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90° 71°Sporadic storms;

another hot week. A12¬PULITZER FINALIST2019 LOCAL NEWS

T H E C O R O NAV I RU S’ TO L L

H AV E YOU H E A R D

TO P N EWS M I N N E S OTA S P O RT S

11,419,000cases worldwide

533,700deaths worldwide

2,859,700cases in the U.S.

129,680deaths in the U.S.

38,136cases in Minn.

1,471deaths in Minn.

Love found a way: Separated by a closed border, U.S. and Canadian couple met at an unusual rendezvous point. E1

Gas project abandoned: Costs and delays doom the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. A2

Carved in mountainside: Georgia Civil War memorial isn’t going anywhere. A2

Misdemeanors for mayor: Dayton’s Tim McNeil avoids felony conviction. A7

Woman dies on ATV: Dust on dry trail may have been a factor in crash. A8

Pitcher-perfect focus: Twins’ Odorizzi confident of a repeat of 2019. C1

In WNBA ‘bubble’: Lynx travel to Florida for an insu-lated training camp. C1

Numbers as of 11 p.m. Sunday • Sources: Johns Hopkins University (worldwide), New York Times (U.S.), Minnesota Department of Health (Minnesota)

STAR TRIBUNE Minneapolis, St. Paul MNVolume XXXIX • No. 93July 6, 2020

More of what matters to Minnesota. All day. Every day.

ONLINE: startribune.com • TIPS: 612-673-4414 • COMMENTS: 612-673-4000SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call 612-673-4343 or go to startribune.com/subscribe

By CHRISTOPHER SNOWBECK csnowbeck@startribune.com

As more young people test positive for COVID-19, doctors are reiterating the importance of social distancing for a sub-set of younger Minnesotans — expectant mothers.

Federal health officials last month cited new study results when adding pregnancy to their list of conditions that

might put people at greater risk of serious illness from the pandemic virus. Last week , the Minnesota Department of Health similarly updated online information for preg-nant women while adding prevention tips.

Pregnant women shouldn’t be alarmed, doctors say, but the study underscores the wis-dom of following guidance on avoiding the coronavirus.

“I think everybody came into COVID saying: ‘We don’t think it makes a huge differ-ence whether you’re pregnant or not, but let’s be cautious because we don’t know for sure,’ ” said Dr. Laura France, medical director for commu-nity birthplaces at M Health Fairview. “So, I think this just reinforces that caution.”

The updates from health officials don’t change the guid-

ance to patients about wear-ing masks, washing hands and keeping at least 6 feet away from others, said Dr. Matt Ban-field, an obstetrician with Park Nicollet in St. Louis Park.

“Be as careful as you can,” he said.

To Angela Cady, 31, of Min-neapolis, who expects to deliver her baby this month at Park Nicollet/Methodist Hospital, it all boils down to four simple

words: “Better safe than sorry.”The June report from the

U.S. Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention showed that pregnant women with COVID-19 were more likely to be hospitalized, need intensive care and receive mechanical ventilation than a comparable group of infected women who weren’t pregnant. Both groups had similar risks of death.

Pregnant? Heed COVID cautions

Ben O’Donnell trained last week for a November Ironman competition in Tempe, Ariz. He’ll compete in a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon.

By GREG STOHR • Bloomberg News

The Supreme Court is poised to cap a term like no other with potentially block-buster decisions covering birth control, religious rights and President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep his financial records private.

The justices will tackle their eight remaining cases starting Monday, when they issue opin-ions in July for the first time since 1996. The eight cases were heard in an extraordinary May argument session, held by telephone because of the coro-navirus outbreak. The justices could finish their work later in the week.

Together, the final opin-ions could rewrite the narra-tive of a Supreme Court term that so far hasn’t produced the clear conservative shift some envisioned after two Trump nominees joined the court. The rulings will shape public perceptions of the court, and perhaps of Trump, heading into the November election.

Here are the top cases the court still must resolve:

• House Democrats and a New York state prosecutor are separately trying to get Trump’s accounting firm to turn over his financial records, material that could include the tax returns he has long refused to release publicly. The House committees are also subpoe-naing the president’s banks.

Trump says lawmakers are trying to engage in law

Justices poised for major decisions

By AMANDA SEITZAssociated Press

CHICAGO – A loose network of Facebook groups that took root across the country in April to organize protests over coro-navirus stay-at-home orders has become a hub of misin-formation and conspiracy theories that have pivoted to a variety of new targets. Their latest: Black Lives Matter and the nationwide protests against racial injustice.

These groups, which now

boast a collective audience of more than 1 million members, are still thriving after most states started lifting virus restrictions.

And many have expanded their focus.

One group transformed itself last month from “Reopen California” to “California Patri-ots Pro Law & Order,” with recent posts mocking Black Lives Matter or changing the slogan to “White Lives Mat-ter.” Members have used

Private Facebook groups deal in conspiracies, lies

The Ironman athlete who recovered from COVID-19 after spending days on a ventilator and heart-lung bypass machine is back in training with plans to complete another extreme triath-lon this fall.

Ben O’Donnell, 38, said he wants his recovery to give hope to others and to raise money for COVID-19 relief via the Ironman Foundation’s Ironaid program.

“If I can show I can come back and get to this point,” he said, “that might do more for COVID fund-raising, and just give people more hope.”

O’Donnell’s COVID-19 case was memorable because he was the first relatively young, healthy Minnesotan to require intensive care for the infectious disease. Most of the COVID-19 hospital-izations and deaths in Minne-

sota involve people 50 or older, but O’Donnell offered proof that the pandemic presented a risk to younger people as well.

The chemical company exec-utive spent days on a ventilator and on an ECMO heart-lung bypass machine due to the level of damage and fluid buildup in his lungs that prevented him from breathing on his own. According to an Extracorporeal

Life Support Organization data-base of global COVID-19 patients who came off bypass machines, only 55% survived their hospi-talizations.

Recovery was slow after his treatment at the University of Minnesota Medical Center from March 9 to April 6. The Anoka County man needed supplemen-tal oxygen just to walk to the

AN IRONCLAD GOAL

Under a tent on a blazing hot morning, Minneapolis officer Mike Nimlos described a police force that is overwhelmed.

“We need to get out there and do more proactive work, but we don’t have the bodies,” Nimlos told several dozen North Siders gathered in a backyard. “We barely have enough time to answer calls — we’re going from one call to the next call to the next call. Officers are getting burned out. They’re getting tired.”

From the side of the garage, resident Dave Haddy countered that the lack of response sent a message: People can light fire-works, run red lights and shoot guns all they want.

“It’s sickening!” he said.The exchange last Tuesday captured the tensions between

officers and those closest to the surge in shootings in recent weeks as Minneapolis City Hall discusses how to overhaul law enforcement following the police killing of George Floyd.

‘Enough is enough,’ say north Mpls. neighbors

‘ YOU ’ R E N OT G O I N G TO L E AV E M E U N P ROT E C T E D’

Jordan neighborhood leader Cathy Spann is exploring a lawsuit over the city’s proposal to defund the police.

Story by JEREMY OLSON • Photo by ELIZABETH FLORES • Star Tribune staff

See IRONMAN on A12 Ø

See PROTECTION on A9 Ø See MISINFORMATION on A9 Ø

See COURT on A8 Ø

See VIRUS on A5 Ø

Reopening too soon?Officials say record spike in Arizona, Texas and Florida

due to rapid opening. A5

Football in springtimeCollege leagues mull the idea

to salvage a season. C1

$1M for testingDakota County aims to test

all adult residents in congre-gate care facilities. A7

Story by MAYA RAO • Photo by AARON LAVINSKY • Star Tribune staff

ZSW [C M Y K] A1 Monday, Jul. 6, 2020

MONDAYJuly 6, 2020