You’ve met the historic, all-female St. Paul City Council. Now meet their legislative aides.

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It’s often been said that legislative aides are the unsung heroes of St. Paul City Hall, handling everything from complex constituent requests and ordinance research to the finer points of policy matters on behalf of each city council member. Meanwhile, executive assistants serve as each council member’s front-line schedulers, receptionists and administrative helpers.

The all-female city council drew national attention during their inauguration in January, in part for their ethnic diversity and the fact that all of the seven members were under the age of 40 at the time. The council’s seven legislative aides are no less diverse, with representation from Black, white, Hmong and African immigrant communities.

There’s been a recent shake-up of sorts among the legislative aides, with Jennifer Lor — the former aide to Ward 6 Council Member Nelsie Yang, who recently went on maternity leave — shifting last month to the mayor’s office, where “JLor” is now the press secretary for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. She works closely with Emily Buss, who was hired about a year ago as the mayor’s overall communications director.

Recent hires Ploua Yang and Jon Berry have filled the openings for legislative aides in the Ward 6 office and in Ward 1 Council Member Anika Bowie’s office, respectively. “I’m excited to get to work, excited to be back here,” said Berry, the who grew up playing football at the Jimmy Lee Rec Center on Lexington Parkway and graduated from Central High School. “This is a historic council.”

Here’s an overview of who’s who among legislative aides:

Ward 1

Bowie, who was elected last November, took her time finding a permanent legislative aide, but ultimately hired Berry last month to fill the role. Berry, a professional host for live sports promotions, comes from a marketing background, having recently served for two and a half years as the marketing director for the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, or MEDA, which serves to boost entrepreneurs of color. Berry, who holds a business degree from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management, previously worked in marketing for Lift Brands, Effectv Advertising, Coborn’s, Target and Disney Radio.

He’s been the in-game arena host for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the past 10 years, appearing on live camera during games as one of its most colorful promoters, and serves in similar roles for the Minnesota Lynx and University of Minnesota alumni “Ski-U-Mania” parties. Dan Dodge, who had been legislative aide to former Ward 1 Council Member Russel Balenger, continued in a transitional role for several weeks past the swearing in of the new council in January before stepping down on Feb. 9.

Polly Heintz is Bowie’s executive assistant.

Ward 2

Taina Maki, legislative aide to St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker. (Courtesy of Taina Maki)

Taina Maki has served as Council Member Rebecca Noecker’s legislative aide since Noecker assumed office in 2016. Maki is the former executive director of the Minnesota office of Physicians for a National Health Program, a former legislative assistant to state Sen. John Marty and a former operations director for Minnesotans United for All Families.

She has also held campaign, policy or communications roles for John Marty for Governor, the Midwest Democracy Network, OutFront Minnesota, TakeAction Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Rainbow Families. Maki holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kayla Thao is Noecker’s executive assistant.

Ward 3

Tom Basgen, legislative aide to St. Paul City Council member Saura Jost, with his mother, Pamela Belding. (Courtesy of Tom Basgen)

When Saura Jost was elected to the city council in November, she drew with her — and then promoted — a worker from another council office. Tom Basgen, who had served as executive assistant to Council Member Mitra Jalali for two years before Jalali became council president, transferred in January to Jost’s office, where he was promoted to legislative aide.

Basgen, a former heavy truck mechanic, bartender and foundryman at the St. Paul Brass and Aluminum Foundry on Minnehaha Avenue, previously worked on political campaigns for Jalali, state Sen. Erin Murphy (including her gubernatorial run in 2018) and Gov. Tim Walz.

During initial planning for bicycle lanes on Cleveland Avenue and the redevelopment of the Ford Motor. Co. campus in Highland Park, now known as Highland Bridge, he became a founding member and treasurer with Sustain Ward 3, which he described as an effort to promote housing development, bicycle infrastructure and a “healthy, affordable city for all.”

Marvalyne Tripp is Jost’s executive assistant.

Ward 4

Doua Yang-Hernandez, who has served as St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali’s legislative aide since 2021. (Courtesy of Doua Yang-Hernandez)

Doua Yang-Hernandez has served as Council President Mitra Jalali’s legislative aide since 2021 and was field director and campaign manager for Jalali’s 2019 election bid. She has been a Hmong translator on campaigns for U.S. President Joe Biden, state Rep. Liz Lee, St. Paul Council Member Cheniqua Johnson and others, and oversaw planning for the city council inauguration in January.

Yang-Hernandez is a former trainer with Vote Run Lead, where she was a coach to political campaign managers, and is a former fellow with the New Leaders Council Twin Cities, a leadership development organization for young people involved in policy and advocacy. She holds a master’s degree in education and educational leadership from Minnesota State University.

Yang-Hernandez, who was born and raised in St. Paul, grew up volunteering at Neighborhood House, where her late father worked, and spent nearly a decade mentoring and advising St. Paul Public Schools students through multiple educational nonprofits and institutions. Among them, she previously served as the TRIO Upward Bound college access advisor at Metropolitan State University and the University of Minnesota, and held a similar role with Breakthrough Twin Cities.

Kristin Koziol is Jalali’s executive assistant.

Ward 5

Abdihamid Badri, legislative aide to St. Paul City Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim. (Courtesy of Abdihamid Badri)

Abdihamid Badri is the legislative aide to City Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim.

Badri is a former legislative assistant with the Minnesota House and Senate Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus.

He has an undergraduate degree in political science from Hamline University.

Jenna McCullough is Kim’s executive assistant.

Ward 6

Ploua Yang, the legislative aide for St. Paul City Council member Nelsie Yang. (Courtesy of Ploua Yang)

Ploua Yang is the legislative aide to Council Member Nelsie Yang.

Previously she was a program manager with the Coalition of Asian American Leaders and spent nearly four years in the office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan as a policy project manager and senior public engagement liaison.

She received her bachelor’s degree in human services at Metropolitan State University.

Sonia Romero is Nelsie Yang’s executive assistant.

Ward 7

Melanie Johnson, the legislative aide to St, Paul City Council member Cheniqua Johnson. (Courtesy of Melanie Johnson)

Melanie Johnson is the legislative aide to Council Member Cheniqua Johnson. She holds a master’s degree in social work with a focus on community organizing and community systems from the University of Michigan. She spent eight years at the University of Minnesota in the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Program as an academic advisor and later as the Associate Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

She was previously an academic advisor at Rhodes State College in Ohio and a landlord liaison, crisis housing coordinator and housing access program supervisor with SOS Community Services in Michigan. She also spent a year as a matching specialist with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County, Michigan. She lives in the ward.

Sumeya Said, who also lives in the ward, is the office’s executive assistant.

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Hunter Biden’s lawyers rest their defense in his trial on federal gun charges

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By CLAUDIA LAUER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, RANDALL CHASE and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (Associated Press)

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden’s lawyers rested their case Monday in the federal criminal trial of the president’s son, who is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun in 2018, according to news reports.

Prosecutors have argued the evidence is clear that Hunter Biden was in the throes of addiction when he checked “no” on the form at the gun shop that asked whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” drugs.

Hunter Biden’s addiction struggles before getting sober more than five years ago are well documented. But defense lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove he was using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun.

The defense has suggested Hunter Biden had been trying to turn his life around at the time, completing a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018. His daughter Naomi took the stand for the defense last week, telling jurors about visiting him while he was at a California rehab center weeks before he bought the gun.

The defense also tried to cast doubt on the memories of the prosecution’s witnesses, pressing them about their recollection of events.

Hunter Biden was charged with three felonies: lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.

It’s the first of two trials for Hunter Biden in the midst of his father’s Democratic reelection campaign. He also is charged with failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes in a case scheduled to go to trial in September in California.

Hunter Biden has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and the separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The criminal trial of President Joe Biden’s son heads into its final stretch Monday as the defense tries to chip away at prosecutors’ case laying bare some of the darkest moments of Hunter Biden’s drug-fueled past.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers could call at least one more witness in the case — the first of two trials he’s facing in the midst of his father’s reelection campaign. It’s unclear whether prosecutors will call any rebuttal witnesses before the case goes to closing arguments, and then to the jury.

Hunter Biden hugged his uncle James Biden before entering the Wilmington, Delaware, courthouse Monday. First Lady Jill Biden arrived shortly after and was seated in the front row of the courtroom with other family members, including James, Hunter’s sister Ashley and the president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens.

As court began, the two sides argued over instructions that will be given to the jury before deliberations. The lawyers also discussed how jurors can request to see certain physical exhibits, including the gun, in the jury room.

Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies stemming from the October 2018 purchase of a gun he had for about 11 days. Prosecutors say he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty and has accused the Justice Department of bending to political pressure from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans to bring the gun case and separate tax charges after a deal with prosecutors fell apart last year. Hunter Biden has said he has been sober since 2019, but his attorneys have said he did not consider himself an “addict” when he filled out the form.

The case has put a spotlight on a turbulent time in Hunter Biden’s life after the death of his brother, Beau, in 2015.

Hunter Biden’s struggles with addiction before getting sober more than five years ago are well documented. But defense lawyers argue there’s no evidence he was actually using drugs in the 11 days that he possessed the gun. He had completed a rehab program weeks earlier.

Jurors have heard emotional testimony from Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners and read personal text messages. They’ve seen photos of Hunter Biden holding a crack pipe and partly clothed, and video from his phone of crack cocaine weighed on a scale.

His ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified for prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.

Hunter Biden has not taken the witness stand, and it’s unclear if he will. But jurors have heard him describe at length his descent into addiction through audio excerpts played in court of his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things.” The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn’t mention it specifically.

A key witness for prosecutors is Beau’s widow, Hallie, who had a brief troubled relationship with Hunter after his brother died of brain cancer. She found the unloaded gun in Hunter’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store in Wilmington, where a man inadvertently fished it out of the trash.

“I didn’t want him to hurt himself, and I didn’t want my kids to find it and hurt themselves,” Hallie Biden told jurors.

From the time Hunter returned to Delaware from a 2018 trip to California until she threw his gun away, she did not see him using drugs, Hallie told jurors. That time period included the day he bought the weapon. But jurors also saw text messages Hunter sent to Hallie in October 2018 saying he was waiting for a dealer and smoking crack. The first message was sent the day after he bought the gun. The second was sent the following day.

The defense has suggested Hunter Biden had been trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.

“There is no evidence of contemporaneous drug use and a gun possession,” defense lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote in court papers filed Friday. “It was only after the gun was thrown away and the ensuing stress … that the government was able to then find the same type of evidence of his use (e.g., photos, use of drug lingo) that he relapsed with drugs.”

Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi took the stand for the defense Friday, telling jurors about visiting her father while he was at a California rehab center weeks before he bought the gun. She told jurors that he seemed “hopeful” and to be improving, and she told him she was proud of him. As she was dismissed from the stand, she paused to hug her dad before leaving the courtroom.

The defense on Friday did not rule out calling one more witness, but it was unclear who that could be. Hunter’s lawyers previously said they planned to call as a witness Joe Biden’s brother, James and he was at the courthouse on Friday. Testimony from other family members could open the door for more deeply personal messages to be introduced to the jury.

President Joe Biden said last week that he would accept the jury’s verdict and has ruled out a pardon for his son. After flying back from France, President Biden was at his home in Wilmington for the day and was expected in Washington in the evening for a Juneteenth concert. He was scheduled to travel to Italy later this week for the Group of Seven leaders conference.

Last summer, it looked as if Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors imploded after U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was nominated to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump, raised concerns about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.

If convicted in the gun case, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.

___

Richer reported from Washington.

McBride continues 3-point tear, Lynx dominate second half in 83-64 win over Seattle

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The Minnesota Lynx offense could almost be boiled down to “Give Kayla McBride the ball.”

After all, the sharpshooting guard completed a two-game stretch on Sunday that is one of the best in the 28-year history of the WNBA.

“McBuckets” made seven 3-pointers as part of a season-high 32-point night and the Lynx pulled away to beat Seattle 83-64.

“I’m just having a lot of fun,” McBride said.

Shooting a league-best 51.2% on 3-point shots, McBride had a franchise- and career-best eight buckets from deep Friday. Her 15 threes in a two-game period ties the WNBA record set by Diana Taurasi from Sept. 1-3, 2020. However, McBride attempted 23 shots during her record-tying run. Taurasi needed 28.

“I think K-Mac should be on top given that tiebreak,” coach Cheryl Reeve said.

McBride and Taurasi are the only players in league history with back-to-back games with at least seven made 3s.

“I’ve just kind of found my flow at this point of my career and I’ve just been trying to capitalize on it,” said McBride, now in her 11th season. “And I know that’s what this team needs me to be too, that’s be very confident on the perimeter. We have one the best players in the world in Napheesa Collier and I’m just trying to create that same feeling on the outside.”

Calling McBride’s run “pretty incredible,” Reeve said the rest of the offense deserves credit, too.

“I think she’s getting easier 3s than maybe she got last season,” Reeve said. “There’s more to worry about and I think maybe that has contributed. So, her teammates around her finding her in a good time when a defense is in rotation. But credit to her, she’s got to the hard work, she’s got make the shot.”

“Every time she shoots the ball in the game, I think it’s going in,” said Bridget Carleton, a shooting partner at practice with McBride.

Minnesota, which shot 45% from the field, had 25 assists on 27 baskets and was 17 of 21 from the free-throw line.

Collier was her usual self with a 19-point, 14-rebound outing and showed more outward emotion, including involvement in couple of second-half skirmishes. And Carleton found her stroke in the second half with 10 of her 13 points.

The 8-3 Lynx have won four of five and six of eight. Minnesota, who lost on a last-second shot Friday in Phoenix, has beaten 7-4 Seattle three times this season.

The top shooting, long-distance team in the WNBA with 10.6 makes per game and a 40.5% success rate, Minnesota had a 14-5 run late in the third quarter/early fourth keyed by the 3.

McBride and Collier drilled 3s to start the stretch and Collier added another. Carleton ended the third converting an inbounds pass from Olivia Époupa for a 59-52 lead, leading to Carleton and McBride exchanging an enthusiastic hand slap after the make.

In 14 minutes off the bench, Époupa, a 5-foot-5 guard, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven assists, numbers McBride called “insane.”

Another McBride 3 put the Lynx up by 10 midway through the fourth and her final trey made it 78-62.

Down by five at intermission, Minnesota outscored Seattle 47-23 in the second half.

Losing for the first time in seven games, Seattle got 25 points from Jewell Loyd and 14 from Nneka Ogwumike. The Storm shot 34.7%, the sixth time in 11 games a Lynx opponent did not reach 40%.

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Out as Minnesota GM, Natalie Darwitz proud of team she built and ‘championship we brought home’

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Natalie Darwitz, who built the PWHL’s first championship team only to be ousted as its general manager last week, said Sunday she is proud of her work as Minnesota’s general manager but declined to comment on the specifics of her dismissal.

“As the General Manager of PWHL Minnesota, I gave my heart and soul to provide a first-class experience to the players, staff and fans,” Darwitz wrote in a message to an email to reporters. “My goal was to grow the game of women’s hockey and to show young girls their dream could become a reality.”

Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, the championship trophy for the six-team league, by clinching a three-game sweep over Boston on May 29. Minnesota ranked second in attendance, averaging 7,138 at Xcel Energy, well over the league average of 5,448.

Darwitz, a high school phenom from Eagan who went on the star for the Gophers and Team USA before turning to coaching at Hamline and her alma mater, was removed as the Minnesota PWHL’s team on Thursday, addressed the team’s supporters in her email, her first public comments on the move.

“I am very proud of the team and organization that was built and the championship we brought home to this great State of Hockey,” Darwitz said. “At this time, I am not able to provide any details regarding my departure. Thank you.”

Darwitz, 40, was hired as Minnesota’s first general manager in September and was responsible for drafting the entire roster in the league’s first draft. She used the first overall pick on Taylor Heise, a Kazmaier Award winner in 2022 when Darwitz was her position coach at the U.

She also pulled the trigger on the PWHL’s first trade, sending forward Susanna Tapani and defender Abby Cook to Boston for blue liner Sophie Jaques, who won the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award as a senior at Ohio State. Jaques scored twice against her former team in Game 2 of the PWHL finals.

The decision to fire Darwitz was made by PWHL management, which released a statement on Saturday confirming it had “parted ways” with Darwitz.

“We appreciate all that Natalie has done for PWHL Minnesota in the league’s inaugural season and her contributions to the team’s championship success. We wish her the best moving forward,” Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford said.

In a teleconference held with a small group of reporters that did not include a member from the Pioneer Press, Hefford said the league’s decision came after internal and external review that included interviews with Minnesota players and staff.

“The feedback to us was pretty direct and pretty clear that there wasn’t a path forward with the current personnel in place,” Hefford said, according to ESPN. “It was with the work we did throughout the year, and it was clear that a change needed to be made.”

Some Minnesota players asked to comment on Sunday did not immediately return messages.

“There is no immediate timeline for the naming of the next PWHL Minnesota General Manager,” the PWHL said, but it’s expected that coach Kevin Klee — hired later after Darwitz’s original choice, Charlie Burggraf, stepped down before the season started — will remain and add general manager duties.

Remaining Minnesota staff will run the team’s PWHL draft, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Monday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. Minnesota has the third overall pick. The draft will stream live on the PWHL’s YouTube channel.