Feb. 21, 2024

Winds pick up behind a cool front Thursday with briefly cooler air Friday. Temperatures warm again this weekend. Get more on Updraft.

BCA releases search warrant, new details in Burnsville domestic violence call

According to a search warrant unsealed Wednesday, officers responded to the house on 33rd Avenue, near Interstate 35E and Highway 77, on a call about an alleged sexual assault. Gooden fired at police with what investigators believe was multiple guns, fatally wounding two officers and a medic.

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College enrollment across Minnesota State system is up for first time in over a decade

While enrollment has been declining at colleges nationwide for years, the chancellor credits recent state investments in higher education for reversing the trend (including a $4 billion allotment and two tuition- and fee-free pathways for Minnesota residents).

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🏛️ Minnesota lawmakers consider firearm reporting, storage requirements after Burnsville shooting

While disagreements remain about the best path to preventing similar incidents, groups on opposing sides of the gun debate said they’re willing to hear the other out.

🏥 Closure of Fergus Falls inpatient behavioral health unit faces local opposition

Lake Region Healthcare leaders cited staffing shortages, rising costs and a decline in patient numbers for ending the service. The hospital will continue to provide outpatient mental health services but now plans to partner with other inpatient units in the region.

🕯️ Public memorial service for three first responders killed in Burnsville set

Burnsville police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge and firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth were fatally shot while responding to a domestic violence call on Sunday. A memorial service for the three is set for 11 a.m. on Feb. 28 at Grace Church in Eden Prairie.

⚖️ Supreme Court upholds conviction of Buffalo clinic shooter

Gregory Ulrich, 70, was convicted of shooting five people and detonating pipe bombs at the Allina Health clinic in February 2021. In a statement, Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes said the Supreme Court decision ensures that Ulrich will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

〽️ U of M presidential finalist Rebecca Cunningham visits Twin Cities campus

The three finalists visited all of the university’s five campuses over the last two weeks. Cunningham is the vice president of research and innovation at the University of Michigan.

🚢 U.S. Navy names ship in honor of Master Chief James D. Fairbanks, White Earth Nation citizen

“This honor bestowed on Master Chief Fairbanks also honors the service and the sacrifices made by all Native people who serve and have served our military.”

📄 Proposed wrongful-conviction bill would lower bar for new evidence

The proposed legislation would allow more convicted cases to get a second look if there’s new evidence. Andrew Markquart, managing attorney at Great North Innocence Project, says he hopes this will give more people with legitimate claims another day in court.

🏢 Xcel Energy sells land in Becker to Microsoft for data center

Doron Tavlin was a vice president for business development at the Minneapolis office of Mazor Robotics in 2018 when he learned that the company could be purchased by Medtronic. Tavlin illegally told a friend who bought more than $1 million worth of Mazor stock in the anticipation that the value would increase, prosecutors said.

📄 Judge denies motion to temporarily restrict public access to filings in trooper murder case

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Joshua Larson said in the motion that evidence introduced before the trial could influence public opinion even if it ended up being ruled inadmissible in court.

🕯️ Pedestrian struck, killed by Metro Transit bus in St. Paul

A man crossed in front of an A Line bus traveling east on Ford Parkway at Macalester Street around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, per a Metro Transit statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

– Amy Felegy, MPR News

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