Your correspondent was there for Day 4 of the trial testimony of Aimee Bock, the founder and CEO of the free-food nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Bock is on trial in…
The homeless camps in Rochester may be fewer and farther in between than before the city passed a ban on such activity in public spaces. But the time and money…
The 4th of 6 guilty pleas scheduled for this week was entered in the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon in the sprawling free-food scandal. Mohamed Muse Noor, aged…
The interest following last issue’s Thinking Minnesota Poll covering Minnesota’s election laws was the impetus for American Experiment’s four-city event tour, “Rigged or Fair? Election integrity issues in 2024.” The…
Note to county commissioners and other local officials with taxing authority. It doesn’t help your constituents feel any less pain over their property tax bills being finalized this month by…
State and local taxes and spending Detroit Lakes Online: Detroit Lakes school district’s proposed property tax levy is just under $10 million Fox News: ‘Bad policy’: Minnesota lawmaker says Walz…
The owners of 9,000 vehicles owe the city of Rochester hundreds of thousands of dollars for delinquent, unpaid parking tickets. When all else fails, one of the tried and true…
The effort to eliminate homeless camps on public property, while directing the occupants to shelters and public services, continues to gain momentum across Minnesota. The city of Minneapolis just cleared…
It’s well established that disciplinary problems continue to plague many schools, even three years after the interruption of in-person classes during the pandemic. Yet the ongoing behavioral problems outlined at…
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…
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…
The U.S. Supreme Court last week provided local governments the latitude many have been waiting for to help cope with the thorny issue of homelessness. The high court ruled that…
There’s still a lot of summer left to go, but Rochester police report fewer homeless camps in the first few months since a ban on encampments in parks and other…
With the first trial in the sprawling free-food scandal now concluded, we consider the next steps for the remaining 40+ defendants in the case. Friday afternoon, after seven weeks of…
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…
High taxes, excessive fees and regulations all conspire to make housing here considerably less affordable than in many other areas of the country. It only follows that reducing some of…
The question of what to do about school resource officers burned up countless hours of discussion by the Rochester Public Schools Board prior to this academic year. A last-ditch effort…
After months of contentious discussion and at least three deaths in city parks last year, the Rochester City Council voted to prohibit homeless camps on all city property. The ban…
The Rochester School District is living out the Circle of Education Funding right before our very eyes as the school board just offered their union teachers a contract they absolutely…
It’s not clear why the bison falls into the category of Native American names and mascots subject to unanimous approval or not by Minnesota tribes, as ordained by the DFL-controlled…
It’s not in law enforcement officers’ job description, but it’s become part of the beat in Rochester. Police officers have cleared out dirty needles, feces and debris from more than…
A citizen group hoping to stir up opposition to Rochester City Hall’s proposed local sales tax extension and Rochester Public Schools’ technology referendum has emerged in the closing weeks of…
Later this year Minnesota cities will receive their share of a supposedly one-time $210 million allotment authorized by state lawmakers to bolster public safety in their communities. But it’s an…
You can see why the Rochester City Council went for broke in overriding Mayor Kim Norton’s veto on the proposed $205 million extension of the city’s expiring local sales tax…