2 adults, child dead at Hopkins daycare in apparent murder-suicide

Minnesota today is supported by Granite Partners, over 20 years of growing Minnesota-based companies that source and sell around the world. Granite Partners, growing companies, enhancing communities. You can learn more at granite.com. This is Minnesota today for Thursday, August 13th. I'm fitting us, Pope. Here's what's happening in Minnesota. Hopkins residents today are mourning the deaths of a daycare operator and her seven-year-old daughter. The victims and the adult male perpetrator were killed in an apparent murder suicide yesterday. Authority saved the three, and a 78-year-old woman also found dead in Burnsville were family. Six other children were present at the time of the attack, but were not physically harmed. Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon thanked mental health professionals and others who are stepping up to help the children and their families. Daycares who have reached out to the families who now don't have a place tomorrow for their kids to go and said that we'll take those kids in for free. That's the kind of community that this is, that Hopkins is. Hanlon says the city will organize a vigil for the victims. Budget season is officially underway in the Twin Cities with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye unveiling his budget proposal yesterday and St. Paul Mayor Khali Her releasing hers today. Reporter Estelle Timar Wilcox says Fry and his Minneapolis colleagues are contending with a $60 million budget gap. Fry is proposing a property tax hike to help. This year is a big jump. Mayor Fry proposed an increase of 11.3%. So for the owner of a median value home, that comes out to about $34 a month or a little over 400 a year. And that's steeper than the city's average annual increase, which since 2018 has sat at about 7.7%. NPR's Estelle Timar Wilcox, Frye also proposed eliminating 100 jobs at the city, including vacant positions. Next comes public hearings and a final budget in December. The top candidates for Minnesota governor have very different views on data centers. Kate Kelly reports. Data centers can boost local revenue but also increase utility costs. Republican Lisa Demuth says she doesn't support a moratorium. I have toured data centers that are long existing here in Minnesota, and there's new ones going up. It is something that all of us rely on for the way that we now live and work. Democrat Amy Klobuchar says each city should be free to welcome or reject the centers. The first thing is local control to allow the local residents to make decisions and not take that away from them.

Amy Klobuchar also says the state should ban data centers from making secret agreements with cities about proposed projects. A bipartisan effort to limit those nondisclosure agreements failed this spring. I'm Kate Kelly. American Association Baseball is returning to Minnesota. The league previously included the St. Paul Saints who left after the 2020 season to become the Minnesota Twins AAA affiliate. The American Association is expanding to Blaine with a new team following the city's announcement of its $750 million development called The Farm. It will include a 5,000-seat baseball and event stadium and will be located next to the National Sports Center, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Minnesota. The American Association is one of Major League Baseball's partner leagues. Commissioner Josh Schwab says the team will be a big economic win for Blaine. In years to come, there's going to be millions of eyeballs on Blaine through the American Association television partners. And that's important for the National Sports Center. It's important for the Twin Cities. It's important for bringing attention to the city of Blaine, which is much deserved. The farm is expected to be open to the public in spring of 2028. Officials with the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation have unveiled the design for a new bridge between Duluth and Superior. Dan Crocker reports on plans for the new Blotnick Bridge. The mile and a half-long bridge crosses the St. Louis River at the headwaters of Lake Superior. It was built in 1961 and is nearing the end of its life. Tom De Haven is design manager for the $1.8 billion project. He says the new bridge will be state-of-the-art. This is going to be the most robust, the safest bridge we've ever done. We're doing everything a little bit better, a little bit stronger, just to make sure we'll get at least a hundred-year service life out of us. Demolition of the old bridge will begin next March. It will be closed for four to five years while the new bridge is built in its place. Traffic will be diverted over the Bong Bridge about five miles away. I'm Dan Crocker, Duluth. In sports, the Minnesota Vikings are preparing for their first preseason game this Saturday at noon on the road against the New York Giants. Minnesota United plays Salt Lake this Saturday at 8.30 p.m. And the twins beat the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, 7 to 5. Today, the twins will play the Phillies for the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa. That game is at 6.30. Partly sunny today, some showers and thunderstorms are possible, highs in the mid-70s to mid-80s, and tonight partly cloudy lows near 60 degrees. That's it for Minnesota today. I'm Phineas Pope. Emily Reese will have an update for you this afternoon.