Massive taxpayer subsidies are paid out to nonprofits for “free” lawyers for illegal aliens. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports, ‘Up to our eyeballs’: Immigration lawyers struggle to keep up during…
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…
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…
In summer 1945, Japan’s war in China — which had consumed an estimated 20 million Chinese lives since 1937, the true beginning of World War Two — raged on. So…
Posted on the federal court calendar for next week is a guilty plea hearing for Ahmed Artan, Defendant No. 8 (of 71) in the sprawling free-food scandal. If all goes…
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…
In a late edition to the February 27 Federal court calendar, Abdikadir Mohamud, Defendant No. 9 in the case, filed Guilty Plea No. 36 in the sprawling free-food scandal. He…
The vote took place today in the Minnesota House Energy committee and the tally was 8-7 in favor, with all Democrats voting “no.” The bill was HF 845, captioned with…
Another Minnesota city takes the government’s fiber-optic bait. “This time, it’ll be different!” This should be the tagline for Connect Willmar, the latest local government-funded fiber-optic internet project in…
The radical and unrealistic 2040 deadline for utilities to meet Minnesota’s mandate for 100 percent of electricity to be generated from carbon-free sources remains 15 years away. But alarm bells…
After years of struggling to keep two chronically unreliable wind turbines up and running, Willmar Municipal Utilities finally plans to pull the plug on them, five years sooner than projected…
Economic growth WCCO: Minnesota is ranked 6th in the nation for business, a new study finds Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal: Minnesota ranks No. 6 among ‘America’s Top States for Business’…
The on-again, but reliably off-again wind turbines operated by Willmar Municipal Utilities appear to be headed for the scrap heap, five years sooner than expected upon installation in 2009. For…
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…
For a few hours early this week, it appeared that we would have an 19th guilty plea in the sprawling free-food case. On Monday, March 11, attorneys for Ahmed Artan,…
COVID-19 continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for local governments. Nearly half of the $350 billion allotted to cities, counties and states for COVID-related spending under the…
Somewhere along the way, local officials started buying into the concept that cities need to develop a so-called brand to drive growth and economic development. The city of Rochester has…
Economic growth Star Tribune: Minnesota med-tech startups on pace to raise more than $1B again this year Star Tribune: Minnesota factories, dealerships brace for trickle-down effects from UAW strike Twin…
Lorain, Ohio is a modest town, still struggling after major employers shut down. The American Ship Building Company, Ford Motor Company assembly plant, and the United States Steel Corporation’s steel…
The pandemic may be over, but many school districts are just starting to suffer the coronavirus’ ill effects on the health of their finances — their own strain of financial…
After just 13 years in operation, the wind turbines operated by the Willmar Municipal Utilities (WMU) may be reaching the end of their useful life, according to a recent article…
State and local taxes and spending CBS News: Minnesota not collecting as much tax revenue as it could on newly legal THC edibles West Central Tribune: City of Willmar proposing…
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