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GAS TAX-HOLIDAY

Minnesota House Democrats propose summertime gas tax holiday

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Several Democrats in the Minnesota House have proposed a gasoline tax holiday from Memorial Day until Labor Day to help lessen the burden of rising gas prices on motorists. Rep. Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, said the proposal is an effort to combat rising inflation. GOP Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, of Winona, said the proposal is an “election year gimmick,” and called for permanent tax relief. Senate Republicans unveiled an $8.5 billion tax cut proposal on Thursday that would lower the bottom-tier income tax rate from 5.35% to 2.8% and eliminate taxes on all Social Security benefits.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-WHAT’S NEXT?

Sentence, state trial loom for ex-cops in Floyd’s killing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights now face federal sentences that one expert says could range from less than five years in prison to as much as the 25 years prosecutors are seeking for Derek Chauvin. A comprehensive process to determine how that plays out could take months. Meanwhile, the officers have the right to appeal their convictions, and they also face a state trial in June on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing federal investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department.

BIDEN-WISCONSIN

Biden to follow State of Union address with Wisconsin trip

SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden travels to Wisconsin next week, the day after delivering his State of the Union speech in Washington. According to the White House, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will stop in Superior on Wednesday to discuss how the $1 trillion infrastructure law will improve the state’s roads and bridges, among other things, and create jobs. He signed the sweeping infrastructure package into law in November in the most significant legislative victory of his presidency. Biden’s trip to Wisconsin also comes as the president announced new sanctions against Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine this week.

ATHLETICS-RACIST NOTE

Prior Lake team ends season after player finds racist note

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (AP) — The Prior Lake High School girls’ basketball team will forfeit its final game and first-round playoff match after a player found a racist note in her gym bag. The team’s coach, Demondi Johnson, has also announced his resignation on Twitter, saying he hopes whoever left the note can “heal their hearts of hatred.” The decision to end the girls’ basketball season comes the same week that St. Louis Park and Robbinsdale school districts announced they’ll no longer play against New Prague High after that school’s athletes and fans reportedly made racial taunts toward boys’ hockey and girls’ basketball players during separate games earlier this month.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-RACE

For world, Floyd’s death was about race. Why not the trials?

For people around the world, the killing of George Floyd was about race. A white police officer, with three other officers nearby, kneeled on the neck of a Black man until he stopped breathing, and protests erupted across the country. Yet in the courtrooms where those officers faced trial for their roles in Floyd’s killing race was rarely mentioned, at least explicitly, and lawyers and judges told jurors not to consider it. The disconnect between the public prism in which the case was viewed and its handling in court is due partly to the charges federal prosecutors pursued. But to some, it also reflected the failure of the legal system to confront issues of race, and how a justice system that often seeks to be colorblind may be stacked against people of color.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS-TIMELINE

Timeline of events since George Floyd’s arrest and murder

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd’s death after his arrest by police officers in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked widespread anger after millions of people saw video of the event. The four officers at the scene were quickly fired and charged in his death. Video shows Floyd repeatedly crying “I can’t breathe” and eventually going still as Officer Derek Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck. Chauvin was convicted of murder last year and he pleaded guilty in December to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights. The other three officers, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, were convicted Thursday on the civil rights charges and still face state charges alleging they aided and abetted murder and manslaughter.

AP-US-GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL-RIGHTS-JUROR-ANONYMITY

Judge seals juror names in 3 cops’ trial over Floyd killing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The judge overseeing the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights has sealed the names of the jurors for at least 10 years. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson issued the order around five hours after the jury began deliberations Wednesday. He wrote that the court assured prospective jurors that their personal information would be kept confidential. He said federal law allows him to do so “in the interests of justice.” He said this is “clearly” such a case due to the “significant public attention this trial has generated.”

TAX CUTS-MINNESOTA

Minnesota Senate GOP unveils massive $8.5B tax cut proposal

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Senate Republicans on Thursday announced a tax cut proposal that would cost more than $8.5 billion over the next three years. Republican lawmakers say the proposal is the largest tax cut in the state’s history. It would reduce the lowest-tier income tax rate from 5.35% to 2.8% and eliminate taxes on all Social Security benefits. Senate Democrats called the tax legislation “premature and reckless,” and urged caution on spending. The proposal comes after the Senate passed a $2.73 billion proposal earlier this month to pay the state’s debt to the federal government for jobless aid during the pandemic.