Star Tribune
Minnesota gas prices fall ahead of Thanksgiving travel
Minnesota ranked as the 21st cheapest state for average gas prices on Sunday, according to GasBuddy. But its statewide average was slightly higher than in neighboring states. In Wisconsin, gas cost $2.85, followed by North Dakota at $2.80, South Dakota at $2.78, and Iowa averaging at $2.75 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.
Leaders with AAA said in a news release they expect record-setting travel for Thanksgiving, predicting nearly 80 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles or more. That would be an all-time high for the holiday and roughly 1.7 million more travelers than last year.
The group also expects travel by car will beat records nationwide and in Minnesota.
The higher numbers are “driven by economic growth, declining inflation, and strong income gains, which is expected to boost consumer spending by 4.6% compared to this time last year,” the release said.
AAA recorded Minnesota’s average gas price at $3.11 a gallon on Thanksgiving Day last year. The national average was $3.26 on the holiday.
A Fleet Farm employee was sent to the hospital after being assaulted at the Carver store on Sunday afternoon.
Law enforcement were called to the store, located at 1935 Levi Griffin Road, after 2 p.m. on Sunday, said Lt. Jason Breunig, a spokesman with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office. A female employee was assaulted with what investigators believe might have been an “edged weapon,” Breunig said.
“We believe a weapon was involved, but that is still under investigation,” he said.
A man was arrested and is being held at the Carver County Jail. Charges were not filed as of Sunday night.
The employee suffered an injury to her neck, Breunig said. She was hospitalized, however, her injuries were not believed to be life threatening.
Breunig did not provide additional details. He said more information should be released this coming week.
Two Minneapolis police officers were injured on Saturday night after their squad car collided with another vehicle.
The crash happened after 8:30 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and 9th Street South in downtown. Police said the two officers were driving with their lights and siren on when the squad car and a security vehicle hit each other.
The two officers were transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening. The driver of the security vehicle was not injured.
The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating the crash. As of Sunday, police had not released additional details, such as what led to the crash.
Star Tribune
Republicans lash out at Democrats’ claims that Trump intelligence pick Gabbard is ‘compromised’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Republican senators pushed back on Sunday against criticism from Democrats that Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead U.S. intelligence services, is ”compromised” by her comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings, as a congresswoman, with Syria’s president, a close ally of the Kremlin and Iran.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, a veteran of combat missions in Iraq, said she had concerns about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice to be director of national intelligence.
”I think she’s compromised,” Duckworth said on CNN’s ”State of the Union,” citing Gabbard’s 2017 trip to Syria, where she held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Gabbard was a Democratic House member from Hawaii at the time.
”The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes. And so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check,” Duckworth said.
Gabbard, who said last month she is joining the Republican party, has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades. She was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait and, according to the Hawaii National Guard, received a Combat Medical Badge in 2005 for ”participation in combat operations under enemy hostile fire in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.”
Duckworth’s comments drew immediate backlash from Republicans.
”For her to say ridiculous and outright dangerous words like that is wrong,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said on CNN, challenging Duckworth to retract her words. ”That’s the most dangerous thing she could say — is that a United States lieutenant colonel in the United States Army is compromised and is an asset of Russia.”
In recent days, other Democrats have accused Gabbard without evidence of being a ”Russian asset.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has claimed, without offering details, that Gabbard is in Russian President Vladimir ”Putin’s pocket.”
