The Latest: Call to prayer to be broadcast during Ramadan

The Latest on the coronavirus oubreak in Minnesota (all times local):

2 p.m.

Muslims in south Minneapolis will be able to maintain safe physical distance during the call to prayer throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

The call to prayer will be broadcast by speaker five times each day in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood to allow residents to pray together starting the first day of Ramadan and lasting throughout the holy holiday.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey facilitated the noise permit after the community requested the service. The Council on American-Islamic Relations paid for the audio equipment for the broadcast from the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque.

The broadcasts are expected to reach thousands of residents while allowing residents to maintain safe physical distance for prayer during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, Frey said the broadcast should offer “a measure of stability and reassure our entire city that we are all very much in this together.”

CAIR-Minnesota executive director Jaylani Hussein says the call to prayer will be especially meaningful to elderly residents in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood who have been isolated during the pandemic.

Ramadan starts Thursday and ends May 23.

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1:20 p.m.

The University of Minnesota will freeze tuition for most students next school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The tuition freeze applies to all students on the university’s five campuses except for those enrolled in three professional programs. Those are dentistry, the medical school and three professional masters in the College of Science and Engineering at the Twin Cities campus.

University President Joan Gabel proposed the tuition freeze. The Star Tribune reports the Board of Regents unanimously approved the freeze Tuesday.

Gabel says the freeze is “a recognition of the challenge that students are facing.”

Administrators say the freeze will provide financial relief to current students and help attract new students during the pandemic.

Several regents say they would like the university to go further to help students by considering reducing tuition.

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9:35 a.m.

A northern Minnesota paper mill is temporarily closing because of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. UPM Blandin cites market forces for shutting down its Grand Rapids mill. The company did not provide exact details of the shutdown, but a representative from Teamsters Local 346 tells WDIO-TV the closure is expected to last about two weeks.

“The global response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to an overall slowdown of the economy. We are taking short-term measures to respond to market conditions. We rely on our global network of modern paper mills to meet customer demand,” UPM Blandin General Manager Scott Juidici said in a statement.

According to UPM Blandin’s website, the mill, founded in 1901, employs 400 people.

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7:10 a.m.

Another mining company on the Iron Range is idling workers due to the coronavirus pandemic and the declining demand for steel.

Hibbing Taconite will end production May 3. As a result, 650 workers will be laid off, both salaried and hourly workers.

ArcelorMittal, which manages Hibbing Taconite and owns the largest stake in the mine, hopes to restart production July 6.

Hibbing Taconite is the third Iron Range mine and plant to announce it would stop production and layoff most employees.

Cleveland-Cliffs said recently it would idle Northshore Mining in Babbitt and Silver Bay and U.S. Steel said it would temporarily stop production at Keetac. Layoffs at the three mines total about 1,500.