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GEORGE FLOYD-NIECE SHOT

Late response to shooting of Floyd grandniece prompts review

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston police and city officials are investigating an hourslong delay by authorities in responding to a shooting early on New Year’s Day in which the 4-year-old grandniece of George Floyd was wounded while she slept in her Houston apartment.The family of Arianna Delane says the girl was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom when someone fired several shots into their apartment at about 3 a.m. on Saturday. LaTonya Floyd, George Floyd’s older sister and the girl’s great-aunt, says when police and paramedics didn’t immediately arrive after the family called 911, they drove Arianna to the hospital. Arianna’s family says police didn’t arrive until around 7 a.m.Houston Police Chief Troy Finner says his agency is investigating the delayed response.

POWER PLANT SALE

Minnesota gives key approval for sale of ND coal plant

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota regulators have approved the transfer of a key permit necessary for a financially troubled coal-fired power plant in North Dakota to be sold to a Bismarck-based marketer of wholesale electricity. Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 to transfer the permit associated with the power line that carries electricity from Coal Creek Station to Minnesota. The PUC in September had deferred a decision on the transfer as environmental groups, hoping to see the coal plant shut down, pushed against it. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum cheered Thursday’s approval, calling it “a momentous step” toward Rainbow Energy taking over to give the plant and its workers a long-term future.

SUPERIOR-WATERFRONT FIRE

Fire destroys 2 historic waterfront buildings in Superior

SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — Fire destroyed a pair of waterfront buildings in Superior on Thursday, with smoke from the morning blaze briefly requiring the closure of a major bridge connecting the city with Duluth, Minnesota. The fire began in an empty warehouse and spread to the neighboring building. No one was hurt, but Fire Chief Scott Gordon said both buildings were destroyed, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Authorities haven’t said what started the fire. The 48,000-square-foot warehouse was built in 1890 and formerly housed the Lake Superior Fish Co. previously known as Sivertson Fisheries. The other building is the former Twohy Mercantile, built in 1894 by renowned architect Oliver Traphagen.

MALL OF AMERICA-SHOOTING

Man charged with assault in Mall of America shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An 18-year-old Minnesota man has been charged with assault in a New Year’s Eve shooting at the Mall of America that wounded two people. Kahlil Wiley, of St. Paul, was charged Thursday with two counts of second-degree assault. Authorities say he fired a single shot that struck two men at about 4:30 p.m. last Friday. A criminal complaint says one of the wounded men told police he was angry about a past incident with Wiley and that he and a friend began to chase him when they saw him at the mall. The complaint says Wiley turned and fired at that man, hitting him in the leg, and that the bullet ricocheted and grazed another man’s shoulder.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

New Minnesota COVID-19 testing sites start opening Friday

ANOKA, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota’s newest COVID-19 community testing site will open at the National Guard Armory in Anoka on Friday. And the Guard will help raise the capacity of a similar site in downtown St. Paul. The state is boosting testing capacity amid the spike in omicron variant cases. Gov Tim Walz said at the Anoka Armory “it’s going to be a challenging three weeks or so.” The Anoka Armory site opens at 11 a.m. Friday. A Cottage Grove Armory site opens next Thursday. The existing center at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul just gained 50% more capacity. A new site opens Monday in North Branch.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS

3 other cops in George Floyd death to stand trial this month

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in George Floyd’s death will go on trial Jan. 20. The trial date was given Thursday in a docket filing, with proceedings to be held in St. Paul. Court records in November showed that juror summonses had gone out for that date, but the new filing was the first official confirmation of it. Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane will stand trial about nine months after former Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s killing was captured on video by a bystander and galvanized protests against police brutality around the U.S. and beyond.

POLICING REFORMS-MINNEAPOLIS

Minneapolis mayor, police chief lay out crime fighting plan

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — City leaders in Minneapolis have a new crime fighting plan that includes hiring dozens of police officers to fortify a department that has lost hundreds of officers since 2020 when George Floyd was murdered. Mayor Jacob Frey and incoming interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman rolled out their plan Wednesday to not only hire more officers, but expand partnerships with other law enforcement agencies and strengthen units that investigate violent robberies and carjackings. Frey said that in addition to hiring five new recruit classes, the department will direct its resources to areas that need it most, including assigning officers to neighborhoods where stolen vehicles are frequently abandoned

AP-US-CAPITOL-RIOT-RACE

‘Hatred in the eyes’: How racist rage animated Jan. 6 riots

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection by pro-Trump supporters and right-wing group members shattered the sense of security that many had long felt at the Capitol as rioters forcefully delayed the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. But for people of color, the attack was more than a violent challenge to a free and fair election — it was an eerily familiar display of white supremacist violence, this time at the very seat of American democracy. A year later, many in the Capitol recall the racist rage of that day, which extended not only to lawmakers of color but also to the police officers defending the seat of democracy.