Star Tribune
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoes Minneapolis City County’s Israel-Hamas resolution
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday vetoed a City Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an end to U.S. military funding for Israel.
“The resolution City Council approved uplifts the history of Palestinians, and all but erases that of Israeli Jews,” Frey wrote in his veto letter. “Including some people’s history as valid, truthful, and righteous as it may be, while ignoring others, is neither progressive nor inclusive. That’s not in keeping with the Minneapolis I know and love.”
The mayor added that he remains “open to signing a truly unifying ceasefire resolution and hope we can all do this work together.”
The symbolic resolution was approved Jan. 25 by nine of the 13 council members — enough to override a veto. The council will likely be faced with that override vote next week.
Wednesday’s development amps up attention on passionate local divisions surrounding the war, which started Oct. 7 when Hamas fighters invaded Israel, which responded with a bombing campaign and invasion of Gaza of such fury that the International Court of Justice has warned Israel to take immediate steps to prevent committing genocide.
The resolution was supported by a number of Palestinian-rights and Islamic groups, including the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, as well as several progressive groups pushing for boycotts and disinvestment from Israel and at least one Jewish group highly critical of Israel’s policy toward Palestine. But it was opposed by several prominent Jewish groups, including the Minnesota Rabbinical Association. The four council members who voted against the resolution or abstained, as well as Frey, said they feared that the City Council’s focus on a contentious resolution would inflame local tensions — tensions that are reflected in the identities of the city’s elected officials.
Frey is Jewish; the City Council’s four Muslims — Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai and Council Members Jeremiah Ellison, Jamal Osman and Aurin Chowdhury — were all sponsors of the resolution.
Frey and several council members opposed to the resolution said they could support a call for a ceasefire that stopped short of calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel and refrained from criticizing Israel. But a last-minute attempt to substitute that more milquetoast language failed.
Supporters said the resolution’s strong wording — it noted the mounting death toll in Gaza and South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel — was necessary based on the reality of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
After the veto was announced Wednesday, Chughtai, one of the supporters of the resolution, said: “I’m proud of the supermajority of my colleagues on the City Council who approved a factual resolution responsive to hundreds of Minneapolis residents. As I’ve said before, the defense of humanity is a shared project — one that each of us has a role in. I’m looking forward to discussions with colleagues as we weigh our options to sustain or override the Mayor’s veto at our City Council meeting on Thursday, February 8.”
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
ST. CLOUD – On Tuesday, St. Cloud voters will be asked to make decisions on a new fire station and moving city elections to odd years, and — for those who live in Stearns County — how to fund a new county jail.
Here’s a look at the three referendum questions that are on St. Cloud-area ballots this year.
Ballot question: “Shall Stearns County be authorized to impose a sales tax & use tax of three-eighths of one percent to finance up to $325 million, plus associated bonding costs, for the construction of a justice center facility, consisting of law enforcement, judicial center and jail? The sales tax would be used solely to finance construction, upgrades and financing costs for the justice center and remain in effect for 30 years or until the project is paid for, whichever comes first. These services and facilities are mandated by the state of Minnesota to be provided by counties.”
Stearns County officials are planning to build a new $325 million justice center complex that includes a 270-bed jail, a judicial center with courtrooms, and a law enforcement center that houses the Sheriff’s Office. In the summer, Stearns County board members voted to move those facilities out of downtown and to a new location with more space. That site has yet to be determined.
The question before voters is how to fund that center.
County Administrator Mike Williams said a common misconception he’s heard at recent town halls is residents think voting “yes” gives permission to the county to build the facility, and if they vote “no,” the county won’t spend the money to build it.
“People [think they] are voting on the project — and they’re not. They’re voting on how we are going to fund it,” Williams said.
If voters approve the ballot question, the county will impose a sales tax to fund the project. If they vote it down, the county can instead pay for the project with property taxes.