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GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS-EXPLAINER-CHAUVIN

EXPLAINER: Will Chauvin testify at trial of 3 other cops?

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — As the federal trial for three former Minneapolis officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights is set to begin Monday, some wonder whether Derek Chauvin will take the stand. Many legal experts say they don’t anticipate the jury will hear from Chauvin, who was convicted of Floyd’s murder. If he does testify, he could face some hard questions. Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng are broadly charged in federal court with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority as Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man to the street on May 25, 2020.

AP-CN-CANADA-US-BORDER-DEATHS

Florida man charged after 4 found dead at Canada-US border

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — A Florida man has been charged with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the U.S. border. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota says 47-year-old Steve Shand has been charged with human smuggling after seven Indian nationals were found in the U.S. and the discovery of the bodies. The U.S. Border Patrol in North Dakota stopped a 15-passenger van just south of the Canadian border on Wednesday. Court documents say five other people were spotted by law enforcement in the snow nearby. Shand’s attorney, Doug Micko, declined to comment.

BUDGET SURPLUS-CHECKS

Walz wants use budget surplus to send checks to taxpayers

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz wants to send checks of $175 or $350 to more than 2.7 million Minnesota households to spend down the state’s large budget surplus. The proposal he laid out Thursday for spending a portion of Minnesota’s $7.7 billion surplus and leftover federal aid would require legislative approval. He asked lawmakers to quickly approve the plan, but Republicans immediately pushed back on his plan as an election year gimmick. The rebates would be $175 for single tax filers and $350 for married filers, but eligibility would be subject to an income cap. Walz also wants to repay the state’s unemployment insurance debt and channel money to front-line workers and caregivers strained by the coronavirus pandemic.

AP-US-OBIT-LOUIE-ANDERSON

Louie Anderson, comic, Emmy winner for ‘Baskets,’ dies at 68

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louie Anderson, whose four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely and Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series “Baskets,” has died at age 68. Anderson’s publicist Glenn Schwartz says the comedian died Friday in Las Vegas. The publicist had said earlier this week that Anderson was hospitalized for a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He’d been a familiar face elsewhere on TV, including as host of a revival of the game show “Family Feud” from 1999 to 2002, and on comedy specials and in frequent late-night talk show appearances.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-RETIREMENT

Longtime Minnesota infectious disease director to retire

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann plans to step down Feb. 2 after more than three decades at the state health department. The longtime epidemiologist became a household name to Minnesotans as a face of the state’s response to the pandemic. The announcement was made Thursday. Ehresmann is a leading expert in influenza nationally and played leading roles in the responses to a 2017 measles outbreak that was the largest nationwide that year and the swine flu in 2009. The current assistant director of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Emily Emerson, will become the interim director as the state agency launches a nationwide search for a new director.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS

Jury in federal trial in Floyd killing appears mostly white

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing. The judge told potential jurors the case has “absolutely nothing” to do with race. The jurors chosen to hear the case against former Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng appeared to include one person of Asian descent among the 12 jurors who would deliberate if no alternates are needed. A second person of Asian descent was among the six alternates, with all others appearing white. The court declined to provide demographic information.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS-JURORS

The 18 jurors picked for federal trial over Floyd’s killing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Eighteen people were picked to hear the federal case against three former Minneapolis officers who are charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights during the May 2020 arrest that led to the Black man’s death. Twelve jurors will deliberate and six are alternates. Most of the jurors appear to be white; two appear to be of Asian descent. The jury includes people from the Minneapolis metro area, as well as suburbs and far southern Minnesota.

ENBRIDGE-LINE 3

Enbridge says it has fixed pierced aquifer near oil pipeline

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Enbridge Energy said it has stopped the flow of spilled artesian groundwater that began a year ago when workers installing the Line 3 oil pipeline in northwestern Minnesota punctured an aquifer. The spill near Enbridge’s terminal in Clearbrook was one of the worst environmental accidents during construction of the 340-mile (547-kilometer) pipeline in Minnesota. Workers dug too deeply into the ground and the rupture resulted in a 24 million gallon groundwater leak. The company told the state Department of Natural Resources that it stopped the uncontrolled leak on Tuesday. The DNR said it will monitor the repair and the investigation remains ongoing. The agency is looking at further restoration, mitigation and penalties.