Mpls City Council votes on Peterson for chief, southern Minn. counties to get funds for storm damage

Here’s a quick look at news across the state Thursday morning.

The Minneapolis City Council will decide Thursday morning whether to permanently appoint veteran officer Bill Peterson as head of the Minneapolis Police Department. University of St. Thomas School of Law Professor Rachel Moran said an internal candidate like Peterson could benefit from knowing how the department has been criticized in the past. But a new chief will also face a city government sharply divided between the mayor and city council.

Three conservation groups are suing the state in hopes of getting a more rigorous environmental review of a long-proposed copper mine in northeast Minnesota. The lawsuits argue the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources should have ordered a new environmental impact statement — an EIS — for NewRange Copper Nickel. The company, formerly known as PolyMet, wants to build an underground mine near Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt.

The state will be providing disaster assistance to four southern Minnesota counties that sustained damage in severe flooding back in September. Gov. Tim Walz authorized the disaster assistance on Wednesday for Fillmore, Houston, Steele and Waseca counties. Heavy rainfalls beginning Sept. 19 flooded roads and many homes and businesses, including almost the entire city of New Richland.

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