🌱 Jamal Smith Found Guilty + COVID Surge + Record Unemployment Lows

Happy Friday! Let's get to the Minneapolis Daily for July 22.

First, today's weather: Very warm with sunshine. High: 92 Low: 70.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Minneapolis:

1. A jury found Jamal Smith guilty of the murder of baseball coach Jay Boughton on Highway 169 in 2021. The Thursday verdict found Smith guilty on felony counts of murder, aiding and abetting murder and illegal weapon possession. (CBS)

2. The BA.5 subvariant is now responsible for more than 70 percent of Minnesota’s COVID-19 cases, the health department reports. Cases are surging across the country and the White House reported President Joe Biden tested positive for the virus Thursday. State health officials said unvaccinated seniors are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized from the virus than those who are fully vaccinated. (Paid source: Star Tribune)

3. Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to more than two years in prison for violating George Floyd’s rights in 2020. He and two other former officers were found guilty in February. (Patch)

4. First Avenue canceled Dave Chapelle’s show Wednesday night after the booking sparked internet backlash. Twitter users and patrons criticized the venue for hosting the comedian because of his previous controversial comments about the LGBTQ+ community. (BMTN)

5. The Minnesota unemployment rate dropped below two percent in June, the lowest percentage ever recorded. The previous low was 2.5 percent in 1999. (KARE11)

Today in Minneapolis:

• The Artepils Arts + Music Celebration kicks off at the Utepils Taproom and Beer Garden and runs through tomorrow. (Noon)
• Take a free cardio class at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. (5:30 p.m.)
• The Twin Cities River Rats present Super Mario World on the West Bank of the Mississippi. (7 p.m.)
• Catch a drum performance at Minnehaha Park. (7 p.m.)
• Soul singer Kendra Glenn performs at Umbra. (7 p.m.)
• The Movies in the Park series continues at Folwell. (9:05 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The City of Minneapolis released video footage Wednesday from the police shooting death of Andrew "Tekle" Sundberg after a six-hour standoff. (Patch)
• More than 1 million Minnesotans applied for frontline worker bonus checks ahead of today’s deadline. (Axios)
• Black-owned Minneapolis company Strive Publishing is looking to “make it just as accessible for Black children to see themselves on a bookshelf.” (KSTP)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Get your car washed this Saturday (July 23) and support mentoring opportunities for local kids (July 23)
• POWER: Drag Brunch (July 23)
• Add your event

That's all for today! See you tomorrow for another Daily.

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a newsletter writer and partner content curator from Chicago. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Minneapolis Daily? Contact me at georgi.presecky@patch.com