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CHILD’S DEATH-LAWSUIT REINSTATED

Supreme Court reinstates wrongful death suit in 2013 killing

MINNNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the heirs of a boy whose 2013 killing sparked major child protection reforms in Minnesota. The lawsuit accuses Pope County and three child protection workers of negligence in Eric Dean’s murder. The 4-year-old boy, who lived in Starbuck, died at the hands of his father’s girlfriend after at least seven reports of suspected child abuse from different sources. The state Supreme Court reinstated the lawsuit, The high court says the district court should determine whether the county and the social workers are liable in the boy’s death for failing to notify law enforcement about reports of abuse as required by state law.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

Malcolm decries ‘alarming spike’ in Minnesota COVID-19 cases

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached their highest level of the year. She also said Wednesday that hospital capacity continues to tighten across the state amid a “truly alarming spike in cases.” The Minnesota Department of Health reported 5,277 new COVID-19 cases and 43 new deaths from the disease. The state’s hospitals, meanwhile, were caring for 1,159 COVID-19 patients, including 257 in intensive care units. Malcolm says dozens of Minnesotans are dying every day from an illness that they didn’t have to get. She urges Minnesotans to use prevention tools including vaccinations, masking in public and staying home when sick.

CAPITOL BREACH-SENTENCE

Probation, house arrest for MN man in US Capitol riot

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — A Moorhead, Minnesota, man has been sentenced to probation, house arrest and community service for participating in the U.S. Capitol riot Jan. 6. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. Tuesday gave 32-year-old Kenneth Stotts 60 days of home confinement and two years of probation for his role in the insurrection as Congress was finalizing the 2020 presidential election results. He must also perform 60 hours of community service. Stotts previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Three other charges were dismissed as part of a plea bargain. Stotts was arrested by the FBI in northern Minnesota in March after he turning himself in.

COLD CASE-TEEN IDENTIFIED

Remains found in Texas in 1980 finally identified as teen

STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) — A body found alongan interstate in Texas 41 years ago has finally been identified as a 14-year-old girl missing from Minnesota. Sheriff’s officials in Walker County, Texas say new DNA technology and forensic genealogy helped them track the unidentified remains to a handful of possible relatives. Investigators eventually determined the remains are those of Sherri Ann Jarvis whose nude body was spotted along the interstate near Huntsville by a trucker in November 1980. Walker County Sheriff Clint McRae said at a news conference Tuesday that the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER

Judge changes course, allows video coverage of Potter trial

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Live video coverage will be allowed in the trial of a former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of Daunte Wright. The judge overseeing the case reversed herself Tuesday, citing the state of the pandemic. Judge Regina Chu had ruled in August against recording or livestreaming Kim Potter’s trial, which starts Nov. 30. Under Minnesota court rules, audio and video coverage of a criminal trial is usually barred unless all parties consent, and Potter has not agreed. A coalition of media organizations including The Associated Press made a fresh plea last week for reconsideration, citing the right to media and public access.

BOOKS-GEORGE FLOYD

George Floyd biography to be published in May 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — Two Washington Post reporters are working on a biography of George Floyd, from his family history in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to his murder last year in Minneapolis by a white police officer. Viking announced that “His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice” will come out next May. It’s written by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. The book expands upon the Post’s six-part series “George Floyd’s America,” which won a Polk award. Olorunnipa said in a statement that Floyd’s gruesome, videotaped death changed the world.

AP-US-TWIN-METALS-MINE

Minnesota lets public weigh in on adequacy of mining rules

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota regulators are accepting public comments on whether the state’s regulation of nonferrous mining would provide sufficient protection against environmental damage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The comment period runs through Dec. 8. The Department of Natural Resources has established a dedicated webpage for its court-ordered review, which stems from a lawsuit that seeks to block the proposed Twin Metals mine near Ely. At issue is whether the state’s existing rule that governs siting for copper-nickel and other nonferrous metal mines would adequately protect the Boundary Waters “from pollution, impairment, or destruction” from mining upstream.

REAL ESTATE AGENT KILLED

Woman receives life for role in killing of real estate agent

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former probation officer has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in the kidnapping and killing of a Minneapolis real estate agent. A Hennepin County jury in September found 29-year-old Elsa Segura, of Fridley, guilty of aiding and abetting premeditated first-degree murder in the New Year’s Eve 2019 killing of Monique Baugh. The sentence does not allow for the possibility of release. Prosecutors say Segura lured Baugh to a phony home showing in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove. Two other co-defendants in the case, Cedric Berry and Berry Davis, were previously sentenced to life in prison for Baugh’s death. Investigators say the luring scheme was aimed at getting to Baugh’s boyfriend, who was shot and wounded after Baugh was kidnapped.