So, that weather pattern bringing record heat to the Pacific Northwest? It's the same one responsible for our recent rain. This is what meteorologists refer to as an Omega block (because it looks like that Greek letter). This morning will kick off in the 50s and 60s, with highs in the upper 70s to mid-80s. It'll be another day of scattered showers and storms before things turn dry again.
Today the Minnesota House debates a public safety budget bill that many Democrats, including the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus, are not happy with. It lacks the police accountability measures they want to see: new restrictions on pretextual traffic stops (getting pulled over for a relatively minor violation), changes to the way arrest warrants work and an increase on the statute of limitations for wrongful death lawsuits against police.
Twenty-two-year-old Terrance Franklin was killed by officers after being chased through a south Minneapolis neighborhood and cornered in the basement of a home in May 2013. Police said he was wanted for questioning in a burglary case and that Franklin grabbed one of the officers' guns and wounded two during a struggle.
Close to 290 people have been killed or wounded by gunshots in Minneapolis in the first half of 2021. That's about double the number of people hit by bullets in the first six months of each of the four years prior. Homicides have increased, too. This morning at 11, MPR News host Angela Davis digs into some of the reasons for the jump in violent crime across the country and possible ways to change this. She'll be joined by criminal justice professor James Densley and Sasha Cotton, Minneapolis' Office of Violence Prevention director. Stream the show here or tune in on your radio.
When lakes heat up, fish get stressed. Our hot weather is bringing more reports of dead fish in Minnesota lakes, which is not uncommon in the spring and summer, but has been amplified lately.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community says a new Minnesota State Fair exhibit will be the first by a Tribal government. It'll be designed to educate people about the 11 sovereign Tribal nations located in the state.
