Star Tribune
Officials ID 2 women killed in fiery collision with other vehicle in Twin Cities
Officials on Wednesday identified the two women who died in a fiery crash when their vehicle collided with another at north Minneapolis intersection.
Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57, both of Minneapolis, died soon after the wreck late Monday morning at the intersection of N. 26th and Emerson avenues, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Fulks died at the scene, while Reece was declared dead at North Memorial Health Hospital.
Two people in the other vehicle were hospitalized with critical injuries, while a 17-year-old boy waiting at a bus shelter to be picked up for school was hit and taken HCMC with noncritical injuries, police said. Their identities have yet to be released.
Fulks was “a mother of four and very loved in her community!” daughter D’Nia Fulks posted on an online fundraising page started on behalf of the family.
Esther Fulks (With permission from GoFundMe)
A northbound vehicle on Emerson struck the women’s vehicle as it headed east on 26th, police said. The impact sent the eastbound vehicle into the bus shelter, where it caught fire.
Police said they believe excessive speed played a role in the crash, but they have yet to say which driver was suspected of speeding.
The complaint from Parents Defending Education, a grassroots organization self-described at the “forefront of the fight against indoctrination in the classroom,” comes at a precarious time for districts that promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to take away funding from schools that offer programs not aligning with his views on DEI or transgender rights.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee in the next Congress, after a vote of support from her colleagues on Wednesday.
Klobuchar becomes ranking-member on the powerful committee, which will oversee the next farm bill, a day after Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democratic counterpart, became ranking member for the House Agriculture Committee.
Klobuchar won her fourth term in the U.S. Senate earlier this year. With the retirement of current Ag Committee chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, Klobuchar had largely been expected to ascend to her party’s top spot on the committee.
“When I first came to the Senate, my number one request was to be on the Agriculture committee,” Klobuchar said, in a statement. “From working across the aisle to strengthen our defenses against animal disease outbreaks to bolstering our ability to produce home-grown fuel and supporting conservation efforts, the work of the Agriculture Committee touches every aspect of our lives.”
Republicans won the U.S. Senate in November’s elections, and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas will chair the committee for the GOP. But the committee, as in the House, will operate within a closely divided chamber where the minority party will maintain limited but important leverage over the steering of farm policy, environmental programs and nutrition funding.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers were advancing a proposal to extend the current farm bill through March, with an additional $10 billion in aid for farmers and ranchers.
The district’s attorney and three board members advised against a policy that mandates reliance on Book Looks’ ratings. In a statement, the attorney said the language in the policy would “arguably violate the state law by supplanting the library media specialist’s professional judgment with an external rating system” since Book Looks does not “appear to have any professional library credentials.” The attorney also cautioned against using the site because of its perceived “ideological perspective,” which could “run afoul of the First Amendment.”
Book Looks was started by Emily Maikisch, a former member of Moms for Liberty. A representative with Book Looks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Book Looks site says it is not affiliated with Moms for Liberty or with any other groups but says it does “communicate with other individuals and groups with whom there is an intersection of mission and values.”
That’s one of the reasons St. Francis Board Member Amy Kelly said the board chose Book Looks.
“We’re red here,” she said at the Nov. 25 meeting, adding that district policies should reflect the community’s priorities. “We’re not always going to be on the same page, but I know we’re conservative. [Community members] don’t want the stuff in the library.”
So far, the district has removed “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and “Out of Darkness” because of their Book Looks ratings, said Ryan Fiereck, the president of the St. Francis teachers union. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” had gone through a review committee, which deemed it appropriate to keep in the library, he said, and “Out of Darkness” was set to be reviewed by the committee before the new policy was approved.
Fiereck said he’s heard from union members and community members who disagree with the board’s policy revision.
