State and local taxes and spending Rochester Post Bulletin: 81% of Olmsted County homeowners will see their taxes go up in 2026. What are the options for relief? Pine Journal:…
Should foster-care decisions aim for a demographic balance? Or should they follow where the evidence of neglect and abuse actually is — even if that means some groups appear in…
Arcadio Carrera-Flores, age 36 of Mexico, is our Minnesota Man of the Day for November 22. He has been indicted on three criminal counts in federal court, involving a firearm,…
If it seems like a transit boondoggle gets nominated for the Golden Turkey Award every year, that’s because it’s true, and 2025 is no exception. This year, the Gold Line…
Economic growth Duluth News Tribune: Candidate’s View: Economic growth matters to Duluth; standing still comes at a cost Star Tribune: Opinion | The culprit behind our precarious state? A stagnant…
The vote by the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) was unanimous. From the Minnesota Star Tribune, Private equity giant will control northern Minnesota’s biggest power company. The vote took place…
American Experiment Update: Center events, initiatives, and policy work Summer tour American Experiment’s summer tour returned this year in June and July. The “Minnesota DOGE: Cut the waste, save the…
State and local taxes and spending The Ely Echo: City tax hike at 6.54 percent Sun This Week: Apple Valley levy, taxes on the rise Sun Current: Edina council adopts…
Agenda Item No. 1 on the calendar for the Thursday state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) meeting reads, In the Matter of the Petition of Minnesota Power for Acquisition of ALLETE…
Regulation Duluth News Tribune: Our View: Minnesota’s wild rice standard demands compromise Grand Forks Herald: At Iron Range hearing, miners warn of closures if wild rice rule enforced St. Cloud…
A funny thing happened on the way to BlackRock’s takeover of Minnesota Power: the environmentalist movement was split. From Walker Orenstein at the Minnesota Star Tribune: Northern Minnesota power company…
An administrative law judge (ALJ) has issued her report on the proposed buyout of Duluth-based Minnesota Power by the private-equity firm BlackRock. Technically, BlackRock is buying MP’s parent company, Allete,…
Center events, initiatives, and policy work. Greater Minnesota American Experiment is making significant strides in Greater Minnesota through six volunteer chapter boards that work to address pressing community issues. Duluth,…
The DNR is having a rough year. Arrested development: DNR’s licensing app The list of highly promoted state government website rollouts that have crashed and burned over the years is…
Last week, Duluth approved a 3-story, 60-unit “luxury” condo development project in an area previously zoned for single homes, much to the dismay of some locals. Since the project became…
Back in 2023, that “historic” “trifecta” voted to spend $200 million on the Northern Lights Express (NLX), a passenger train service running between Minneapolis and Duluth. I doubted that this…
Regulation Star Tribune: Ramstad: Effort to change the ban on noncompetes emerges in the Legislature KAXE: ‘Blue Dog’ Dems vote to roll back paid sick leave at small farms, businesses…
The financial behemoth Blackrock has proposed taking over the Duluth-based electric utility Minnesota Power. The debate over the transaction is revealing some unexpected fault lines. The debate has a tiny…
The list of highly promoted rollouts of state government websites that have crashed and burned over the years runs long. The disastrous 2013 MNsure website debut cost the executive director…
Here we go again! Another venue reneged on their agreement to host an event for Center of the American Experiment at the last minute after being bullied by local activists.…
American Experiment Update: Center events, initiatives, and policy work. Staff updates Peter Nelson, senior policy fellow at Center of the American Experiment, has been named by Pres. Donald Trump to…
Around the nation, Democrats are organizing “town hall” meetings in the districts of Republican Congressmen, in the hopes of regaining control of the chamber in the 2026 election. Nothing wrong…
Starting April 1, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) will hold a three-day series of hearings in St. Paul on the proposed acquisition of the electric utility Minnesota Power (MP).…
The steady decline in the quality of mail service in recent years has been well documented by MinnPost and other media outlets across the country. The saga over unreliable mail…