A warning This summer I blew the whistle on the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ (DOC) early release incentive that was about to go into effect. As planned, the DOC intended…
Beginning this evening in Stillwater, the state Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) will hold a series of public hearings on Xcel Energy’s electricity rate increase request. MPR News reports: The public…
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…
Is there any state-run program that’s not riddled with fraud? Last Friday, the state attorney general’s office issued a press release on Ellison’s accusation that the 8 defendants engaged in…
The Sahan Journal reports that, after four days, a jury has been selected to hear the first trial in the sprawling free-food scandal. Opening statements in the case are now…
Although neither the organization nor any of its staff have been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing, the nonprofit Somali Community Resettlement Services appears in a recently-filed Feeding Our…
Two more of the 60 defendants plead guilty. As expected, Defendants Nos. 51 and 52 pled guilty this week, bringing the number of convictions in the Feeding Our Future free-food-fraud…
Andy Luger, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, announced 10 more defendants were indicted this morning in the Feeding Our Future scandal. The total charged in the case…
Anab Awad of the Haji’s Kitchen network also entered a guilty plea in an unrelated Medicaid fraud case yesterday. Through her efforts, $11 million was claimed through the free-food program…
Earlier this week, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reported on a significant real estate transaction involving a prominent free-food nonprofit. Somali Community Resettlement Services (SCRS) purchased the historic Gale Mansion…
Partners in Nutrition wants back into Federal programs that provided $100 million per year in revenue to the company. The St. Paul-based nonprofit corporation Partners in Nutrition has sued the…
We visit two sites closely associated with the third free-food network shut down by the state Department of Education (MDE). At the time it was shut down by MDE, Gar…
It’s been more than four months since the FBI raids on Feeding Our Future and related organizations. To date only a single person involved has been arrested, and that was…
One nonprofit went from earning $200,000 per year in revenue to pulling in more than $700,000 per month from distributing free food, serving up to 10,000 meals per day.
Minnesota’s proposed social studies standards encourage the radicalization of students.
Minnesota regulators have shut down three free-food distribution networks, so far. The smallest of the three took in $26 million in its only year of operation. The Star Tribune reported…
Digging deeper into the alleged free-food scandal uncovers fascinating stories in outstate Minnesota communities. It’s amazing how quickly the unlikely coincidences pile up. Yesterday, we looked at Willmar, Minnesota. Today,…
In the Feeding Our Future alleged scandal, the numbers can be staggering. So, let’s focus on a single city as a case study in bureaucratic bloat to make the figures…
Senate lawmakers reiterated their expectation that the Columbus statue torn down by vandals on June 10 be returned to the State Capitol grounds expeditiously in an oversight hearing this week…
A lot of states are experiencing tremendous job loss due to the economic shutdown. In the beginning, most of these job losses were concentrated in the service industry. But other…
How deregulation and tax cuts enable craft brewers to thrive.
In response to the legislative audit revealing wide-spread welfare fraud and other illegal activity connected to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) summarized here, the Senate GOP Leadership sent out…
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 Issue of Thinking Minnesota, now the second largest magazine in Minnesota. To receive a free trial issue, send your name and address to [email protected]. When…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota