Court Quashes Trump Administration Subpoenas Against Walz, Frey | Target Field Strike | Monday, June 22

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I'm going to have a poll update on this in later newscasts. And Johnny, that brings us to number two. Yeah, that's right, Maria. Charges are being dropped for close to half of the more than 30 people accused of assaulting federal agents during Operation Metro Surge. We're tracking cases like Paul Johnson's. He was charged for assaulting federal officers during an arrest in January, even as he describes being beaten by those officers. The government dismissed the case against him last week. He's one of at least 15 people who faced similar accusations. whose charges are now dismissed. We took the situation to legal expert Richard Painter at the U of M who actually used to work for President George W. Bush. appears that the United States Attorney's Office in Minnesota is bringing some weak cases against protesters. There are still at least 17 ongoing cases from the winter. Judges have denied dismissal motions in several of them, and this does not include new charges against alleged anti-ice conspirators that were announced last week. Number three, if you're planning to go to a twins game tonight, concession workers there are telling you to bring your own food because there is a planned worker strike for tonight's twins game. 500 concessions workers at Target Field are planning to go on strike for one day, and that's today when the twins are hosting the Dodgers. Members of Minnesota's local 17 hospitality union work for the Delaware North Company. The workers say they make minimum wage and they don't get health insurance. They voted last month to go on strike today. The union is asking fans to bring their own food to today's game against the LA Dodgers and to not cross the picket line by purchasing food or drinks. Delaware North tells us they will be bringing in 250 temporary workers for tonight's game at Target Field, and the company added that fans can expect a full and uninterrupted ballpark experience with all concessions operating as normal. The union tells us they're planning a picket outside the stadium starting today at 4 o'clock outside of Gate 34. They say they're going to pick it all the way until 8 p.m. The next bargaining session is set for tomorrow. Your fourth thing to know today, a long vacant Minneapolis landmark is getting new life, and it actually could bring housing, health care services, retail, and jobs to the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis. It's happening at the old Wells Fargo campus. Amy Coney Barrett Leone was at a press conference today, and she heard from Novorum developments Dean Davalus and Faraz Yusuf. This 25 acre plot of land here has set empty for about five years. And now new ownership says they are ready to turn the old Wells Fargo campus here into what they're calling iconic plaza. And the vision here is sort of a mini city where Minnesotans can live, work, and play. Now again, developers closed on this property just last week. They say the plan is to move quickly. This campus does have a long history. Once was Honeywell manufacturing facility.

then a Wells Fargo home mortgage campus, then empty for years, and now there's new life. In the next few years, the hope is that this plot will house roughly 1,000 housing units, retail and restaurant space, a school, technology center, medical offices, and public gathering spaces, all connected to the already existing campus. We're bringing to much needed housing. We're bringing in operating employment, retail services, health, education, energy. all being pulled into this thing. So it'll be a green development of profits or settlement. And I have to give credit to Fraz and Navarant partners that really help make this dream come together. Today is more than just a real estate transaction. It's about what can happen when vision, partnership, and perseverance come together around a shared goal for the future of our city. Now, part of the plan also involves creating a health care and education hub aimed at serving underserved communities. They're also exploring a mix of market rates from affordable and senior housing as this project moves forward. And overall, it could take two to five years for this thing to fully be developed here. And the cost is between $100 to $250 million. Those are the four things to know today. And Maria, it's a top 10 weather day. It's beautiful out. It is absolutely gorgeous. I cannot wait to get outside later today. Soak in all of this beautiful weather because unfortunately that might be changing this week. Let's check it on that forecast. Hi, I'm next weather meteorologist Lisa Meadows. Your forecast for tonight down to 59 heading into tomorrow. High temp at 75, but we do have showers and storms in the forecast tomorrow. And now here's more to know. Three men were hurt in a shooting early this morning in Minneapolis. Police say they were called the University Avenue Northeast and Hennepin around 1230 this morning. They found a man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to HCMC, and about 10 minutes later, two other men showed up to HCMC with gunshot wounds. Investigators are now trying to figure out what led up to that shooting. Nobody has been arrested. A somber father's day for one family in Burnsville yesterday as the search continues for their father. John Capon was last seen in May walking north on County Road 11 in Burnsville. He's five feet, nine inches tall, weighs 175 pounds, and has brown hair, a gray beard, and brown eyes. He has no car or phone and is without his diabetes medication. We spoke with his daughter, Allie. He loved being outdoors and stuff like that. So he might just, he's very smart too, very resourceful. So he's probably just out in the woods somewhere, but we still just need to know that he's okay. You would think that somebody would just see him and pass along the message or have some more information. Anyone with information should call Burnsville Police. We have that number for you. It's 651-734-5076. One more time, 651-734-5076. One of the most watched races here in Minnesota is the contest for governor on the Republican side. The latest poll in the race for GOP nomination shows a new frontrunner, My Pillow CEO, Mike Lindell, a longtime associate of President Trump.

Last week, a poll released by Survey USA and KSTP showed Lindell leading the race with 27 percent compared to 22 percent for House Speaker Lisa Demuth and 17 percent for businessman Kendall Qualls. Speaker Damith was a guest on WCCO Sunday morning. There were other polls that came out that showed Mike Lindell in a certain spot. But what I will say is when you looked at the dislike or disapprove number, he was very high where I had a very small dislike part. Last month, Damath lost the party endorsement to Kendall Qualls. Damith had said she would drop out of the race if she didn't get the endorsement. But she said she changed her mind because of voting machine irregularities at the convention. It's something WCCO's Esme Murphy talked with calls about last week. Well, it's unfortunate. When you give your word, people expect that to follow through. Early voting for Minnesota's primary starts this Friday, June 26th. This weekend, families from across the country gathered to honor Vietnam veterans who survived the war but later died as a result of their service. Saturday's gathering was in Washington, D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Funds in memory ceremony. The ceremony honored more than 760 veterans, including 23 from Minnesota. One of them is Lieutenant Colonel Maurice Smith. He was a Minnesota native, Vietnam veteran, and ROTC instructor. He had a life lived to the fullest, but it was cut short at 4. 44 from cancer. His daughter, Kelly Rondo, was just 15 years old when he passed away. His death was deemed active duty death by the military. I think that it's really special that acknowledgement that the deaths from Vietnam haven't ended. And there are people and families that are still suffering because of that. An exciting week ahead with 3,000 athletes, 10,000 volunteers, and 75,000 fans building lasting memories here in the Twin Cities. The Special Olympics USA Games are here, and they're highlighting much more than just competition, but also important resources for athletes and their families. Earlier this morning, Joseph Dames was live at the U of M campus to learn about some of these resources. Dr. Brian Sick's position here is helping with screenings for these athletes. So tell me what's all involved with your portion of the Special Olympics. Yeah, so let me start with why is this so important? Yeah. So our individuals with intellectual and developmental differences miss out on a lot of the health screenings that others might receive. Okay. And that results in a life expectancy that's 16 to 20 years less than the regular population. That's a big part there. It's not fair. So this is why this is important. Yeah. So we offer seven different health screenings as part of the Healthy Athletes Program. Yeah. This includes special smiles where there's dental screening and education. This includes strong minds where there's mental health screening, health promotion, where we do vital signs, body mass index, bone density, hearing.

They get their hearing assessed and if they need a hearing aid, they get a free hearing aid. As has happened for 10 individuals already. And they may need that. Yeah, right. Changing life changing. Exactly. They do some foot assessments. for proper foot care and make sure their shoes fit well. Yeah. They do fitness screening with flexibility and strength. And then the one I'm really excited about is opening eyes where they get their vision screened. And as they wait, they get eyeglasses made custom to them. That's awesome. That's cool. That's sweet. That's 25 of our athletes have already received free eyeglasses in the last three days. Custom glasses like that. Made on the spot as they wait. So where's this all being handled? Where's this, where's this all going down? Yeah, so importantly, it's in the Health Science Education Center, which is where we educate all of our health profession students at the university. That makes sense. Yeah. But how many athletes are we working with here then? It's about 3,000. Okay. So we expect about 15 to 17,000 screenings across all of those athletes. Yeah, Johnny, it's much more than just the competition, though... A lot of fun competitions happening. There's a lot going on. Bachi ball. Yeah. What else did we see today? Golf. Tennis. Volleyball. I mean, all kinds of Olympic sports being played here in Minneapolis. And just like the Olympics, this is every four years. That's really cool. And it's so nice that there's so much other like things and mental health awareness and all this going into the Olympics because, you know, everyone can use that. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even like Joseph said, like, free hearing aids, free glasses, dental checks, you know, stuff like that. It's just cool that this whole community is gathering and celebrating. Yeah, it'll be fun to watch the Special Olympics. Keep going this week. Let's get to more sports headlines. Grandma's Marathon held this 50th race on Saturday. We had a couple WCCOers run up there. Yeah, I'm very impressed with the CCOers that were up there. We know our... friend and producer bailey she did the half marathon friend and producer hidey who works on the bigger than belief podcast she ran the full marathon just so i could never and the weather was gorgeous yeah me neither it's just so impressive and one minnesota runner she just keeps winning the grandmas marathon her name is dakota lindworm poppin she of course won in deluth it was her third time winning just Just crazy. Literally every single, the last three marathons that she's entered into at grandmas, she has won all three of them. And it's no wonder, she's an Olympian. She's a St. Francis native. She crossed the finish line. Two hours and 28 minutes, so I had to get the calculator out. Okay. That's five minutes and 39 seconds per mile. I can't even do that for one mile. No. Not even close. That is so impressive. Wow. Good for her. I mean, I'm like literally speeches right now. Five minutes and 39 seconds per mile. For 26 in a row. Yeah. She was 45 seconds clear of second place. She became the third women's runner to win grandmas three times. And here's what she had to say after the race.

I would rather be here than anywhere on the planet. And to be a winner, like is obviously amazing. But at mile like 24, so many people were cheering my name. And the entire course, everybody was cheering for me. And it kind of just dawned on me. Like, how can I lose when the entire city of Duluth is rooting for me? And it sounds like she had a bit of a lead. I mean, 45 seconds. But still, that's kind of a big lead over second place. So she had all of Duluth really cheering for her. Yeah, and you got to love that a Minnesotan is winning, you know, one of our marathons. Exactly. It's great. Let's get to the men's side. Emmanuel Messel of Eritrea. He won the race in his third time running grandmas. He did it with a time of two hours, 11 minutes, and 21 seconds. That's five minutes and one second per mile. I don't even get it. I really don't. I really don't get it. How do you run that fast? I wonder how they celebrated. Hopefully a cold one. I don't know. Probably a jumping lace opinion. Yeah, that would be a good way to do it. One other thing we're following today. It's been a busy offseason in the PWHL. It's also been a little confusing and complicated. There's four new expansion teams. Right. So that's throwing a wrench maybe in the offseason plans for the frost. But their top priority when it came to protecting players from getting plucked away was Kelly Panic. She's, of course, from Plymouth. She signed a three. your contract to stay in her home state this offseason and last week she won the league's award for forward of the year after she led the league in goals and points panic says she wanted to be here and she of course is one of the cornerstones of the roster i'm really proud of the work we've done to get to this point and being a part of it and seeing not just the growth of the league as a whole but the growth in the fan base and the support that we get here and um I'm really proud to represent Minnesota and all the different stages of Minnesota hockey. And I think it's just such a special place to grow up being a hockey player. And I think we do things differently and we do it the best way. So it's something, again, I shared with them that I really love it what we've built and I want to keep continuing to build it here. It's time to take a breath with your daily bright spot. TSA has a message for international travelers flying home from the World Cup. They say, you can't take home bottles of ranch in a carry-on. It's been such a big hit for the foreigners, hasn't it? I really. has because people don't have ranch like we have ranch here in the U.S. It's become like a popular souvenir for international World Cup fans. That is so funny. Hidden Valley should like sponsor the World Cup. Now they know. That's brilliant. And yes, you're right. I mean, because people are just like coming to the U.S. discovering ranch and then bringing home. So TSA put out a message on Instagram reminding travelers that you can only take home liquids in a carry-on at least that are...

What is it? You know. Like four ounces or something? A little ranch packet maybe. Yeah, exactly. So you can't take home bottles and carry-ons, but you can take them in a checked luggage. But you don't want to get that thrown away. No, of course not. That's like with gold. It's their souvenir. It's their souvenir for all their family and friends back home. I mean, we both like ranch. We both love ranch. I can't really imagine a world without it on us. Anytime I get fries or tenders, I'm dipping them in ranch. Clearly they found that out too. Or pizza even. I wonder if some Italians are bringing. it back, be like, oh my God, let's dip this pizza at ranch like they do in the U.S. But like, okay, so Kraft, another big ranch brand, yes. They said, hold on, hold on a second. We're working on what we're calling a TSA compliant ranch kit. So yes, like you said, a ranch dressing packet. Wow, they got the memo. They got the memo. A luggage tag shaped like a ranch bottle to you. What? That's funny. They're working on that apparently. But I would never have guessed. Ranch would not have been on my list of souvenirs that fans are taking home from the U.S. It is so funny to hear all what people are talking about international fans that are coming. Like I'm hearing on Twitter all about like how people are just enamored by Walmart and like Taco Bell and like. Texas Roadhouse. I saw this tweet about this Japanese man who was like, if you want the best steak for your money, you've got to go to Texas Road House. This is hilarious. This is so funny. And we've been great hosts, too, because we have all these amazing football stadiums. Yeah. And we don't have to build anything. So you have to think that they're going to keep coming back for the World Cup now. Yeah, I wonder. Do we know where they're going next? I'm sure they've released a couple in advance. But. Yeah, this will be fun. Maybe this is once a decade or something. Who knows? Maybe, maybe. I got to tell you, it has been fun. U.S. plays again on Thursday, I believe. They're 2 and O so far. Exactly. So, yeah, fingers crossed. We'll keep her moving. Okay, thank you so much for joining us here on Four Things to Know. With Johnny Connor, I'm Maria Lizignolli, and we're here with the news you need every weekday afternoon by 3 o'clock. Listen to Four Things to Know, a WCCO Daily News podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Love podcasts. Love Minnesota. Check out the WCCO podcast studio lineup. Here are the top stories of the day with four things to know. Discover top female athletes and teams from around the state on women in sports. Dive in the stories about faith and belief from your local leaders to your neighbors next door with bigger than belief. Stay in the know on the go with the WCCO podcast studio. Go to WCCO.com slash podcasts.