By Madison McVan | Reformer
Good morning, Reformers.
Vance Boelter, the man accused of killing Melissa and Mark Hortman and shooting John and Yvette Hoffman one year ago, is appearing in court this morning to plead guilty to the attacks. My colleague Max Nesterak is in the courtroom.
The guilty plea saves all of us, but especially the Hortman children, Colin and Sophie Hortman, from a painful trial, during which Boelter might reiterate baseless conspiracy theories he’s expressed in media interviews rationalizing his behavior, Reformer editor J. Patrick Coolican writes.
Boelter will not face the death penalty, accepting two consecutive life terms plus 40 years.
Sunday will mark the one-year anniversary of the attacks. Look for more coverage today and Friday, when we’ll have more details on the guilty plea; a piece about whether lawmakers have lived up to their promise to be more civil in the wake of the killings; and a Coolican column on his decade-long source-reporter relationship with Hortman.
I’m spending the next two days at the Midwest Democracy & Power Summit, hosted by the Immigrant Defense Network, where immigrant rights advocates are meeting to chart a path forward following Operation Metro Surge and President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her spoke at the opening session:
“What ended up happening, and the federal government leaving, wasn't because I sued the government. It wasn't because I passed ordinances — we passed ordinances — at the city in order to disallow them from using our facilities. It was because of all of you. It was because I went to half a dozen constitutional observer trainings and I knew what I was supposed to do if I was in that moment. It was because all of you showed up and you protected your neighbors in the thousands. Our government could not deny what was happening here.”
To the rest of the news:
Vance Boelter. (Courtesy photos)
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump significantly bolstered funding for immigration enforcement Wednesday when he signed into law a nearly $70 billion package that will keep key federal agencies operating without any new restrictions.
Democrats pressed for guardrails after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. But when talks broke down, Republican lawmakers drafted their own bill without any additional constraints.
By Ben Felder
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether lawsuits can be brought against pesticide and herbicide makers over claims their products have caused cancer.
Ben Felder of Investigate Midwest rounds up (no pun intended) the key points of the case and its background.
By Kevin Hardy
The Trump administration Wednesday proposed new regulations for online prediction markets that would ban bets on war, assassination and other extreme events, but still allow many sports bets to operate on the growing platforms.
Critics say the proposed rules don’t do enough to rein in an industry that has sparked jurisdictional battles between state and federal governments, particularly when it comes to sports betting.
Minnesota banned prediction markets last month, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulating agency, has already challenged the state ban in court.
IN OTHER NEWS
OH BY THE WAY
Happy first day of the World Cup.
And, a song for your Thursday, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of Noname’s mixtape “Telefone.” (Headphones if you’re in an office.)
That’s all from me. Have a great day!
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