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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says comment that remote workers would turn into “losers” was a joke
MINNEAPOLIS — Mayor Jacob Frey is facing some heat for a comment he made earlier this week, calling “at home” workers “losers.” He has since clarified that the comments were made as “a joke.”
When Frey said, if people stayed at home working for more than three months they risk becoming “losers,” he says it was his way of having fun with the crowd at the Minneapolis Downtown Council Annual meeting Wednesday.
“Guys, it was a joke. It was a joke,” Frey said Thursday morning. “People in the room took it as a joke. When it gets taken out of context in a social media post, things can run wild.”
And his comments certainly did run wild. Many people responded negatively on social media, but Frey insists he was joking. Frey said that his joke actually centered around a fictional study, referencing non-existent people and “coming to a conclusion that I think we can all agree would be ridiculous that no study would ever come to.”
Frey then went on to say his responsibility is to bring more people to live, play and work in downtown Minneapolis. He highlighted the good points of downtown during his address, including the growth in housing units, along with the influx of people attending theatre, concerts and restaurants.
Among the things discussed during the Wednesday meeting was the fact that Target is no longer the largest employer in Downtown Minneapolis, having been surpassed by Hennepin Healthcare. Target has been among the employers who are still letting a number of workers work remotely, long after the crest of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, several businesses have seen an uptick in employees coming back to work in offices downtown.
“There are very serious things. We were just discussing one of them a second ago. Cat blankets are not [serious]. It was at a business luncheon and I made a joke. That’s it,” Frey said.
That serious thing referred to by Frey was the controversy over Minneapolis City Council overriding Frey’s veto of the council resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the wake of the council’s override, Frey passed his own proclamation calling for a cease-fire.
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The North Carolina county that is home to Asheville overcounted deaths caused by Helene by as many as 30, according to a statement Tuesday from its sheriff’s office and data from the state, significantly reducing the death toll from the historic storm.
Buncombe County officials, who previously reported 72 deaths, are now deferring to a state tally of 42 deaths for the county.
The county’s number dates back to an Oct. 3 news release in which county officials reported that “72 lives have been lost due to Hurricane Helene,” repeating a number cited by Sheriff Quentin Miller at an earlier media briefing. But state officials, relying on reviews by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh, have consistently reported a number lower than that for the county. The number for Buncombe County included in the state’s tally has stood at 42 since at least Oct. 10.
On Tuesday, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office acknowledged in a statement that the number of deaths in the county was lower than the number it provided.
“In the early aftermath of Hurricane Helene, all deaths were being classified as storm related and from Buncombe County. However, as the days progressed, BCSO was able to identify who had passed away due to the hurricane, who was in fact from Buncombe County, and who passed away from other causes,” Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Christina Esmay told CBS News in a statement Tuesday. “Compounded with the lack of consistent communication, due to widespread outages, the Buncombe County fatality number that was initially provided to Sheriff Miller has decreased.”
The sheriff’s office did not provide additional information.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh typically reviews weather deaths and makes a ruling on cause before reporting numbers through state officials, a process it has used in past storms for years. But in the chaos following Helene, a number of counties reported fatality numbers independently of the state. The state’s tally has gradually increased through Tuesday, but the climb has slowed as bodies have been examined.
A spokesperson from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told CBS News that Buncombe County is “relying on the state to report storm-related deaths.” Hannah Jones, the spokesperson, said the state’s count of storm-related fatalities stands at 96, with 42 of these deaths were in Buncombe County.
“We do not have information about how Buncombe County was determining fatality numbers for the death totals they were reporting for their county. We understand that Buncombe County decided to stop their independent reporting a couple weeks ago and are relying on the state to report storm-related deaths,” Jones said.
Another county, Henderson, had previously reported two more deaths than the state, but said on Tuesday that it agrees with the state’s tally of 7 deaths.
Using the new North Carolina figures, CBS News has now confirmed through Tuesday at least 215 total deaths across multiple states due to Helene.
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Target is cutting prices on more than 2,000 products for the holiday shopping season. The move marks the continuation a recent trend among retail and fast-food chains looking to entice budget-conscious consumers with value meals and discounted items.
Minneapolis-based Target on Tuesday said it would reduce the cost of Target-owned and national brands, including food and beverages, everyday basics like cough medicine, toys and other holiday gifts.
The announcement comes after Target in May cut prices on about 5,000 of its products, bringing the total to more than 8,000 items discounted so far this year. By the end of the holiday season, the company said it will have lowered prices on more than 10,000 items during the year.
In markets across the country from Phoenix to Atlanta, most of Target’s nearly 2,000 stores, its website Target.com and its app are featuring the following lower prices, according to the retailer:
Target touted its reductions just days after Aldi unveiled its lowest-price Thanksgiving spread in five years, besting an offer by its bigger rival, Walmart, by about two bucks. The discount retailers echo the messaging of fast-food chains offering $5 value meals.
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North Carolina county overcounted Helene deaths by as many as 30, sheriff says
FBI investigating classified documents leak on Israel’s Iran attack plan