It’s Memorial Day, and Minnesotan’s honor the state’s fallen, the Rise & Remember Festival honors the sixth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, and Goosebery Falls is the best state park in the country.
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
--MEMORIAL DAY--
MINNESOTA MARKS MEMORIAL DAY WITH FLAGS LOWERED … FLAGS PLACED … AND ONE WORLD WAR TWO PILOT FINALLY COMING HOME.
MORE THAN 280-THOUSAND VETERANS LIVE IN MINNESOTA TODAY.. BUT.. MEMORIAL DAY HONORS THOSE WHO NEVER MADE IT HOME.
NEARLY 98-HUNDRED MINNESOTANS DIED IN DURING WORLD WAR TWO.... MORE THAN ONE-THOUSAND MINNESOTANS DIED IN THE VIETNAM WAR.
GOVERNOR WALZ ORDERED U-S AND MINNESOTA FLAGS AT STATE BUILDINGS TO FLY AT HALF-STAFF TO HONOR THOSE WHO DIED SERVING IN THE U-S MILITARY.
AT FORT SNELLING NATIONAL CEMETERY … THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS PLACED FLAGS AT EVERY HEADSTONE BEFORE THE MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY...
MORE THAN 267-THOUSAND VETERANS AND ELIGIBLE FAMILY MEMBERS ARE BURIED AT FORT SNELLING.
AND ON WEDNESDAY … NAVY LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE THOMAS ARTHUR RUTH RETURNS HOME TO JACKSON FOR BURIAL WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS … 83 YEARS AFTER HIS PLANE WAS LOST IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS DURING WORLD WAR TWO.
HE IS THE SECOND WORLD WAR TWO VETERAN FROM MINNESOTA TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH DNA TESTING AND BROUGHT HOME TO A PROPER BURIAL IN JUST THE PAST MONTH.
--TRIBAL MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATIONS--
TRIBAL COMMUNITIES ACROSS MINNESOTA ARE ALSO MARKING MEMORIAL DAY WITH CEREMONIES ROOTED IN HONOR SONGS, FLAGS, WACIPIS AND VETERANS TRADITIONS.
RED LAKE NATION NEWS REPORTS A THREE-STAR WARRIOR SOCIETY 21-GUN SALUTE AT SEVERAL RED LAKE LOCATIONS.
LEECH LAKE HELD ITS MEMORIAL POW WOW AT THE VETERANS MEMORIAL POW WOW GROUNDS IN CASS LAKE.
AND MILLE LACS AND PRAIRIE ISLAND BOTH DESCRIBE MEMORIAL DAY POWWOWS OR WACIPIS AS A WAY TO HONOR VETERANS WHO HAVE WALKED ON.
--GEORGE FLOYD ANNIVERSARY--
TODAY ALSO MARKS SIX YEARS SINCE GEORGE FLOYD WAS MURDERED BY MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER DEREK CHAUVIN … SPARKING PROTESTS IN MINNESOTA AND AROUND THE WORLD.
AT 38TH AND CHICAGO … THE INTERSECTION NOW KNOWN AS GEORGE FLOYD SQUARE … THREE DAYS OF EVENTS MARKED THE EVENT WITH THE RISE & REMEMBER FESTIVAL.
ORGANIZERS SAY THE GATHERING HONORS FLOYD’S LIFE … AND OTHERS LOST TO SYSTEMIC RACISM... WITH EVENTS FOCUSED ON RACIAL JUSTICE, HEALING AND COMMUNITY.
--ICE AGENT POSTS BOND--
AN ICE AGENT ACCUSED OF POINTING A GUN AT TWO PEOPLE ON A TWIN CITIES HIGHWAY IS OUT ON BOND AFTER HIS FIRST COURT APPEARANCE.
GREGORY MORGAN JUNIOR FACES TWO FELONY COUNTS OF SECOND-DEGREE ASSAULT STEMMING FROM AN ENCOUNTER ON HIGHWAY 62 DURING OPERATION METRO SURGE.
MORGAN’S ATTORNEY SAYS HE WAS WORKING IN A TENSE ENVIRONMENT …
[RYAN PACYGA: THERE WERE THINGS THAT LED UP TO THIS SITUATION THAT THE SHORT VIDEO CLIP THAT WE’VE ALL SEEN IN THE NEWS BY NOW DOES NOT DEPICT.]
A HENNEPIN COUNTY JUDGE ORDERED MORGAN TO STAY AWAY FROM WITNESSES … GIVE UP WEAPONS … AND REMAIN IN THE COUNTRY WHILE THE CASE MOVES FORWARD.
--LAKEVILLE MOSQUE MAN WITH KNIVES--
A MAN WAS ARRESTED OUTSIDE A LAKEVILLE MOSQUE AFTER STAFF REPORTED HE WAS AGITATED … ASKING STRANGE QUESTIONS … AND CLAIMING TO BE A MILITARY OFFICER AND FEDERAL AGENT.
LAKEVILLE POLICE SAY OFFICERS FOUND TWO KNIVES AND SUSPECTED NARCOTICS IN HIS POCKETS.
POLICE SAY THE KNIVES WERE NOT DISPLAYED … AND THEY DO NOT HAVE INFORMATION SUGGESTING THE MOSQUE WAS TARGETED FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS.
--MEMORIAL DAY TRAVELING--
ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE ESTIMATED TO TRAVEL THIS MEMORIAL DAY AS LAST YEAR... BUT GAS PRICES ARE THE PRESSURE POINT.
TRIPLE A-ROJECTS NEARLY 45-MILLION AMERICANS ARE TRAVELING AT LEAST 50-MILES... ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN LAST YEAR.
IN MINNESOTA.. REGULAR GAS IS AVERAGING ABOUT FOUR-DOLLARS-33-CENTS-A-GALLON...
THAT’S ABOUT A-DOLLAR-29-CENTS-A-GALLON HIGHER THAN LAST MEMORIAL DAY... BUT... STILL ABOUT 19-CENTS BELOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE...
TRAVEL ANALYSTS SAY THE HIGH COST OF FUEL IS FORCING FAMILIES TO SHORTEN TRIPS, CHOOSE NEARBY DESTINATIONS OR CUT COSTS ELSEWHERE...
--NEW BOATING RULES..--
IF YOU’RE KICKING OFF THE SUMMER ON ONE OF THE NORTHERN MINNESOTA BOUNDARY LAKES THIS WEEK... REMEMBER.. THERE ARE NEW RULES FOR BOATERS CROSSING INTO CANADIAN WATERS THIS SUMMER.
ALL BOATERS MUST REPORT TO CANADIAN BORDER OFFICIALS.
THE RULE APPLIES ANYWHERE PRIVATE BOATERS ENTER CANADA BY WATER... INCLUDING BORDER LAKES ALONG MINNESOTA.
THERE IS A NEW PROCESS SINCE THE REMOTE AREA BORDER CROSSING PERMIT PROGRAM IS BEING PHASED OUT..
EXISTING PERMITS REMAIN VALID THROUGH SEPTEMBER 13TH...AFTER THAT... BOATERS MUST REPORT BY PHONE AT A DESIGNATED REPORTING SITE OR IN PERSON AT A POINT OF ENTRY.
--GOOSEBERRY FALLS--
AND FINALLY … IF STAYING ON LAND... AND CLOSER TO HOME... IT MAY NOT BE SO BAD...
THE BEST STATE PARK TO VISIT IS RIGHT HERE IN OUR HOME STATE.
U-S-A- TODAY SAYS MINNESOTA HAS THE BEST STATE PARK IN THE COUNTRY … WHICH, OF COURSE, WE ALREADY KNEW.
THE NORTH SHORE’S GOOSEBERRY FALLS TOOK FIRST PLACE IN THE NEWSPAPER’S ‘TEN BEST’ READERS CHOICE AWARDS’ … BEATING 19- OTHER NOMINEES.
DNR SAYS GOOSEBERRY HAS BEEN MINNESOTA’S MOST-VISITED STATE PARK FOR SEVEN OF THE LAST TEN YEARS … AVERAGING MORE THAN 760-THOUSAND VISITORS A YEAR.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.