The Center for Broadcast Journalism announced Harry Colbert Jr. as the new vice president for the St. Paul organization.
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The center is a non-profit organization that focuses on teaching the next generation of broadcast journalists. It was founded by Georgia Fort and Marianne Combs. Fort, the president of the Center for Broadcast Journalism, said Colbert will fit because of his years of experience in reporting and teaching journalism.
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Fort said she originally met Colbert around 2010 when she was the radio host for 89.9 KMOJ news.
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Colbert will focus on programming and the radio station for the organization, according to Fort. The center’s radio state is POWER 104.7 FM.

Colbert said that as the new vice president, he wants to increase representation for Black journalists in the newsrooms via reporting and in leadership. Colbert worked at publications including MinnPost, North News, and Insight News. Colbert was also the former president of the National Black Association of Journalists Minnesota chapter.

For him, teaching the next generation of students is something vital.
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“At the end of the day I have X amount of years left, both as a professional and as a human being on this planet. And someone did something important for me who put me in this position. Therefore, it’s my obligation and my purpose to make sure I do for the next generation,” Colbert said.
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When Colbert became the editor-in-chief of North News in 2020, he covered the George Floyd protests. Colbert said the experience showed him how little the Black community was being reported on accurately.
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“It highlighted the fact that our stories need proper framing. These are the stories that people in our communities had been telling long before they had been being broadcast live, streamed, televised,” Colbert said.
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According to David Pierini, the current editor of North News, which covers North Minneapolis, Colbert’s ability to be a trusted source helped the team cover the protests more accurately.

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“Through the George Floyd protest from the time his murder happened right up until the verdict, he was kind of one of the leading voices in the Twin Cities. I mean, he really was a respected voice through the columns that he wrote,” Pierini said.
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Colbert will start on Nov. 3. For new journalists going into broadcast journalism, he said that authenticity is everything.
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“Be true to your purpose, be true to your calling, and keep the community first,” Colbert said.

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Energy said Thursday it has finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest power companies to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines across five states, mostly in the Midwest, for largely fossil fuel-run energy.

AEP Transmission will upgrade power lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia to enhance enhance grid reliability and capacity, the Energy Department said. The project is meant to help meet surging electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

Ohio-based American Electric Power, which owns AEP Transmission, is one of the nation’s largest utilities, serving 5.6 million customers in 11 states. It primarily produces electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear power, along with renewable resources such as wind and hydroelectric power.

Thursday’s announcement deepens the Trump administration’s commitment to traditional, polluting energy sources even as it works to discourage the U.S. from clean energy use.

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Earlier this month, the administration cancelled $7.6 billion in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. A total of 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable, the Energy Department said.

The cancellations include up to $1.2 billion for California’s hydrogen hub aimed at developing clean-burning hydrogen fuels to power ships and heavy-duty trucks. A hydrogen project costing up to $1 billion in the Pacific Northwest also was cancelled.

The loan guarantee finalized Thursday is the first offered by the Trump administration under the recently renamed Energy Dominance Financing program created by the massive tax-and-spending law approved this summer by congressional Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump. Electric utilities that receive loans through the program must provide assurances to the government that financial benefits from the financing will be passed on to customers, the Energy Department said.

The project and others being considered will help ensure that Americans “will have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy for decades to come,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

“The president has been clear: America must reverse course from the energy subtraction agenda of past administrations and strengthen our electrical grid,” Wright said, adding that modernizing the grid and expanding transmission capacity “will help position the United States to win the AI race and grow our manufacturing base.”

The upgrades supported by the federal financing will replace existing transmission lines in existing rights-of-way with new lines capable of carrying more energy, the power company said.

More than 2,000 miles of transmission lines in Ohio serving 1.5 million people will be replaced, along with more than 1,400 miles in Indiana and Michigan serving 600,000 customers, the company said. An additional 1,400 miles in Oklahoma, serving about 1.2 million people and 26 miles in West Virginia, serving 460,000 people, will be replaced.

The projects will create about 1,100 construction jobs, the company said.

The loan guarantee will save customers money and improve reliability while supporting economic growth in the five states, said Bill Fehrman, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The funds we will save through this program enable us to make additional investments to enhance service for our customers,” he added.

Wright, in a conference call with reporters, distinguished the AEP loan guarantee from a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee the department cancelled in July. That money would have boosted the planned Grain Belt Express, a new high-voltage transmission line set to deliver solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to eastern states.

The Energy Department said at the time it was “not critical for the federal government to have a role” in the first phase of the $11 billion project planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The department also questioned whether the project could meet strict financial conditions required, a claim Wright repeated Thursday.

“Ultimately that is a commercial enterprise that needs private developers,” Wright said. The company has indicated the Grain Belt project will go forward.

Trump and Wright have repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as unreliable and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. Wright said the Grain Belt Express loan was among billions of dollars worth of commitments “rushed out the doors” in the waning days of former President Joe Biden’s administration.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon has been allowed to enter a pretrial program to resolve a reckless driving charge stemming from a crash this summer in Connecticut.

A state Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that McMahon could enter the program if he made a $1,000 charitable contribution and only drove if properly licensed and insured. If he does that, the reckless driving charge and another charge of following too closely will be dismissed in one year.

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McMahon was accused of causing a July 24 crash on the Merritt Parkway in Westport that wrecked his Bentley and damaged two other cars, state police said. No one was injured in the crash, and the other drivers did not object to McMahon’s application for the pretrial program.

The police report said McMahon was driving northbound on the parkway, also known as Route 15, when he rear-ended a BMW and crashed into wooden guardrail. A car traveling in the southbound lanes struck debris from the crash that flew over the guardrail.

McMahon did not speak during the brief hearing. His attorney, Mark Sherman, said afterward that “not every car accident is a crime. That’s what happened here, an accident.”

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, last year, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.

Golfers get ready, Minnesota’s second-ever Topgolf, located in Woodbury, will open Thursday, Oct. 30, according to Topgolf.

The golf entertainment facility, located on Bielenberg Drive near Interstates 94 and 494, will feature 102 outdoor climate-controlled hitting bays on three levels, with lounge furniture or high-top tables for groups to interact with other players, according to Topgolf. It will also use Topgolf’s Toptracer technology, which traces the flight path, distance and metrics of golf balls.

“Here at Topgolf, we’ve made socializing a sport through a blend of technology and entertainment – and that’s just the game,” their website reads. “There’s no pressure to have a good golf swing or score a lot of points. It’s all about everyone having fun.”

Golf isn’t all the location offers: Football fans can also share in the excitement as the venue features a football game simulator, using golf clubs. The venue hopes to draw fans to watch games live while trying out food, drinks and entertainment opportunities, according to Topgolf.

Topgolf Woodbury will have a full-service bar and restaurant, more than 140 HDTVs, fire pits and music, according to the company.

Private event spaces and a rooftop terrace can also be rented out for celebrations and events, according to Topgolf.

According to Woodbury assistant community development director and city planner Eric Searles, the new golfing entertainment facility is anticipated to hire more than 300 people.

Other family-friendly and fun-focused venues are on the way near Topgolf Woodbury. Main Event, a new arcade and entertainment hub owned by Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, is set to open later this year. A new PGA Tour Superstore has opened about a mile and a half south of the new TopGolf and ParT Barn, a new restaurant and golf-simulator venue, is set to open later this year about two miles east in Lake Elmo.

To book a game or for more information on Woodbury Topgolf, visit topgolf.com/us/woodbury.

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