Minneapolis Star Tribune CEO Apologizes for ‘Pain’ Caused by Cartoon Poking Fun at Muslim Call to Prayer

Star Tribune CEO and publisher Steve Grove has apologized for the “pain” caused by a cartoon that made some readers feel “targeted and mischaracterized.”

Mike Thompson’s debut cartoon for the paper featured a man telling his wife: “Broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer at all hours will make Minneapolis too noisy.”

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Star Tribune Hires Walz Commissioner Steve Grove as Its Next Publisher

The Star Tribune, one of the largest daily newspapers in America, has named Steve Grove — a former Google executive, consistent donor to Democrat politicians and often the right-hand man to Gov. Tim Walz — as its new publisher.

The Star Tribune, which announced the hiring on Tuesday, joins The Washington Post as the only two traditional print media outlets among the nation’s top 25 (measured by circulation) whose publisher or CEO has past political ties, according to a background search conduct

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Article Shows Ellison Bashing Capitalism, Describing Fear of Crime as ‘White Hysteria’

In a brief Star Tribune commentary from nearly three decades ago, current Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison trashed capitalism for its “exploitation of labor” and accused the paper of contributing to “white hysteria.”

Alpha News obtained a photocopy of the Star Tribune edition printed on Saturday, Aug. 7, 1993. In the “counterpoint” section of commentary, the paper published a brief article by Ellison, a then-litigator who was identified as a participant in that year’s urban peace summit in St. Paul from July 14-18. One of the summit’s speakers appears to have been notorious anti-white racist and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Ellison’s piece responded to what he perceive

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Organization Claims Minnesota Legislative Committees Meeting in Small Groups to Avoid Open Meetings Law

ACLU Minnesota John Gordon

A legal organization said members of the Minnesota Legislature are holding committee meetings in small groups in order to avoid triggering the state’s “Open Meeting Law.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota said legislators have been deliberately meeting in small groups so they can bypass the law, which generally requires that all meetings be open to the public.

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Star Tribune Was Refusing to Run Ad Warning of Economic Consequences of Walz’s Coronavirus Response

The Star Tribune initially refused to run an advertisement in its print edition that was critical of Gov. Tim Walz’s “severe reactions” to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Star Trib Editorial Board Calls Trump’s Refugee Executive Order ‘Nonsense,’ ‘Malicious’

The Star Tribune editorial board applauded Gov. Tim Walz for rejecting President Donald Trump’s recent executive order pertaining to refugee resettlement, calling it “nonsense” and “malicious.”

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State Rep Says It Might Be Time for Law Enforcement to Handle Minnesota DHS Mess

A state representative is calling on the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to consider investigating the Minnesota Department of Human Services after a new report shows the perpetually embattled state agency “violated state law more than 200 times” in the past year.

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Poll Shows Minnesotans Are Split On Issue of Impeachment

A new poll from The Star Tribune found that Minnesotans are split on the issue of impeaching President Donald Trump.

The poll shows that 48 percent of Minnesotans oppose impeachment while 47 percent support it. The Star Tribune notes that the difference is within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point error margin, meaning Minnesotans are deadlocked on the issue.

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Star Tribune Editorial Board Says Impeachment Inquiry ‘Desperately Needed,’ Claims Trump Went ‘Too Far’

The editorial board of The Star Tribune believes that an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump “is desperately needed,” saying his phone call with the president of Ukraine “crosses every ethical boundary an American president should have.”

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Star Tribune Facing Backlash for ‘Sexist’ Cartoon of Ivanka Trump

  The Star Tribune is defending a cartoon (pictured below) that conservatives in Minnesota are calling a “sexist” depiction of President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. The cartoon was drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Steve Sack in response to Ivanka Trump’s prominent role at the recent G-20 summit in Japan. “It’s…

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Reporter Calls Star Tribune ‘Frauds,’ Says They Owe Minnesotans Apology for Omar Coverage

  Few reporters have done more to expose Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) than David Steinberg, with the possible exceptions of Preya Samsundar formerly of Alpha News and Scott Johnson of Power Line. The three of them together did most of the grunt work in uncovering Omar’s marriage controversy. Samsundar was…

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Emails Show Omar’s Committee Boasting of Being Able to Shut Down Stories in Star Tribune

  Internal emails released this week show members of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) 2016 Minnesota House campaign committee attempting to “shut down” a story “as we do with the Strib.” “Strib” refers to the nickname used for The Star Tribune, Minnesota’s largest newspaper. The shocking emails were obtained by Powerline…

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Star Tribune Moves April Story on Omar’s ‘Strong’ Fundraising Efforts to Front Page Amid Campaign Finance Scandal

  The Star Tribune promoted a months-old story on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) “strong” fundraising numbers on the front page of its website Friday. The article was linked directly below a story on the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board’s investigation into Omar. The Board, which released its report…

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Minneapolis Official Calls for End to Car Ownership

  Sam Rockwell, president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, suggested in a recent op-ed for The Star Tribune that in order “to save the planet, we have to get over cars.” “The way we live our lives is how we got into this climate catastrophe in the first place. Of…

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City Pages Readers Roast City Pages for Running Smear Piece on Minnesota Sun

City Pages, a subsidiary of The Star Tribune, recently published a story titled: “Minnesota Sun: A Republican mega-donor site masquerading as ‘local news.’” The article was based on a Snopes “investigation” of Star News Digital Media, Inc., the parent company of The Minnesota Sun as well as The Ohio Star,…

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Klobuchar 2020 Preview: All Signs Point to Running as State Media Give Pass

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) advance crew was busy prepping Saturday afternoon for her “big announcement” scheduled for Sunday. An early visit to Boom Island Park showed staffers moving in and out of heated tents while they erected a stage with the Minneapolis skyline as a backdrop. Temperatures were slightly above…

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Minnesota’s #MeToo Casualties Al Franken and Garrison Keillor Plot Comebacks

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and iconic Minnesota Public Radio host Garrison Keillor were among the biggest names brought down by the #MeToo Movement, but both are plotting comebacks as the dust begins to settle. Franken, a one-time SNL cast member, is trying his hand at podcasts, and has so…

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Bike Lanes Take Up a Third of Minneapolis Roadways But Are Used by Only 2.5 Percent of Commuters

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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Local Trump-Hating Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern Taking Heat for Mocking Chinese Restaurants

Local celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern is fond of criticizing President Donald Trump for his “hate fueled” and “anti-immigrant” rhetoric, but the “Bizarre Foods” host has spent the week apologizing for culturally insensitive comments of his own. In an interview with Fast Company published early last week, Zimmern discussed the opening…

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Star Tribune Conveniently Ignores Everyone Except Trump In Response to Florida Election

The Star Tribune Editorial Board is attacking President Donald Trump for undermining “yet another democratic institution” in response to the election scandal in Florida, but makes no mention of the serious concerns raised by politicians such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeb Bush. “President Donald Trump’s fact-free attacks on…

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Ilhan Omar Faces Second Investigation Into Misuse of Campaign Funds

Ilhan Omar

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minneapolis), who easily won her election for Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District Tuesday, now faces a second investigation into her purported misuse of campaign dollars for personal benefit. As The Minnesota Sun previously reported, the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (CFB) found “probable cause” against Omar and…

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Star Tribune Withholds Endorsement In Minnesota Attorney General Race

After much anticipation, The Star Tribune ultimately withheld an endorsement in the race for Minnesota’s attorney general after finding both candidates “too partisan” to occupy the office. “It’s deeply frustrating to withhold an endorsement in a statewide race that’s this critical,” The Star Tribune Editorial Board wrote in an article…

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The Star Trib Has Only Endorsed One Republican Gubernatorial Candidate In 30 Years

The Star Tribune, Minnesota’s leading news source, has only endorsed one Republican for governor during the state’s last eight gubernatorial elections. Apart from its 1994 endorsement of Republican Arne Carlson, The Star Tribune has otherwise supported six Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party candidates, and one Independence Party candidate since 1990. In order,…

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Single-Payer Advocate Keith Ellison Stopped Paying for Ex-Wife’s Insurance Against Court Orders

Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-MN-05) newly released divorce files show that he dropped his ex-wife from his health insurance coverage against court orders. Before resigning from Congress to run for Minnesota attorney general, Ellison was a loyal advocate for single-payer health care plans, and was even the lead House sponsor of…

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Hennepin County Orders Release of Ellison Divorce Records Amid Abuse Allegations

A Hennepin County Family Court referee agreed to unseal Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-MN-05) divorce records after multiple local media outlets sued to make them public. On Friday, Referee Jason Hutchison wrote in an order that the files would be unsealed for the public on Oct. 17, according to The Star…

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Poll Shows Democrats Don’t Believe Keith Ellison Accuser

Keith Ellison

A new poll shows that Democrat Keith Ellison holds a small lead over Republican Doug Wardlow in Minnesota’s attorney general race. According to a Star Tribune and MPR News poll, Ellison carries the support of 41 percent of voters, while Wardlow trails close behind with 36 percent. Like many races…

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Star Trib Editorial Board Wants FBI to ‘Reopen’ Background Check Into Kavanaugh After Warning Against ‘Instantly Believing’ Ellison’s Accusers

The Star Tribune Editorial Board is calling on the FBI to “reopen” its background check into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after he was accused of sexual assault, but previously warned Minnesotans against “instantly believing” Democrat Keith Ellison’s accusers. “In light of Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her while the…

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Poll Shows Large Number of ‘Undecided’ Voters Will Put Minnesota Gubernatorial Race in the Hands of ‘Independents’

A new poll shows Democrat Tim Walz leading Republican Jeff Johnson in Minnesota’s gubernatorial race, though both candidates are trying to win over a large percentage of undecided voters. According to a new MPR News and Star Tribune poll, 45 percent of likely voters favor Walz, while 36 percent said…

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Democrats Doubling Down on DFL Mailers Deemed ‘False’ by Several News Outlets

Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party is doubling-down on claims that Republicans voted to pass legislative pay raises, even though the allegations were repeatedly proven false by several major news outlets. In an August campaign mailer, the DFL claimed that elected officials across the aisle, such as Jim Knoblach, Dario Anselmo, and…

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