Category: The Upper-Midwest

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Minnesota Business Firms Report Inflation, Wages Expectations in State Survey

The Center Square

Minnesota businesses reported their experience and expectations regarding inflation and other economic indicators in a new survey.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis surveyed randomly selected 229 Minnesota firms in May and June, according to the report. The department announced the results this week.

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Minnesota Secretary of State: Election Officials Within Their Rights to Work with Big Tech to Fight ‘Outright Disinformation’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Fresh off a legislative session where Steve Simon was able to check off nearly every item on his election reform “wish list,” the recently re-elected Minnesota secretary of state took some time to speak to both national and local media about how he views the landscape of the upcoming 2024 election, and as he calls it the “democracy business.”

According to Simon, those who intend to suppress the vote with election-related “disinformation” or intimidation may be tripped up by new election-reform laws recently passed by the Democrat trifecta in the Minnesota Legislature. But he told the Washington Post in an interview this week that he doesn’t believe those new voter protections in Minnesota will necessarily deter disinformation efforts come 2024.

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Appeals Court Sides with Minnesota Gov. Walz in Lawsuit Challenging Mask Mandate, Emergency Powers

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gov. Tim Walz on Monday in a case where a group of citizens had challenged the constitutionality of the governor’s indoor mask mandate that lasted 10 months during 2020 and 2021.

In its decision on Monday, the three-judge panel affirmed a lower court ruling from March 2021 that dismissed the case on the merits. The opinion, written by Judge Michelle Larkin, also noted that Walz was within the authority delegated to him by the legislature to declare a peacetime emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic. That order ran from March 2020 to July 2021.

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Minnesota Department of Education Runs Program to Help Art Teachers Create Anti-Racist Curriculum

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) runs a program to help art teachers create anti-racist curriculum.

“In this three-day long summer 2023 institute, participants will have an opportunity to deepen their understanding of culturally responsive and ant-racist curriculum development in and through the arts as it relates to Ethnic Studies,” MDE explains of an upcoming course that is an optional aspect of a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and led by MDE’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Center.

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Planned Parenthood in Minnesota Offers $150 Gift Card to Teens to Attend Sex Ed Summer Camp

Susan Berry, PhD

Abortion and transgender hormone giant Planned Parenthood is drawing teens to its “Sex Ed Summer Camp” in late July with the promise of a $150 gift card to those who complete the program.

“Sex Ed Summer Camp is a sexual health peer education certification program,” Planned Parenthood states about its camp for 15-18 year-olds to be held July 24-28 in Mankato, Minnesota. “Participants will use knowledge they learn to educate friends and peers. Topics covered include sexual anatomy, birth control methods, sexually transmitted infections, healthy relationships and consent, and more!”

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Minnesota Lawmakers Pledge to Fix $352M Mistake

The Center Square

Minnesota lawmakers say a $352 million mistake in a recently passed tax bill shouldn’t affect residents, as long as they update the tax bill in the 2024 legislative session.

In 2019, lawmakers doubled the standard deduction and set the amount for a married joint filer at $24,400 and a single filer at $12,200. The law directs the commissioner for each subsequent year to adjust those amounts for inflation. After four years of inflation adjustments, the 2023 standard deduction for a married joint filer is $27,650 and $13,825 for a single filer.

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‘Off-Year’ Minnesota School Board Elections Offer Challenges, Opportunities for New Candidates

Minnesota Sun Staff

Despite the vibe you may be getting from the national media, the presidential election is still more than a year away. But that doesn’t mean voters won’t have a ballot to fill out this November.

The 2023 election cycle in Minnesota won’t be eventful for most voters. There are no legislative seats or congressional or statewide offices on the ballot. But school district communities representing about 1.7 million residents across the state — which combined, steward well over $4 billion in tax dollars — will be holding elections this fall.

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CDC Admits Not Including Diagnostic Codes Showing COVID Vax as ‘Cause’ on Some Death Certificates

Just the News

The CDC’s explanation for leaving certain diagnosis codes off Minnesota death certificates that cite COVID-19 vaccines as a cause of death, allegedly hiding vaccine injuries in federal records, shows “intent to deceive,” according to a person who helped analyze the death certificates for the Brownstone Institute, a think tank that challenges the scientific basis for COVID conventional wisdom and policy.

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Former Minnesota Police Chief Claims City Fired Him Because He’s White

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former interim Golden Valley Police Chief Scott Nadeau, a white male, claims in a federal lawsuit filed last week that he was effectively fired because of his race.

The lawsuit, which seeks at least $75,000 in damages, accuses city leaders of violating the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Nadeau based on race. It also accuses Mayor Shep Harris of defamation because of comments he made during a March 2022 City Council meeting.

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Some Illegal Immigrants Will Get Free College Tuition in Minnesota

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Benjamin Rothove   Illegal immigrants in Minnesota will soon get free college tuition if their families are below a certain household income level. The “North Star Promise” program “will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a ‘last-dollar’ program…

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Minnesota Abortions Increased Significantly in 2022, Report Says

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Abortions in Minnesota experienced a significant increase of 20% in 2022, as revealed in a report released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

This sharp rise comes on the heels of new abortion laws passed by lawmakers during the 2023 session, removing restrictions on abortion throughout pregnancy and repealing long-standing abortion laws, including portions of the reporting law that governs the release of the MDH data.

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Minnesota Spent $1,000 of Taxpayer Money on LGBTQ Reel

The Center Square

Minnesota’s tourism arm spent $1,000 to produce an Instagram reel celebrating gay pride month that featured partial nudity. 

“Explore Minnesota did not pay Instagram any money to run this video as an ad,” Senior Business Operations Manager Mike Meyer told The Center Square in an email. “Explore Minnesota paid $1000 for the production of the video.”

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Minnesota Voters Alliance Files Lawsuit Challenging New Felon Voting Rights Restoration Law

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A trio of Minnesota residents, along with a conservative voters rights watchdog organization, have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new law that restores the right to vote for felons still on probation or parole.

The petitioners in the lawsuit include: the Minnesota Voters Alliance and Anoka County residents Mary Amlaw, Ken Wendling and Tim Kirk. They are being represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center.

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Minnesota Lutheran Church Recites ‘Sparkle Creed,’ Professes Belief in ‘Non-Binary God’

Minnesota Sun Staff

A Lutheran church in Edina stood for the reading of the “sparkle creed” during a church service, according to a livestream available on its YouTube page.

“I believe in a non-binary god, whose pronouns are plural,” Pastor Anna Helgen said during Sunday’s service. “I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads.”

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New Report on Minneapolis’ Southwest Light Rail Project Will Focus on Met Council Oversight of Contractors

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Office of the Legislative Auditor will release the second of two program evaluation reports as part of its 2023 audit of the Southwest light rail project on Wednesday morning.

The heavily scrutinized $2.76 billion extension of the Metropolitan Council’s light rail Green Line will span 14.5 miles between Minneapolis and Eden Prairie. It’s been under the microscope of legislators in both major parties since early 2022, when it was found to be more than $700 million over budget and four years behind its originally scheduled completion.

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Minnesota Moms for Liberty leader Pushes Back on ‘Hate Group’ Label

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A Minnesota parent organization is pushing back after being labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its annual “Year in Hate and Extremism Report.”

The center claims Moms for Liberty advances an “anti-student inclusion” and “antigovernment” agenda.

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Mankato Mayo Clinic Workers Vote to Boot Union Officials

The Center Square

The majority of a unit of nursing support, clerical and environmental staff have voted to remove a union’s officials from power at Mankato Mayo Clinic.

Members of the unit signed the petition May 9 to oust American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1856 union officials, according to a National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation news release. Mankato Mayo employee Melody Morris, with free legal aid from the foundation, filed the petition asking the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union decertification vote at the hospital. The majority of her coworkers supported the petition, the release said.

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Minnesota AG Hints at Using His AG Powers to Ensure Target Keeps Pride Merch on Shelves

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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has co-authored a letter to the CEO of Target that suggests he would use the powers of his office to ensure that Target is not intimidated into “pulling some Pride merchandise from stores.”

In a June 20 letter Ellison and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell wrote to Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO the Minneapolis-based retail titan, they expressed concern over Target’s “choice to pull Pride merchandise,” which Ellison and Campbell said “demonstrates that intentional violence and intimidation can set back the march for social progress and LGBTQIA+ equality which as we have noted is already under intense attack nationwide.”

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University of Minnesota Accused of ‘Genocide,’ Should Pay Native American Reparations: Report

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The University of Minnesota is guilty of “genocide” of Native Americans and should atone for it with reparations forever and the return of land.

The “Towards Recognition and University Tribal-Healing Project,” shortened to “TRUTH Project,” released a 215-page report that accused the Big Ten university of “persistent, systemic mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.”

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Minnesota Police Employees Urged to Wear Pronoun Stickers to Be Leaders in ‘Racial Equity and Inclusion’

Minnesota Sun Staff

An internal email from the St. Louis Park Police Department explains that the agency will be obtaining Pride ribbons, trans visibility ribbons and pronoun stickers for officers to wear.

The email, obtained by Alpha News, says the stickers and ribbons were provided by the city’s LGTBQ Employee Resource Group (ERG).

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Minnesota Police Union Says Biden DOJ’s Report ‘Condemns an Entire Agency’ Based on ‘Anecdotes’

Minnesota Sun Staff

While acknowledging that it “can always strive to be better,” the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis criticized a recent U.S. Department of Justice report because it “condemns an entire agency and its employees based on anecdotes.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was in Minneapolis Friday to announce the findings of the federal government’s “pattern or practice” investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.

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School Boards Can Now Circumvent Voters in Renewing Minnesota Property Tax Levies

Admin

School boards just gained more control over your property taxes, thanks to a new law that took effect across Minnesota last month.

In May, Gov. Tim Walz signed the state’s largest ever education bill that increases spending for K-12 education by 10.2 percent, or about $2.26 billion, over the next two years — for a total of $23.2 billion.

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Biden DOJ Says Minneapolis Police Engaged in Unconstitutional, Racist Practices

Admin

The Department of Justice  (DOJ) announced the results of a years-long probe Friday finding that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) repetitively violated the rights of residents prior to the death of George Floyd.

“The Department of Justice has reasonable cause to believe that the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law,” the DOJ wrote in its report.

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Minnesota Agrees to Pause PSEO Law That Excludes Religious Schools amid Lawsuit

Minnesota Sun Staff

In response to a recent lawsuit filed by Christian families and schools, the state of Minnesota has agreed to not enforce a new law that restricts some faith-based schools from offering Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) to high school students.

“It’s not every day that a state asks a federal court to tie its hands to prevent it from enforcing its own anti-religious law — but Minnesota has done just that,” said Diana Thompson, senior counsel at Becket, the legal firm representing the families and schools.

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Minnesota DFL Legislators Posed for Picture with Members of Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Minnesota Sun Staff

Several DFL legislators posed for a picture in April with members of an organization that has been widely condemned as an “anti-Catholic hate group.”

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, whose roleplaying as Catholic nuns has been described by some as “religious blackface,” are at the center of a national controversy that began when the Los Angeles Dodgers announced plans to present them with a “community hero” award.

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Minnesota Democrats on State House Committee Vote Themselves a Per Diem Pay Bump

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The 2023 Minnesota legislative session wrapped up about three weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers have stopped working.

Democrats in a state House legislative committee voted themselves a pay raise last week that allows legislators in the House of Representatives to retroactively receive a per diem increase of about $20 per day they served during the 2023 legislative session.

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Teachers Union Tells Minnesota Members to Toss Letter on Opting Out ‘In the Garbage’

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The St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) is encouraging teachers to ignore a letter from the Freedom Foundation notifying them of their right to opt out of Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers union.

Caitlin Reid, lead organizer for SPFE, sent an email with an “anti-union postcard alert” telling members to toss the letter from the Freedom Foundation “in the garbage” and let their building organizers know if they received it, according to a copy of the email obtained by Alpha News. Reid did not respond to a request for comment.

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Nearly Half of Minnesota Small Businesses Were Delinquent on Rent in May

The Center Square

Minnesota has the third-highest small business rent delinquency rate, according to a new report.

Alignable.com, a referral network for small businesses in North America that has more than 8 million members, released the state-by-state report this week. The network surveyed 4,424 randomly selected small businesses from May 6 to 30.

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Minnesota Drag Brunch Advertisement Says Kids as Young as Four Should Bring Cash Tips

Admin

A St. Cloud Pride drag brunch, advertised for kids as young as 4 years old, tells attendees to bring cash tips.

“Bring plenty of dollar bills so you can tip the performers,” the Eventbrite page states. “They work hard to create these characters for you — show them your appreciation by tipping!”

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Dr. Scott Jensen Sues Minnesota Medical Board, AG Ellison

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen is suing the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice and Attorney General Keith Ellison in connection with multiple instances over the last three years where the board conducted investigations of his medical license.

The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) is representing Jensen in both claims, which were filed Tuesday in two separate actions. One is a First Amendment constitutional claim filed in federal court, and the other a Data Practices Act-related claim filed in Carver County state district court.

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