Minnesota schools, colleges and local governments would be barred from removing rainbow pride flags, banners or posters under a bill moving through the state Legislature.

The proposal advanced through the House Local Government Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday and is set to move to a full floor vote after LGBTQ+ advocates said it would provide support for the community. GOP lawmakers said it was an overstep.

“The bill does not require anyone to display rainbows, nor does it supersede policies that prohibit the display of all banners, flags or posters,” said bill author Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul. “It just prohibits rainbows from being singled out and banned in schools, libraries and other government spaces.”

Several states are weighing bills that take the opposite approach and would prohibit pride flags from being flown in classrooms and other settings.

“The rainbow is a sign of hope and affirmation to the 2SLGBTQIA community — my community,” Finke continued. “For those outside of the queer community, it may seem trivial to legislate the definition and presence of rainbows. But in our community, depending on the circumstance, the value of a publicly-visible rainbow on a doorway or window or classroom is literally impossible to overstate.”

The bill’s supporters said the proposal could prevent situations like one in Worthington, where the school board voted to remove a Latino teacher’s LGBTQ+ pride flag from the classroom. Other school districts are mulling policies that bar rainbow pride flags or banners in schools.

“In Minnesota, we’re not immune to efforts to target trans and LGBTQ youth for discrimination,” Gender Justice director Monica Meyer said. “Let’s encourage our communities across the state to counter these efforts to censor educators and schools and silence communities’ support for inclusion.”

Republicans on the panel raised concerns about the measure bringing what they said are political issues into the classroom and they tried unsuccessfully to send the bill to an education committee for additional vetting.

“I think this bill needs a lot more work because it does infringe on some of those areas that we uphold for education to be independent of political activities. And so (I have) a lot of concerns here,” said Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville.

The proposal would not prevent school or local government leaders from banning all flags, posters or other displays.

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Thursday is again jam-packed with state boys hockey quarterfinals in St. Paul, as the Class 2A teams take the ice to kick off their tournament.

The winner’s bracket will be played at Xcel Energy Center and will be aired locally on Channel 45 and streamed on prep45.tv.

Here are the things to watch this weekend:

Adding to history: Certainly Edina is a fixture on championship Saturday. The Hornets have won 13 state titles, with the most recent in 2019. Grand Rapids has won four state championships.

Rochester Century/John Marshall is tricky. Rochester won a title in 1946. Rochester John Marshall completed an undefeated season in 1977. Rochester Century has never won a title. The Century-John Marshall co-op is in this week’s field. So, for Century it’d be a first. For John Marshall, it’d be a second title.

But no one else in this Class 2A field has won more than one.

White Bear Lake and Chanhassen have never won a state title. The Storm are making their first state tournament appearance this week.

Rounding out the tournament field (with their title year in parentheses): Centennial (2004), Cretin-Derham Hall (2006), Elk River (2001).

So there’s ample opportunity for teams to truly leave their mark in their respective program history this weekend.

Wide-open field: It was mentioned during the section tournaments and is worth reiterating here: There are only two teams ranked in the top 13 of Let’s Play Hockey’s final Class 2A poll in this week’s state tournament field.

Edina and Chanhassen are certainly the class of the bracket. But the Storm are a Cinderella in their own right, making their first state tournament appearance after downing a Minnetonka team that may have been one of the most talented collectives in recent memory in the Section 2 final.

That opens the door not only for the Hornets and Storm, but everyone else. Edina lost four games this season. Chanhassen lost five. No one in the Class 2A bracket is unbeatable. Maybe this is a year for an unseeded team to make a run to the final. Or for White Bear Lake or Centennial to finally drive deep into the tournament. More on that next.

White Bear Lake looks to snap streak: Yes, this will be a talking point every time the Bears are in the state tournament until it’s snapped. They’ve been in 19 state tournament quarterfinals. They’ve lost them all.

Is this ‘the year’ the Bears reach the semis? It certainly could be. They were dominant in their run through Section 4 and since getting healthy at the end of the season look like a team with the ingredients — great goaltending and defense and a star in Nolan Roed who can make the big play — to make a run this week.

Big names, big games: While the absence of Minnetonka does remove a little of the star power this week, there are still plenty of high-end players capable of wowing the Xcel Energy Center crowd throughout the tournament.

Roed, Chanhassen’s Gavin Uhlenkamp and Edina’s Jackson Nevers are Mr. Hockey finalists. Chanhassen’s Kam Hendrickson is a finalist for the Frank Brimsek award given to the top senior goaltender. And Chanhassen’s Owen Buesgens and Edina’s Barrett Dexheimer are finalists for the Reed Larson Award given to the state’s top senior defenseman.

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Chicago Bears guard Nate Davis paid $2.3 million in May for a five-bedroom, 5,537-square-foot house in Highland Park.

A Virginia native who previously had played for the Tennessee Titans, Davis signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Bears in March. He battled injuries in his first year with the team, including missing four games later in the season with a high ankle sprain.

Built in 2003 and designed by Evanston architect Michael Hershenson, Davis’ new house has five bathrooms, three fireplaces, a kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a family room with built-ins and a wall of windows and a wood-paneled study on the first floor. Other features include a four-season sunroom that offers ravine views and a primary suite with a second office, a private screened porch, dual custom walk-in closets and heated floors.

Downstairs on the lower level, the house has a game room, a kitchenette and a fitness room.

The house sits on a 1.28-acre property and is accessed via a wooded private drive.

The agent who represented Davis, Paul Gorney of eXp Realty, could not be reached for comment.

The house had a $52,785 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance writer.

Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.

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The Chicago Cubs needed to find reinforcements for the bullpen.

Acquiring a reliever with a consistent track record was particularly important — and something they finally addressed Saturday.

The Cubs and veteran reliever Héctor Neris have agreed to a one-year, $9 million deal that includes a $9 million team option for 2025, a source told the Tribune. Neris’ club option converts to a player option if the right-hander appears in 60 games, a mark he has hit each of the last three years and six of eight seasons excluding the shortened 2020 season. His contract ultimately can max out at $23.25 million with incentives.

Bringing in Neris addresses key needs in the bullpen. He brings durability, pitching in at least 70 games five times, and gives the Cubs a proven, back-end-of-the-pen reliever who has experience pitching in big games. The Cubs bullpen struggled down the stretch en route to missing the 2023 postseason as an inexperienced group wore down and battled injuries in September.

Neris, 34, owns a career 3.24 ERA over 546 big-league appearances coming off two seasons in Houston, including a World Series title in 2022. He also spent eight years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Primarily used in the seventh and eighth innings with the Astros, Neris also has experience closing, earning five saves in Houston and 84 with the Phillies.

Neris gives the Cubs another splitter in the bullpen to accompany right-hander Mark Leiter Jr., whose pitch has been a shutdown weapon versus lefties. Neris utilizes his splitter against righties and lefties, a pitch that generated a 42.2 Whiff% and .237 slugging percentage in 2023.

While he typically relies on a four-seam fastball and splitter combination opposing left-handed hitters, Neris also mixes a sinker and slider when facing right-handed batters. His average fastball velocity dropped by 1.3 mph from 2022 to 2023, but this deal indicates the Cubs are not significantly concerned with that.

The Cubs’ work on building a more proven bullpen should not be complete with the Neris acquisition. They still need more depth and ideally another postseason-tested reliever.

And with Cody Bellinger among the notable position players still available in free agency, the Cubs are capable of making significant roster improvements in the coming weeks.

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