amendments that passed ask the Legislature to give the city more tools to keep order at public meetings and to increase criminal penalties against those threatening public officials or employees.
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