Today is Thursday, July 17, the 198th day of 2025. There are 167 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, after its $17 million, yearlong construction; the park drew a million visitors in its first 10 weeks.

Also on this date:

In 1862, during the Civil War, Congress approved the Second Confiscation Act, which declared that all slaves taking refuge behind Union lines were to be set free.

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In 1902, Willis Carrier produced a set of designs for what would become the world’s first modern air-conditioning system.

In 1918, Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks.

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began as right-wing army generals launched a coup attempt against the Second Spanish Republic.

In 1944, during World War II, 320 men, two-thirds of them African-Americans, were killed when a pair of ammunition ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California.

In 1945, following Nazi Germany’s surrender, President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II.

In 1975, an Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower link-up of its kind.

In 1981, 114 people were killed when a pair of suspended walkways above the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed during a tea dance.

In 1996, TWA Flight 800, a Europe-bound Boeing 747, exploded and crashed off Long Island, New York, shortly after departing John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 230 people on board.

In 2014, all 298 passengers and crew aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were killed when the Boeing 777 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine; both Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian separatists denied responsibility.

In 2020, civil rights icon John Lewis, whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died at age 80.

In 2022, a report said nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting that left 21 people dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, but “egregiously poor decision-making” resulted in a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed.

Today’s Birthdays:

Former sportscaster Verne Lundquist is 85.
Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom is 78.
Rock musician Terry “Geezer” Butler is 76.
Actor Lucie Arnaz is 74.
Actor David Hasselhoff is 73.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 71.
Film director Wong Kar-wai is 67.
Television producer Mark Burnett is 65.
Singer Regina Belle is 62.
Country music artist Craig Morgan is 61.
Rock musician Lou Barlow is 59.
Actor Bitty Schram (TV: “Monk”) is 57.
Actor Jason Clarke is 56.
Movie director F. Gary Gray is 56.
Country singer Luke Bryan is 49.
Film director/screenwriter Justine Triet is 47.
R&B singer Jeremih (jehr-uh-MY’) is 38.
Actor Billie Lourd is 33.
NHL center Connor Bedard is 20.

A 7-year-old was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a driver struck her in St. Paul Wednesday night.

Officers responded to the vehicular crash on the East Side about 7:30 p.m. It happened at White Bear Avenue and Fifth Street.

After officers began life-saving measures on the girl, St. Paul Fire Department medics arrived and took over, said Sgt. Toy Vixayvong, a St. Paul police spokesman. They took her to the hospital.

The driver was cooperative with police and the man showed no signs of impairment, Vixayvong said. Investigators spoke with the driver and he was released at the scene. The investigation is ongoing, including into the circumstances of the crash.

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Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo dared Minnesota United to break them down at Allianz Field on Wednesday.

LAFC deviated from its usual four-man back line and employed a five-man group to force the possession-challenged Loons to score in an area they are least effective: open play.

United had only three low-quality scoring chances in the match, while LAFC rode a Denis Bouanga penalty kick in the first half for a 1-0 win in St. Paul.

When MNUFC’s league-leading goals on set pieces dried up and few opportunities were presented on counter attacks, Minnesota had to resort to the most-traditional, yet uncomfortable-to-them route to stake a rare comeback.

With a league-low 38% possession coming into the match, Minnesota had 55% of the ball against LAFC.

Loons coach Eric Ramsay tried to counter Cherundolo by subbing wingbacks Joseph Rosales and Julian Gressel for attacking width in the 62nd minute. Minnesota had more possession in the opponent’s box but didn’t really challenge Hugo Lloris.

With the victory, LAFC (10-5-5, 35 points) gains ground on MNUFC (11-5-7, 40 points) in the Western Conference standings.

LAFC played its first game without captain center back Aaron Long — who ruptured his Achilles tendon against Dallas on Saturday — but produced its third straight shutout.

Bouanga nearly had a second goal after he put Gressel in a blender for a breakaway, but Dayne St. Clair made a crucial save in stoppage time.

The Loons lineup was said to be a 5-2-3, with defensive midfielders in Robin Lod and Wil Trapp, and attacking midfielders in Joaquín Pereyra, Tani Oluwaseyi and striker Kelvin Yeboah.

Three tidbits

Sam Shashoua is headed out on loan with an unnamed USL Championship side. The attacking midfielder already has his U.S. Green Card, so his move doesn’t create much more roster flexibility. The 26-year-old Englishman is under a club option for 2026. … The Loons wore their “Heritage Kit” — a throwback to the Minnesota Kicks — for the first of four times on Wednesday. … It appears the move of left wingback Joseph Rosales to Mexican club Tigres has been called off.

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DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — Fear and paranoia were common themes in testimony Wednesday as the burglary trial for a Minnesota state senator continued.

On the third day of the trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell, accused of burglarizing her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes house, prosecutor Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald each called witnesses.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury.

Mitchell, a DFL lawmaker from Woodbury, was charged with two felony burglary counts after she was arrested in her stepmother’s house in the early hours of April 22, 2024. She was charged with first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools.

If found guilty, Mitchell could face prison time. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. McDonald argues that Nicole Mitchell entered Carol Mitchell’s house with the intent to steal. Nicole Mitchell’s defense counters that she entered the house to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

Witnesses testify on arrest

The first witness called to testify Wednesday was Jim Hedlund, a friend of Carol Mitchell’s late husband, Rod Mitchell. Hedlund said Carol Mitchell called him early the morning of the break-in.

“She was pretty shook up,” Hedlund said.

Hedlund testified that he found the blue crowbar in the egress window well on the back of Carol Mitchell’s house.

Carol Mitchell’s niece, Pam Muxfeldt, also testified in the morning. Carol Mitchell appointed Muxfeldt to serve as her power of attorney in the months after Rod Mitchell died.

Muxfeldt said Carol had expressed concern about Nicole Mitchell before the break in and that Nicole Mitchell made Carol feel uncomfortable, threatened and scared.

McDonald showed a screenshot of a text message that Carol Mitchell had sent to Muxfeldt. The message was about Rod Mitchell’s estate and who his assets would go to. In the message, Carol Mitchell expressed concern about what Nicole Mitchell was hoping to get from the estate.

“She is so greedy,” Carol Mitchell said of Nicole Mitchell in the text message.

Carol Mitchell’s fear of Nicole Mitchell also came up as Detroit Lake Police Department Investigator Doug Vickmark testified. A few days after the break in, he spoke with Carol Mitchell at the police department. The area by Carol Mitchell’s bed, where she discovered Nicole Mitchell on April 22, is where Rod Mitchell’s gun was kept, Vickmark said.

“She was very concerned that Nicole’s purpose wasn’t necessarily to get items,” Vickmark said. “She was concerned Nicole might be there to end Carol’s life.”

Patient records, defense calls witnesses

Nicole Mitchell’s attorney, Bruce Ringstrom Jr., asked Vickmark and other law enforcement who testified Wednesday if they noticed any items piled near the window, such as mementos, that appeared to be staged to be taken. None could recall items of the sort.

Detroit Lakes Police Department Sgt. Chad Glander said he determined a laptop found in the backpack was in Nicole Mitchell’s possession before the break-in. When Nicole Mitchell was arrested, the laptop displayed Carol Mitchell’s name when opened.

A forensic examination of that laptop showed activity on Sanford Health’s “MyChart” patient records website in April 2024. A search warrant executed on Carol Mitchell’s MyChart account showed access to patient records on April 20, 2024, days before Nicole Mitchell was arrested.

The first witness called by Nicole Mitchell’s defense was Jonathan Kuehl, Carol Mitchell’s biological son who she gave up for adoption. Kuehl and Carol Mitchell were reunited when Kuehl was an adult.

Kuehl was asked about a conversation he had with Nicole Mitchell at her father’s funeral, as well as text exchanges between Kuehl and Nicole Mitchell about Carol Mitchell’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Kuehl did not remember either conversation.

Ringstrom showed screenshots of the text conversation between Kuehl and Nicole Mitchell, where Nicole Mitchell expressed concern for Carol Mitchell.

Kuehl also could not recall the specifics of a phone interview with Glander after Nicole Mitchell’s arrest, and whether he was asked about a disagreement regarding items like a flannel shirt belonging to Rod Mitchell or ashes. The shirt and ashes were mentioned by Nicole Mitchell as she was arrested. Glander, called back to the witness stand, confirmed Kuehl was asked about a disagreement during that interview, but confirmed Kuehl said there was not a disagreement.

Concerns about Alzheimer’s diagnosis

Nicole Mitchell’s aunt, Nancy Lund, grew emotional at times as she testified about the Mitchell family’s growing concerns about Carol Mitchell’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Once close family members, interactions between Lund and Carol Mitchell became increasingly tense in the months following her brother Rod Mitchell’s death, Lund explained.

After Rod Mitchell’s death, Lund stepped in to help Carol Mitchell with her finances. Over time, Carol Mitchell started sending more confused messages about misplacing documents. Confusion eventually turned to paranoia, she said. Lund would receive a message accusing her of stealing documents in which Rod Mitchell outlined his wishes upon his death.

A tearful Lund read text messages from Carol Mitchell suggesting neither Lund nor Nicole Mitchell loved Rod Mitchell enough to honor his wishes.

“I still knew it was the disease talking, but it hurt so bad that she would say that about me not loving my brother that I never texted her again,” Lund said.

Lund said Nicole Mitchell and Carol Mitchell’s relationship was sometimes rocky, but consistent with any mother-daughter relationship. She described Nicole Mitchell as a “caretaker at heart,” hard working, trustworthy and not driven by money.

Mitchell’s attorney says she wants to testify

Meanwhile, Ringstrom did not confirm to reporters whether Mitchell will testify, but confirmed that she does want to testify.

Nicole Mitchell was charged during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session. Charges against her were a point of contention in a divided Senate during the last two legislative sessions. DFL leaders barred her from participating in committee assignments or party caucus meetings. Senate Republicans called for her resignation and unsuccessfully tried to oust her from the chamber.

The felony burglary charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of six months in jail or a county workhouse, and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Felony possession of burglary tools carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

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