Star Tribune
Bloomington police looking for driver who caused collision, leaving Uber passenger gravely injured
Police are looking for the car and the driver who caused a high-speed hit-and-run crash in Bloomington that left an Uber passenger in the other vehicle with little chance of surviving his injuries.
The collision occurred about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 at the intersection of E. 94th Street and S. 12th Avenue, according to police.
Based on vehicle parts left behind at the crash scene, police in a filing Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court described the vehicle they are trying to find as a dark gray Infiniti G35, model year ranging from 2006 to 2009.
Along with damage to the car’s front end on the passenger side, police added that its muffler was especially loud.
Severely injured in the other car was Kelvin S. Conteh, 49, of Bloomington, according to the court filing from police asking a judge to allow them to gather cellular data in the vicinity of the crash scene.
Conteh remains in critical condition at HCMC, a hospital spokeswoman said. He has “a broken neck, no brain activity and is not expected to live,” the court filing read.
According to the search warrant affidavit:
Officers arrived to find Conteh, who was getting a ride to the Walmart in Bloomington, unconscious in the back seat of the Uber driver’s car with life-threatening injuries.
The Uber driver was heading north on 12th, entered the intersection with 94th having the right of way and was hit on the rear passenger side by the Infiniti, whose driver was speeding without headlights illuminated and failed to observe the stop sign.
The Infiniti left behind part of a bumper and headlight assembly before leaving the scene.
Officers followed a trail of fluid from the Infiniti to a home in the 9500 block of S. Oakland Avenue, where the car stopped. A residential camera captured the driver inspecting the damage, but darkness made it impossible to make out the suspect.
The camera did reveal another vehicle arriving at the same address before both drivers left 30 seconds later.
Police put photos of a car of the same make, model and color on social media and asked for the public’s help in finding the vehicle and the driver. The posting said tips can be called in to Bloomington police at 952-563-4900.
Star Tribune
With a coin flip, Lucie Skjefte appointed to the Minneapolis school board
The Minneapolis school board on Tuesday night appointed Lucie Skjefte, chair of the district’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee, to fill the vacant District 3 board seat in the city’s center.
Her selection ultimately came down to chance.
Skjefte emerged from earlier ranked-choice voting in a tie with Fatimah Hussein, and the two then deadlocked, 4 to 4, in a live board vote before a coin was flipped in Skjefte’s favor.
They were among four finalists to succeed Faheema Feerayarre, who resigned in September, too late for the seat to be placed on the November ballot.
The move throws two new members into the mix as the school board works to erase an anticipated budget deficit and dig into a “transformation process” that could include closing and merging schools.
Greta Callahan, a former president of the teachers chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, won election last week to the District 6 seat.
During an appearance before board members last Thursday, Skjefte, who is a Red Lake tribal member, spoke of her work as an Indigenous graphics designer and as director of operations for the Mni Sota Fund, a community development group that seeks to empower Native people.
She said she’d aim to “reach out and create spaces for every voice, especially for those from historically marginalized communities.”
Star Tribune
What to know about Forest Lake’s Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary
In picking Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a military veteran and popular conservative media personality with a large following of his own.
Hegseth, 44, has developed a close rapport with Trump, who also reportedly considered him for a post in his first administration. Hegseth has lobbied Trump to release service members accused of war crimes.
Here are a few things to know about Hegseth.
He’s a Fox News personality and author
Co-host of Fox News Channel’s ”Fox & Friends Weekend,” Hegseth has been a contributor to the network for a decade. He developed a friendship with Trump through the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show. In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson complimented Hegseth’s military knowledge, saying his ”insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers.”
He’s also written a number of books, several for the network’s publishing imprint, including ”The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.” In announcing Hegseth’s nomination, Trump complimented that book, noting its ”nine weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, including two weeks at NUMBER ONE.”
Hegseth has served in the military, although he lacks senior military or national security experience.
Star Tribune
More than half of Minnesota county election offices receive bomb threats since Nov. 8
Election offices in more than half of Minnesota’s counties have been targeted with emailed bomb threats since Nov. 8, the office of the Secretary of State said Tuesday.
The threats come as election workers are still in the process of verifying the results of the 2024 election.
In a statement, Secretary of State Steve Simon said his office is coordinating with local, state and federal partners to “ensure that our election officials can complete this important work and that those responsible for these threats are held accountable.”
“Threats of violence against election workers, aimed at disrupting our democracy, are absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
Turnout was high in Minnesota in 2024, but it was lower compared to the 2020 presidential election.
Unofficial 2024 results show about 76% of registered voters cast a ballot, down from the record-breaking 79.96% turnout in 2020, the office of the Secretary of State said last week.
The unofficial results, however, are higher than the 74.72% turnout recorded in 2016.