Star Tribune
St. Paul voters to choose whether city taxes should pay for childcare
According to program details given to the City Council in September, 27% of St. Paul children live under the federal poverty level, $31,200 for a family of four. More than half live under 185% of the federal poverty level — a threshold used by the state to indicate the need for early learning scholarships. The committee formulating the St. Paul plan recommends covering the full cost of care for children under 185% of the poverty level.
In the program’s first year, the subsidies would likely help cover child care for 154 infants from some of St. Paul’s neediest families, according to estimates. By the 10th year, 650 infants, 1,169 toddlers and 1,096 preschoolers would be receiving child care subsidies, organizers said.
Noecker said 4,000-7,000 children up to age 5 will have been helped over the 10 years.
Fifty other cities across the country have voter-approved children’s funds, Noecker said, “And they’ve seen a lot of success.”
According to “Vote Yes” organizers, the average St. Paul home would pay an additional $16 in the first year, less than $2 extra per month. After the 10th year, when the program is fully funded, the average home would pay an extra $160 each year.
Records filed with Ramsey County show that, as of Sept. 10, the Vote Yes campaign has raised $65,380 and spent $26,880.20. The campaign had an account balance of $38,639.80.
A heavily traveled bridge over Hwy. 169 in Brooklyn Park that was hit from below days ago by a truck driver reopened late Friday morning following repairs, state officials said Friday.
More than 17,000 motorists who use the 77th Avenue/Brooklyn Boulevard/Elm Creek Boulevard bridge were forced to find an alternate route while the serious damage to several concrete beams was fixed, said Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman Kent Barnard.
Barnard said the bridge was back in business at 11:49 a.m.
While the bridge over the northwest metro highway was closed, Hwy. 169 below remained open in both directions, as did ramps to and from 77th/Brooklyn Boulevard/Elm Creek Boulevard, Barnard said.
Star Tribune
Guilty of gun, drug counts against Derrick Thompson, still charged with killing 5 in crash
A federal jury Friday returned guilty verdicts on gun and drug charges against Derrick John Thompson in connection with the Minneapolis crash that killed five women in June 2023 after he sped off Interstate 35W in and slammed into the car they were riding in.
The verdicts on the fourth day of the trial in U.S. District Court in St. Paul were guilty for all counts: possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm “during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”
While Thompson, 28, of Brooklyn Park and the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson, now awaits sentencing in this case, he also has third-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide charges pending in Hennepin County in connection with the crash. In the meantime, he remains in federal custody in the Sherburne County jail.
The crash victims were Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis, and Siham Adam, 19, of Minneapolis. On the night they were killed, the women were heading home after running errands before a friend’s wedding the next day. Their funeral was attended by thousands, and an online fundraiser to support the victims’ families raised more than $450,000.
A still image from body cam footage shows a bleeding Derrick Thompson near the scene of the crash that killed five women in June 2023 in Minneapolis. (U.S. District Court)
During this week’s federal trial, Thompson’s defense attorneys argued that the drugs and a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine discovered in the Escalade actually belong to his brother Damarco John Thompson — whom both the prosecution and defense said was a passenger in the SUV and fled the scene along with Derrick Thompson.
Damarco Thompson has not been arrested or charged with any crimes connected to the crash.
Police found three phones in the car, one for each brother and another they shared. They found video, text and voice messages on Derrick Thompson’s phone documenting narcotics being weighed for sale and negotiations over drug purchases.
A black leather bag carrying the gun and drugs was found beneath a distinctive blue cap Damarco Thompson was captured wearing earlier that night as he dropped Derrick off to rent the Escalade at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The bag held a loaded Glock handgun with an extended magazine and more than 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl, 14 grams of powdered fentanyl and 35 grams of cocaine.
DULUTH – The memorial service for an unassuming northern Minnesota park ranger who died while attempting to rescue a Wisconsin family amid wind and wicked waves on Namakan Lake is set for Sunday in the gymnasium at Falls High School in International Falls.
Grossheim, 55, died Sunday trying to bring to safety a man and his two sons, who were stranded on an island. Five-to-eight foot waves were reportedly rolling on the lake in Voyageurs National Park. Grossheim’s park service boat capsized. The family was able to swim to safety, but the longtime park ranger known for his commitment to safety did not resurface. His body was found hours later. Grossheim was wearing a life preserver, according to law enforcement officials.
Betsey Warrington of Kabotegama, Minn., described Grossheim as a private, unassuming person who everyone loved. He likely did thousands of good things that no one ever heard about, she said.
“If he saw something that needed to be done, he just did it,” she said Friday.
Grossheim, of Kabotegama, married Jill Chytil in 1996 and together they lived a quiet life.
Various organizations have banded together to support Grossheim’s family in the aftermath.
The MN 100 Club, which provides financial contributions for lost wages and funeral expenses when a First Responder is killed or critically injured in the line of duty, said this week that it will give $50,000 to Grossheim’s family.
