By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce.

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U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees, including the Department of Defense.

“OPM does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe,” to hire or fire any employees but its own, he said.

Alsup handed down the order on a temporary restraining order sought by labor unions and nonprofits in a lawsuit filed by the coalition filed last week.

The complaint filed by five labor unions and five nonprofit organizations is among multiple lawsuits pushing back on the administration’s efforts to vastly shrink the federal workforce, which Trump has called bloated and sloppy. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired and his administration is now aiming at career officials with civil service protection.

The plaintiffs say the Office of Personnel Management had no authority to terminate the jobs of probationary workers who generally have less than a year on the job. They also say the firings were predicated on a lie of poor performance by the workers.

Lawyers for the government say the Office of Personnel Management did not direct the firings, but asked agencies to review and determine whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment. They also say that probationary employees are not guaranteed employment and that only the highest performing and mission-critical employees should be hired.

There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers — generally employees who have less than a year on the job — across federal agencies. About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans’ care, the complaint says.

Unions have recently struck out with two other federal judges in similar lawsuits attempting to stop the Trump administration’s goal of vastly reducing the federal workforce.

Alsup, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, has presided over many high-profile cases and is known for his blunt talk. He oversaw the criminal probation of Pacific Gas & Electric and has called the nation’s largest utility a “ continuing menace to California.”

When a 3-month-old boy was seen at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis for seizures, a CT scan and more evaluation uncovered numerous injuries, including bleeding on the brain and more than 46 fractures, some of which were healing, throughout his body.

The infant’s twin brother was then evaluated, showing bruises to his forearms and abdomen, 14 fractures and burst blood vessels to both eyes consistent with abusive trauma, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday against the boys’ father, Dylan Raymond Strain, 20, of St. Paul.

The brain injuries to the one infant will likely result in permanent disability, including vision loss, the complaint says, adding they “caused significant risk of death.” His brother is at risk of developmental delays and impaired vision.

St. Paul police began an investigation after receiving a report from child protection services after the more seriously injured baby was seen at the hospital Jan. 31.

Police learned the infants were born prematurely on Oct. 2. One boy arrived home in St. Paul on Dec. 11, and his twin went home 23 days later. They lived with their mother, Strain, their maternal grandmother and her two children, ages 7 and 9.

According to the complaint, investigators on Feb. 4 spoke with the grandmother who said, “My grandbabies are in the hospital because some man don’t know how to control himself. She added, “That man is Dylan Strain.”

She said that shortly after the second baby came home from the hospital, she saw Strain screaming at both infants. She reported that she found “a punch mark in the wall” of the babies’ room and heard hysterical crying from the room more than once. When she saw a cut on a lip on one of the infants, Strain told her he jabbed a bottle or pacifier too hard into the baby’s mouth.

She said that on Jan. 30, one of the babies was screaming while on Strain’s lap. He was holding a baby wipe to his son’s mouth, and a pile of bloody wipes were on the floor. He told her he did not know what happened and said he is a “bad dad,” and “I can’t handle this,” the complaint states. He handed the baby to her and stormed out of the room.

She told medical providers that she would see bruising on the babies after Strain had been with them.

The children’s 20-year-old mother spoke with investigators on Feb. 5, telling them her babies were healthy when they came home from the hospital. She said that Strain forced a bottle on the babies and that their mouths would bleed when he fed them, and that he would get frustrated with them during feeding times. She witnessed Strain wiping up blood with baby wipes.

She told investigators the broken bones were probably from Strain squeezing the babies too hard. She said that Strain would hold the babies on his lap and would yell and “bounce” the babies on his lap “very fast.” She agreed with investigators that the babies’ arms and legs would flail around during these incidents, and said she immediately grabbed the babies from him when she saw that.

She tried to take responsibility for the broken collarbone and broken legs. She said one baby’s collarbone probably broke when she was holding him down to receive a vaccine at the doctor’s office and that she thought she caused one of the leg breaks when she was “bicycling” his legs, which she called “tummy exercises.”

Investigators interviewed Strain the same day, and he said he was likely the cause of the injuries to his twins, according to the complaint. He said he would panic when both babies cried. He said, “I was a bit lackluster with my patience with the kids.”

Strain said the babies’ mother did not harm the children, adding he knows that for “a fact,” the complaint states.

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Strain described an incident where he said he may have put too much pressure on one baby’s ribs during a diaper change. He said he thought he injured a baby’s collarbone while holding him face down on his legs. He agreed that he might squeeze the twins too tight, but said he hadn’t shaken them.

Strain acknowledged that he needed therapy to deal with crying babies. He said, “Baby crying gets me so worked up,” the complaint states. He said he has always had anger issues, but did not see his anger coming.

Strain was charged by warrant in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of felony first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and two counts of malicious punishment of a child. He had not been arrested as of Thursday afternoon.

Minnesota court records show no previous convictions for Strain.

The longest-serving president of the St. Paul firefighters’ union retired Thursday, the day after the city council recognized him.

They unanimously voted to declare Wednesday as Mike Smith Day. Smith joined the St. Paul Fire Department in 1998 after he was a firefighter for a decade at the Parkside Fire Department in Maplewood.

St. Paul Fire Capt. Mike Smith in a 2019 department photo. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Fire Department)

He was elected to the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 21 board in 2000 and as president in 2009. He was reelected six consecutive times, serving as president for 15 years — the longest in the 107-year history of Local 21, according to the city council proclamation.

Smith was a fire department captain, working on Rescue Squad 1 for the last 12 years at Station 4 on Payne Avenue off East Seventh Street. At Wednesday’s city council meeting, as he stood with fellow firefighters and department leaders, he said his time at the St. Paul Fire Department was “a dream job.”

Fire Chief Butch Inks noted that he and Smith worked together for progress.

“We didn’t always agree on everything, but we always … committed to staying at the table,” he said.

Beyond his union leadership, Inks said Smith is “one of the best firefighters this department’s ever seen.” At a fire, “he’s going to go in, he’s going to sacrifice himself” and make sure the fire is out, the chief said.

As Local 21 president, Smith oversaw negotiations for a 34 percent total increase in base firefighter wages, the proclamation said. The union expanded by more than 60 new members, the largest in Local 21 in 100 years. And Smith received the 2024 Local Leadership Award from the international union.

Smith was instrumental in pushing for state line-of-duty death benefits for the family of St. Paul Fire Capt. Mike Paidar, 53. His 2020 death from occupational cancer was the first recognized by the state as occurring in the line of duty.

Smith didn’t run for re-election in December, due to his upcoming retirement, and Fire Equipment Operator-Paramedic Kyle Thornberg was elected as the union’s new president.

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SALT LAKE CITY — It has been well over a decade since Nick Bjugstad wore the many shades of blue preferred by the Blaine Bengals, since he skated in three state tournaments for them, since he played in one of the first Hockey Day Minnesota games for them, and since he was named Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey as a Blaine senior in 2010.

But even today, living on the other side of the Rockies from the State of Hockey and toiling for the Utah Hockey Club, Bjugstad admits that there’s a feeling hockey players from Minnesota get in their gut come late February and early March. Unmistakably, it’s tournament time.

This week, in addition to prepping for Utah’s third head-to-head meeting with the Wild, Bjugstad admitted working the phones to get the section tournament scores from his home state.

“I’m keeping tabs for sure. I always check in on my Blaine Bengals, to see how they’re doing,” Bjugstad said following Utah’s Thursday morning skate at the Delta Center. “I know they made it to the semis, then lost to Rogers, who sound like a good team. I’m always calling the hometown buddies, seeing what’s going on. It’s fun to keep tabs.”

Even after winning a pair of conference titles with the Minnesota Gophers and spending more than a dozen seasons in the NHL, Bjugstad admitted that being on the ice with his Bengals and winning section titles versus Centennial in 2008, Osseo in 2009 and Maple Grove in 2010 are among his biggest hockey career thrills. At Xcel Energy Center, the Bengals advanced past the first round just once in those three visits, but he still relishes the memories and the nerves that came along with his first experiences playing in front of 18,000 fans.

“I wish I would have been able to handle it a little better than I did, ‘cause I was a mess,” Bjugstad said, with a smile. “I played in some game sevens and whatnot. Definitely, you know it’s one game and if you lose, it’s over. So, I wish I would have had a better coping mechanism for the stress because I was nervous as hell.”

Bjugstad said that playing at the X always produced nerves, even during the two seasons he was a member of the Wild. And even though there is no high school state title on his resume, he looks back fondly at those years in Blaine blue.

“I just have a lot of gratitude for growing up, and playing in the high school environment and being able to play with my buddies in front of 18,000 people there,” he said. “You get excited when it’s that time of year.”

Wild recall Gaunce again

If all goes well over the next week, they won’t need him, but for purposes of forward depth, the Wild recalled Brendan Gaunce from their Iowa AHL team and had the veteran join on the western road trip.

Gaunce, 30, skated in five games earlier this season with Minnesota and has not recorded a point. He has more than 180 NHL games on his resume from previous stops in Vancouver, Boston and Columbus. He signed a two-year contract with the Wild as a free agent over the summer.

While the return date for key forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek from their respective lower-body injuries is not known, Ryan Hartman is scheduled to return from his eight-game NHL suspension in time for the Wild’s March 4 game at Seattle, meaning that extra bodies are needed for their games at Utah on Thursday, at Colorado on Friday and at home versus Boston on Sunday.

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