10/25/2024 -- Protestors Arrested on U of M Campus

Education

Protestors Charged With Assault After Occupying University of Minnesota Buildings

The Summary: On Tuesday, University of Minnesota students, alumni, and faculty gathered to protest the arrests of 11 pro-Palestinian activists. The protest, organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), was a response to the arrests made during an occupation of Morrill Hall the previous day. Protesters carried banners and chanted for the university to divest from Israeli companies.

Speakers Condemn University Actions: Several speakers, including associate professor Sima Shakhsari, criticized the university for not dropping the charges against the arrested students, accusing the administration of stifling free speech.

University Response: University President Rebecca Cunningham responded, claiming that the protesters posed a risk to employees and caused property damage, including smashed windows and graffiti. Faculty members at the rally, however, disputed the claim that the protesters were a safety threat.

Legal Developments: As protests continued on Wednesday, all 11 arrested individuals were released from the Hennepin County Jail, though one protester, U of M alum Robyn Harbison, was charged with fourth-degree assault. The other 10 are not facing charges.

Future Demonstrations: Activists have planned additional rallies, including a community protest on Saturday at the University of Minnesota.

Election 2024

Walz Watch: With Just Two Weeks Until The 2024 Election, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz Has Been Busy on The Campaign Trail

Let’s get you caught up on all of the latest Tim Walz headlines.

TV Appearances: Governor Tim Walz has been criss-crossing the TV airwaves making appearances on The View, The Daily Show, Fox News, and the podcast Smartless.

The Vote Is In: Walz was spotted casting his vote early in St. Paul with his family, including his son Gus who recently turned 18 and is voting for the first time.

Mansion Graffiti: This past week, someone wrote “Walz Failed” on the roof of the Governor’s mansion on Summit Avenue. Saint Paul Police are still investigating.

Not So MN Nice: In a recent rally, Tim Walz referred to Trump supporter Elon Musk as a “dipshit.” Musk responded with this post on his social media website “X.”

Fake News: U.S. intelligence officials have identified Russia as the source behind recent attempts to spread false claims about Walz. These disinformation efforts included a fabricated video and baseless allegations, which were quickly debunked by fact-checkers.

Latest Polls: By all accounts, the 2024 Presidential race is tied with Harris/Walz holding a slight advantage in the national polls.

Business

❯ Athlete Compensation App: The Roy app, created by entrepreneur Cale Johnston in St. Louis Park, aims to give fans more influence over college athlete compensation by allowing them to crowdfund directly for players. Johnston hopes Roy will counterbalance disparities in the Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) system. The company has attracted early investment and plans to expand across multiple sports.

❯ Target Price Cuts: Target is cutting prices on over 2,000 items, including food, essentials, and holiday gifts, to help budget-conscious consumers during the holiday season. This move follows similar actions by other retailers like Walmart and Aldi.

❯ UHG Cyberattack Fallout: A cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s subsidiary, Change Healthcare, earlier this year affected the personal data of 100 million Americans, marking the largest breach currently recorded in the U.S. The breach disrupted healthcare claim processing nationwide and is expected to cost UnitedHealth around $2.24 billion.

What Else We’re Reading…

Costs Are Piling Up for Schools to Fulfill Politically Motivated Data Requests 💲

According to new reporting from MPR, School districts in Minnesota, including Hastings and Rochester, are facing a surge of massive data requests, many of which appear politically motivated and involve topics like critical race theory and equity. These requests, often from anonymous sources, are costly and time-consuming for districts, with some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fulfill. In response, some districts are advocating for changes to the Minnesota Data Practices Act to recover costs and limit anonymous requests, while transparency advocates argue the law should remain unchanged to protect public access to government information.

Read the full report on MPR

GAME: Wordle

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Sports 🏀

Timberwolves Look To Improve On Western Conference Finals Appearance as 2024 Season Kicks Off bask

The Summary: After making a historic run to the Western Conference Finals last season, the Timberwolves are in “win now” mode as they start their 2024-2025 campaign.

New Faces: In one of the NBA’s biggest offseason trades, the Timberwolves traded Karl Anthony-Towns to the New York Knicks in exchance for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first round draft pick. The Wolves also expect rookie Rob Dillingham will receive minutes at point guard.

Face Of The League: Anthony Edwards has ascended to be one of the league’s most talented players and has captured the attention of many with his infectious personality. He is coming off a year where he led the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals, was named to the All-NBA 2nd Team, played a significant role in helping Team USA win gold in Paris, and was featured in a recent Netflix series.

Best of the West: The Wolves will face another tall task playing in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. They currently have the 7th best betting odds to win the NBA championship at +1200 while the Boston Celtics are favored to repeat at +325.

Other Sports:

🏒 The Minnesota Wild are off to a hot start and have yet to lose a game with a record of 4-0-2. Their most recent win came on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

🏀 The Minnesota Timberwolves lost their season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Edwards scored 27 points.

🏐 The Gopher Volleyabll team defeated Northwestern 3-0 on Wednesday. They are currently ranked #15 in the country.

Quick hits

Headlines From Around The Twin Cities ✔

❯ A Hennepin County courier has been fired after boxes of ballots were left unattended for nearly 10 minutes in Edina (KSTP)

❯ Minnesotans are using absentee ballots far more they did in 2016, the most recent non-COVID presidential election year (Kare11)

❯ Celebrity chef Justin Sutherland has admited to threatening to shoot his girlfriend girlfriend and has pled guilty to a felony charge (MPR)

❯ An investigation is underway after children were left inside school bus in Minneapolis (KSTP)

❯ ‘Walz failed’ was written on the Governor’s Mansion roof in St. Paul this past week (Fox9)

The Final Word: Go Vote! 🗳

With less than two weeks until the election, this is your reminder that you can vote anytime between now and election day. Learn more about how to vote early here.

-Patrick