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TEACHING NATIVE LANGUAGES

Artists use their skills to teach Native American languages

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Several artists across Minnesota are using their talents to help teach Native American languages. Neil McKay is a member of the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota who instructs students in the Dakota language at the University of Minnesota. Classically trained in guitar, he learned to meld his interest in the Dakota language and music. Chris Griffith and Shari Aronson are co-founders of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, a puppet theater in Minneapolis. For the past four years, they have been performing “Say It! Sing It! Play It! In Cherokee.” Another artist and educator, Wesley Ballinger, has worked on two series of Ojibwe language textbooks. Supporters say that as the movement to learn Indigenous languages grows, more creative ways are needed to teach them.

BIRD FLU

Bird flu confirmed in two Minnesota poultry flocks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The bird flu has been confirmed in two poultry flocks in Minnesota. The state Board of Animal Health says the poultry flocks are in Meeker and Mower counties. Samples collected from both flocks were tested on March 25 and confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture The state Board of Animal Health says it’s the first confirmed cases in the state. Minnesota officials have quarantined the properties. All birds in the flock will be destroyed and will not enter the food system.

FATAL SHOOTING

Police: Man killed in south Minneapolis shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A south Minneapolis shooting has left one man dead. Police were called to the 3800 block of S. Chicago Avenue Friday night for a report of a person who was shot inside a residence. Officers found a man in his 40s with a gunshot wound and gave him medical aid. He was transported to the hospital and later died of his wounds. No arrests have been made and police have little information to go on, police said.

STABBING DEATH

13-year-old boy killed, mother hurt in domestic stabbing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 13-year-old boy was killed and his mother was seriously hurt in a stabbing stemming from a domestic dispute in Olivia. The boy was taken to a hospital in Olivia where he later died. His mother was being treated for her injuries and is expected to survive. Officers were called Thursday morning to a home on a report of a domestic disturbance. They arrived and found that both victims had been stabbed. Names of the victims have not been released. A 38-year-old man known to the victims was arrested and taken jail, where he was being held without bond.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-MINNESOTA

Minnesotan detained by Russian forces in Ukraine is released

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Winona, Minnesota, man detained by Russian forces in Ukraine has been released. Twenty-eight-year-old Tyler Jacob had been taken into custody earlier this month while trying to cross from Ukraine into Turkey. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Jacob had been held for 10 days .Jacob was teaching English in Kherson when Russian troops invaded the country. John Quinn, Jacob’s father, said Jacob and his wife and daughter are safe. Quinn says his “heart goes out to the many families that are still enduring the horror in Ukraine.”

SHERIFF-DRUNKEN DRIVING

Regulators may suspend sheriff after drunken crash

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — State regulators are considering suspending Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson in light of a drunken driving conviction. The Star Tribune reported Friday that the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training began an investigation shortly after Hutchinson crashed his county-owned SUV near Alexandria on Dec. 8. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree misdemeanor drunken driving later that month. The board is reviewing whether Hutchinson’s law enforcement license should be suspended. The board has suspended or revoked the licenses of 58 officers over the last five years, including Derek Chauvin, who was convicted in connection with George Floyd’s death in 2020. Hutchinson said in February he won’t seek reelection. Hutchinson’s attorney declined to comment.

MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOLS-STRIKE

Minneapolis teachers celebrate tentative deal to end strike

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teachers in Minneapolis have reached a tentative agreement to end a more than two-week strike over pay and other issues that idled some 29,000 students and around 4,500 educators and staff. The district and the union for teachers and staff announced the deal early Friday. Ratification votes are expected over the weekend, and Superintendent Ed Graff says he’s looking forward to welcoming students and staff back to school on Monday. The union says it made “major gains” on pay for support staff, protections for educators of color, class size caps and mental health supports. Union leader Shaun Laden says their collective action showed that strikes work.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-MINNESOTA

Minnesota House votes unanimously to divest from Russia

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota House has voted unanimously to divest the state’s pension funds from Russia, joining states across the U.S. in protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Minnesota’s public employee pensions funds had an estimated $53 million worth of investments in Russia before its invasion of Ukraine. Rep.Sydney Jordan, whose northeast Minneapolis district is home to a sizeable Ukrainian American community, says the value of those investments has fallen to less than $10 million. But, she says, “standing against tyranny is always the right thing to do.”Wednesday’s 126-0 vote sends the bill to the Senate, where approval is expected.