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Gov. Tim Walz is ratcheting up his rhetoric on COVID-19. At an event yesterday highlighting new covid testing options for students, Walz responded to Republican opposition to his call to include testing and vaccination requirements for teachers on the agenda for a special session. "I get it, you don't like this plan. What is yours?” Walz asked Republicans. “Doing nothing kills people. Doing nothing shuts down buildings. Doing nothing avoids the science that we have," The Legislature ended the peacetime emergency in July. The governor’s comments came Wednesday as the state health department reported 40 deaths from COVID-19 and that for the first time there were more COVID-19 patients hospitalized in greater Minnesota than in the Twin Cities region.
Another week has passed without a deal on bonus pay for frontline pandemic workers.Tim Pugmire has the story: A group of DFL legislators and union members called Wednesday for an end to the impasse over pandemic frontline worker bonuses. They want checks sent out soon to as many recipients as possible. A plan was supposed to be in place a month ago, but House Democrats and Senate Republicans remain divided over how many workers should share in the available $250 million. MPR’s Tim Nelson reportsSt. Paul is poised to enact some of the toughest tobacco restrictions in the nation. The City Council on Wednesday got its first look at a new ordinance that would set a $10 minimum price on a pack of cigarettes and ban coupons and other discounts at retail outlets, among other things. Besides the price regulations, the new ordinance will also gradually cut back on the number of tobacco retail licenses in the city and mandate a half-mile separation for tobacco retailers, which could further restrict outlets. Anti-tobacco activists say there is some precedent for the new regulations: New York City has a per-pack minimum price, now $13. And Providence, R.I., bans tobacco discounts. Retailers oppose the measure, but it appears to have the support of all seven city council members.
In Minneapolis MPR News' Jon Collins reportspost-traumatic Stress Disorder claims by Minneapolis police are putting pressure on the city’s self-insurance fund and driving the city’s workers’ compensation claims to the highest number in at least a decade , according to a report by city finance staff to a committee of the Minneapolis City Council. Workers’ comp spending in the city jumped to more than $14 million in 2020, with a sharp increase after George Floyd’s killing. That number was about twice as large as previous years. Minneapolis police officers accounted for most workers’ comp claims, according to city staff. A law that went into effect in January of 2019 made it easier for first responders to file PTSD claims. Although city staff said many claims are still working their way through the system, they’ve drained the city’s workers’ compensation fund of about $3 million of cash on hand.
Nationally, a federal judge blocked that Texas abortion law that the Supreme Court passed on.NPR reports the decision came after the Justice Department filed an emergency motion. In a 113-page ruling , U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman said that from the moment the Texas law went into effect last month, "women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution." He added: "[O]ther courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide. This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right." Attorney General Merrick Garland called the court's decision "a victory for women in Texas and for the rule of law." Texas has already filed notice that it will appeal Pitman's ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the state is expected to seek an immediate stay from the circuit court on Wednesday's order. | 