Replanting hundreds of thousands of trees up north, relief for homeowners if their houses are damaged by tear gas by police, and school safety and gun legislation moves forward in the Minnesota senate.
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
COMING UP …
[SEN. BONNIE WESTLIN: I DIDN'T KNOW A HOME COULD LOOK LIKE THAT.]
RELIEF FOR HOMEOWNERS IF THEIR HOUSES ARE DAMAGED BY TEAR GAS …
BUT FIRST … SCHOOL SAFETY AND GUN LEGISLATION MOVES FORWARD IN THE MINNESOTA SENATE.
[SEN. ZAYNAB MOHAMED: WE ARE NOT CHOOSING TO JUST DO SOMETHING; WE ARE CHOOSING TO DO EVERYTHING.]
--SENATE GUN PACKAGE--
THE SENATE VOTED ON A SWEEPING PACKAGE OF D-F-L INTRODUCED GUN LEGISLATION MONDAY … PASSING IT ON PARTY LINES.
THE LEGISLATION CRACKS DOWN ON GUN MODIFICATIONS… PUTS NEW MONEY INTO SCHOOL SAFETY … AND BANS FUTURE SALES OF ASSAULT-STYLE WEAPONS AND MAGAZINES HOLDING MORE THAN 17 ROUNDS.
BEFORE A FOUR-HOUR DEBATE ON THE FLOOR … GUN-SAFETY ADVOCATES AND VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE SPOKE IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL
A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STUDENT WHO SAYS THEY LIVED THROUGH A MASS SHOOTING SAYS GUN VIOLENCE … AND THE THREAT OF IT … HAS BECOME A CONSTANT FEAR IN YOUNG PEOPLES’ LIVES.
[GUN VIOLENCE ISN'T SOMETHING WE HEAR ABOUT ONCE IN A WHILE ON THE NEWS. IT'S SOMETHING WE GROW UP WITH. IT'S LOCKDOWN DRILLS. IT'S CHECKING EXITS IN CLASSROOMS. IT'S WONDERING IF TODAY IS THE DAY, SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN.]
SENATE REPUBLICANS CHALLENGED THE LEGALITY OF THE BILLS … SENATOR MICHAEL HOLMSTROM TOOK A DEFIANT STANCE.
[SEN. MICHAEL HOLMSTROM: I WILL NOT COMPLY WITH THIS LAW. MOST OF MINNESOTA WILL NOT COMPLY WITH THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW.]
THE LEGISLATION NOW HEADS TO THE EVENLY DIVIDED HOUSE.
--CHEMICAL IRRITANT BILL --
COLIN HORTMAN... THE SON OF FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER MELISSA HORTMAN AND MARK HORTMAN... WHO WERE KILLED INSIDE THEIR HOME IN 20-25... HELPED TWO BILLS PASS THROUGH THE HOUSE AND SENATE.
ONE REQUIRES POLICE TO DISCLOSE WHAT CHEMICAL IRRITANTS ARE USED INSIDE A BUILDING... THE OTHER BILL PREVENTS HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE FROM *EXCLUDING SOME DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE CHEMICALS WHEN USED BY POLICE INSIDE HOMES..
SENATOR BONNIE WESTLIN TOOK UP THE ISSUE AFTER COLIN EXPLAINED THE ISSUES HE FACED AFTER POLICE SPRAYED TEAR GAS, INSIDE THEIR HOME WHILE RESPONDING TO THE JUNE 20-25 SHOOTING OF HIS PARENTS.
[SEN. BONNIE WESTLIN: HIS FEET KICKED UP THE TEAR GAS AND CHEMICAL IRRITANTS THAT WERE DEPLOYED THERE, MAKING HIS EYES BURN AND HIS THROAT CLOSE UP.]
BOTH BILLS ARE OFF TO GOVERNOR TIM WALZ’S DESK ....
--GOFUNDME FOR ICE SHOOTER --
A GOFUNDME FOR THE ICE AGENT IDENTIFIED AS HAVING SHOT AND KILLED RENEE GOODHAS RAISED NEARLY 800-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
WIRED MAGAZINE REPORTED IN JANUARY THAT THE FUNDRAISER FOR AGENT JONATHAN ROSS RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT GOFUNDME’S OWN RULES … BECAUSE THE CAMPAIGN APPEARS TIED TO LEGAL DEFENSE AND ... GOFUNDME BANS SOME LEGAL-DEFENSE FUNDRAISERS IN VIOLENT-CRIME CASES.
THE GOFUNDME PAGE … ORGANIZED BY A MICHIGAN MAN … SAYS THE MONEY WILL HELP OFFICER JONATHAN ROSS … WHO HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED IN THE SHOOTING.
GOOD WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN JANUARY DURING AN IMMIGRATION OPERATION IN MINNEAPOLIS.
FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY ROSS FIRED IN SELF-DEFENSE … BUT THE F-B-I AND HENNEPIN COUNTY ARE STILL INVESTIGATING THE CASE .
--NEW HOPE POLICE CAMERAS --
CITY LEADERS IN THE NORTHWEST MINNEAPOLIS SUBURB OF NEW HOPE SAY AN INVESTMENT IN POLICE CAMERAS ARE CENTRAL TO PUBLIC TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY.
THE COUNCIL APPROVED A NEARLY TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR, TEN-YEAR UPGRADE FOR BODY CAMERAS, SQUAD CAMERAS, AND TASERS...
OFFICIALS SAY THEY CITY’S CURRENT CAMERA SYSTEM IS OLD AND HAS MORE TECHNICAL FAILURES...
--TREE PLANTING IN ST LOUIS COUNTY INTRO--
THE MUNGER SHAW FIRE IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA BURNED 16-HUNDRED ACRES OF FOREST LAND DURING A SINGLE WEEK LAST MAY …
AMPERS MEMBER STATION K-A-X-E's MEGAN BUFFINGTON HAS THE STORY ON THE EFFORT TO BRING LIFE BACK TO THE FIRE-SCARRED LAND.
--TREE PLANTING IN ST LOUIS COUNTY — KAXE PACKAGE--
[THE ST LOUIS COUNTY LAND AND MINERALS FORESTRY DIVISION OVERSAW THE PLANTING OF 40,000 TREE SEEDLINGS ON THURSDAY.
THE MIX OF RED AND WHITE PINE SEEDLINGS NOW COVER NEARLY 50 ACRES OF TAX FORFEITED LAND THAT BURNED IN THE MUNGER SHAW FIRE.
MINNESOTA POWER DONATED 23,000 SEEDLINGS THROUGH ITS RAJALA WOODS INITIATIVE. THE REMAINING 17,000 COME FROM THE COUNTY SUPPLY. THE LAND AND MINERALS DEPARTMENT EXPECTS TO PLANT ABOUT 350,000 SEEDLINGS IN TOTAL THIS YEAR.
THE TREES BURNED IN THE MUNGER SHAW FIRE WERE, ON AVERAGE, ABOUT 50 YEARS OLD, SO IT WILL TAKE TIME FOR THE AREA TO RECOVER.
BUT ST LOUIS COUNTY FORESTER ERIC ANTON SAYS THEY'RE ALREADY SEEING ASPEN REGENERATE NEARBY.
MEGAN BUFFINGTON KAXE NEWS.]
--MMIR DAY REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY--
AND FINALLY …
TODAY IS NATIONAL MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS RELATIVES’... OR MMIR.. AWARENESS DAY.
EACH YEAR... MINNESOTA’S M-M-I-R OFFICE READS THE NAMES OF THE MORE THAN 250-MISSING OR MURDERED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OUT LOUD AT ITS ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY AT THE AMERICAN INDIAN CENTER …
ORGANIZERS SAY THE DAY IS MEANT TO HONOR FAMILIES, SPEAK THEIR NAMES, AND KEEP LOVED ONES AND THE CALL FOR JUSTICE VISIBLE.
--AMERICAN INDIAN MONTH--
TODAY’S REMEMBRANCE COMES AS MINNESOTA MARKS AMERICAN INDIAN MONTH.
GOVERNOR TIM WALZ PROCLAIMED MAY AS A TIME TO RECOGNIZE AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY, CULTURE, ART, CONTRIBUTIONS AND WAYS OF LIFE…
ACROSS THE STATE … THAT MEANS POWWOWS, ART SHOWS, AND COMMUNITY MEALS …
AND A MONTH TO HONOR THE DAKOTA AND ANISHINAABE PEOPLE WHOSE ANCESTRAL AND CONTEMPORARY LANDS INCLUDE MNI SOTA MAKOCE.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.