Latest Minnesota news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. CDT

SEVERE WEATHER-UPPER MIDWEST

Blizzard could leave North Dakotans without power for days

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Ugly weather in North Dakota has left at least 19,000 people in the western part of the state facing days without power. It also left thousands residents along the Red River that separates the state from Minnesota dealing with flash flooding. A blizzard over the weekend snapped hundreds or thousands of power poles in western North Dakota. A spokesman for a 100-year-old utility company called the destruction the worst ever in its system. At the same time, Minnesota sent National Guard members to help sandbag near the North Dakota border against the rising Red Lake River. The National Weather Service originally warned of a record crest on the river but it topped out below that mark.

MINNESOTA SENATE-PUBLIC SAFETY

GOP-controlled Senate passes public safety bill

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate passed a public safety omnibus bill featuring provisions that are sharply different from Democrats’ ideas on how to tackle crime. It includes about $100 million aimed at recruiting and retaining more police officers and stiffer penalties for crimes like carjacking. The bill passed on a 48-19 vote after hours of debate. Democrats say the GOP majority’s package doesn’t include enough money. House Democrats’ public safety package includes $150 million in funding. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s own proposal would give $300 million in grants to local governments.

MINNESOTA LEGISLATOR-TRAFFIC STOP

New criticism for Rep. John Thompson over traffic stop

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A state lawmaker expelled by Democrats from their caucus last fall faces new criticism after police say he yelled at officers after his daughter was pulled over. Police in St. Paul say state Rep. John Thompson arrived at a scene Sunday where officers had pulled over his adult daughter for expired tabs and for swerving out of her lane. Chief Todd Axtell said in a social media post that Thompson “jumped out and immediately began interfering by yelling and questioning the traffic stop and identifying himself” as a state legislator. The chief accused Thompson of attempting “to intimidate and bully police officers” doing their job. Thompson didn’t immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

FIVE DEAD-MINNESOTA

Holiday lights drape homes in vigil for slain Duluth family

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Organizers of a vigil for four slain family members lit up their Duluth house with Christmas lights to celebrate their lives and their love for the holidays. A family relative last week killed 44-year-old Riana Lou Barry, 47-year-old Sean Christopher Barry, 12-year-old Shiway Elizabeth Barry and 9-year-old Sadie Lucille Barry. On Sunday night, members of the tight-knit neighborhood, some of whom also decorated their houses with lights, and others gathered to remember the victims. People were invited to bring new children’s books to donate in honor of the family that maintained a “little free library” outside their home. Duluth City Councilor Arik Forsman, a former neighbor of the Barrys who hosted the event, said the family was known for their adventurous spirit and welcoming nature.

AP-US-PRO-FOOTBALL-INVESTOR-GUILTY-PLEA

Pro football investor pleads guilty in cryptocurrency scheme

NEW YORK (AP) — A businessman who was one of the early investors in a failed professional football league called the Alliance of American Football has pleaded guilty to charges accusing him in $600 million cryptocurrency scheme. Reginald Fowler was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and other offenses that prosecutors say contributed to the AAF’s quick demise. The guilty plea on Monday comes at a time when other fledgling leagues are competing to loosen the NFL’s grip on pro football. Fowler’s lawyer credited him for taking “full responsibility” for the fraud.

STATE OF STATE-MINNESOTA

Walz calls for deal on unemployment insurance, ‘hero pay’

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for compromise in negotiations to replenish the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund and to pay frontline worker bonuses during his fourth State of the State address. The address later Sunday comes with four weeks left in the session as lawmakers figure out how to use the state’s $9.25 billion budget surplus and more than $1 billion in federal pandemic funds. The Democratic governor’s address was be the last of his term before he faces a stiff challenge from Republicans later this year. It will be his first address at the Capitol since the pandemic began.

AP-US-ACTIVISION-BLIZZARD-UNION-ELECTION

Video game workers at Call of Duty maker OK’d for union vote

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A labor board official has ruled that a small group of Wisconsin-based video game workers can vote to form what could be the first union at a major U.S. video game publisher. A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board on Friday ordered a May election for quality assurance workers at Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software, which develops the popular Call of Duty game franchise. The unionization campaign by 21 employees at Raven’s office in Middleton, Wisconsin, has been part of a broader internal shakeup at Activision Blizzard, a Santa Monica, California-based gaming giant with roughly 10,000 employees worldwide.

13-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE GRAD

13-year-old Minnesota youth set to graduate from college

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 13-year-old boy from Minnesota is on the verge of earning his bachelor’s degree from college _ with a major in physics and a minor in math. Elliott Tanner is maintaining a 3.78 grade point average at the University of Minnesota and is participating in undergraduate research while also tutoring classmates. He wants to be high-energy theoretical physicist and ultimately a professor of physics at the university. Elliott’s mom, Michelle Tanner, said he started reading and doing math by age 3. Following a few years of homeschooling and a high school curriculum that took him two years to complete, he began taking college classes when he was 9.