The Minnesota Star Tribune reports on one of the 22 businesses raided by the FBI yesterday, One center, A Plus Universal Child Care and Learning Center in Shakopee, which was…
Jeffrey Lopez-Suazo, age 26 of Honduras, wins Minnesota Man of the Day honors for December 3. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in downtown St. Paul this afternoon…
From KARE-11 News, Activists want answers after ICE raid on St. Paul business. KARE reports, The Immigration Defense Network (IDN) gathered at Bro-Tex Inc., a paper and textile company located…
Announced just yesterday (October 31), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) endorsed ten (10) candidates running for local office in Minneapolis and St. Paul on the ballot Tuesday. At the…
With the usual long list of caveats, I’ve updated the money flowing into Minnesota elections in this odd-year, off-year of 2025. The top 25 donors (or so): In total, I’ve…
One of the consequences of the collapse of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul is the rise of “suburban downtowns” elsewhere. The Star Tribune reports: The concept of a “suburban downtown”…
In March, I wrote an article titled “Tanking commercial property values in downtown Minneapolis push up residential property taxes.” Across the Mississippi, Ramsey County Auditor Tracy West told the County…
One of the most common complaints about property taxes is that they function like a wealth tax, where the increase in the notional value of an asset — stocks or…
Property taxes are rising across Minnesota. Ramsey County officials are proposing increases in the property tax levy of 9.75% in 2026 and 7.5% in 2027. In Willmar, the preliminary 2026 property tax levy…
Big River Pizza, a long time wood fired pizza restaurant located in downtown St. Paul’s Lowertown made the announcement that it would be closing its business at the end of…
Back in 2023, I noted that childcare is relatively expensive in Minnesota because, as my colleague Martha Njolomole has written at length, the regulatory burden on providers is relatively high…
Local media are digging into the newest Feeding Our Future scandal, the nonprofit New Vision Foundation of St. Paul. What went on behind the blue door? Keep in mind that…
In 2021, St. Paul residents voted to adopt what was yet the strictest rent control policy in the nation. The ordinance capped annual rent increases at 3 percent, had no…
In the current edition of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, I wrote about the sad decline of the Lowertown area of St. Paul. That decline continues with news of the closure…
Today I testified in the House Transportation Finance and Policy committee in support of HF 494, which: …prohibits the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the MetropolitanCouncil from expending funds…
In the Winter 2025 edition of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, I wrote about the dire effects of years of “progressive” governance on the economy of Lowertown in St. Paul. A…
Yes, Minnesota, there is now a new state agency that goes by the unwieldy name: MN Climate Innovation Finance Authority. The Center’s Sarah Montalbano wrote about this new entity yesterday.…
We at Center of the American Experiment have long warned of looming budget battles in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Those battles are now here, but the two sides are lining…
The St. Paul Federation of Educators members who joined the national union’s letter demanding an arms embargo against Israel last month face calls for mandatory antisemitism training as a result…
The battle over St. Paul’s budget is coming to a climax. KSTP reports: Nearly 200 people filled St. Paul City Council chambers on Monday night to express concern and some…
Back in May, I wrote an article titled “Property tax battles could be coming to St. Paul.” Simply put, tanking commercial property values have lowered commercial property tax payments and…
Center of the American Experiment has been sounding the alarm about St. Paul’s economy and fiscal prospects for some time. Now, a group of “fiscal watchdogs” have added their weight…
A beloved local artist is shot down in the street in a seemingly random attack. Carrie Shobe Kwok, aged 66, was shot outside of her Lowertown St. Paul home while…
A couple of years ago, I wrote that: Shortly after moving to Minnesota in 2017, my wife and I went to see a Saint Paul Saints game. Arriving early, we…