MPR News PM Update
May 24, 2021

The evening will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the 50s northwest to mid-60s southeast.

Tuesday brings sunshine with highs in the 70s northwest to mid-80s southeast. Tuesday night will be much cooler — some good sleeping weather with lows in the mid-30s to lower 40s north, upper 40s to upper 50s south. Get the latest from Updraft.

Gov. Tim Walz is asking Minnesotans to observe an extended silence Tuesday to mark the year since George Floyd was killed. 

Walz issued a proclamation, asking for the silence to begin at 1 p.m. and last for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the length of time police knelt on Floyd the evening of Memorial Day last year. Walz noted that officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder, but that more must be done to bring about change throughout the criminal justice system. 

Commemorations of Floyd’s life and death will happen tomorrow afternoon, both in The Commons park of downtown Minneapolis and at George Floyd Square at 38 th and Chicago.

MPR News will observe the year since Floyd’s death with special coverage, including discussions hosted by Kerri Miller and Angela Davis tomorrow morning and a special In Focus event live at noon on Wednesday. 

Minnesota stars another week with no reported COVID deaths on Monday and the lowest level of active cases in eight months.

Health officials reported a pause in the COVID-19 death toll to start the final week in May, a repeat of last Monday. It's one of a range of indicators that show the pandemic receding in Minnesota, including a drop in the number of active cases below 6,000 for the first time since the middle of September. 

The number of new cases has stayed below 1,000 a day for 10 straight days now, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has now fallen below 3 percent for the first time since February.  

Subscribe to our Minnesota Today podcast to get the up-to-date Minnesota news twice daily. — Tim Nelson | MPR News

 
A movement memorialized: Plywood art honoring George Floyd goes on display
As Twin Cities businesses put up plywood last year to protect their windows from rioters, people with paint brushes and spray cans followed behind. An exhibit of some of those paintings in Minneapolis commemorates the anniversary of George Floyd’s death.

 
'We cannot stop': Families of victims push for police reform
On the eve of the anniversary of George Floyd's killing, those who have lost loved ones to police killings around the country came to Minneapolis to call for changes to federal and state laws.
 
Floyd's death laid bare the 'Minnesota Paradox' of racism
George Floyd's death under a white Minneapolis police officer's knee severely tarnished Minnesota's reputation as a progressive state on matters of race. Many Black residents say it was never deserved in the first place.
 
Complaints of racism, bullying in central Minn. school district prompt calls for change
The Rocori School District is doing some soul-searching after reports that students of color have been targets of racist bullying. The district’s school board is meeting Monday night to develop an action plan.
 
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Impeachment witness Gordon Sondland is suing Mike Pompeo and U.S. for $1.8 million
Former Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who testified in former president Donald Trump's first impeachment proceeding that there was a quid pro quo between the White House and the government of Ukraine, is suing former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. government for $1.8 million.
 
The growing power of the AAPI vote, by the numbers
Data from the firm TargetSmart found that almost half of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who cast a ballot in 2020 did not vote in 2016, and a quarter had never voted before.
 
Officials say hate crimes against Jews are growing in the aftermath of Gaza violence
Attacks have broken out in communities across the country, leaving officials in law enforcement and government scrambling to confront the ripple effects of recent violence between Israel and Hamas.
 

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