Hermantown council moves Google data center vote amid protests
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Here’s a quick look at state and local news Tuesday morning.
Protests stymie Google data center vote
The Hermantown City Council is expected to vote Tuesday whether to approve or reject a proposed Google data center after dozens of protesters blocked the start of Monday night’s meeting.
Hoping for approval, Google made changes to the proposal in advance of the vote. The tech giant scaled down the size of the development and dropped a plan to seek up to $80 million in property tax breaks.
Rep. Omar joins controversial internet streamer Hasan Piker in Minneapolis
Left wing-streamer Hasan Piker and Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar joined DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh on Monday for an event some Democrats criticized as divisive.
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The Minneapolis event featured a conversation with Omar and Piker, an influential livestreamer whose comments on Israel and Jewish Americans led Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to distance himself from Piker.
Minnesota Democrats including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a candidate for governor, also criticized Piker for past statements.
Rainbow sticker fight continues to roil Detroit Lakes school board
Tensions were high Monday night as the Detroit Lakes school board wrestled again over the board’s attempts to ban rainbow stickers, which some teachers display in schools to signal support for LGBTQ+ students.
Although that ban has been rescinded, the board has proposed another effort that could lead to the same result as the ban.
Hennepin County almost done testing new tornado siren system
Hennepin County is nearing the end of months of tornado siren testing, but you may still hear those sirens sound briefly over the next couple of weeks.
The county is upgrading the control system for nearly 300 sirens of different ages and models. Each siren needs to be tested with the new control system. That requires sounding the sirens for 10 to 15 seconds.
1 dead in weekend ATV crash in Morrison County
The Minnesota State Patrol says the crash occurred on Highway 28 near Swanville. The Polaris Ranger utility terrain vehicle was going around a curve when it ran off the road, hit a driveway approach and rolled. Both people in the vehicle were ejected, according to the patrol.
Zoos celebrate new arrivals
Two Twin Cities area zoos recently welcomed new animals to their operations. The Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley brought in three orphaned brown bear cubs from Alaska. At Como Park Zoo in St. Paul, a pair of new nyala calves born this month.
