A childcare modernization project is underway at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). In 2021, legislators passed a law requiring the DHS to revise standards for licensed daycare centers.…
The on-again, but reliably off-again wind turbines operated by Willmar Municipal Utilities appear to be headed for the scrap heap, five years sooner than expected upon installation in 2009. For…
Last year, there was much excitement among Minnesota’s political leaders and journalists when our state ranked fifth on CNBC’s annual ranking of “America’s Top States for Business.” Some headlines were:…
The Minnesota Department of Transportation is preparing to award grant funding for 13 electric vehicle charging station sites. The sites will receive a combined total of $7.8 million, with individual…
The Biden administration’s changes to Title IX are set to go into effect Aug. 1, but litigation has halted implementation in 14 states. “While Minnesota is not one of them,…
Regulation KSTP: City of St. Paul increases minimum wage for small businesses NFIB: Start Preparing for Inclusive Pricing Mandate in Minnesota State and local taxes and spending West Central Tribune:…
That’s exactly the question posed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune in a remarkable article published today under the headline: Many millions lost. Is the Walz administration taking fraud and waste…
After submitting nearly twice as many signatures as the 17,500 needed for a referendum, opponents have succeeded in putting the fate of a controversial new law tied to a proposed…
This morning, in the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah was formally arraigned in the $120,000 juror bribery case arising from last month’s fraud trial in the Feeding…
In May, I wrote about Madison Equities putting ten of its commercial properties in downtown St. Paul up for sale, including the First National Bank building, the Park Square Court…
And because the idea is so apocalyptically bad, it’s almost certain to become law next year. Buried on page 87 of the 217-page state government budget bill (HF 1830), passed…
Just weeks after Rochester implemented a ban on homeless camps on public property in March, the Brainerd City Council began considering a similar measure based on Rochester’s ordinance. Now comes…
The number of principals and assistant principals in Minnesota public elementary and secondary schools has ticked up again, despite declining student enrollment, according to state data from the National Center…
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Century Aluminum is planning to build the country’s first new smelter in 45 years. That could be good news, if the company can…
In 2021, lawmakers passed a law requiring the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to revise family childcare standards. The DHS has released a draft of the proposed standards and…
We have historically maintained an important social contract with our law enforcement officers, whereby we afford them protection against personal liability in civil lawsuits for actions they carry out in…
Yesterday, noting the squeeze on gas tax revenues relative to the construction and maintenance they are required to help cover, I asked how should we pay for the roads? One…
The problem The West Central Tribune reports: Chippewa County will be joining the growing ranks of counties imposing a wheelage tax on vehicles to help fund road and bridge needs.…
Rochester Public Schools (RPS) recently announced that failure to complete minimum course work and performance standards in class will result in an F, reports the Post Bulletin. The district swapped…
According to ChildCare Aware, in 2022, Minnesota parents spent over $17,000 to send their infant to a daycare center. Daycare for infants took up 21 percent of median household income,…
Staff of the National Education Association (NEA) initiated a strike on Friday, July 5, stopping the union’s annual four-day NEA Representative Assembly. As a result of their work stoppage, nearly…
Center of the American Experiment announced a summer tour of events based on exclusive polling showing young people in Minnesota dissatisfied with the direction of the state and pessimistic about…
Last year three individuals died in homeless camps in Rochester. Police cleared out more than 100 such camps, while city workers regularly cleaned up dirty needles, feces and trash left…
On May 21, Amtrak launched its new Borealis service, a second daily train running between St. Paul and Chicago. Amtrak has released its monthly performance report for May, so it only…