Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday, which for many is the first day of the school year. Here’s some news you might have missed over the long weekend.
Family members of people incarcerated in the Stillwater correctional facility protested conditions in the prison Monday after it was locked down Sunday. That happened after about 100 prisoners refused to return to their cells. MPR News reports the lockdown continued through Labor Day, even though the Department of Corrections said the situation had been resolved without incident, and people had been returned to their cells Sunday afternoon. Family members said inmates had been held in dangerously hot rooms without air conditioning for two days. “This is a peaceful protest to get their human rights,” Cathy Stroud-Calwell, whose son is incarcerated, said outside the facility Sunday. “They’re very stressed out. They’re overwhelmed. They feel dehydrated. People are passing out in there.” The DOC acknowledged issues with staffing, but disputed some of the inmates’ claims. “We do understand that [staffing] is both an issue in Minnesota and every state,” Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said at a press conference Sunday. Schnell also confirmed a lack of air conditioning in most areas of the prison. “We know it’s exceedingly hot in these facilities. … We know that it’s really challenging,” he said, noting cell room temperatures are into the 80s. “This is a 120-year-old facility. The windows have many challenges.” Schnell said he intends to address the issues with state lawmakers during the next legislative session.
Gov. Tim Walz may be changing his mind on calling a special session on the issue of school resource officers. WCCO TV reports: At issue is the wording in a new state law that says officers can not use face-down holds, including kneeling on a student's neck. Republicans want a special session called to change that language. "What we've asked — and I think we've had it start to happen this week — is that we have law enforcement working with folks in the Senate. I think [House Minority] Leader Demuth, a good, smart legislator, I think they're working out language on this. If that's the case to get to the path that we need to fix, then that's what we'll do," Gov. Tim Walz said Sunday at the State Fair. Demuth said she was "encouraged" to hear Walz say there's still a chance for a special session. "I think it's important to realize that we are hearing from school districts across the state," Demuth said.
Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, resigned Friday from her House seat. MPR’s Kyra Miles reports Richardson took on the role of president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States last fall. At the time, she said she intended to stay in office and ran for reelection. In an interview on Saturday, Richardson said she knows she made a promise to represent her constituents in the Minnesota House. But with so much turmoil around health care and abortion access in the region, she said she had to make a change. “While I'm stepping away from elected office, I'm not stepping away from this fight and I will still be committed to the community just as I've been before,” she said. Richardson said she is resigning now in order to allow plenty of time for her constituents to consider her replacement. She expects Gov. Walz will call a special election for her seat in time for next year's Legislative session.
A special task force meets for the first time today. Its three-month mission: to redesign Minnesota’s state flag and seal. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports the State Emblems Redesign Commission was created by law to develop replacements for Minnesota’s flag and seal. Both have been criticized as being too busy and culturally insensitive. The commission is made up of 13 appointed members from a variety of backgrounds, as well as four legislators who won’t have voting power. Instructions are to find designs that “respectfully reflect Minnesota’s shared history, resources and diverse cultural communities.” Time is short. The law requires final decisions by Jan. 1. Unless the Legislature votes to block the designs, they’ll become official in May.
Minnesota journalism lost a giant on Monday. The Associated Press reports: Gene Lahammer, who spent 34 years with The Associated Press, died Monday morning at his home in Minnetonka from old age, his daughter Mary Lahammer told the AP. Lahammer was born and raised on a farm in Veblen, South Dakota, during the Great Depression. His journalism career has roots in his high school paper, where he was editor. He graduated high school at age 16 and college at age 18, “a numerical genius” who recognized that his intellect “was a way out of poverty, and he grew up in destitute poverty," his daughter said. Lahammer's specialty at the AP was calling races on election night, which he did for 50 years, coming out of retirement. “He never got a race wrong, and he did it all pretty much in his head. I'm not sure if he ever owned a calculator, and he knew every precinct and county and region of the state inside and out, and he would know when it was safe to call any race,” his daughter said.
As part of a series on the impact irrigation is having on the nation’s aquifers, the New York Times took a look at the situation in parts of Minnesota: Minnesota in the early 1960s had fewer than 50 permits for irrigation wells. By 2022, there were over 7,000 of them. And, like many other states, Minnesota uses an honor system for reporting water use from wells like these. Farmers self-report their usage annually. This year, Minnesota lawmakers moved to rein in irrigators by increasing fines for pumping too much water, but it’s unclear whether regulators will use the new tools. Officials said that in 2021, they were hesitant to fine farmers who were already struggling with crop loss. What happened in Minnesota offers a warning to the rest of the country. Even in a state with a culture tied to watery abundance, groundwater overuse in some areas quickly had dire consequences. And it remains unclear whether the steps taken to prevent a repeat are strong enough. | 