Travel Channel has cut celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern from its prime time line up while scathing reviews flood in for his new Minnesota-based “Lucky Cricket” restaurant. Zimmern was rebuked by fellow foodies in early December for making culturally insensitive comments about Midwestern Chinese restaurants, which he called “hores— restaurants masquerading…
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Attorney General Lori Swanson (D-MN), who will leave office in January after 12 years in the position, published one last op-ed in The Star Tribune recently to thank her colleagues for helping her along the way. Among those she thanked are Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN), former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN),…
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Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) announced Friday that he has named John Keller to serve as his chief deputy attorney general. Keller currently oversees the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a vehemently anti-Trump non-profit that provides legal services to illegal aliens and refugees. According to a press release from Ellison’s…
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The only thing barring Democrats from total control of Minnesota’s government is a one-seat Republican majority in the Senate, but that might not be enough to block gun-control efforts during the upcoming session. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) recently indicated that he has “some openness” on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL)…
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A 35-year-old illegal immigrant who reentered the country illegally pleaded guilty last week to stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in August in his Shakopee apartment. According to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Fraider Diaz-Carbajal was deported in 2012 for “suspected immigration violations.” He had a history…
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Bob Luddy had already experienced massive success as a businessman and entrepreneur before launching Thales Academy, one of North Carolina’s most innovative private schools. In 1976, Luddy founded CaptiveAire Systems, now the leading manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation systems in the U.S. with annual sales of more than $300 million.…
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Churches and communities across Minnesota are beginning to install security systems to prevent thieves from stealing Jesus and Mary from their Nativity scenes. The New York Times reported Sunday that Christians across the nation now have to use “bolts, cameras, and tethers” to combat the sad trend of Nativity-scene crimes. In…
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Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) still has a few weeks to go before he’s sworn in as the next governor of Minnesota, but he’s already made several indications as to what voters can expect in his first budget proposal due early 2019. Since defeating Republican Jeff Johnson in the November midterms,…
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A transgender woman was awarded $20,000 in damages last week by a Dakota County jury who found that the Minnesota Vixen female football team had wrongfully discriminated against the plaintiff. Christina Ginther, who underwent gender-reassignment surgery to transition from a man to a woman, was prevented from playing on the…
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It was a wild week in Washington, which gave Minnesota’s politicians ample opportunity to attack President Donald Trump. In a Friday appearance on The Dan Obeidallah Show, Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said Trump’s border wall “is deeply rooted in xenophobia.” “If Trump shuts down the government: 420,000 Americans will be…
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Failed Minneapolis mayoral candidate Tom Hoch is back in the news for calling President Donald Trump a “traitor” in a Christmas-lights display adorning his ritzy Lake of the Isles home. “Trump is a traitor” spelled out in Christmas lights now radiates from the top of Hoch’s home, which apparently backs…
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Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved permits to replace Enbridge’s aging Line 3 Pipeline in November, but departing Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) is now appealing the decision. The Public Utilities Commission’s November vote to approve the replacement project was protested and disrupted by environmentalist activists who have opposed the project…
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“Sometimes people do things without my full knowledge.” That was Gov. Mark Dayton’s (D-MN) response Thursday to news that his Minnesota Management and Budget commissioner, Myron Frans, had recommended massive government pay raises. “It’s embarrassing to admit after eight years but it happens,” Dayton added. Current Minnesota law caps salaries…
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Rep. Jason Lewis’ (R-MN-02) Juvenile Justice Reform Act (JJRA) was signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump as part of Congress’ sweeping criminal justice reform measures. According to Lewis, the JJRA hadn’t been “reauthorized or modernized since 2002.” Lewis’ reforms respond to the need for alternatives to detaining juveniles…
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Award-winning journalist Claas Relotius was outed this week for inventing characters and events in at least a dozen of his articles for Germany’s Der Spiegel, including one article on the rural town of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Relotius, who won CNN’s 2014 Journalist of the Year award, was exposed by a…
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Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) and his staff released a list of his “top 25” major accomplishments as governor on Wednesday as he prepares for the end of his eight-year stint in the governor’s mansion. “When Gov. Mark Dayton took office, he promised to build a better Minnesota. Eight years later,…
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A new report issued last week by the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor found that the Department of Human Services (DHS) provided Medical Assistance (MA), or Medicaid, benefits to ineligible residents. While the report concluded that the DHS “generally complied” with eligibility requirements, there were numerous instances in which…
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The University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents voted unanimously in favor of naming Joan Gabel the school’s next president Tuesday. She will be the first female president in the institution’s 167-year history, replacing departing president Eric Kaler. According to reports, the Board of Regents also unanimously approved of a $640,000…
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Minnesota lawmakers are pushing for answers on the state’s allegedly rampant childcare fraud, but officials within the Department of Human Services seem unwilling to provide any. The story was first exposed in May by investigative reporters with Fox 9, who found that up to $100 million in suitcases left MSP…
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Rep.-elect Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) hosted his first town hall Monday night in Bloomington, where he was booed by supporters for claiming that “half of the country” voted for President Donald Trump. “It doesn’t matter what any one of us thinks of him, he was elected by people in this country.…
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Ohio Lt. Gov.-elect Jon Husted, who will serve as secretary of state until January, offered to transfer $10 million from the office he currently oversees to the state’s general fund in order to “improve the lives of all Ohioans.” In a November 5 letter, which was released this week, Husted…
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Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) claimed that she was “sickened and outraged” over the case of a Yemeni mother who was prevented from traveling to the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s travel ban. Two-year-old Abdullah Hassan suffers from a genetic brain disorder, according to The Guardian, and is currently on…
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Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published a letter Friday addressed to Minnesota’s Catholics in which he calls for the allegations against his predecessor to be “fully addressed.” Hebda was brought in after the 2015 resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt, who announced his resignation when…
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The Twin Cities Metropolitan Council approved $1.23 million in funding last week to add barriers in buses that will protect drivers from potential threats. Earlier this year, local headlines were dominated by stories of bus drivers across the Twin Cities area being assaulted by deranged passengers. There were three attacks…
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A new poll released this week shows that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is the “first choice” for president among just three percent of Democrats in Iowa, the nation’s first caucus state. The Minnesota senator has made multiple visits to Iowa in the past few months, one before the midterms to…
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The St. Paul City Council voted 6-1 Wednesday in favor of adding the legalization of marijuana to its list of legislative priorities for the upcoming session. The resolution, authored by Council Member Dai Thao and co-sponsored by Council Members Rebecca Noecker and Mitra Nelson, argues that the decriminalization of recreational…
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) spent her weekend visiting detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, which she repeatedly described as “prison camps.” Smith, fresh off her first election victory in Minnesota, posted videos and images throughout her trip, describing one detention center in a lengthy Facebook post as “soulless,…
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Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison and his fellow Minnesota Democrats are vowing to fight a Friday ruling from a federal judge in Texas that deemed Obamacare “unconstitutional.” “The Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’ Tax Power and is still impermissible under the Interstate Commerce…
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An activist organization born out of the alleged unfair working conditions imposed by Amazon held a “massive” protest at the company’s Shakopee center Friday, and Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was in attendance. As The Minnesota Sun reported last week, a non-profit called the Awood Center is seeking to build “East…
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The St. Paul City Council approved Mayor Melvin Carter’s 2019 budget this week, which includes a 10.5 percent property tax increase and $500,000 towards additional bike lanes throughout the city. The council unanimously approved the budget on Wednesday. Carter called the budget a “different take on what the city government…
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Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN), still a U.S. congressman until January, has missed 45 votes on the House floor since winning August’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in Minnesota. Between the days of September 4 and December 13, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted on 56 different measures, but Walz has been…
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The national “war on cops” has produced a “crisis” level shortfall of police officers in Minnesota prompting state leaders to launch a new initiative aimed at combating these alarming trends. At a Wednesday press conference, the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association (MCPA) announced its new “Wear the Badge” initiative, a…
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Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) turned down an invite from President Donald Trump to participate in a meeting with the nation’s newly elected governors scheduled for Thursday afternoon. “The governor-elect is in Minnesota building his incoming administration and is unable to attend the meeting at the White House,” Walz spokeswoman Kayla…
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A new coalition of business leaders that launched at the Minnesota Capitol Tuesday plans to lobby state lawmakers to support a “comprehensive transportation system,” which could include $120 million in transit improvements for Greater Minnesota. The group, calling itself “Keep MN Moving,” is co-led by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, the…
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The Washington Post got the inside scoop Friday on a last-minute effort to sneak a provision into Congress’ spending bill that would pave the way for a new Washington Redskins stadium, but Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) is vowing to oppose the move because of the team’s “racist” name. According to…
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The Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives found in a recent survey that 20.4 percent of staffers and 19.7 percent of members have “experienced or witnessed” something “that could be described as sexually harassing behavior.” However, when asked who they have “seen subjected to sexually harassing behavior,” the…
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Former first lady Michelle Obama will stop at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center in March during the final leg of her “intimate conversation” book tour. Obama has been touring the country to promote her new memoir “Becoming,” and has titled her corresponding book tour: “An Intimate Conversation With Michelle Obama.”…
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Rep.-elect Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) announced that he will be holding a town hall December 17 after a Sunday Minnesota Sun report found that he had yet to schedule a public meeting that he promised for “early December.” “To that end, Phillips announced his first public town-hall meeting will be held in…
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The Center for Economics and Peace recently released its annual Global Terrorism Index, which found that terrorism in on the decline globally, but is experiencing a surge in some African countries, such as Somalia, Nigeria, and Egypt. Notable terrorism hot spots like Syria and Iraq saw a significant decrease in…
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The Twin Cities Met Council plans to continue dumping money on additional bike lanes across the metro area, but a study published Friday by The Star Tribune found that city leaders are not being “forthright” about the proposal’s effectiveness. Writing for The Star Tribune, local marketing executive Doug Berdie decided…
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Rep.-elect Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) is declining to state his position on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), but Minnesota’s media doesn’t seem to care. Phillips called for “a new generation of leadership” in the Democratic Party on the campaign trail, but has mostly avoided the subject ever since his election.…
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A group of Somali-Americans are planning a “massive” protest at Minnesota’s Amazon facility after the corporation agreed to meet with organizers of the protest, but came up short on complying with their demands. A non-profit called the Awood Center, which seeks to build “East African worker power,” first started organizing…
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A new report issued Wednesday found that 57,000 Minnesotans would lose their health insurance under Gov.-elect Tim Walz’s (D-MN) proposal to offer a MinnesotaCare buy-in option. The report, conducted by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, found that 57,000 fewer Minnesotans would have health insurance coverage from 2019 to 2020, an estimated…
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A Minnesota State University, Mankato professor and member of the Satanic Temple recently suggested that God impregnated the Virgin Mary without her “consent.” “The virgin birth story is about an all-knowing, all-powerful deity impregnating a human teen. There is no definition of consent that would include that scenario. Happy Holidays,”…
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The Center of the American Experiment released its annual “The State of Minnesota’s Economy” report Tuesday, written by University of London and London School of Economics grad John Phelan. But The Pioneer Press wasn’t pleased with Phelan’s application of “data that has become popular with conservative economists,” that being GDP…
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Minnesota Management and Budget released its Budget and Economic Forecast report Thursday, estimating that the state will have a $1.5 billion surplus for the 2020-21 biennium. According to the report, an additional $491 million will be added to the state’s budget reserve, or “rainy-day” fund, which now totals $2.075 billion—a…
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Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) would probably disagree, but the state of Minnesota’s economy “continues to be unimpressive” and presents cause for “concern about the future,” according to the Center of the American Experiment. Minnesota’s leading think tank released its annual “The State of Minnesota’s Economy” report Tuesday, and found that…
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Minnesota Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison kicked off his statewide listening tour Tuesday night in Duluth where he attacked his campaign opponent Republican Doug Wardlow for defending religious liberty. Wardlow previously worked for an organization called Alliance Defending Freedom, which offers pro-bono legal representation to help people defend their First Amendment…
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Republican Greg Boe won his bid for Minnesota House District 47B by 117 votes, enough to hold off a state mandated recount, but now Democratic lawyers have successfully pushed for a recount nearly a month after the election. Boe defeated Democrat Donzel Leggett 10,853 to 10,736 votes, or 0.54 percent,…
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A ranking member of the Minneapolis Police Department was fired Monday after he was found responsible for decorating a precinct Christmas tree will allegedly racist ornaments. Images of the tree, located at the department’s north side precinct, began to surface on social media Friday and showed a tree decorated with…
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