MPR News PM Update
 
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More widespread occasional scattered showers and thunderstorms develop late Thursday into Friday and Saturday along with quite a bit of cloud cover. Get the latest on Updraft.
To encourage debate, Minnesota State University, Mankato relocates Abraham Lincoln statue

Minnesota State University, Mankato is hoping a new location for its Abraham Lincoln statue and an allied exhibit will be the place for public discourse surrounding Lincoln’s complicated legacy in Mankato.

Alumni presented the statue to the university in 1926. After standing in a number of campus locations over the years it became a fixture in the Centennial Student Union building in 1978.

Now, it stands on the Memorial Library’s second floor beside a temporary exhibit detailing Lincoln’s connection to events in Mankato following the US Dakota War of 1862. It is open to the public during regular library hours.
Black pride festival organizer created annual event to help others find a place to belong

Dennis Anderson had been attending pride events at Loring Park for years and even joined the board of the organizing group. However, Anderson, who is Black, didn’t see many other Black LGBTQ+ people there.

“That was one of the reasons that I decided to do this, 20 to 30 years ago, because there was no voice for POC people,” said Anderson.

Anderson started the group MN POC Pride which advocates for Black Indigenous and People of Color in the LGBTQ+ community. And for around 30 years, the organization has sponsored its own Pride festival.

This year's celebration, “Black Magic Weekend,” begins Thursday and features several events including a Black pride pageant, dance throwdown, community soul picnic and a vogue night.
Many were denied Minnesota 'hero pay,' advocate says there were barriers

More than 214,000 applications for Minnesota’s “hero pay” were denied. That’s 18 percent of all who applied. While some were issues of duplicates, identity verification or income limits, Matt Riley says the process still had barriers for some communities.

Riley, an organizer with CTUL Workers Center, worked to support Minnesotans during the application process.

Riley says the barriers he saw with the process included technology and language. Applicants needed an email address and some language came directly from the bill verbiage instead of being adapted. He says some immigrant communities weren’t sure if they qualified.

 
What else we're watching:
The week in politics: From Washington to Minnesota. When President Joe Biden signed another major spending bill into law this week Democrats in Minnesota were excited and Republicans protested. And in the campaign for governor, Republican Scott Jensen wants more debates with DFLer Tim Walz. 

Scattered slow-moving thunderstorms continued to drop torrential rain on parts of Minnesota early Thursday, following flash flooding in some communities on Wednesday night. The city of Cambridge was particularly hard-hit. Storms dropped 4 to 5 inches of rain in just a couple hours on Wednesday evening. That flooded streets and stranded some vehicles in the Isanti County community. 

Next sheriff of Hennepin County will have a big task ahead of them. Either Dawanna Witt or Joseph Banks will lead the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office at a time of rising concerns about violent crime in the region and increased public scrutiny of law enforcement. They’ll also be tasked with stabilizing a department shaken by the actions of the current sheriff.   

Pence says he'd consider testifying to House January 6 committee. Former Vice President Pence said Wednesday that he would consider an invitation to appear before the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Pence spoke at a "Politics and Eggs" event hosted by Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, a stop many presidential hopefuls make during campaign season.
—  Sam Stroozas, MPR News
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