The Justice Department charged 15 people allegedly tied to two Minneapolis-based anti-fascist organizations in a 94-page indictment that revealed an extensive federal surveillance operation, quoting verbatim from encrypted Signal chats as U.S. Marshals deployed tear gas outside the St. Paul arraignment.
Clint Combs
Posted inLocal & State
Minnesota Families and Child Care Providers Demand Structural Reform as Costs Spiral
Contributing writer Clint Combs reports on Minnesota’s growing child care crisis, where 87% of day care centers say the industry is in crisis and families like Annel Velasco’s have spent $120,000 on child care, as advocates call for structural reform and universal child care.
Posted inLocal & State
Operation Metro Surge Left Nearly $700 Million in Damage. For Some, the Cost Was Everything.
A sweeping new report estimates Operation Metro Surge inflicted nearly $700 million in economic damage on Minneapolis, with businesses losing $445 million in revenue, workers losing $152 million in wages and three people dead, as Daniel Hernandez prepares to close his third Colonial Market.
Posted inLocal & State
Trump DOJ tried to surveil Minnesota journalists. A judge said no.Â
The Trump Justice Department twice tried and failed to obtain search warrants for the YouTube accounts of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, with a federal judge rejecting all five applications and ordering them unsealed after finding the government failed to disclose a key press freedom law.
Posted inLocal & State
Families outraged after GOP delegates honor Chauvin at State Convention
Families of Black men killed by police are outraged after Minnesota Republican delegates held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin at the state GOP convention in Duluth, with Courteney Ross, Valerie Castile and Toshira Garroway all speaking out.
Posted inLocal & State
Twenty Graduates Complete Minneapolis Fire Department’s EMS Pathways Academy
Twenty people graduated from the Minneapolis Fire Department’s EMS Pathways Academy on May 22, with 16 of the 20 graduates being people of color, reflecting the program’s commitment to diversifying the department’s ranks.
Posted inLocal & State
DOJ Announces $90 Million Medicaid Fraud Indictment in Minneapolis as Acting AG No-Shows
Federal prosecutors announced indictments against 15 people accused of defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of $90 million, as RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz joined DOJ officials at a Minneapolis press conference while the acting attorney general was in Washington defending a fund for Trump allies.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis launches dedicated unit to investigate non-fatal shootings
Minneapolis has launched the Firearm Assault Shoot Team, a dedicated non-fatal shooting investigative unit backed by $1.7 million in city funding, designed to treat surviving shooting victims with the same investigative urgency as homicides.
Posted inLocal & State
Second ICE agent charged as Hennepin County cases grow to 30
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced criminal charges against a second ICE agent for misconduct during Operation Metro Surge, as the Transparency and Accountability Project grows to 30 cases and becomes a flashpoint in the Hennepin County Attorney’s race.
Posted inLocal & State
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Hand Over Unredacted Documents in Case Against 39 Activists
A federal judge ordered prosecutors to turn over unredacted discovery documents in the case against the 39, as defense attorneys argued nearly every name of law enforcement officers and witnesses had been redacted, making a legal defense functionally impossible.
Posted inPolitics
Civil rights groups fight back as Trump policies target Black voters, Muslim communities
CAIR-Minnesota hosted Somali American Solidarity Day at the State Capitol as the organization announced it is representing a Minnesota labor organizer whose phone and books were seized by federal agents, while the NAACP fights Tennessee’s gerrymandered congressional map in court.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
HCMC could close in June. Lawmakers have two weeks to stop it
Hennepin County Medical Center could begin closing in June if lawmakers fail to reach a funding deal before the legislative session ends May 18, as the hospital faces a financial crisis years in the making and federal Medicaid cuts that threaten to deepen the damage.
Posted inLocal & State
Former Uptown YWCA to Become Job Training Center for BIPOC and Immigrant Workers
A coalition of labor and community organizations is transforming a former Uptown YWCA into the Rise Up Center, a 70,000-square-foot job training hub designed to move BIPOC workers into middle-class union careers.
Posted inLocal & State
Turning Point USA Contributor Savanah Hernandez Has a Pattern. The Ostroushko Indictments Are the Latest Result.
A federal grand jury has indicted three members of the Ostroushko family following a physical altercation at a Fort Snelling protest, with Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez at the center of the confrontation.
Posted inPolitics
Housing advocates push to extend bipartisan state tax credit program beyond 2028
Minnesota State Housing Tax Credit Program extension is being pushed at the Capitol as advocates and legislators say the bipartisan affordable housing program has drawn 1,100-plus contributors and consistently outpaced its funding supply.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Hunger Strikers Confront Hennepin County Board Over HERC Closure, Sending Commissioners Into Recess
Zero Burn Coalition hunger strikers disrupted the Hennepin County Board meeting on day 12 of their strike demanding a vote to close HERC by December 2027 before ending the strike the following day.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis Police Chief’s Public Statements on Domestic Violence Cases Under Scrutiny After City Auditor Report
A Minneapolis city auditor report found MPD made serious missteps investigating the Allison Lussier case and recommended a formal written apology to her family for public misstatements by Police Chief Brian O’Hara about the medical examiner’s findings.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Clinicians, Scientists Call for Closure of Hennepin Energy Recovery Center by 2027
Scientists and clinicians argue HERC’s outdated 30-year permit fails to protect North Minneapolis residents as hunger strikers demand a vote to close the trash incinerator by December 2027.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Hunger strikers say Hennepin County commissioners won’t meet with them
Zero Burn Coalition hunger strikers say Hennepin County commissioners have refused to meet with them six days into their action demanding a vote to close the HERC trash incinerator by December 2027.
Posted inLocal & State
Black Man Allegedly Denied Entry at Cities Church; Activists Raise Pattern of Discrimination at Press Conference
Cities Church allegedly denied a Black man entry to worship in St. Paul as civil rights activists allege discrimination and retaliation tied to the Righteous 39 protest arrests.