Good morning and welcome to Friday. Minnesota lawmakers today convene a special session that will tackle the police reform issue in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Before jumping into today’s news, weather first.

Picture-perfect start to the weekend.Sunny today across Minnesota with highs in the 60s in northern parts of the state, with the 70s and lower 80s in southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities.

Changes in use-of-force laws, ban on warrior training on Walz, DFL-backed agenda for special session. On the eve of the start of a special legislative session, Gov. Tim Walz and fellow Democrats proposed a wide-ranging set of measures designed to change the way police officers do their jobs. The DFL plan also includes: setting up community alternatives to policing, and restoring voting rights to felons who’ve completed their sentences.

What’s next for the toppled Columbus statue? The statue of Christopher Columbus, which was pulled down by a group of people led by Native Americans on Wednesday, was loaded on a truck, and taken to somewhere unknown. While it’s unclear what would happen next with the statue and the space it was standing, the governor said those who led the toppling would be held accountable for the incident. 

Derek Chauvin “failed as a human,” reads an open letter from Minneapolis cops. Fourteen MPD officers signed the letter on Thursday, condemning the former officer who is now charged with murder in George Floyd’s death. The officers, and some activists and members of Minnesota’s black community on Thursday also vowed their support for MPD Chief Medaria Arradondo, who has promised to make sweeping changes in how business is done in his department.

In-person classes may resume at the U this fall. The University of Minnesota president, Joan Gabel, and regents laid out a plan to resume in-person classes this fall, with safety measures in place including social distancing, widespread testing and campuswide contract tracing. The plan calls for an early start to the semester and an end by Thanksgiving.

Is this Minnesota county forgotten by COVID-19? Lake of the Wood County in the state’s far north, hasn’t seen any COVID-19 case confirmed while other parts of the state report tens of new cases every day. The secret? One says “heartiness” of people there may be why, but the state’s top infectious disease expert says it has more to do with geography and population than being hearty. 

Here are the latest coronavirus statistics:

• 29,316 cases confirmed (453 new) via 381,841 tests

• 1,249 deaths (13 new)

• 3,522 cases requiring hospitalization

• 411 people remain hospitalized; 196 in intensive care

• 24,870 patients no longer needing isolation

—  Jiwon Choi, MPR News | @ChoiGEE1