Category: LEAD

University of Minnesota Spent over $200,000 On ‘Diversity’ Platform Teaching Physicians That Healthcare Is Racist

Minnesota Sun Staff

The University of Minnesota (UMN) paid over $200,000 to develop a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training program that teaches medical professionals that healthcare is fundamentally racist, according to documents received by the medical watchdog Do No Harm and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The training, developed by Diversity Science, is intended to educate healthcare professionals on obstetric care for black and indigenous women, which the training dubs “birthing people,” and highlights perceived “structural racism” in healthcare practices. Moreover, UMN’s DEI office blames “white supremacy” for certain disparities in perinatal care, and trains providers to view the development of medicine and the healthcare system as tainted with racism, documents obtained by Do Not Harm reveal.

Read More

Minnesota’s Average Gas Prices Jump by 30 Cents, Nearing $4

Minnesota Sun Staff

Average gas prices in Minnesota have jumped by more than 30 cents in a week, according to AAA data.

The current average price is $3.98 per gallon, up 36 cents from a week ago, the AAA data says. Average prices in the seven-county metro are over $4.

Read More

Minnesota Teacher Asks Students If Preferred Name and Pronouns Should Be Used When Contacting Home

Minnesota Sun Staff

A teacher in the Osseo school district asked students to share their preferred name and pronouns on the first day of class and state whether they should be used when contacting home.

“Please circle your answer choice for the following in regards to your pronoun/preferred name use,” a handout reads. It then asks if the teacher should use the student’s preferred name and pronouns when calling home.

Read More

Minnesota Sheriff Says He’ll Lean on Federal Law When Issuing Gun Permits to Those with Marijuana Convictions

Minnesota Sun Staff

While recreational cannabis use has been legal in Minnesota for just more than one month, elected officials in local governments across the state are still sorting out just what that means for their communities.

Under the new law, you can’t yet buy or sell the product. You can grow it at your home in limited quantities and give some of that away to others. But many local government officials are having public conversations about where you can smoke it and how many businesses should eventually be allowed to sell it within a jurisdiction. At times, these conversations involve interpretation of potential conflicts between the new state law and federal regulations that still define marijuana as a controlled substance.

Read More

Minnesota Democrats Will Push for Assisted Suicide Bill During 2024 Session

Minnesota Sun Staff

Minnesota Democrats plan to use their governing trifecta to bring assisted suicide to the state next year.

Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, who carried an assisted suicide bill in the legislature this past session, said in a press release this week that “advocates are now ramping up their push to pass the bill during the 2024 legislative session that convenes in February.”

Read More

Minnesota Gov. Walz Open to Special Session to Fix New Law Impacting School Resource Officers

Just the News

While students across the state are now back in class, the list of secondary schools that will begin the year without a school resource officer continues to grow.

On Monday the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office announced it will pull its officers it has contracted as SROs from six schools in the east metro. Well more than a dozen law enforcement agencies across the state have now pulled their SROs from school campuses in the wake of a new law they say the legislature needs to fix so their officers can safely do their jobs.

Read More

Police Investigate Gunfire Incidents near Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Fairgoer Struck by Errant Bullet

Minnesota Sun Staff

St. Paul police responded to separate incidents of gunfire both Saturday and Sunday nights just outside the Minnesota State Fair grounds. In one incident, a fairgoer was reportedly struck by an errant bullet. In another incident, a University of Minnesota bus was struck by gunfire that shattered a window.

About 10:13 p.m. Saturday, a person inside the fairgrounds called 911 to report that they had been shot at, according to dispatch audio at the time. The person who was reported to be at Chambers Street and Carnes Avenue said the bullet struck him, but the bullet did not make penetration.

Read More

Number of Americans Who View Minneapolis as Safe Place Declines

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans who view Minneapolis as a safe city has declined by 15%, according to a new Gallup poll.

A majority of Americans (58%) still view Minneapolis as a safe place to “live in or visit,” but this is down from the 73% who said the same in 2006, the last time the poll was conducted.

Read More

Minneapolis Residents Feel ‘Helpless’ as Street Becomes ‘Destination’ for Drug Deals

Minnesota Sun Staff

A north Minneapolis resident whose street has become “an established destination” for drug dealing said he wants elected leaders to “understand how abandoned and helpless we feel.”

“We are an established destination now for drug purchases. Cars stop by 24/7 and within moments they have a carhop with their face in the passenger window, ready to serve,” said Jay Dorsey, who owns a home across the street from an Aldi store that closed earlier this year to much disappointment from local residents.

Read More

Most Minneapolis Students Don’t Consistently Attend School

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Minnesota students who consistently attend school has dropped by 15% since 2019, according to state Department of Education data released last week.

The annual North Star Accountability Report tracks “consistent attendance,” which is defined as the number of students who attend school at least 90% of the time and are not chronically absent.

Read More

Left-Leaning Groups Seek to Intervene in Challenge to New Minnesota Law That Restricts Corporate Speech

Minnesota Sun Staff

A left-leaning elections reform organization is representing a local group hoping to intervene in a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce lawsuit that’s challenging a new state law it says unconstitutionally restricts political speech of businesses.

On Friday, the Massachusetts-based advocacy group Free Speech For People, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, filed a motion requesting to intervene in the Chamber’s federal lawsuit that contends a new law governing corporate speech unconstitutionally restricts the political speech of its members’ businesses who have minimal investment from foreign-based individuals and entities.

Read More

Newest Minnesota Supreme Court Appointee Was Walz’s Chief Legal Counsel During Pandemic, Riots

Minnesota Sun Staff

Gov. Tim Walz announced the appointment of one of his administration’s top attorneys to the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Karl Procaccini, 40, has spent the last 4.5 years as general counsel and deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office. Depending on who you ask, the Connecticut native and Harvard Law grad has been regarded as either a prudent or overreaching legal advisor to Walz during the Covid-19 pandemic and riots in 2020 and 2021.

Read More

Uber: Minneapolis Drivers Get Minimum Wage, $5 Minimum After Frey Veto

The Center Square

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed an ordinance passed by the city council to enact a minimum compensation of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute while transporting a rider, subject to annual adjustment.

Instead, Frey struck a deal to boost Uber driver pay to the city minimum wage and guarantee at least $5 per ride.

Read More

Author of New Book on Marxism in Schools Says U.S. in ‘National Danger’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Popular author and commentator Dr. James Lindsay joined Liz Collin on her podcast this week to discuss the deterioration of America’s education system over the last 30 years.

Lindsay’s new book, “The Marxification of Education,” examines the left’s “theft” of the education system. He has been touring the country and world speaking to audiences about this topic and will be in Minnesota Oct. 11 for an event hosted by the Child Protection League.

Read More

The Field Is Set for November School Board Races in Minnesota

Minnesota Sun Staff

The field of candidates is now set for the 28 school districts across Minnesota that will hold “off-year” elections this November, where there are no legislative seats or congressional or statewide offices on the ballot.

While most of the nearly 300 other school districts across the state hold their elections during more visible campaign cycles (such as 2024), the school district communities with races this fall represent about 1.7 million residents across the state. Combined, those districts with seats up for election steward well over $4 billion in tax dollars.

Read More

Minneapolis City Council Passes Rule, Uber ‘Determining’ Future in City

The Center Square

The Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance starting Jan. 1, 2024, that ride-share companies say will force them out of the city because of increased costs and regulations. 

The vote passed 7-5-1 to enact a minimum compensation of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute while transporting a rider, subject to annual adjustment.

Read More

Former DFL Legislator Who Helped Flip State Senate Hired as Chief Capitol Lobbyist at University of Minnesota

Minnesota Sun Staff

A former DFL legislator credited with leading a campaign to help Democrats recapture the state Senate in 2022 has landed a new job as a top lobbyist for the University of Minnesota.

Melisa Lopez Franzen, who served in the Minnesota Senate for a decade before choosing not to seek re-election last year, was announced as the U of M’s new executive director of government and community relations on Wednesday.

Read More

Minnesota Restaurant Owner Says New State Mandates Will Be a ‘Nightmare’ for Small Businesses

Minnesota Sun Staff

A lifelong dream to have his own place hasn’t exactly gone as planned for Kent Bergmann behind Campanelle in Lino Lakes.

“The name of the restaurant is nothing more than a noodle. We make those noodles fresh every single morning. It’s a Campanelle noodle is what it’s called. It’s like baked mac and cheese on steroids,” Bergmann explained.

Read More

Minnesota Town Police Force Has ‘Zero Applicants’ After Everyone Quits

Just the News

The entire police force of Goodhue, Minn., has resigned and the town has no applicants to fill the vacancies, leaving the future of law enforcement in the community uncertain.

Police Chief Josh Smith will remain in the post until Aug. 24, but has told the city he could not find anyone willing to join the force, Fox News reported.

Read More

Minnesota Commission Charged with Redesigning State Flag, Seal Set to Begin Work This Month

Minnesota Sun Staff

Membership of a new commission tasked with redesigning the Minnesota state flag and seal was supposed to be finalized earlier this month. But it appears it’s not quite ready to begin its work, which is to be completed and sent to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2024.

While Gov. Tim Walz appointed three members of the public to the 17-member State Emblems Redesign Commission earlier this month, a handful of appointees from state councils and agencies had not yet been listed as filled on the webpage for the body as of Monday. The commission was supposed to be finalized by Aug. 1, according to statute.

Read More

Minnesota Catholic Colleges Announce ‘Non-Binary Admissions Policy’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Two affiliated Catholic colleges in Minnesota adopted a policy for the new academic year allowing “non-binary, gender-fluid, and gender-nonconforming individuals” to enroll in a men’s or women’s college based on the sex with which they identify.

The colleges’ previous policy only explicitly referred to “transgender” students, except in a “frequently asked question” that noted non-binary students must “consistently live and identify” as either a man or a woman.

Read More

Minnesota Gas Prices Move Closer to National Average

The Center Square

Minnesota gas prices keep creeping closer to the national average after jumping nearly 40 cents in the past month.

Minnesotans are paying an average of $3.81 a gallon as of Friday, according to the most recent figures provided by the American Automobile Association. The national average hit $3.84.

Read More

Minnesota’s Fastest-Growing City Bans Smoking Weed in Public Places

Minnesota Sun Staff

The fastest growing city in Minnesota, and one of the fastest growing suburban communities in America, has banned the use of smokeable marijuana in its public spaces. And they’re doing it for the kids, according to city leaders.

The Lakeville City Council voted this week to create a new ordinance that prohibits the smoking of cannabis and hemp in public places — including parks, streets, sidewalks and other outdoor spaces where people can gather. Violation of the new ordinance, which takes effect immediately, is a petty misdemeanor, punishable by a $300 ticket, according to a city report on the measure.

Read More

Minnesota Gov. Walz Rejects Calls for Special Session to Fix ‘Loopholes’ in New Marijuana Law

Minnesota Sun Staff

Gov. Tim Walz won’t call a special session to make changes to the new adult-use recreational marijuana law to fix loopholes Republicans allege effectively decriminalize use for minors.

Walz told reporters gathered for a press conference Tuesday that it’s clear to him it’s still illegal for minors to use marijuana products. He said he won’t be calling a special session at the request of House Republicans, but said he expects that legislators may choose to tweak the new laws during the 2024 regular legislative session.

Read More

Parents Reclaim Libraries with Christian Story Hour Events Across Minnesota

Minnesota Sun Staff

More than a dozen communities across the state participated in Brave Books’ first annual “See You at the Library” event over the weekend, a national movement to “bring traditional Christian and American values back into the public space,” local event organizers told Alpha News.

“When we saw Brave Books was looking for people to host story hours at their local libraries, we thought it would be an awesome way to connect with the community, educate parents how low our literacy rates are, and bring an hour of fun to families right in their local library,” said Britni Granquist with Dakota County Moms for Liberty, which helped organize five story hours across the south metro attracting more than 600 attendees.

Read More

Educators Lay Out How Public Schools Are Failing Minnesota’s Kids at Groundbreaking Town Hall Event

Admin

Alpha News journalist Sheila Qualls recently hosted a townhall panel discussion on the failures of Minnesota’s public education system.

Qualls is the host of the podcast “Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom,” in which she investigates the public school system in Minnesota through interviews with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members.

The townhall panel she hosted consisted of retired teachers, a school board member, a current private school educator, and a parents group director.

Read More

Minnesota Catholic Church, School Vandalized in Separate Incidents

Minnesota Sun Staff

A Catholic church in Duluth and a school in Minneapolis were vandalized in separate incidents in late July.

St. Charles Borromeo School told families this week that two individuals broke into the school on the evening of Saturday, July 22, creating “an extensive mess that required 700+ hours of clean-up work and is still ongoing.” The school said its clean-up efforts “after this disaster cost thousands of dollars.”

Read More

High School in Minnetonka Among First in Minnesota to Use New AP African American Studies Course

Minnesota Sun Staff

Amid declining academic test scores, Hopkins High School will be one of the first schools in Minnesota to offer the George Floyd-inspired Advanced Placement African American Studies (APAAS) course this fall.

Less than 50 percent of Hopkins High School students are proficient in reading, math or science. It will be one of just a few schools in the state to offer the class this fall along with high schools in St. Paul and Edina, the Star Tribune reported.

Read More

NBA Ref from St. Paul on Suing over Vax Mandate: ‘I Think the NBA Wants to Break Me’

Minnesota Sun Staff

A St. Paul native is taking on the NBA to prove his rights were stolen when COVID-19 vaccines were mandated in 2021.

Kenny Mauer was a referee for the NBA for over 35 years; he never missed a game. Mauer grew up in St. Paul and was an athlete his whole life. He played baseball for the University of Minnesota and began refereeing high school sports in college.

Read More

Racial Bias in Minnesota’s Criminal Justice System a ‘Myth,’ Report Says

Minnesota Sun Staff

A new report released last week calls the popular narrative that Minnesota’s criminal justice system is biased against black offenders a “myth.”

“The narrative of unwarranted racial disparities in Minnesota’s criminal justice system is well entrenched but this new offender data from the BCA exposes this narrative as a myth,” said report author David Zimmer, a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment and retired 33-year veteran of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

Read More

GOP Minnesota Legislators Call for Special Session to Address Gaps in Cannabis Bill

Minnesota Sun Staff

In a joint letter addressed to Gov. Tim Walz and other Democratic leaders, several GOP lawmakers expressed “deep concern” with a cannabis legalization bill that will take effect in just four days.

“Recent reporting has revealed serious concerns with the bill — including that it effectively legalized marijuana use for children — that these members believe need to be addressed promptly in order to protect our kids and communities,” a press release from the Minnesota House Republican Caucus explained.

Read More

Minnesota School Board Members Object to Parent Reading from Graphic Book Available to Students

Minnesota Sun Staff

The chair of the Osseo school board warned a parent reading from a sexually-explicit book available in the district’s libraries that there may be children in the room.

“Last month we had some kids in the audience and some of the language was offensive to some,” said Chair Jacquelene Mosqueda-Jones during Tuesday night’s meeting.

Read More

Rep. Ilhan Omar Expresses Support for Woman Who Burned and Buried Aborted Baby’s Remains

Minnesota Sun Staff

A Nebraska teenager was recently sentenced to 90 days in jail after she burned and buried the remains of her aborted baby, a case U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar called a “frightening violation of privacy and autonomy.”

Omar published a screenshot of a New York Times article about the case of 19-year-old Celeste Burgess, who was not charged “under Nebraska’s abortion law,” the article notes. At the time, Nebraska prohibited abortions after 20 weeks; that has now been moved up to 12 weeks.

Read More

Former Minnesota Republican Gubernatorial Candidate ‘Re-Examines’ His Abortion Position

Minnesota Sun Staff

Dr. Scott Jensen, former GOP candidate for governor, wrote in an op-ed that following his 2022 election loss, he is re-examining his position on abortion.

“Because millions of Americans believed that the Supreme Court’s ruling had had a decisive impact on elections across the nation, I decided to re-examine the abortion issue from both a historical and present-day perspective,” Jensen wrote.

Read More

Minneapolis Democrat Mayor Orders Police to Scale Back Arrests for Psychedelic Plants

Just the News

Minneapolis Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey has ordered the city police department to stop enforcing most laws against using hallucinogenic plants.

Frey in announcing the order Friday pointed to the potential benefits of taking hallucinogenic plants to treat mental illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Read More

Chauvin Will Appeal Case to U.S. Supreme Court

Minnesota Sun Staff
Derek Chauvin

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case after the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to do so Tuesday, his attorney told Alpha News.

Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021 in connection to the death of George Floyd. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Read More

Rochester Could Join List of Cities Imposing Moratorium on Marijuana Sales Until 2025

Minnesota Sun Staff

As the calendar continues to creep closer to Aug. 1 — when it becomes legal for Minnesotans to possess, consume and grow limited amounts of recreational cannabis — cities across the state are preparing for the inevitable marijuana retail market that will (eventually) follow.

In Rochester on Monday, July 24, members of the public will continue to weigh in on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit marijuana sales in the city until Jan. 1, 2025. This comes after a handful of cities have already passed similar pot shop moratorium ordinances, including: Brooklyn Center, Ramsey, West St. Paul and Mankato.

Read More

Minnesota Union Rescinds Endorsement of DFL Legislator Who Is Also Regional Planned Parenthood Executive

Minnesota Sun Staff

A metro area DFL legislator who is also the CEO for the regional Planned Parenthood chapter based in the Twin Cities is continuing to navigate rough waters in her day job.

Ruth Richardson was named the top executive of the Planned Parenthood North Central States chapter in September 2022 — just weeks before she was re-elected to the Minnesota House to represent the southeast metro suburbs of Mendota Heights, Sunfish Lake and part of Eagan. Her recent appointment as CEO of the most powerful abortion rights lobby organization in the upper Midwest drew criticism from some conservatives in Minnesota political circles who suggested a state legislator shouldn’t also lead such an organization because of inevitable conflicts of interest she would face in votes at the Capitol.

Read More

University of Minnesota Axes Legacy Admissions After SCOTUS Block of Affirmative Action

Minnesota Sun Staff

The University of Minnesota is ditching legacy admissions, a mechanism by which children of alumni get preferential treatment within the admissions process, following a Supreme Court ruling that blocked the use of race-based affirmative action policies, a university spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action admissions policies were unconstitutional. In light of the ruling, the University of Minnesota decided it will no longer consider race, ethnicity, legacy or employment in its admissions process, a university spokesperson told the DCNF.

Read More

Minnesota A.G. Ellison Calls for Impeaching Justice Clarence Thomas, Compares Him to House Slave

Minnesota Sun Staff

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called for impeaching U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and compared him to a house slave during a recent media interview.

Ellison recently returned to his hometown of Detroit to promote his new book, “Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence.” While there, he sat down for an extended interview with the Michigan Chronicle and discussed recent Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and student loan debt.

Read More

Popular ‘Sequeerity’ Group Not Licensed as Security Provider in Minnesota

Minnesota Sun Staff

A popular Minneapolis-based security team for hire called “Sequeerity” is not licensed in the state of Minnesota, potentially making the business guilty of a gross misdemeanor, state officials confirmed.

Under Minnesota law, anyone who provides, for a fee or reward, “guards, private patrol or other security personnel to protect persons or their property” is considered to be a “protective agent” and must be licensed, the Minnesota Private Detective and Protective Agent Services Board (PDB) told Alpha News.

Read More