GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS POLICE

Minneapolis scrambles to save November vote on policing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis City Council has approved new ballot language that aims to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety after a judge struck down the previous wording. Judge Jamie Anderson declared the old language was misleading and unworkable. She issued the order just hours ahead of a 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline for ballots to go to the printer. The City Council approved new language meant to address the judge’s concerns a few hours later. Mayor Jacob Frey, who had twice vetoed earlier language, says it’s now they city’s legal obligation to put the revised version on the ballot. But he says he’ll vote against it.

AP-US-SLAIN-STUDENT-APPEAL

Judge tosses death sentence in Dru Sjodin slaying

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out the death sentence for a man convicted in the 2003 slaying of a North Dakota college student. Judge Ralph Erickson ruled Friday that misleading testimony from a medical examiner and limitations on mental health evidence violated Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.’s constitutional rights. He ordered a new sentencing phase be conducted. Rodriguez has been on death row for nearly two decades. He was convicted of killing Dru Sjodin, a Minnesota woman who was abducted from a Grand Forks mall parking lot in November 2003. Rodriguez, a sex offender, was arrested the following month. Sjodin’s body wasn’t found until the following April near Crookston, Minnesota.

STATE FAIR-ATTENDANCE

State Fair final attendance: 1.3M, far below 2019 record

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota State Fair wrapped up its 12-day run with total attendance of about 1.3 million, well below usual numbers as the delta variant kept many fairgoers away. The coronavirus wiped out the 2020 state fair, and this year’s comeback returned just as the delta variant was heating up. Rainy weather also held crowds down on some days. Final attendance was about 60 percent of 2019’s record attendance of 2.1 million.

STATE FAIR DISTURBANCE

Crowd creates disturbance as Minnesota State Fair closes

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials say law enforcement officers used a chemical spray to disperse a crowd creating a disturbance at the main gate to the Minnesota State Fair as it was drawing to a close. A Ramsey County Sheriff’s official say one man who was part of the disturbance Monday night had a gun, but there was no indication that he fired it. A Ramsey County judge recently rejected a request by a gun owners group for a temporary injunction to require State Fair officials to allow permit holders to carry weapons on the fairgrounds. Authorities did not say how big the crowd was, whether there were any arrests or injuries, or what led to the disturbance.

GOP OPERATIVE-SEX TRAFFICKING

Lawsuit: GOP donor offered money to hush girl he trafficked

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A prominent Minnesota GOP donor who is charged with multiple counts of child sex trafficking is now being sued by an underage girl who was one of his alleged victims. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court alleges Anton Lazzaro’s attorneys offered $1,000 in hush money to the girl and her parents to keep them quiet and asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The girl’s father refused and instead went to law enforcement. Lazzaro faces several criminal sex trafficking charges and is in custody. His attorney has said he did not commit the crimes and is being falsely accused.

WATER EMERGENCY-MINNEAPOLIS

Two boys rescued from Lake Nokomis are hospitalized

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities say two boys are hospitalized in critical condition after rescuers pulled them from Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. Hennepin County sheriff’s officials say the two brothers, one believed to be 8-years-old and the other 11, were swimming with their father Monday afternoon when they struggled in deep water. Sheriff’s spokesman Andrew Skoogman says rescuers “located them rather quickly, getting to one in about a minute and to the other in a few minutes.” First responders administered CPR before the brothers were transported to a hospital.

MISSING TODDLER

Rescue team finds body of missing 2-year-old girl in Edina

EDINA, Minn. (AP) — Police in a Minneapolis suburb say they have recovered the body of a 2-year-old girl who was the subject of more than 18-hour search after she apparently wandered away from her family on her own. Edina police said earlier that Iklas Abdullahi Ahmed had been missing since about 5 p.m. Monday. She was last seen near Rosland Park in Edina. Members of the Hennepin County Water Rescue team located the girl’s body about 1 p.m. Tuesday in water adjacent to the park. Edina Police Chief Todd Milburn said more than 150 people participated in the search. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

GEORGE FLOYD-AMERICA PROTESTS-MEDIA

Minnesota State Patrol purged messages after Floyd protests

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Court testimony shows that the Minnesota State Patrol purged emails and text messages immediately after protests over the death of George Floyd during which the agency is accused of targeting journalists. Attorneys for the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union say the purge of messages has made it nearly impossible to track the State Patrol’s behavior, as investigators try to determine whether law enforcement used improper force on demonstrators. The information came out during a July 28 hearing in a lawsuit that alleges the State Patrol targeted journalists. A transcript of the hearing was posted on the court docket on Friday. State Patrol spokesman Bruce Gordon says officers follow all data retention requirements.