MPR News Update
Dan Kraker | MPR News

March 25, 2021 

Pipeline politics: The complicated relationship between a Minnesota Ojibwe band and Line 3

 

Good morning! Here are top news stories for your Thursday:

Welcome back, sunshine🌞 We'll get sunny, dry skies today with slightly warmer daytime highs in the mid-40s to lower 50s. Get the latest from Updraft. 

🎧 The shift in how we talk about racism After George Floyd was killed the world watched, and the world reacted. Part of that reaction was a shift in how some people talk about racism. MPR News reporter Brandt Williams talks with his cousin about the killing of George Floyd, and how its capture on video made it impossible to look the other way.

After a rape conviction reversal, legislation to change Minnesota’s definition of "mentally incapacitated."

In 2018, a jury convicted Francios Khalil of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after prosecutors alleged he picked up an intoxicated woman outside a Minneapolis bar, took her home, and raped her.

Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed that conviction, ruling that the state's definition of "mentally incapacitated" does not include victims who consumed alcohol voluntarily. Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, has introduced legislation to change that.

Department of Health: Expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expected next week.

Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said the state is among the nation's leaders in vaccinating older people. More than 15 percent of Minnesotans are fully vaccinated, but ICU cases are rising. With health care providers asking to vaccinate more people, the time to move into younger populations is close at hand, Malcolm said.

Here are Minnesota’s latest COVID-19 statistics
  • 6,798 deaths (9 new)
  • 508,541 positive cases; 97 percent off isolation
  • 26.2 percent of Minnesotans with at least 1 vaccine dose
  • 79 percent of Minnesotans 65 and older with at least 1 vaccine dose

How a Worthington meatpacking plant got its undocumented workers vaccinated

When state health officials opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to new groups two weeks ago, a few different types of essential workers became eligible for the vaccine. But only one kind rose to the top of the list for targeted vaccine outreach: food-processing plant workers. They’ve been hit hard by the coronavirus.

A significant segment of that workforce are immigrants, many of them undocumented. To reach this population, government officials, health care providers and employers would have to work around existing barriers, and against a reluctance to be vaccinated. The key? Leaving personal information out of it. Read more from Sahan Journal reporter Joey Peters.

Check out Art Hounds' recommendations this week: A new recording of the classic musical story “Peter and the Wolf” and an appreciation for a Bemidji master of egg tempera painting. 

The Reif Center for the Performing Arts in Grand Rapids hosts a new performance of “Peter and the Wolf” via an on-demand video recording available on the center's website. And an Art Hound, painter Marlon Davidson, introduces egg tempera painting by Marley Kaul, loaded with story and metaphor. 

🔊 EP2 of In Front of Our Eyes: The shift in how we talk about racism.

After George Floyd was killed, the world watched, and the world reacted. Part of that reaction was a shift in how some people talk about racism. In the second episode of our new podcast, In Front of Our Eyes, MPR News reporter Brandt Williams talks with his cousin about the killing of George Floyd, and how its capture on video made it impossible to look the other way.

🎧 Tune in to stay informed and connected. Here's what's coming up on MPR News today.

— Katie Moritz, MPR News | Find me on Twitter @katecmoritz

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