Star Tribune
North Minneapolis’ Hall STEM Academy launches observatory, with NASA astronaut’s help
A north Minneapolis magnet elementary school unveiled its new two-story space observatory Wednesday evening — complete with two research-grade telescopes — and a visit with an astronaut from NASA.
Dozens of students and their parents toured the $1.2 million observatory built at Hall STEM Academy and listened to astronaut Raja Chari talk of his work in space. The school, which serves about 220 students in pre-K to fifth grade, is the first elementary school in the state to have an observatory, said Joel Halvorson, STEM coordinator at Hall.
Chari, who was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Iowa, said he and his colleagues were stunned when they learned about the observatory attached to the elementary school.
“I’m envious of you guys having an observatory in your school,” Chari said. “Dream big, because you guys are going to change the world and the universe.”
Chari was commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station launched on Nov. 10, 2021. He and his crew spent 177 days in orbit, according to NASA’s website. There, he performed two spacewalks and helped in capturing and releasing three SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and two Cygnus cargo vehicles.
The telescope could spark student interest in science and space at a young age, Chari said. New science tables in his eighth-grade classroom was his “spark” into science, he said.
“You guys have really invested in something special here,” Chari said.
Funding for the observatory came from Minneapolis Public Schools’ Comprehensive District Design plan, which aims to eliminate policies and practices that disadvantage students of color and low-income students and brings critical resources to the city’s North Side, Halvorson said.
School officials are still deciding how students will use the telescopes for class, he said. Cameras hooked up to the telescope can record night events, when school usually isn’t in session, for students to watch the next day.
The school also plans to open it up for community use in the future.
Fifth-grader Tristan Van Berlo, 10, said he didn’t think the two-story observatory and large telescopes would be as big as what he saw.
“I thought it was going to be tiny,” he said. “I thought it was going to be twice the height of a chair.”
Mark Job, president of the Minnesota Astronomical Society, advised school staff on the project and said he was impressed with what the school has done. Despite city light pollution, the observatory still gives a good view of planets like Jupiter and Mars because of its shutters, he said.
“During the day, we’ll be able to use that 5-inch refractor to look at the sun and sun spots,” he said to the first group of parents and students who climbed up the observatory’s circular stairwell. “It’s not just a nighttime thing. It will work both ways.”
Star Tribune
Mary Moriarty vows to retry Cody Fohrenkam whose conviction for murdering Deshaun Hill was overturned
The appeals court ruled that at least some of that evidence was wrongfully used to convict Fohrenkam.
Walker, the attorney representing Hill’s family, said that although it’s disappointing that the family must sit through another trial, the ruling is “what makes America, America.”
“I understand where the judge is coming from,” Walker said. “It’s one of those cases that upsets people — people getting out on this, that and the other, on ‘technicalities,’ but they’re not technicalities, it’s the law.”
Star Tribune
Eagan parents of college runner who died by suicide settles suit with her coach and school
The Eagan parents of a college runner who died by suicide has settled their lawsuit that alleged their daughter’s cross-country coach at the time tormented her with demeaning comments in emails and texts about her weight and learning challenges.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida in June 2023 by Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner, the parents of Julia Pernsteiner, 23, who died in her Jacksonville University dorm room on Nov. 8, 2021. Her death came two months after the coach kicked her off the team, the suit contended.
The lawsuit named as defendants the university and former cross-country coach Ronald E. Grigg Jr., who coached women’s track and cross-country at the Division I school from 1998 until his sudden resignation in July.
The family’s attorney, Robert Spohrer, said that the case went to mediation, and there was “an amicable resolution of all issues” that led to the suit’s dismissal.
Spohrer said a strict confidentiality agreement among the parties prevented him from disclosing terms of the settlement.
Attorneys for Grigg and the university did not respond to messages left by the Star Tribune.
Messages were left Thursday with the law firms representing the school and Grigg. The defendants have yet to file any response in federal court to the allegations. The university said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation.
The suit contended that Pernsteiner’s constitutional rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act and under Title IX because of discriminatory acts based on her gender.
The state Republican Party and conservative legal groups filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday claiming that Hennepin County did not appoint partisan election judges in the right way.
The party and two conservative groups, the Upper Midwest Law Center and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, want to know how Hennepin County appointed election judges to its absentee ballot board this year. The board’s work includes making sure signatures on absentee ballots match signatures on voter registration cards and deciding if a ballot is spoiled or not.
The central question of the lawsuit, according to Andy Cilek, executive director of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, is whether county elections officials have to exhaust lists of potential election judges provided by the political parties before selecting others for the absentee ballot boards, which are required to have a balance of Republican and Democratic election judges.
“We want to understand how this occurred,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann.
The suit alleges no one from a list of 1,500 Republicans supplied by the state Republican party to the Secretary of State’s office were selected by Hennepin County. Hann said he did not know if any Republicans were selected to serve.
Ryan Wilson of the Upper Midwest Law Center said the group has not scrutinized lists of election judges in other counties to make sure they included names provided by the state Republican Party. Wilson said his group is focusing on Hennepin County because it has the most voters, and the most potential to have an impact, he said.
In a statement, Daniel Rogan, Hennepin County auditor, said absentee ballot board members were appointed in compliance with state law and guidance from the Secretary of State.
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