President Joe Biden Tuesday night addressed the nation following the guilty verdicts in the Dereck Chauvin Trial: "We have to, we have to look as we did for those nine minutes and 29 seconds. We have to listen, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. Those are George Floyd's last words. We can't let those words die with him.   We have to keep hearing those words." President Biden says George Floyd's name is known around the world: "It was a murder in the full light of day and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see, the systemic [...]

Governor Tim Walz, after the verdicts were read, had high praise for those who witnessed George Floyd's death: "They saw George Floyd murdered in front of them, but they had the courage to stay, to record what they saw, and then bring forward that pain again and again and again, to make sure that George Floyd received justice." Walz says many people went day after day to 38th and Chicago and "kept that place sacred"-- and... "To the Floyd family, we grieve for you.   Today is a small measure, but George is not coming back. A child lost (a) father, [...]

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says the guilty verdicts against Derek Chauvin provide accountability. But he says that's just a first step... "This verdict reminds us that we must make enduring, systemic, societal change." Ellison calls the verdict an "inflection point" toward making that change and says he doesn't want any more community members dying at the hands of law enforcement. "Passing laws and instituting policies and training is important but they must be more than words on paper, and there must be accountability for violating them, with this verdict, we've brought some accountability."  

Guilty on all three counts--that's the jury verdict in the Derek Chauvin case. Former U-S Attorney for Minnesota Tom Heffelfinger says... "The evidence that was presented by the prosecution was compelling, almost overwhelming, and I was not surprised that the verdict came back guilty." Heffelfinger says an appeal from the defense is very likely and he says, in particular, Judge Pete Cahill's refusal to sequester the jury prior to being sequestered is something the defense had been asking for since jury selection.

The USDA is discontinuing the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. Republican Congressman Jim Hagedorn says the House Ag Committee had no advance notice. "And in this particular instance when they are going cancel what is a pretty popular that's worked really well. They gave Republicans on the ag committee no advance notice. So Secretary Vilsack and Democrats didn't even bother to tell us, we had to learn about it in the press." Hagedorn says the ag committee has a great tradition of being bipartisan and he believes this move centered around politics and the program was canceled out simply because [...]

The jury is deliberating the evidence in the Derek Chauvin case. Attorneys spent all day Monday delivering their closing arguments. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher said Chauvin caused George Floyd's death after restraining Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds and noted Floyd... "He's saying "I can't breathe" within the first 4:45 of this encounter, he's saying that." Defense attorney Eric Nelson responded in his closing... "When someone says that they can't breathe, but they're talking, if they're talking, it means they're breathing." Nelson says the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The state accused the defense of "shading [...]

Some Democrats joined Republicans this afternoon (Mon) as the GOP-controlled Minnesota Senate passed a resolution (42-to-23) calling for removal of union leaders -- that after National Guard members were forced to leave a staging area at the Saint Paul Labor Center last week because some union members were harassing them. Edina Democrat Melisa Franzen calls the Senate's action divisive, saying to Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka: "Using your own words, stop lighting the powder keg with your rhetoric and inaction." Gazelka responded, in his area there's great respect for the National Guard -- but "what I see around here, it shocks [...]

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Sunday urged Minnesota protesters to “stay on the street” if former police officer Derek Chauvin is found not guilty. Judge Cahill addressed the comments today when the defense called for a mistrial... "I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function. I think if they want to give their opinions, they should do so in a respectful and in a manner that is consistent with their oath to the Constitution to respect a co-equal branch [...]

Wrapping up his rebuttal to the defense, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell disputed an earlier claim from the defense that George Floyd may have died because of the impact on his enlarged heart: "And now having seen all the evidence, having heard all the evidence, you know the truth, and the truth of the matter is, the reason Mr. Floyd is dead is because Mr. Chauvin's heart was too small."  

Late this week more counties were added to the spring burn restriction list. That could leave homeowners wondering what to do with their pile of yard waste. Soil scientist Carl Rosen with the University of Minnesota Extension says maybe consider a different approach this spring. "Composting is definitely an advantage over burning. You're conserving carbon. You're putting that into the soil." Rosen says there can be benefits from using the ash left behind by a burn pile, but not nearly the same as when the waste is composted from the start. U of M Extension has a compost resource page at [...]