Star Tribune
Outgoing Orono mayor appoints new council member over objections
“It’s the exact opposite of honoring those election results and the message that the voters have sent with it by doing this sort of maneuver at this meeting tonight,” she said.
Council Member Maria Veach previously took her seat through an appointment process and said she “dealt with its aftermath for my entire term.”
“I knew that really well-intentioned people won’t be given a chance, and the appointment process is brutal,” Veach said. “Unfortunately, what we’re tasked with is unprecedented yet again.”
Berrett’s appointment failed on a 2-2 vote, with Walsh and Council Member Richard Crosby voting for her selection and Benson and Veach voting against. The city attorney said that, in the event of a tie, state law allows the mayor to appoint a new council member. Walsh immediately appointed Berrett, eliciting boos from the audience.
During public comment, multiple people spoke against Berrett’s selection, with some raising concerns about the process and some saying they knew little about her except that she had ties to a group that held a forum featuring Walsh in the runup to the election. (Walsh received just one-third of the votes in the November election, losing to Tunheim.)
Berrett didn’t address that head-on, but said she would tell people a little bit about herself. She said she has been an Orono resident for 29 years and has a “servant’s heart,” adding that she had served on a parents’ association and a parish council.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask the taxpayers to fund the errors of the state,” he said, explaining why he didn’t support a different option before the board that involved turning to voters for more money next fall.
In recent surveys and community meetings about the proposed budget cuts, nearly 90% of respondents said they supported an option that involved delaying cuts and asking taxpayers for more money.
Board Co-Chair Kacy Deschene said none of the options before the board represented a “perfect solution for everybody.”
“We do know cuts are coming,” she said. “I feel like I’m repeating that as a broken record, but I want to make very clear that option three, as it’s before us, does not mean there are no future cuts.”
“I know the work has been stressful as you’ve considered the very passionate feedback from many voices,” McIntyre said, adding that he would support any option the board chose and all of the choices would require compromise. “While the challenges are real and the decisions difficult, we must move forward with a balanced budget that serves the best interests of our students and staff.”
Star Tribune
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire to end nearly 14 months of fighting
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Israel also struck a building in Beirut’s bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties.
The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah’s financial arm.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered.
A 46-year-old man has admitted to a fatal shooting in February at a north Minneapolis gas station in which hours passed before anyone called to help the victim.
Marvin Jewell Dancy, of Crystal, agreed in Hennepin County District Court to plead guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the killing of 21-year-old Wence Ledell Edwards, of Minneapolis on Feb. 5 in the alley behind the Handy Stop on the 2600 block of West Broadway.
The plea agreement calls for Dancy to be sentenced to a term of slightly more than 12¾ years. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Dancy can expect to serve the first 8¾ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Dancy’s criminal history spans many years and includes seven convictions for drug-related offenses, three for fleeing police and one each for robbery, burglary and assault.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police were alerted on Feb. 6 shortly after midnight to a body in the alley behind the gas station. Edwards had been shot multiple times.
Investigators determined Edwards had been shot about 2 hours earlier near the gasoline pumps. The charges did not offer a motive for the killing.
Gas station surveillance video showed Dancy firing numerous times at a fleeing Edwards, who had a gun in one hand and managed to get off one shot.
