| June 30, 2021 Mostly clear tonight, with lows in the mid-50s to mid-60s. Tomorrow will be sunny with highs in the mid-80s to lower 90s, except near Lake Superior. Find the latest on Updraft. A key public safety budget bill that contains police accountability measures made it through the Minnesota Legislature.
Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign the bill today to keep courts, prisons and other services running at full steam. The bill had been hung up over proposed policing standards meant to bring more transparency and oversight. DFL Representative Carlos Mariani says his bill doesn’t go as far as he wanted.
“It’s not sufficient. We need a mature, a maturer accountability system, a much more transparent one. We took big steps last summer together, and this isn’t a one and done," Mariani said.
The bill was modified yesterday to reduce arrests of people with outstanding warrants for minor crimes. But measures to limit traffic stops and provide quicker access to body camera footage were left out.
New COVID-19 cases in Minnesota fell below 100 for a third straight day. The numbers haven't been that low since the first weeks of the pandemic last year. Active cases identified in the state have now fallen by more than half in the last two weeks, now barely over 750 for all of Minnesota. Test positivity rates are staying steadily below 1 percent, and new hospitalizations are averaging just over a dozen — their lowest point since late March and early April of 2020. Deaths were up slightly above the weekly average in the latest data, at seven additional COVID-19 deaths. Total vaccinations, though, set a third consecutive all time low daily record, as demand for the shots continues to fall sharply. Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Tim Nelson | MPR News | 
