Day: April 30, 2021

Minnesota Police Departments Saw Rise in Departures, Low Recruitment Numbers in 2020

The Center Square

Following the death of George Floyd last May, police departments across the state of Minnesota saw a drastic rise in retirements and departures, in addition to experiencing low recruitment numbers.

Two months after the death of Floyd, in which former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, 200 police officers out of the roughly 850 officers serving in the Minneapolis Police Department filed paperwork to leave their jobs with the department.

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Jobless Claims Fall to 553,000, Hit New Pandemic Low

Minnesota Sun Staff
Unemployment sign

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 553,000 last week as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending April 17, when 566,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 547,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Coca-Cola Faces Challenge to Race-Based Hiring Quota

Minnesota Sun Staff
Coca-Cola

The massive soda company Coca-Cola is facing a challenge to its internal efforts to force diversity on law firms that are contracted to work for it, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

In January, Coca-Cola announced an initiative that would target law firms contracted to work on behalf of the company, wherein all firms would be hit with a 30 percent reduction in their overall payment unless 30 percent of that firm’s workforce was “diverse.” Of those 30 percent, 15 percent had to be black.

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Republicans Push Back After Biden Lays Out Democratic Agenda

The Center Square
Tim Scott

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and other Republicans are speaking out against President Joe Biden’s agenda, which has become increasingly more wide-ranging and expensive since he took office.

Biden addressed Congress and the nation Wednesday night, when he laid out a litany of aggressive gun control, taxes and spending proposals. He also spoke on the historic nature of his vice president’s race and gender, police reform, and the war in Afghanistan.

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‘No More’: Ted Cruz Stops Accepting Corporate PAC Contributions

Minnesota Sun Staff
Ted Cruz

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz vowed to no longer accept campaign contributions from corporate political action committees and urged his colleagues to do the same.

Corporations have consistently attacked conservative values while expecting Republicans to grant them political favors, Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial Wednesday evening. The Texas senator said “woke CEOs” like Republicans until any sign of controversy is sparked online, causing them to run away.

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Teachers Unions’ Donations to Democrats Increased Amid Pandemic, School Closures

Minnesota Sun Staff

The largest U.S. teachers unions increased contributions to mainly Democratic politicians in 2020 amid a heated national debate over when to reopen schools during the pandemic.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) political action committee (PAC) donated $1.6 million to candidates while the National Education Association’s (NEA) PAC contributed $371,000 to candidates, according to Federal Election Commission data analyzed by Roll Call. The contributions represented a 3,456% increase for the AFT and a 38% increase for the NEA compared to the organizations’ 2019 donations given over the same period.

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Commentary: Will Republicans Run as American First in 2022?

Minnesota Sun Staff

Republican leaders are salivating over their prospects for retaking Congress in 2022. Populists need to be even more fired up about the primaries. Getting involved now is the only way to ensure an America-first victory. Some quality candidates are already in the fight.

There’s a reason Democrats in Congress and even Joe Biden immediately glommed onto hyperpartisan issues from the get-go. They saw the red wave in down-ballot races in 2020, and they know another tide is coming in 2022. 

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Twitter Blasted for Letting ‘Uncle Tim’ Trend After Scott Rebuttal

Peter D'Abrosca

The term “Uncle Tim,” a play on the racist term “Uncle Tom” often used to deride African Americans perceived as working against their own racial interests, trended on Twitter Wednesday night after Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) gave his rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s joint address to Congress. 

Country music star John Rich of “Big and Rich” blasted the microblogging site’s CEO Jack Dorsey over the trend:

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Three-Day George Floyd Commemoration Planned for May

Peter D'Abrosca

A foundation created to memorialize George Floyd has announced a three-day commemoration planned for the year anniversary of his death at the end of May.

“Over three consecutive days at the end of May, the George Floyd Memorial Foundation will host a series of events to commemorate Floyd’s death,” KMSP reported. 

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