1 Apr 2024

Minnesota Supreme Court to hear felon voting rights case

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Minnesota’s Supreme Court is set to decide the fate of voting rights for felons on supervised release, with oral arguments scheduled Monday in a conservative group’s challenge to the new law.

Last year Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill restoring the vote to around 55,000 Minnesotans with felony convictions who had been released but are still on probation. The change came after decades of effort at the Capitol and an unsuccessful American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit to challenge the previous restriction.

Lawmakers moved quickly last spring to restore voting rights after the Supreme Court ruled against the ACLU challenge, and said the issue was up to the state Legislature. But soon after the bill became law, a conservative legal group filed a challenge in Anoka County.

The Minnesota Voters Alliance argued the law couldn’t stand because the state Constitution says people can vote once their civil rights are restored, meaning they need to complete their entire sentence, including probation.

An Anoka County judge dismissed the conservative group’s challenge in December 2023, ruling the Minnesota Voters Alliance didn’t have standing to intervene. The group appealed the case directly to the Supreme Court, and in January justices said they’d grant the case accelerated review.

Twenty-three states restore voting rights upon release from incarceration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C. allow incarcerated people to vote.

Minnesota was one of 16 states, including South Dakota and Wisconsin, that only allowed people with felony convictions to vote after completing their entire sentence, including probation.

The Minnesota Voters Alliance lawsuit was one of two challenges to the felon voting rights law since it went into effect last year.

In October, a Mille Lacs County judge told people convicted of felonies in his court that they could not vote as part of their sentencing.

The Mille Lacs County judge said the law was unconstitutional, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals said he did not have the authority to make that ruling.

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1 Apr 2024

Fraser Festival at St. Paul RiverCentre is a sensory-friendly event for people of all abilities

by | posted in: Society | 0

The first time Katie Najjar took her toddler son Gabriel to the Fraser Festival, she didn’t know what to expect.

As a child who has autism, many outings were too overwhelming for her son. Too loud. Too many people. Too much.

But the Fraser Festival was designed just for people like Gabriel, who is now 5, to enjoy a Disney World-like experience in a sensory-friendly environment that would support him and his family, said Najjar, who now works for the local nonprofit Fraser organization that holds the annual festival.

This year, it is being held on Saturday, April 6, at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

The idea behind the festival was to create an inclusive event that is open to people of all abilities while having additional sensory support available, Najjar said.

“Families like mine find it challenging to decide what events to go to,” she said. “How is your child going to react in a large crowd with loud noises? Most outings take more work and planning. Is it going to be too loud? Are there going to be too many people?”

For most outings to unfamiliar places, the Najjar family would have to consider whether the place they were going had quiet spaces where they could take Gabriel if he felt overwhelmed. Sometimes they would take two vehicles in case she or her husband needed to leave early with him.

The festival “takes the guesswork out of it for families,” Najjar said. “We don’t have to make a plan.”

The first year of the festival — three years ago — Najjar didn’t know what to expect. She didn’t know what her toddler son would think of the event, even though it was geared toward someone who faced some of his sensory challenges.

“At one point, he was a little overwhelmed,” she said. “And before I could think about it, before I could do anything about it, there were support staff offering him a fidget and a way for him to calm down. They were offering us assistance before I could even think about what to do. For a mom, that was so helpful and comforting. They saw him being overwhelmed and were there to help.”

Shortly after Gabriel was diagnosed with autism, Najjar became involved with the Fraser nonprofit in the summer of 2021. When Gabriel began receiving services from the organization and attended its pre-kindergarten program, Najjar began volunteering. Earlier this year, she began to work for Fraser.

Gabriel, 5, and his older siblings, who are 8 and 10, all look forward to the festival every year, she said.

“He is a kiddo that really loves to move his body, so he enjoys a lot of the sensory output with his hands, such as the therapy animals,” Najjar said. This year, the festival will have Tiptoe the seeing-eye donkey. In the past, it has had dogs, llamas, cats and rabbits, she said.

In addition to the therapy donkey petting station, the festival will also include two sensory musical performances and zones for coloring, yoga, making friendship bracelets, face painting, spin-art machines, a silent disco (headphones with sound optional), cookie decorating, and an obstacle course and rock-climbing wall.

“The community event welcomes people of all ages, abilities, neurodiversities, cultures and backgrounds,” according to a news release. “The festival is an inclusive, sensory-friendly event, offering accommodations for those with sensory processing differences. Sensory differences are common for individuals with autism and disabilities. The event’s accommodations provide support to individuals who experience discomfort from sensory stimulation like loud noises, bright lights, strong smells or crowds to ensure everyone in the community can enjoy the festivities.”

This is the third year of the festival, which was previously a walk called the Fraser Walk for Autism. The Fraser organization stemmed from the Fraser School.

In 1920, Louise Whitbeck Fraser had a daughter who lost her hearing after contracting spinal meningitis as an infant. At the time, people with disabilities were often institutionalized. With her daughter on a waiting list to attend a school for the deaf, Fraser began teaching her daughter at home. Soon other parents asked Fraser to teach their children. As a result, Fraser opened her own school in 1935. Now, the Fraser School is located in Richfield.

The nonprofit serves individuals with a variety of development needs, Najjar said. The organization provides a variety of services and care throughout a person’s life, including its education programs, occupational or speech therapy, case management, and community living homes.

Last year, more than 1,000 people attended the festival. Even though it is free, it is also a fundraiser for the organization. Opportunities to donate can be found online or at the event, she said.

“It’s a great way for families who are kind of new to planning for these types of public outings to get an idea of how that works for their families in a safe, inclusive place with support,” Najjar said.

If you go

What: Fraser Festival

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6

Where: St. Paul RiverCentre, 175 Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul

More information: fraser.org/events/fraser-festival

1 Apr 2024

Rudy Gobert notes improvements in Timberwolves’ organization in recent years

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Timberwolves players don’t seem impacted in any way, shape or form by the current tussle for majority ownership of the team between Glen Taylor and the tandem of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.

At this point in the season, as they battle for the No. 1 seed, it affects their day-to-day operations very little.

“I don’t even know what’s going on, for real,” Wolves wing Jaden McDaniels told reporters Friday after the team’s win over Denver. “I’m just going to keep that on that side and let them handle their own business.”

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an impact on the team’s performance as a whole over the long haul, as Rudy Gobert laid out to reporters Friday in Denver.

“We want ownership to always do whatever it takes to put the players in the best situation to be successful. I feel like since I’ve got here, things have gotten a lot better and really, from what I’ve heard, from what I’ve seen, changed a lot of things to allow us to be as successful as we can and those things come a long way, especially when, like, you see (Friday), we won a game to go ahead for the first seed. Details really matter,” Gobert said. “I really appreciate the ownership group to do whatever it takes to help us win, and make sure all we have to do is focus on basketball.”

Gobert saying that he’s heard things have improved since he arrived is notable, since he was traded to Minnesota just 14 months after Lore and Rodriguez agreed to buy the team. And while Taylor continues to foot the financial bills on improvements and has the final rubber stamp on any decisions, Lore and Rodriguez have had influence on decisions.

What are the improvements made in recent years?

“A lot of things, whether it’s nutrition, recovery, facility, family room, I mean how our family is being treated. A lot of things,” Gobert said. “This organization is becoming really a top-notch organization and I think it’s come a long way.”

TAYLOR ON SITE

Timberwolves’ current majority owner, Taylor, and his wife, Becky, were in their traditional courtside seats for Sunday’s bout with the Bulls amid the dispute with current minority owners Lore and Rodriguez about Taylor’s sudden cancellation of majority ownership.

Coach Chris Finch gave both Taylor and his wife hugs prior to the game.

Lore and Rodriguez were not in their usual courtside seats for the contest.

PAYING HOMAGE

Karl-Anthony Towns — who’s still recovering from his torn meniscus — was on the Minnesota’s bench Sunday, sporting none other than a Timberwolves’ No. 9 Ricky Rubio jersey.

The former star Wolves guard retired from NBA play in the offseason.

31 Mar 2024

Twins switch up day game preparations in hopes of better results

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s not uncommon to look out in the hours before a game and see Twins’ players on the field manning their positions and taking grounders. It is uncommon to see it before an early afternoon game.

But that’s exactly what the Twins were doing a couple hours before Sunday’s game.

Minnesota was under .500 (34-35) in day games last year, far from their 53-40 record in night games. With a schedule heavy in day games to begin the season, the Twins are switching things up in an attempt to improve their daytime performance.

“Just waking ourselves up a little bit, getting outside, stretching as a team, playing catch, that’s a hell of a lot more than we’ve ever done before,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think the norm in our game is, obviously, for these day games, to take it easy, show up a little later, get going just before the game. We have a unique challenge in front of us because we play so many day games and we can’t just treat these games as a show-and-go type of situation.”

In its 69 day games last year, Minnesota hit .232 with a .314 on-base percentage and .390 slugging percentage (.704 OPS). Those numbers were up across the board at nighttime, when the Twins hit .252/.334/.455 with a .789 OPS as a team.

Minnesota’s 69 day games were fifth in the league last year. It’s scheduled for 66 daytime contests this year, starting with eight straight to begin the season. In March and April, the Twins will play 17 of them. While they might not do an extended pregame before every day game later in the season, it’s certainly an emphasis right now.

“We’re going to try to get outside as much as possible,” Baldelli said. “I think we’re going to be better if we are up and moving around. It’s not that difficult to get dressed and to just walk outside, stretch and play catch. A lot of our guys will probably just go out there, get loose, take some groundballs maybe, shag a little bit and come in.”

That’s what the Twins did on Sunday.

While they didn’t take batting practice on the field, players were out and moving around and Baldelli was preaching the effects of getting natural light in the morning, something which players wouldn’t have gotten much of with their past routines.

“We haven’t played great in day games,” Baldelli said, before the Twins were beat by the Royals 11-0 in a Sunday day game. “We’ve played a lot of really good baseball here. Less of that baseball has been played during day games, relatively speaking, so we’re trying to make an adjustment that we think has a chance to help us.”

Kepler still out

Max Kepler has not returned to the field since fouling a ball off his knee on Thursday, and while the Twins aren’t concerned longer term about his health, Baldelli said the right fielder was still was unable to run.

The hope, the manager said, is that after a day off on Monday, Kepler will be able to return to the field when the Twins face the Brewers on Tuesday.

“If he’s not able to play in Milwaukee, we’re going to have to talk about an IL stint of some kind. There’s just no way around that,” Baldelli said. “We’re not going to wait for six, seven, eight days when we could get another player here who can play and help us. I think he’s going to be OK. I hope he’s going to be improved.”

Briefly

The Twins have lined up Louie Varland and Chris Paddack to face the Brewers this upcoming week. That would mean ace Pablo López is lined up for the home opener at Target Field on Thursday.