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The Latest Development's From the Weekend's Shootings
Over the past few days, we've learned a bit more about what authorities believe happened early Saturday morning when Vance Boelter allegedly shot and killed DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Both MPR News and the Star Tribune (gift link) have assembled timelines of the events leading up to and following the shooting.
We have a list of the five guns Boelter brought in his SUV, and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has requested to be the first to prosecute the shootings. Just this afternoon, Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove) identified her home as the fourth and final lawmaker residence where Boelter allegedly stopped during his early morning spree; Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) announced hers was the third earlier this week.
Still, questions remain: What was Boelter's motive, and how long had he been plotting the attack? Did anyone help him, especially when he was hiding out from police during the manhunt? Did a Brooklyn Park police sergeant really end up at the Hortmans' home on "a hunch"?
The list of questions grew this morning, after police reported that the Hortman's Brooklyn Park home was broken into; someone pried the plywood off a window and broke the glass to gain entry. Police were alerted at around 8 a.m. and are asking neighbors to check their home cameras.
On Tuesday evening, there was a formal procession to carry the Hortmans' remains to the Washburn-McReavy Funeral Home in Minneapolis, and there will be a candlelight vigil on the steps of the Capitol in St. Paul from 8-9:30 p.m. tonight. Attendees are being asked to bring their own candles and to leave signs at home.
In related news, MinnPost's Ana Radelat spoke with Senator Tina Smith about the fear abortion providers and abortion rights activists are feeling after being included on suspected killer Vance Boelter's hitlist. And if you haven't already read the statement from Colin and Sophie Hortman, Melissa and Mark's children, you can read it in full below, though I haven't gotten through it without crying once.
Juneteenth, Trump, and What Comes Next
"For Juneteenth celebrants, it’s a time to reflect—and regroup," writes MinnPost's Kabedi Mutamba today. What makes this year different than any other year? Uhhh, look around, rhetorical question-asker: There's the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion language from just about every facet of government (and the corporations and institutions that want to suck up to said government), the ongoing erasure of Black history, the attacks on the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Mutamba caught up with Lolita Davis Carter, legislative and policy director at the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage, who was present at a Juneteenth fun run in Theodore Wirth Regional Park this weekend. “We wanna calm that panic down and make you start strategizing on how we can get through this because we’ve been through this before,” she tells MinnPost.
“Basically, because of our history and because of the times that are going on right now, it makes it very important for us to show our support for these events that are trying to be canceled,” adds fun run volunteer Jamila Smith. “We are here. We are not going anywhere.”
At the U, Academic Cuts and Tuition Increases
Earlier this month, the University of Minnesota paired 7% cuts to academic programs with a 6.5% tuition jump—its largest hike in 14 years, the Star Tribune's Erin Adler reports.
But faculty and alumni aren't thrilled with that proposed budget, which the Board of Regents votes on today. The cuts mean the loss of 300 jobs across the U's campuses, while $60 million is being allotted for "strategic investments" and another and $15 million will go towards "recurring expenses for strategic investments." They're saying, "Hm, sounds like bloat to me..."
And the criticism doesn't stop there. "Now, critics of the latest budget have cited the hiring of a new vice president for strategic initiatives with a salary of $500,000—the 12th such vice president at the U," Adler writes. Guess you can never have too many vice presidents.
Dr. Demento, Noted Minnesotan, to Retire
Radio personality Barret “Dr. Demento” Hansen, 84, announced during his latest weekly radio program that he plans to retire. The Dr. Demento Show, on which Hansen shared novelty/comedy/generally weird songs and recordings, is approaching its 55th anniversary—but why are we telling you this here? Well...
"Hansen, who grew up in Minneapolis, was inspired to pursue novelty music after his father brought home Spike Jones’s Cocktails for Two," reports Foo Conner for the Pittsburgh Reporter. "The bells, whistles and chaotic sound effects of the song inspired him to seek similar music, leading him to become an avid collector before and during his radio career."
That is regrettably where the story's references to Minneapolis begin and end, but local feller Chris Steller has fleshed out the Dr. Demento local angles over on Bluesky, including the fact that he met Bob Dylan in Dinkytown. Now there's a guy who wasn't afraid to record a novelty song or two.
