Star Tribune
Mill City Museum nominated for best history museum in U.S., now vying for top spot
Mill City Museum in Minneapolis is one of 21 nominees for best history museum in the country, as decided by USA Today, and museum staffers are now asking for the public’s help to vote it into the top spot.
This the second year in a row that Mill City Museum has made the list of nominees, created by six USA Today experts as part of its 10Best Readers’ Choice awards. In 2023, Mill City finished fourth.
Museum Site Manager David Stevens said Tuesday in a news release that staff members are “doubly honored” because the museum just reached its 20-year anniversary.
“We are so grateful for all the support received from Minnesotans last year,” Stevens said. “This recognition of the great work our staff does to tell the rich history of Minneapolis is tremendous.”
The museum’s release urged people to vote for Mill City Museum online, where they can log their pick for best museum once a day. The contest closes at 11 a.m. Feb. 12, and the top 10 vote-getters will be announced Feb. 23.
As of Tuesday evening, Mill City Museum was the fourth-highest vote-getter. It was sitting behind the Cincinnati History Museum, Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
Mill City Museum sits on the Mississippi riverfront in downtown Minneapolis, built within what’s left of the Washburn A Mill, now a historic landmark. One of the largest and most advanced flour mills of its time, it made Minneapolis the flour milling capital of the world from 1880 to 1930.
Museum visitors can travel through a giant elevator while experiencing the sights and sounds of workers and machines during Minneapolis’ milling heyday, sample treats at the baking lab and enjoy a panoramic view from the observation deck.
Online voting for best history museum can be found at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-history-museum-2024/.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
”How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. ”This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a ”floating island of garbage.” Trump then seized on a comment Biden made on a late Wednesday call that “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president tried to clarify the comment afterward, saying he had intended to say Trump’s demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
He again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off the firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
”I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. ”I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”
