A federal judge ordered a mental health assessment and travel restrictions for Army veteran Ian Davis Austin, one of 40 protesters charged under the FACE Act, prompting activists to call it the criminalization of veterans’ mental health. Contributing writer Clint Combs has the full report.
Clint Combs
Posted inLocal & State
Righteous 39, Minnesota 15 defendants speak out as judge orders grand jury disclosure in Fort case
A federal judge partially granted journalist Georgia Fort’s request for grand jury records, amid allegations government lawyers mischaracterized evidence used to indict her and the rest of the Righteous 39. Contributing writer Clint Combs has the full report.
Posted inLocal & State
State cannabis board brings record relief directly to the communityÂ
Three years after cannabis legalization, Minnesota’s Cannabis Expungement Board is bringing its work directly to communities, reviewing roughly 98,000 felony cases without requiring residents to hire an attorney. Contributing writer Clint Combs has the full story.
Posted inLocal & State
Opportunity Crossing opens on site of Wells Fargo branch burned in 2020 uprising
Opportunity Crossing, a new 110-unit affordable housing development, opened on the site of a Wells Fargo branch burned during the George Floyd uprising. Contributing writer Clint Combs has the story behind the project.
Posted inHealth + Wellness
Nurses and Doctors Demand Binding Protections Before Sutter Health Acquires Allina
Allina Health workers are demanding legally binding protections before Sutter Health’s proposed acquisition closes, after California union members warned Minnesota nurses about understaffing and broken commitments at Sutter facilities.
Posted inFinance
Student loan changes leave Black borrowers bracing for higher payments
Sweeping student loan changes took effect July 1, eliminating key repayment plans and leaving Black borrowers, who carry a disproportionate share of national debt, bracing for higher payments. Contributing writer Clint Combs reports on what advocates say borrowers need to know now.
Posted inNational
Supreme Court strikes down birthright citizenship order
The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship in a 6-3 ruling, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning of a “greater threat” in Clarence Thomas’ dissent. Contributing writer Clint Combs reports on the reaction from civil rights leaders, immigrant advocates and first-time voters.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis Considers Drone Pilot Program for North Minneapolis, Activists Push Back
Minneapolis is considering a 75-day Skydio drone pilot program in North Minneapolis, and activists, privacy experts and community members are pushing back, raising concerns about surveillance, corporate ties to Israeli military operations and a police department they say cannot be trusted with the technology.
Posted inLocal & State
Minneapolis NAACP Calls for Ouster of Public Housing Director Over Heritage Park Conditions
The Minneapolis NAACP is calling for the immediate resignation or termination of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority Executive Director Abdi Warsame after revelations of widespread mold, water damage and neglect at Heritage Park Apartments, where half of the 440 units are empty or unsafe.
Posted inLocal & State
Charges dropped: Protester’s federal case ends with $25 fee
Federal charges against Isabel Lopez, an Aztec dancer and poet arrested during a June 2025 protest in south Minneapolis, were reduced to a misdemeanor after four felony counts collapsed, with Judge John Tunheim rejecting probation and ordering only a $25 court fee.
Posted inLocal & State
Hundreds Gather at Rondo Juneteenth Celebration for Ceremony of Joy, Tribute, and Resistance
Hundreds gathered at the sixth annual Rondo Juneteenth Celebration in St. Paul for a ceremony that was equal parts celebration, tribute and rallying cry, with Gov. Walz, Lt. Gov. Flanagan, Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Smith all speaking on voting rights, DEI and the fight for Black freedom.
Posted inLocal & State
Human Rights Watch Report Accuses Federal Agents of Killings, Racial Profiling During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown
A 180-page Human Rights Watch report calls Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota a manufactured crisis, names nine DHS officials for investigation and documents how federal agents killed two Minneapolis residents, racially profiled thousands and dismantled the oversight apparatus designed to investigate such abuses.
Posted inLocal & State
Federal Government Charges 15 People Tied to Minneapolis Anti-Fascist Organizations
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.
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.