Current state Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Minneapolis) appears to have won the Democratic-party endorsement for Mayor of Minneapolis last night at the city’s party convention for 2025. I say “appears” because…
State and local taxes and spending Star Tribune: Minneapolis City Council votes to study how to tax the rich Star Tribune: St. Paul schools to pitch $37 million tax increase…
He’s in the federal lockup at the Sherburne County jail awaiting trial on a federal felony charge. From the Minnesota Star Tribune: Restaurant owner in Lake Street raid spent weeks…
Derailed The fever for spending vast sums of taxpayer’s money on rail projects of dubious value which has afflicted policy makers in Minnesota in recent years seems to be breaking.…
The U.S. Energy Information Administration warned last month that U.S. commercial electricity consumption will reach record highs in the next two years, rising by 3% in 2025 and 5% in 2026. Without…
A while back, some soul searching was done at the Star Tribune, pondering why, outside the Twin Cities metro, so few Minnesotans use the paper for anything other than lining their…
In a July 10 Minnesota Star Tribune opinion piece, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN5) scolded fellow members of her state delegation who voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill…
A tale of two headlines. From Politico: Democrats retreat on climate: ‘It’s one of the more disappointing turnabouts’A changing political climate has California Democrats recalibrating on climate policies. From the…
Economic growth Kanabec County Times: Healthcare sector experiencing significant growth The Ely Echo: Ely Echo Editorial: Keep an eye on the numbers, Ely’s tourism economy far from booming Star Tribune:…
ICE now says that German Llangari Inga, age 35, has been deported to Ecuador. The Star Tribune reports. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed German Llangari Inga, an illegally present…
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…
Labor market Winona Post: MN jobs picture changes little in April KNSI: Minnesota Adds Thousands of Jobs In May KIMT 3: Minnesota adds 6,600 jobs, doubles national growth rate Detroit…
News broke late yesterday afternoon of an 11-year-old boy shot and killed at Fowell Park in North Minneapolis. Eleven years old. Star Tribune headline. The killing is tragic, but the…
Trade Minnesota Reformer: Minnesota exports down 6% from this time last year WJON: Minnesota Exports Decline Amid Tariff Uncertainty Business North: Minnesota exports declined 6% to $6.3Billion in first quarter…
From property to income tax On Wednesday, I asked: If you are not willing to forgo the goods and services property taxes pay for but want the property tax eliminated anyway, then…
Repeat after me: It’s a $300 million+ scandal. MPR News has been monitoring some of the other litigation spun off from the sprawling Feeding Our Future scandal. Partners in Nutrition,…
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports on the hundreds of suspects never charged in the free-food scandal. A non-paywall version can be found here. The headline: ‘Hundreds’ had ties to Feeding…
State and local taxes and spending Pine Journal: Walz calls one-day special session of Minnesota Legislature MPR News: Special session called for Monday for legislators to finish Minnesota’s next budget…
A West St. Paul couple is expected to plead guilty in federal court to charges of voter registration fraud. That thing that never happens in Minnesota happened again. Ronnie Williams…
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…
Isabel Lopez, age 27, described in local media as a community activist, has been indicted on four counts of assault and resisting arrest, all related to the anti-ICE protests on…
We have updated our ScandalTracker 2025TM spreadsheet to a number above $661 million over the past five years. The update is based on a new figure for the Feeding Our…
From CBS News: Amazon to spend $20B on Pennsylvania data centers, including one next to a nuclear power plant. The abbreviation “$20B” in the headline above stands for $20 billion.…
Ironies abound. The acting U.S. Attorney, Joseph Thompson, announced yesterday that two men were indicted on gun charges who had been employed by a Minneapolis-based violence interruption nonprofit called 21…