MPR News Update: Minneapolis labor and spilled milk
Good morning and happy Thursday. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
Still searching for sunshine. Mostly cloudy and breezy today, with a chance of AM drizzle. Highs in the mid 40s to lower 50s in the metro and southern part of the state. Likely morning rain in the northeast and some winds in the metro. Possible frost in the north overnight. More on Updraft.
Centuries-old cases involving spilled milk and dynamite are at play in Minneapolis’ state Supreme Court fight over its labor laws. MPR News’ Tim Nelson reports on the origins of the legal battle over Minneapolis sick leave and minimum wage ordinances — and how they “could hardly have less to do with livable wages and paid time off.” If you’ve ever had a job, chances are this story will be interesting.
Crime wave? Nope. “Violent crime dropped once again in Minnesota last year, continuing a decadelong trend that’s made the state and its metro area among the nation’s safest,” writes Andy Mannix in the Star Tribune.
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A quarter of Minnesota 11th graders self-report using an e-cigarette in the past month. That’s according to a new state Health Department report, which also found the age group didn’t understand the health risks tied to vaping. The new figure is a 54 percent increase in vaping from 2016.
Comcast listens to fans on Twins broadcast. The network was going to require its users to pay $9.99 a month for a package containing MLB Network, which has exclusive broadcast rights for Friday’s playoff game. After enough negative attention, Comcast reversed itself.
Bernie Sanders is taking a health break from campaign events. The senator is recovering from having two stents “successfully inserted” in his heart.
Countertop manufacturing is apparently making people sick. The likely culprit in a handful of injuries and two deaths is silica dust, as NPR reports. It’s found in the artificial stone that’s in popular types of countertops. Workers may inhale the lung-damaging dust when cutting the material.
A couple very powerful Minnesotans support college athletes getting paid. Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino says he supports a new California law allowing college athletes to profit off their image and name. “The more we can get these guys — I’m all for it,” he said at Big Ten Media Days. And Democrat Gov. Tim Walz says he’s willing to consider a similar bill. Reporting for both those stories from the Star Tribune.
Minnesota can make its own net neutrality rules. That’s according to MinnPost’s Walker Orenstein, who writes on a federal appeals court ruling regarding internet law and how it “gives new life” to Minnesota lawmakers who want state-level regulations.
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