State bans on government-owned devices using the short-form video platform controlled by the Chinese Communist Party are gaining momentum, as my colleague Tom Steward has recently written about here and…
PV Magazine reports that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously voted to change the state’s net metering program by reducing the payments for selling excess electricity back to the…
We at the Center have long noted the relative expense of housing in Minnesota. And as I wrote earlier this year: A price is not a problem so much as…
Forty-one percent of parents said they did not vote in their last school board election, according to Education Next‘s national poll. Conducted in May 2022 with a nationally representative sample…
The Red River Regional Dispatch Center serves as the nerve center for emergency police, fire and medical response in Moorhead and the greater Fargo area. Plans in the works call…
Grid monitors warn that the electricity system that serves Minnesota and 14 other states, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO), is at a high risk of blackouts, and this threat…
Regular readers will know that Minnesota’s economic performance is — and has been for some time — below average. One of the headwinds our state faces is its high taxes,…
The arrest last week of River William Smith, 20, of Savage demonstrates once again how all the laws in the world won’t provide public safety when our state court and…
There’s still time for the Olmsted County Board to pull back from the 5.9 percent tax levy increase commissioners plan to approve in Rochester tomorrow. But the odds appear to…
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that 14 figures indicted in the Feeding Our Future case have operated 11 daycare centers who have collectively received $22 million from the state in…
Minneapolis school finance officials gave a very sobering presentation to board members recently, warning that enrollment losses coupled with district spending will bankrupt the district in two short years. There…
Ask critics of school choice programs why they oppose the initiatives and they are quick to argue that expanding educational freedom will harm traditional school districts. But as I have…
Wind turbines are often sold to rural local governments as a means of bolstering their budgets and allowing them to offer additional services for their residents or offset other taxes.…
In this episode of the Last Optimist Podcast, Mark Mills evaluates whether the claims that 2022 would be of the EV have turned out to be true. Spoiler alert: most…
State and local taxes and spending MPR News: Minnesotans to avoid inflation-driven tax sting with huge bracket tweak Duluth News Tribune: Paid family and medical leave may have its chance…
It is quite concerning that this has to be said so many times, but there is nowhere in the world where rent control has produced positive results. Rent control has…
Suspended large free-food charity moves ahead on the litigation front. The St. Paul-based Partners in Nutrition, d/b/a Partners in Quality Care, was suspended by the state Department of Education (MDE)…
Sentencing Practices – 2021 On 12/15/22, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission received a briefing on 2021 sentencing practices. The trends in criminal sentencing continue to be troubling. In 2021, Minnesota…
You’ve probably noticed that you pay a 6.875 percent sales tax on the electricity you use in your household unless that electricity is for heating your home. This means that…
These are some of the headlines in Minnesota’s media: KNSI: Walz Says Minnesota Added Jobs For 14th Straight Month Pioneer Press: Minnesota sees 14th straight month of job growth; 6,800 jobs added…
Teachers’ unions may oppose standardized testing, but Republicans, Democrats, the general public, parents, and varying demographic groups all overwhelmingly support standardized math and reading testing, according to the 2022 Education Next survey. Conducted…
A public records data request shines some light on the origins of the free-food nonprofit Feeding Our Future. The Minnesota-based group Public Record Media (PRM) recently received a batch of…
Americans are concerned about housing affordability, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering rising home prices. According to the Cato Institute 2022 Housing Affordability National Survey, a whopping 87% of Americans…
Despite the obvious partisan differences in the public’s attitudes toward education, both Democrats and Republicans support scholarships for low-income families funded by tax credits and universal vouchers, according to the…