Star Tribune
City Council unanimously approves Minneapolis police oversight commission members
The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve 14 residents for the city’s new police oversight commission.
The nominees were selected by each of the 13 council members to represent their wards and by Mayor Jacob Frey, who chose two members, for the 15-member Community Commission on Police Oversight.
The council approved 14 rather than 15 commission members because James Westphal, an attorney nominated by Council Member Andrew Johnson, withdrew his name late Wednesday due to a legal matter he said would occupy his time.
Johnson, who represents the 12th Ward, indicated he was already reviewing possibilities to fill the seat.
With Westphal’s withdrawal, the commission is composed of seven white members and seven people of color, five of whom are Black, according to research done by the Star Tribune. One member is Black and Native American and another is white and Native American.
The commission has no Hispanic or Asian representatives, an omission that went unmentioned by council members during a brief discussion before the vote.
Asked afterward about the lack of Hispanic or Asian members, Minneapolis Civil Rights Director Alberder Gillespie said the new commission was “one of the most diverse bodies that we have. It is not just racially diverse, it is diverse in terms of the lived experiences of these commissioners.”
She added: “I think the board will continue to evolve over time. But I think we have a good initial group of commission members who are ready to do the work.”
Council members praised Gillespie for helping develop the ordinance creating the commission and overseeing the process of soliciting applicants, who numbered more than 160. Council President Andrea Jenkins said she was “thrilled with the level of interest” shown in serving on the commission.
Rotating panels comprised of three commission members and two police officers will consider complaints filed by citizens against Minneapolis police officers, reviewing investigations conducted by the police internal affairs unit or investigators with the city’s Civil Rights Department.
The panels will vote on whether a complaint has merit and forward their findings to Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who would then determine whether an officer should be disciplined and what the discipline would be.
The commission also will meet at least eight times a year to consider whether to recommend policy changes or reforms.
Applicants who were not nominated for the commission included two retired Minneapolis deputy police chiefs, Greg Hestness and Scott Gerlicher. Some observers had said that since the review panels already have two officers on them, adding ex-police officers to the commission would be excessive.
Those not selected for the commission also included two applicants belonging to Communities United Against Police Brutality. The citizens’ group, which has been highly critical of the city’s failure to discipline officers for misconduct, has said the oversight commission should be independent of city administrators and have subpoena power.
The new commission members are Josh Loar, Ward 1; Mara Schanfield, Ward 2; Paul Olsen, Ward 3; Melissa Newman, Ward 4; Jennifer Clement, Ward 5; AJ Awed, Ward 6; Mary Dedeaux-Swinton, Ward 7; Fartun Weli, Ward 8; Stacey Gurian-Sherman, Ward 9; Alexis Pederson, Ward 10; Philip Sturm, Ward 11; Nichelle Williams-Johnson, Ward 13; and Louis Smith and Latonya Reeves, both nominated by Frey.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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