Your daily Minnesota news roundup starts … NOW.

The last time the DFL had a trifecta (governor plus control of both legislative chambers), they leveraged that power and a budget surplus to enact sweeping reforms that included things like universal school lunch. This time around, the wickets are going to be a bit more sticky as the state budget is looking more red than black and Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar has promised (and doubled down since the election) to not raise taxes. It’s likely the focus continues to be on affordability and cleaning up fraud, but also expect swift and early action on an assault rifle ban that passed the state Senate after the shooting at Annunciation but stalled in the GOP-controlled House earlier this year. 

During Operation Metro Surge, many immigrants in Minneapolis felt unsafe showing up to work, and some turned to selling food as street vendors to make ends meet. The city has seen a rise in the number of unlicensed street vendors the last several years, and although the city has changed rules to increase flexibility, there’s still tension between people trying to make a living and regulations about things like food safety. Add in language barriers and you can see how this quickly becomes a very complex issue.

In more Operation Metro Surge news, former CNN journalist Don Lemon and others who were charged as part of a January protest at Cities Church are seeking to have their cases dismissed by a judge. Lemon and four other defendants made arguments yesterday based on their First Amendment rights, while the government maintains they became part of the protest, rather than simply covering it as journalists. 

Related: How Operation Metro Surge changed the Minnesota media landscape for good

Last night, a documentary on Native athletes playing basketball at the University of Minnesota Morris entitled “Medicine Ball” premiered on Minnesota PBS. Director Leya Hale spoke with KAXE about the film, and you can watch the trailer here and stream the full movie at PBS’ website. 

Needle & Skein, a yarn store in St. Louis Park, is pulling Harry Potter-themed kits from its shelves and issuing an apology to their community. All proceeds from products they’ve already sold will go to Point of Pride, a nonprofit organization that helps trans people access hormone replacement therapy and other services.

“Thank you to everyone who spoke up and trusted us enough to tell us the truth,” the business wrote to customers. “We heard you, and we’re grateful. We’re committed to making this shop a place where everyone feels safe, seen and celebrated.”

Emergency workers rescued an 80-year-old man who experienced a medical episode from his truck after it went into Lake Phalen in St. Paul. And I mean, it went in. Like, way farther than Michael Scott got his car in. The man was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and is reportedly in stable condition.

Yesterday was declared Ebro Ahmed Day in St. Paul to honor the Eritrean-American man who heroically jumped on a runaway school bus in late October and brought it to a stop. At the ceremony honoring him, he thanked his family, his faith and his community.

“Anything to make Minnesota look better,” he said. “I know we’ve been getting beat up in the news lately, so hopefully people can look at us differently.”

And finally in your Minnesota news roundup: The University of Minnesota has made many important contributions to the world (three words: Honeycrisp, SweeTango and Zestar) but you probably didn’t know they also have the world’s largest Sherlock Holmes collection. It totals roughly 60,000 items and includes “[f]irst-edition books, comic book adaptations, film, giant rats and everything else Holmes-related.” I’m hoping those are fake giant rats.

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