💙 Annunciation, one year later

Annunciation School, One Year Later

Tomorrow marks one year since a deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church killed two children and injured many more, along with three adults. Throughout the year, the community has continued to remember Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski: a bench in his honor where Merkel used to fish, a resolution establishing November as Harper Moyski Month in Minneapolis. This spring, Annunciation parents pushed the legislature to pass a comprehensive gun violence prevention bill. Ultimately, the bill (which would have banned semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines) didn’t even get a vote in the House; supporters accused Republicans, particularly House Speaker Lisa Demuth, of holding up the bill. [Star Tribune / WCCO / CBS Minnesota ]

• Back to school: Elizabeth Shockman reports Annunciation School staff are moving preschool classrooms so students don’t have to return to where they sheltered in place. Therapists from the Washburn Center for Children will have a permanent residency at the school. [MPR News]
• Remembrance: The Star Tribune released a documentary called Annunciation Diaries; video journalist Amanda Anderson asked families to record their everyday lives following the shooting. It’s uniquely powerful to hear them narrate a path to recovery and healing in their own voice. Much like how Americans refer to the World Trade Center attack as just “9/11,” the Annunciation community refers to the August shooting by just its date. [Star Tribune]
• Activation: The tragedy has turned some parents into organizers. “ No parent wants to be in this position,” Anne Betzner, an Annunciation parent, told City Cast Twin Cities in May. Betzner worked with Annunciation Light Alliance and advocated for the gun safety bill this past session. “It's important for me to show my son that this is not okay, and that we live in a country where we have representative government, and that we can work to create the change that we need to make our world a better place.” [🎧 City Cast Twin Cities]

Library imperiled: Dayton’s Bluff Library in St. Paul is at risk of being shut down, as the mayor tries to close a $26 million budget deficit. Mayor Kaohly Her’s justification is that Dayton’s Bluff Library is among the least used locations, but Council member Cheniqua Johnson says it has some of the highest internet usage. Interestingly, the building is owned by Metro State and the library area is leased to the city for $150k per year. [MPR News]

This guy again: No felony riot charges for far-right agitator Jake Lang, who led a protest on Saturday while holding a sign with the N-word on it. Lang was arrested after the truck he was riding in drove onto the sidewalk and hit a police officer, who was helping someone who’d fallen in front of the car. However, Hennepin County Mary Moriarty says the case lacks intent and concluded there wasn’t enough legal ground to bring felony charges specifically. [Star Tribune]

Recount costs: Mike Lindell says he won’t pay for a recount of votes after his loss in the Republican primary for governor after all. The businessman is refusing election officials’ terms for the recount, which would limit the scope to ballots for him and opponent House Speaker Lisa Demuth. [Pioneer Press]

Sharing is caring: I grabbed a Raspberry Danish Matcha at Sip of Silk Cafe near the University of Minnesota yesterday, and got a taste of Northfield. That’s because Sip of Silk is one of many coffee shops worldwide that borrowed the recipe from Northfield’s Little Joy Coffee, which went viral for encouraging people to “steal” the popular drink for their own menus. The cream cheese foam and raspberry syrup are a heavenly combo. [CNN / Little Joy Coffee]

Art heist: Cue the Pink Panther theme song. A man is charged with a felony for pretending to be a UPS worker to steal artwork from a downtown Minneapolis gallery. Painter Leon Hushcha says the stolen work was worth $80,000. A tipster led police to a St. Paul storage unit, where the thief stashed some of the nabbed paintings. Hushcha described the man, Ricardo Andres Bassat, as an amateur artist. [KARE 11]

Clownish: It’s a bad week for Target. The store received online backlash for selling a children’s clown costume that appeared reminiscent of racist 19th century minstrel shows, modeled by a Black child. On Monday, Target issued an apology and said it stopped selling the costume. [New York Times]

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