Minnesota
Former Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting student
![Former Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting student Former Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting student](https://img.apmcdn.org/dbda46881e82083e44b315f96d40b1296dcbffcf/widescreen/aab8f8-20160516-abdul-wright.jpg)
Minnesota’s 2016 Teacher of the Year is facing charges that allege he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old student in 2017.
Abdul Jameel Wright was charged with first degree criminal sex conduct in Hennepin County late last week.
The charging documents allege that Wright, now 38, assaulted one of his students while he was an eighth-grade English teacher at Harvest Best Academy in Minneapolis. The charges say the student’s mother reported it to police earlier this year.
According to the criminal complaint, the former student told officers that Wright singled her out, inviting her to spend time in his classroom and later to come to his home. The student described the behavior as “grooming.”
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She said Wright then sexually assaulted her regularly over the course of a year, until around the time she started ninth grade.
Harvest Best Academy said in a statement that Wright has not been employed there since 2021. The school said staff are gathering information about the allegations.
“We are limited in what we can share until this thorough investigation has been conducted and we are fully cooperating with all authorities,” Harvest Best wrote. “We understand these allegations may be concerning, and our top priority remains the safety and security of our school community.”
Wright is not in custody. His first court appearance is scheduled for later this month.
A 24-hour statewide sexual violence and domestic violence hotline is available in Minnesota. You can call Minnesota Day One at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.
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Minnesota
Review: Weezer goes ‘Blue’ in latest Gen-X package tour to pack a Minnesota sports venue
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With all that going on, it wasn’t surprising the group seemed a little distracted and not fully strapped in upon takeoff on opening night. The crowd stood rather stone-faced in the opening song “II. Anonymous.” Frontman Rivers Cuomo — a notoriously unanimated bandleader — seemed especially wooden and distracted even as fans sang along with delight to “Dope Nose” and “Pork and Beans” early in the set.
What little talking Cuomo did between songs was also filled with less-than-stellar interstellar comments.
“We are 30 light-years out from ‘The Blue Album,’ ” he said near the start. “We are happy to be going back. Thank you for coming on this dangerous and important mission.”
Weezer saved its full “Blue Album” performance until the end, which worked out way better than the spacey banter. In the interim, it loosely worked its way backwards chronologically from 2000s-era hits such as ”Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills” to “Getchoo,” “Pink Triangle” and two more songs off what is actually the band’s best and weirdest album, 1996′s “Pinkerton.”
By the time Cuomo and Co. got to “My Name Is Jonas” to kick off the “Blue Album” segment, they were locked into orbit.
Of course, the band has been playing “Blue” tunes like “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So” at all of its concerts since 1994, so no surprise those songs soared. But the guys also showed bursting energy in lesser-played album cuts like “The World Has Turned Against Me” and the lengthy, space-jammy closing song “Only in Dreams.” There was no encore after that — and nothing odd about that, either. Mission accomplished.
Minnesota
2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting former student
![2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting former student 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year charged with sexually assaulting former student](https://kstp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TEACHER-SEX-ASSAULT-CHARGES_PKG_00.00.44.44.jpg)
A former Minnesota Teacher of the Year is accused of sexually assaulting a student years after the alleged abuse.
On Wednesday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged 38-year-old Abdul Jameel Wright with first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old student at Harvest Best Academy in Minneapolis.
Wright is accused of assaulting the girl on separate occasions, including on school property between 2016 and 2017.
Wright was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2016 while working at Harvest Best Academy.
He was most recently a teacher at St. Louis Park High School, but a school district spokesperson told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Wright resigned in June.
KSTP attempted to reach Wright unsuccessfully and Harvest Best Academy has not yet responded.
Minnesota
Melissa Caruso, PWHL Minnesota’s new GM, pays homage to her predecessor, Natalie Darwitz
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Now she will work just downtown with the team that, Hefford said, is about to sign on for a second season playing at the Xcel Energy Center and training at Tria Rink.
Caruso comes with a wealth of operations experience, but not a lot of player personnel background.
“My background has allowed me to be exposed to all areas of hockey,” Caruso said. “I feel fortunate for that. If you look around the NHL, the AHL, everyone takes their own path to becoming a GM. I’m very proud of my background. I know I have a great staff here, and I’m really looking forward to working with them. I’m a fast learner and I’m going to dive in head first here.”
She’ll work beside head coach Ken Klee, who was an emergency hire just days before last season’s opener after the first coach Darwitz hired, former Bethel coach Charlie Burggraf, unexpectedly resigned. Klee originally had interviewed for the general manager job that went to Darwitz.
League sources said Darwitz was fired in early June after a rift with Klee, who had the support of some of the team’s key players. At the time, Hefford said “a change needed to be made” after lengthy reviews revealed issues that could not be resolved.
A former U.S. women’s national team coach, Klee remains Minnesota’s head coach heading into a second PWHL that will start sooner — November or December — than the inaugural season’s January start.
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