Tag: Minneapolis

Klobuchar 2020 Preview: All Signs Point to Running as State Media Give Pass

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) advance crew was busy prepping Saturday afternoon for her “big announcement” scheduled for Sunday. An early visit to Boom Island Park showed staffers moving in and out of heated tents while they erected a stage with the Minneapolis skyline as a backdrop. Temperatures were slightly above zero early Saturday and those on the scene were decked out in snow gear, making it unlikely that Klobuchar would subject her staff to freezing wintry weather to announce that she isn’t in fact entering the 2020 race. Plus, Klobuchar’s daughter flew in from New York City for Sunday’s event, and posted a video from Boom Island Park Saturday afternoon. “My mom invited me to this big announcement happening Sunday, but she forgot to tell me it was happening outside,” she said. Abigail here! I'm taking over mom's Twitter for a second with a message about tomorrow. Go to https://t.co/Hz91NGmwT1 for more details! pic.twitter.com/dmk4l54EDD — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2019 Klobuchar boasted that the event will have hot “cocoa,” “camp fires,” “music”—”the whole bit.” The Sunday announcement will come amid multiple reports that Klobuchar runs an abusive and demeaning office, as The Minnesota Sun reported. It’s widely known that the…

Read the full story

National Media Hit Klobuchar With More Reports of Running Abusive Office

Anthony Gockowski

It’s been just three days since Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) teased her upcoming “big announcement” and the national media have already released two damning reports about the Minnesota senator’s behavior toward her staffers. Earlier this week, Huffington Post reported that at least three people declined jobs on Klobuchar’s prospective presidential campaign because of her poor reputation with her staff. Now, Buzzfeed News has reviewed dozens of emails and spoken with anonymous ex-staffers to find that Klobuchar “ran a workplace controlled by fear, anger, and shame.” According to that report, Klobuchar “yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects,” often leaving employees in tears. Klobuchar would allegedly berate employees in emails sent in the middle of the night over “minor mistakes, misunderstandings, and misplaced commas.” “Anything could set her temper off, they said, and it was often unpredictable. Among the things that staffers said had prompted outbursts from Klobuchar: minor grammar mistakes, the use of the word ‘community’ in press releases, forgetting to pack the proper coat in her suitcase, failing to charge her iPad, and using staples,” Buzzfeed News reports. One former staffer said that when she hears “the descriptors of our current president and how he lacks responsibility and…

Read the full story

Zero Democrats Co-Sponsor Bill That Would Tackle Female Genital Mutilation in Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) recently introduced a bill that would expand the criminal definition of female genital mutilation (FGM), but zero Democratic House colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. Under current Minnesota law, it is illegal for doctors to perform FGM, but there are no penalties in place for parents who subject their children to the gruesome procedure, a press release from Franson’s office explains. “The threat of female genital mutilation remains a very serious issue facing our state,” Franson said. “We need to send a clear message to parents that there are consequences for this practice. I will always stand up for the safety of little girls, and will keep working to put an end to this abusive practice and punish parents who subject their daughters to these often life-threatening horrors.” This is Franson’s second go at passing an FGM-related bill. During the 2017 session, her bill passed the House in a 124-4 vote, but never even received a hearing in the Senate, which Republicans have yet to explain. Franson’s new bill, House File (HF) 373, would expand the criminal definition of FGM in Minnesota to make any “parent, guardian, or other person legally responsible or charged with…

Read the full story

Minnesota High School Basketball Team Can’t Play in Tournament After Fans Hoisted Trump Flag at Game

Anthony Gockowski

The superintendent of a rural Minnesota school district cancelled a high school basketball team’s scheduled participation in a Monday tournament because a few student fans recently brought a Trump flag to a game. Last week, students at Jordan High School showed up to a game with a flag that said: “Trump 2020: Keep America Great.” A coach for the opposing team, Minneapolis Roosevelt, took a picture of the students holding the flag and wrote about it on Facebook. “I coach a predominantly black inner city high school team. We go out to a rural area in Jordan, MN and this is there. Please explain how and why this is appropriate at a high school basketball game?” Michael Walker wrote. One person commented on his post to explain that she lent the flag to students to be used as part of a planned USA-themed night. But on Sunday, Jordan School District Superintendent Matthew Helgerson announced that he wouldn’t be allowing the Jordan High School basketball team to participate in an MLK-day tournament. “Given recent events, we believe the participation of our team in the event will detract from the hard work of the athletes and the upbeat focus of the MLK…

Read the full story

Ellison Outlines Agenda at Minneapolis Event and Says He’ll Sue Trump if Necessary

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) continued his statewide listening tour Thursday in North Minneapolis where he said his office will sue President Donald Trump if it has to. During the Minneapolis stop, Ellison began to outline his agenda for when he takes over as Minnesota attorney general next week. His agenda, as it stands, will be two-fold: ensuring economic equality and protecting civil liberties as defined by the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Ellison also said he plans to continue hosting listening sessions after he takes office and will adjust his agenda as he sees fit. “One of the things we’re going to do with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is we’re going to listen a lot. This is not just something we’re going to do leading up to the time that I actually get sworn in. We’re going to do it now, and we’re going to keep doing it,” he said, and went on to share how he’s “envisioning the priorities of [his] office.” “First of all, we’re here to do this listening session based on the priories that you’re going to help us set, but I’m telling you the reason I ran and gave up a congressional seat that…

Read the full story

Minneapolis’ ‘Little Mogadishu’ Sees 56 Percent Increase in Violent Crimes Caused by Somali Gangs

Anthony Gockowski

  Violent crimes increased by more than 50 percent in 2018 in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, nicknamed “little Mogadishu,” which authorities attribute to Somali gang activity in the area. Buried in a recent Star Tribune article was the fact that violent crimes jumped from 54 in 2010 to 84 in 2018, an increase in roughly 56 percent. Authorities attribute the violence to rivalries between Somali gangs, such as the Somali Mafia, the Somali Outlaws, the Hot Boyz, and Madhibaan with Attitude, Alpha News reports. According to a 2014 Southside Pride article, the Outlaws and Madhibaan with Attitude have a rivalry that stretches back years, and likely resulted in the murder of two Somali men in April 2014. That article notes that the summer of 2013 was a particularly bloody season for gang warfare, which produced at least 4 killings. A 2013 CBS article detailed the involvement of the Outlaws, the Mafia, and another gang called the Lady Outlaws in a sex-trafficking ring that recruited and prostituted young girls, some of whom were under the age of 14, between 2000 and 2010. The ring was operated out of Minneapolis, Columbus, and Nashville, and resulted in the indictment of 30 individuals involved. In…

Read the full story

Former Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Uses Christmas to Attack Trump

Anthony Gockowski

Failed Minneapolis mayoral candidate Tom Hoch is back in the news for calling President Donald Trump a “traitor” in a Christmas-lights display adorning his ritzy Lake of the Isles home. “Trump is a traitor” spelled out in Christmas lights now radiates from the top of Hoch’s home, which apparently backs up to Minneapolis’ Lake of the Isles, according to The Star Tribune. “I think it’s hard to come to any other conclusion about someone who is willing to turn against this country for his own enrichment,” Hoch explained. “I don’t view this as a big judgment call; this is a true statement.” His holiday message is likely viewed by hundreds of passersby everyday who visit Lake of the Isles for a walk or bike ride, or pass through the downtown Minneapolis destination on their way to work. But Hoch claims that the response has been only positive, and said he’s even been asked to keep the display up year round. “I was walking my dog and some guy pulled over and said, ‘Bravo, Bravo!’” Hoch told The Star Tribune. “A lot of people have stopped. I’ve been quite surprised.” Fr. James Bretzke, Hoch’s cousin and a Catholic priest, celebrated the…

Read the full story

SHOCK CLAIM: Minnesota DHS Whistleblower Says Politicians Received Kickbacks in Childcare Fraud

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota lawmakers are pushing for answers on the state’s allegedly rampant childcare fraud, but officials within the Department of Human Services seem unwilling to provide any. The story was first exposed in May by investigative reporters with Fox 9, who found that up to $100 million in suitcases left MSP bound for the Middle East. Experts suspect that some of the money is being transferred through Hawalas, the unofficial banking systems of some third-world countries, a share of which is generally demanded by Al-Shabab. Fox 9 found that daycare centers across Minnesota would sign low-income families up for services and bill the state for a full day of care. But in many cases, the children would never show up. Video surveillance obtained by Fox 9 suggests that families in on the scam would even receive shares of the profit. Scott Stillman, a former investigator who spent eight years with the state’s digital forensics lab, was directly involved with the state’s investigation of fraud in daycare centers. He later blew the whistle on Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS), and during a Tuesday hearing at the State Capitol said the case has “the potential to be Minnesota’s Watergate.” “The door is…

Read the full story

Vice President Pence Calls for New ‘Century of American Strength’ in Minneapolis Address

Anthony Gockowski
Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence delivered the keynote address at the American Legion’s centennial convention Thursday in Minneapolis, touting the Trump Administration’s historic record of defending America’s veterans. “To all the legionares today, and every member of the legion family across America, I bring greetings and congratulations from a leader that you heard from last year, and a great champion of our armed forces—past, present, and future—I bring greetings and congratulations from the 45th president of the United States of America, President Donald Trump,” he began his address. Pence went on to thank “the men and women of the American Legion” who brought America “to the start of a new century of American strength,” a theme the vice president frequently returned to throughout his address. “You veterans are emblematic of American greatness. You stepped up to serve your country, to serve a cause greater than yourselves,” he said, before honoring the life of Sen. John McCain. “America will always remember and honor the lifetime of service of United States Sen. John McCain.” “In case you haven’t noticed, you have an ally and a champion in President Donald Trump. Just as you fought for our freedom, we will always fight for you,”…

Read the full story

Sun Country Airlines Announces New Service from Nashville

Jason M. Reynolds
suncountry

Sun Country Airlines announced it is growing its network with new routes and destinations, including new service to Nashville from Minneapolis/St. Paul. From Nashville, new service begins in November to Fort Myers, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, and Tampa. If you book by August 22 you may take advantage of low introductory fares. Vacation packages and car rentals are also available in most of these destinations. You must purchase tickets 21 days in advance. Stated fares are for one-way, coach class travel. Other terms may apply. Sun Country Airlines is part of the Davis Family Holdings business empire in Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports. From Cambria quartz countertops to Davis Family Dairies to Sun Country Airlines, the Davis family owns and manages some of the state’s landmark homegrown businesses, the newspaper said. As of 2014, they employed 2,600 workers and raked in about $710 million a year in revenue, a figure that would rank the privately held business 38th among Minnesota’s 100 largest publicly traded companies. For years, the Davis operation was little known beyond southern Minnesota. That began to change in 2011 when the family engineered the purchase of Sun Country for $34 million. In 2014, the Davis family landed on…

Read the full story

After Somali-American Officer Kills Innocent Woman, Street Signs Pop Up Warning of ‘Easily Startled’ Police in Twin Cities

Tennessee Star Staff

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Morino brought an incredulous friend to see the orange street sign he just spotted in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. The official-looking metal sign read: “WARNING: TWIN CITIES POLICE EASILY STARTLED.” It featured a graphic silhouette of a police officer, a gun in each raised hand, shooting in both directions. “There’s a side…

Read the full story