Quick Hits

• MPD officer fired over leak to family. Former Minneapolis officer Chanica Hall was reportedly fired after sharing information about a shooting investigation with her brother — who was arrested in connection with that shooting weeks later (KARE 11).
• 18 kids saved on a runaway school bus. A St. Paul man jumped onto a moving school bus Monday afternoon after the driver suffered a medical emergency, helping bring the bus to a stop and saving the 18 children aboard (KSTP).
• Wolves open tonight — with McDaniels locked up. Minnesota tips off the season Wednesday in Miami, days after Jaden McDaniels agreed to a one-year, $40 million extension keeping him with the Wolves through 2029-30 (KSTP).
• Early voting expands in Minneapolis. Voters get extended hours at the city's Early Vote Centers plus several one-day pop-up locations around the city (KARE 11).
• Health leaders sound alarm. A new report documents a "crisis of care" across Minnesota hospitals — record emergency demand, rising costs and a steady loss of services (KARE 11).

Minneapolis

The day's biggest accountability story: KARE 11 reports former MPD officer Chanica Hall was fired after she reportedly alerted her brother to a shooting investigation; he was arrested in connection with the shooting weeks later. Separately, Minnpost's daily roundup notes that a recent spate of violence in the Twin Cities and suburbs has prompted a new collaboration between local and federal authorities.

On the election front, Minneapolis has expanded early in-person voting, with extended hours at its Early Vote Centers and several one-day pop-up sites around the city (KARE 11).

Fire crews battled a blaze in a four-story apartment building for about two hours early Monday; no injuries were reported (KSTP).

A new audit from the City Auditor found Minneapolis hasn't had clear ways to measure whether its Behavioral Crisis Response (BCR) program is actually working (KSTP).

Downtown watchers: Minnpost's Cityscape column argues Nicollet Mall — the 1960s-era transformation of the city's main shopping street — has stagnated so long that even saying so has become cliché, and doesn't have to stay stuck at second-rate.

In the arts, collard greens appear throughout "The Smell of Earth: Seitu K. Jones Working in the Elements," a new solo exhibition at the Minnesota Museum of American Art exploring soil, culture and African American history (Minnpost).

St. Paul

Jamal Jevonta Nash, 29, of North St. Paul, faces murder charges, accused of striking his father twice in the head with a hammer. His mother says Nash had been diagnosed with schizophrenia five years earlier, and KSTP reports the alleged killing came just days after he was released from a hospital.

The feel-good story of the day: a St. Paul man's quick action saved 18 children on a school bus Monday afternoon after the driver suffered a medical emergency (KSTP).

The Saint Paul school board postponed a vote on mid-year cuts after protesters disrupted the meeting — English Language teachers could be laid off, and the board must act by Oct. 30 (KARE 11). Minnpost's roundup connects the layoff push to continuing fallout from Operation Metro Surge.

The St. Paul City Council is set to vote on a new homelessness response plan estimated at $11 million, with city leaders saying taxpayers won't bear the full cost (KSTP).

And Jose Ronald Hernandez-Pineda was sentenced Monday to 360 days in Ramsey County and five years' probation for the hit-and-run that killed 31-year-old Abdul Bakr Jafar in Maplewood (KSTP).

Local Sports

The Timberwolves' 2026-27 season opens tonight in Miami, and coach Chris Finch says his reshaped roster is ready for a physical opening stretch (KSTP). ESPN's Bobby Marks is bullish on the Wolves as they enter a new era with high expectations and lingering questions, while Minnpost's preview calls the onetime laughingstock franchise "appointment viewing" and one of the league's daredevil darlings. The roster news of note: Jaden McDaniels agreed to a one-year, $40 million extension — agent Bill Duffy told KSTP — keeping him in Minnesota through the 2029-30 season.

The Wild rallied late in Edmonton but fell 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night, when Evan Bouchard scored on a power play at 3:32 of the extra session, set up by Connor McDavid (KSTP).

Minnesota Statewide

Prosecutors allege a "complex web" of fraud centered at Minnesota's top taxpayer-funded day care; the four defendants rejected a plea offer of 20 months in prison and are scheduled for trial in May (KARE 11).

In southern Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, Democrat Jake Johnson is challenging GOP Rep. Brad Finstad. The seat has been in Republican hands for eight years, but Democrats are targeting it as a midterm pickup opportunity (KARE 11).

A new Cook rating moves Minnesota's U.S. Senate race toward the GOP, per a report making the rounds Tuesday.

The Minnesota Millionaire Raffle, which debuted in 2006, will offer more million-dollar prizes this time around — four $1 million winners will be drawn on New Year's Day (KARE 11).

And a Becker congregation is remembering pastor Stephen Clayton, 31, and his 3-year-old son David, killed Oct. 12 in a crash near Kimball, South Dakota (KARE 11).

A quiet day on the hyperlocal front — nothing surfaced from Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope or St. Louis Park in today's feed. We'll keep watching.