Star Tribune
Man dies after party escalates to gunfire in north Minneapolis
A man is dead and police are searching for suspects following a shooting early Saturday in north Minneapolis.
According to police, officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation just before 6 a.m. in the 1700 block of 26th Avenue N. They found a man with life-threatening wounds and gave him aid until emergency personnel arrived to help.
Despite those efforts, the man died at the scene. His name and the cause of death will be released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in coming days.
Investigators believe the shooting happened when a fight at a nearby party escalated, spilling onto the street before gunfire rang out.
“Today, tragically, another family has been ripped apart by gun violence,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement. “Our investigators are committed to solving this crime and giving a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves.”
One man was arrested at the scene for disorderly conduct, but investigators were still looking into whether he played a role in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Minneapolis police.
Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election next year to represent the Fifth Ward in north Minneapolis.
Ellison is a mural artist who rose to prominence during protests over police killings of Black men. Elected to the council in 2017, the progressive was one of the architects of a 2020 pledge by nine council members to “begin the process of ending the Minneapolis Police Department.”
That led to a failed ballot question the following year that would have restructured public safety, but Ellison was narrowly re-elected that year and again last year, becoming the most senior member of a majority coalition on the council that sits to the political left of Mayor Jacob Frey and often clashes with him.
“The Northside has never lacked brilliant, caring, studious leaders ready to step up and perform this job,” Ellison said in a three-page statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “I feel it is time to take a step back and allow these leaders the honor and opportunity of getting to know their neighbors’ needs.”
Ellison is the son of Attorney General Keith Ellison.
All 13 city council seats and the mayor will be on the ballot next year.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Star Tribune
Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans
The anti-obesity drug market has expanded significantly in recent years, with the Food and Drug Administration approving a new class of weekly injectables like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound to treat obesity.
People can lose as much as 15% to 25% of their body weight on the drugs, which imitate the hormones that regulate appetites by communicating fullness between the gut and brain when people eat.
The cost of the drugs has largely limited them to the wealthy, including celebrities who boast of their benefits. A monthly supply of Wegovy rings up at $1,300 and Zepbound will put you out $1,000. Shortages of the drugs have also limited the supplies.
Kennedy, who as Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary is subject to Senate confirmation, has railed against the drugs’ popularity. In speeches and on social media, he’s said the U.S. should not cover the drugs through Medicaid or Medicare. Instead, he supports a broad expansion of coverage for healthier foods and gym memberships.
”For half the price of Ozempic, we could purchase regeneratively raised, organic food for every American, three meals a day and a gym membership, for every obese American,” Kennedy said to a group of federal lawmakers during a roundtable earlier this year. Ozempic is a diabetes drug that can stimulate weight loss.
The University of Minnesota has installed temporary fencing on a bridge to reduce the risk of suicide attempts.
The installation comes about a year after Kayla Gaebel died by suicide on the the Washington Ave. Bridge. Gaebel’s mother, MJ Weiss, sparked efforts to install barriers on the structure, drawing in suicide prevention advocates.
The two-level bridge connects the East and West Banks of the University of Minnesota campus. Each day, approximately 20,000 pedestrians and 7,000 bicyclists cross the bridge’s upper level, where the fencing has been erected, according to a statement from University Vice President Alice Roberts-Davis.
The fencing blocks off one side of the bridge to prevent traffic. The other side remains accessible to bikes and scooters, with fencing extending the entire length of the bridge. An enclosed portion of the bridge remains open to pedestrians. The new fencing, which is estimated to cost $75,000 should not disrupt the flow of traffic, according to the statement.
The effort to make the bridge permanently safer continues, but the temporary fencing will save lives in the minds of suicide prevention advocates who had grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of action over the years.
Erich Mische, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), said he’s thankful that the university has addressed the issue.
A crisis line sign can be seen through a temporary fence on the Washington Avenue Bridge. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
“This is an enormously powerful first step,” Mische said. “I give President (Rebecca) Cunningham a lot of credit for taking the leadership needed to make this happen.”
The bridge is owned by Hennepin County but generally overseen by the U — an arrangement that has complicated efforts to make structural changes to the bridge.
