Connect with us

Minnesota

Minnesota attorney general sues Trump over order halting funding for gender-affirming care • Minnesota Reformer

Published

on

Minnesota attorney general sues Trump over order halting funding for gender-affirming care • Minnesota Reformer


Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and two other state attorneys general sued President Donald Trump in federal court Friday over his recent executive order aiming to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender youth younger than 19.

Trump on Jan. 28 signed a sweeping order to broadly limit access to gender-affirming care by halting funding via government-run insurance programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. The order also calls for federal agencies to cut off grants to hospitals and medical schools providing gender-affirming care to people under 19.

Ellison defended the health care in a statement: “Gender-affirming care is evidence based, provided by licensed and trained medical professionals, and provided with the consent of a young person’s parents or legal guardians,” Ellison said in a statement. “President Trump’s executive order is not only illegal, it’s mean-spirited and deeply hurtful.”

Major medical associations in the U.S., including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support the use of gender-affirming care for the treatment of gender dysphoria.

Advertisement

Ellison’s office said Trump’s executive order would also direct the Department of Justice to investigate states like Minnesota that have laws prohibiting the enforcement of another state’s law requiring a child to be taken from their parents for accessing gender-affirming care.

In 2023, the DFL-controlled Legislature passed a law making Minnesota a refuge for transgender people, protecting them from legal repercussions for traveling to Minnesota for gender-affirming health care. Last year, lawmakers also passed legislation to ensure gender-affirming care is covered by health insurance plans.

Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, and the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker, in a statement said Minnesota will fight against attempts to discriminate against trans people.

“Transgender people do not deserve to be policed in our health care decisions or in our personal lives. Not by the president, the public or anyone else,” Finke said. “We do not need the president’s permission to live our authentic lives. In Minnesota, we will always fight for trans and nonbinary people, our health care access and all of our rights.”

Ellison, along with attorneys general from Washington and Oregon, argues in the federal suit that Trump’s executive order violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal-protection clause. The states are asking the court for an emergency order to block the executive order, as it will harm youth.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, Trump signed another executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. The president during his first days in office has signed a number of anti-trans executive orders, including one on his first day declaring that the federal government would only recognize two genders.



Source link

Minnesota

Minnesota weather: How cold it got on Saturday

Published

on

Minnesota weather: How cold it got on Saturday


Temperatures dropped into the negative Saturday, with the coldest temperatures in the morning. 

How cold it got in Minnesota Saturday

By the numbers:

Advertisement

Here is how cold the temperatures got in Minnesota: 

  • Hinckley: -20 degrees
  • Bemidji: -20 degrees
  • Ely: -18 degrees
  • Brainerd: -18 degrees
  • Detroit Lakes: -18 degrees
  • Hibbing: -17 degrees
  • International Falls: -17 degrees
  • Duluth: -16 degrees
  • Alexandria: -12 degrees
  • St. Cloud: -12 degrees
  • Cambridge: -11 degrees
  • Grand Marais: -10 degrees
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -6 degrees
  • Red Wing: -6 degrees
  • Morris: -6 degrees
  • Hutchinson: -5 degrees
  • Rochester: -5 degrees
  • Mankato: -3 degrees
  • Windom: 0 degrees
  • Marshall: 0 degrees

Here are the lowest wind chills across Minnesota from Saturday: 

Advertisement

  • Bemidji: -37 degrees
  • Ely: -35 degrees
  • Duluth: -34 degrees
  • Brainerd: -32 degrees
  • Detroit Lakes: -32 degrees
  • Hibbing: -31 degrees
  • Alexandria: -29 degrees
  • Hinckley: -27 degrees
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -24 degrees
  • St. Cloud: -24 degrees
  • Willmar: -22 degrees
  • Cambridge-21 degrees
  • Grand Marais: -21 degrees
  • Hutchinson: -21 deegres
  • Morris: -20 degrees
  • Faribault: -18 degrees
  • Mankato: -18 degrees
  • Marshall: -17 degrees
  • Red Wing: -16 degrees
  • Owatonna: -16 degrees
  • Windom-12 degrees

Cold continues Sunday 

What’s next:

The Twin Cities are under a cold weather advisory that is expected to last through Sunday morning, so residents should prepare for frigid conditions if they have plans to be outdoors.

Advertisement

Sunday will be slightly less frigid with temperatures climbing above zero. However, it will still feel like 10 below zero in the afternoon.

Milder and warmer temperatures are expected to return for the work week.

Winter WeatherMinnesota
Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Minnesota

Minnesota Wild acquires NHL star Quinn Hughes from Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade

Published

on

Minnesota Wild acquires NHL star Quinn Hughes from Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade


The Minnesota Wild made an all-in move for one of the NHL’s best players in his prime, acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade — their boldest action yet toward ending a decade-long skid of playoff series defeats.

The teams announced the seismic move on Friday night, after the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman had been the most talked-about trade candidate over the past couple of weeks. Minnesota sent center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick in the 2026 draft to suddenly rebuilding Vancouver to complete the deal.

The trade was the second major swap of the day, after two-time Stanley Cup Final runner-up Edmonton finally made a move for a goaltender, acquiring Tristan Jarry from Pittsburgh.

Rossi (24), Ohgren (21) and Buium (20) fit the mold of the young talent the Canucks were speculated to be targeting if they were going to trade Hughes. Rossi (2020), Ohgren (2022) and Buium (2024) were all recent first-round draft picks by the Wild.

Advertisement

“Quinn played hard, led by example and did a lot of very good things for the Canucks,” Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin said. “Trading away a player of this caliber is never an easy decision to make, but it was one we had to do to make our team better. We are so excited to add a solid centre in Marco, a good young blueliner in Zeev and a versatile forward in Liam. This year’s draft is a strong one, so acquiring a first-round pick was also a big part of this deal.”

Hughes had no trade-blocking protection in his current deal that pays him an average of $7.85 million annually. Hughes, who is 26 and widely considered the best at player on the blue line behind only Colorado’s Cale Makar, is signed through the 2026-27 season before he can become an unrestricted free agent.

The Wild will not be allowed to extend Hughes until July 1, and it’s unclear if he would consider signing a new contract with them. There has been plenty of buzz around the league that Quinn wants to play with his brothers, Jack and Luke, with the New Jersey Devils.

They could potentially be teammates on the U.S. Olympic team, either in February in Milan or in 2030. Wild general manager Bill Guerin runs USA Hockey’s management team.

The long-term outlook for Hughes can wait until next summer, though. The Wild are focused on challenging the two top teams ahead of them in the loaded Central Division, rivals that happen to also have the top two records in the NHL: Colorado and Dallas.

Advertisement

The season-long celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary would be a lot more meaningful if the Wild can finally advance in the playoffs, having lost nine straight series after a first-round victory over St. Louis in 2015. The Wild have passed the second round just once in their entire existence, when they were swept in the Western Conference finals by Anaheim in 2003.

Hughes is a significant upgrade to Minnesota’s blue line, anchored by captain and 16-year veteran Jared Spurgeon, smooth-skating 14-year veteran Jonas Brodin and young stalwart Brock Faber. The emergence of rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt this season has given the Wild a reliable tandem with Filip Gustavsson in the net, with star winger Kirill Kaprizov leading the attack after recently signing the richest contract in hockey history to stay in the “State of Hockey” through 2034.

After a rough start, the Wild are 14-3-2 since Nov. 1. They host Ottawa on Saturday and Boston on Sunday night, with the latter game likely the more realistic one for Hughes to debut.

Hughes had two goals, 21 assists and 32 blocked shots in 23 games this season with the last-in-the-NHL Canucks. When he won the Norris Trophy two seasons ago, Hughes had 17 goals and 75 assists, both single-season franchise records for defensemen and the most among all blue liners in the league. Drafted seventh overall in 2018 out of Michigan, the native of Orlando, Florida, spent time growing up in the Boston and Toronto areas while his father, a hockey coach, moved around.

This was Hughes’ third season as Vancouver’s captain, and his abrupt exit paves the way for more change 11 months since the trade of J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers and in the aftermath of coach Rick Tocchet’s departure.

Advertisement

“With the circumstances surrounding J.T. and now Quinn, we are fortunate to acquire these very good young players from Minnesota,” Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said. “They will be a key part of the rebuild that we are currently in, giving us a bright future moving forward. The hockey club will continue to build with talented young players using that as a blueprint to become a contender sooner rather than later.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Minnesota

KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Fraud in Minnesota

Published

on

KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Fraud in Minnesota


KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Fraud in Minnesota

The first results of KSTP’s exclusive SurveyUSA poll on fraud in Minnesota have been released.

Our survey asked: Do you think fraud in state programs is the biggest problem in Minnesota?

From a group of 578 registered voters, 79% say it’s either the biggest problem or a major problem.

Advertisement

Another question asked was: Has Gov. Tim Walz done enough to stop fraud in Minnesota?

Fourteen percent say that he’s done enough, while 69% say he needs to do more.

The survey also asked if the Legislature has done enough — 11% say yes, and 74% say they need to do more.

Click here for KSTP’s full coverage on fraud.

You can view the results of the fraud-related KSTP/SurveyUSA results below:

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending