News in :90 – Feb. 3, 2021


Thirteen positive COVID-19 cases were reported last week by St. Thomas’ Center for Well-Being Monday, a decrease of four from the previous week.

Ten cases came from students, and three came from employees. Three cases were reported from the Minneapolis campus and the other 10 came from the St. Paul campus.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, there have been 441,922 people who have been vaccinated with the first dose and roughly 116,248 who have received both doses.

“The University of St. Thomas, Center for Well-Being has completed the necessary documentation to become a COVID vaccination provider site for our community. We have NOT received authorization or supply to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine,” the report stated. “We do not anticipate this occurring until there is a greater availability of the vaccine nationwide.”

Firefighters pulled two men from a burning house in Minneapolis Tuesday night, but a third man died in the fire.

Crews were called to a home on the city’s north side about 11 p.m. and found fire in a second-floor bedroom, the Star Tribune reported.

Firefighters pulled one man out of the bedroom where the fire started and rescued a second man. But, a third man died in the fire, said fire department spokesman Bryan Tyner.

One of the men who survived was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. His condition was not immediately known.

Tyner says the other survivor did not require medical assistance.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he’s had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company announced Tuesday.

Bezos, 57, will be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon’s cloud-computing business.

In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He said he would have more time for side projects, including his space exploration company Blue Origin, his philanthropic initiatives and overseeing The Washington Post, which he owns.

Bezos, who is the company’s biggest shareholder, will still have broad influence over the company.

Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.