After announcing Brian O’Hara’s departure as Minneapolis’ police chief during a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Jacob Frey said he selected MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell, 46, to serve as the department’s acting police chief “effective immediately,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. 

Here’s what to know:

• Blackwell will serve as acting chief for an undetermined length of time as the city searches for a permanent chief. Appointed by O’Hara in 2023, Blackwell oversaw daily operations and spoke for the department in her role as assistant chief, according to the Star Tribune.
• Blackwell testified as an expert witness for the prosecution in the state murder trial against former police officer Derek Chauvin in 2021 and federal civil rights trial of former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao in 2022, WCCO News reported.
• During the state trial, Blackwell, who served as commander of MPD’s training unit at the time of George Floyd’s murder, was shown a photo of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck and asked whether it was a tactic taught to officers. She responded, “I don’t know what kind of improvised position this is. So that’s not what we train,” the Strib reported.
• In 2024, Blackwell filed a defamation lawsuit against Alpha News and reporter Liz Collin over claims that Blackwell lied on the witness stand in the documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis” and book “They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and the Death of George Floyd,” FOX 9 reported. The lawsuit was later dismissed before trial as the first defamation case decided under Minnesota’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, a free speech law signed by Gov. Tim Walz in 2024.

Related: Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara is out, and the why is a shocker

Xcel Energy customers are likely to see their natural gas bills increase by 4.9%, though that is lower than the 8.2% increase originally requested by the utility company, MPR News reported Wednesday. After negotiations with state agencies and consumer advocacy groups, Xcel agreed to a proposed settlement reducing the increase to 4.1% for residential customers. 

Customers who have been paying an interim 6.8% rate increase since January would receive refunds with interest if regulators approve the settlement. 

Roseville’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center has opened a new aquatic animal facility to house the more than 2,000 ducklings it receives each year, KARE 11 reported Wednesday. The new facility is the first phase of a larger expansion that will include a 25,000-square-foot building for treating land animals. 

Related: Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell sends department-wide memo: We can’t assist with immigration enforcement

The center’s executive director, Tami Vogel, told KARE 11 that while they are currently set up only for ducklings, the center eventually plans to house other animals as well.

“We can have muskrats out here. We can have beaver out here, we can have mink, pelicans, herons,” Vogel said.

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