Category: The Upper-Midwest

Wisconsin Congressman Calls on LinkedIn to Remove Job Listings for Companies That Pose Security Threats

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this week urged the head of the career-networking website LinkedIn to prohibit the platform from posting job openings at companies posing security threats to America. 

Gallagher, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, penned a letter to LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Ryan Roslansky, drawing particular attention to companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The congressman stated that the site presently welcomes thousands of employment-opportunity notices from China-based corporations the U.S. government flags as national-security and privacy risks. 

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Wisconsin Republican Members of Congress Ask Evers to Pull Government TikTok

Bradley Vasoli

Republican members of Congress from Wisconsin this week called on Democratic Governor Tony Evers to end all state-government usage of the video-sharing application known as TikTok. 

The app, which has garnered about 80 million monthly active users since its release in 2016, is run by the Chinese technology corporation ByteDance. Recent reporting indicates the communist Chinese government is using the program to mine data from TikTok users aggressively and track some Americans’ whereabouts. 

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Michigan School Ransomware Attacks Prompt Calls to Restore Internet Accountability

The Center Square

If someone physically attacked a school, the perpetrator would likely be prosecuted immediately. But it’s often harder to prosecute online crimes, including the ransomware attack that closed two Michigan school districts for days in November.

Schools in Hillsdale and Jackson counties were closed last month after ransomware attacks. Ransomware is a malicious attack using malware or software to disrupt access to networks, computer files, or digital files. In order to restore normal functions, the perpetrators of the attack demand some form of compensation. 

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The City of Minneapolis Reaches $600,000 Settlement with BLM Protesters Who Sustained Injuries During the 2020 George Floyd Riots

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The city of Minneapolis has agreed to a settlement involving a dozen people who were allegedly injured during the protests and riots after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

In a Wednesday press release, the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that Minneapolis will pay $600,000 to be split among the 12 plaintiffs, meaning they each will get $50,000. ACLU was one of three firms who banded together in a class action lawsuit on behalf of the demonstrators. The case stems from two separate lawsuits that were consolidated.

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Michigan Charter School Advocates Prepare for Anticipated Democratic Cuts

The Center Square

Election of Democratic majorities in the Michigan House and Senate is a warning shot for the state’s public charter schools.

The incoming bicameral majorities and reelected Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have already signaled antipathy toward public charter schools. Drawing much of the Democrats’ ire are for-profit education management organizations operating 42% of public charter schools in Detroit alone as of 2021.

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Minneapolis Public Schools to Face ‘Impending Fiscal Crisis’ in Five Years

The Center Square

Minneapolis Public Schools is headed for an “impending fiscal crisis” within five years because of continued dropping enrollment, despite the federal government giving it $261 million in COVID relief.

Senior Financial Officer Ibrahima Diop said in a Nov. 29 memo to Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox that the school “anticipates fully depleting the general fund balance during the 2024-25 school year, and quickly descending into statutory operating debt.”

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Data: 303 Michigan Schools Haven’t Touched ESSER III COVID Funds

The Center Square

More than 300 Michigan school districts haven’t touched their final tranche of federal COVID money, according to lagging spending data from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.

The data, updated on Oct. 28, 2022, tracks Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief III spending. It shows that billions of dollars haven’t been spent from more than $5 billion of federal monies given for pandemic learning-loss recovery.

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Experts: Minnesota School District Can Now Conceal Students’ Gender Identity from Parents

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The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District adopted a new transgender student policy that experts say will permit students to change their gender identity at school and allow the district to conceal that information from parents.

According to the new policy, adopted on Nov. 17, “all students have a right to privacy, including the right to keep private one’s transgender or gender expansive status at school.”

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Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget: State Unemployment Rates Steady in Last Month

The Center Square

Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates barely changed in Michigan’s 17 labor market areas over the month, according to data released Wednesday by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

“Michigan regional labor markets displayed little change during October,” Wayne Rourke, associate director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, said in a statement. “Payroll jobs advanced modestly in most metro areas over the month.”

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Legislative Audit Finds Significant Waste in Two Wisconsin Coronavirus Grant Programs

The Center Square

No one really knows just how much of Wisconsin’s nearly $600 million in small business coronavirus grant money was wasted or given to scammers.

The Legislative Audit Bureau on Tuesday released a limited review of the “We’re All In” and “Wisconsin Tomorrow” programs, and confirmed that the state handed out money to ineligible businesses.

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Minnesota College Pledges to Expand All-Gender Housing Following Student Complaints

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Macalester College pledged to increase its all-gender housing options following student complaints in the student newspaper, Fox News reported.

Joe Linstroth, a Macalester College spokesperson, told Fox News that the college is “working in partnership” with students to “create living and learning environments that support the needs of our community.” The response comes on the heels of a string of complaints listed off by Macalester students in a November article published in the student newspaper The Mac Weekly.

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Michigan’s Underperforming Public Schools Require State-Mandated ‘Comprehensive Support’

The Center Square

Fifty-four Michigan school districts and 112 schools will receive required state partnership intervention, according to an announcement Tuesday from the Michigan Department of Education.

The department partners with districts with schools scoring in the bottom 5% on the state’s index accountability system, or that possess a four-year graduation rate below 67%, or that meet both criteria.

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GOP-Aligned Group Spent Money Against Endorsed, Incumbent Minnesota Republicans Again

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A Republican-aligned committee once again spent money against two Republican candidates for the Minnesota House of Representatives, with both of them going on to lose to their Democratic challengers in the general election.

The Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund, an independent expenditure committee affiliated with the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, spent a combined $55,134 in TV and direct mail advertising against incumbent Rep. Erik Mortensen and newcomer Mark Bishofsky during their primary elections, according to data from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.

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Controversial Energy Official Charged with Stealing Woman’s Luggage at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport

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Sam Brinton, one of the first “openly genderfluid individuals in federal government leadership,” was charged with felony theft last month after allegedly stealing a woman’s luggage at MSP Airport.

The MIT grad went viral earlier this year when he announced his new role as the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Minneapolis Police Department Remains Critically Low on Patrol Officers

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minneapolis police department

The Minneapolis Police Department only has 235 officers available to respond to 911 calls throughout the city, according to internal numbers obtained by Alpha News.

“The Minneapolis Police Department continues to face critical staffing shortages and remains far below its authorized strength,” Sherral Schmidt, president of the Minneapolis police union, told Alpha News.

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More than a Half-Million Dollars Set for ‘Equity Consulting,’ as well as Vaping and Motion Detectors Removed from Michigan Schools’ COVID Spending

The Center Square

Nineteen vape detectors, $550,000 in equity coaching, motion sensors, and metal detectors are some items deleted from Michigan schools’ initial COVID spending plans.

The Center Square discovered the removed spending by filing more than 100 records requests to school districts statewide in an attempt to learn how schools plan to spend more than $6 billion in recovery pandemic funds. 

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Minnesota’s Limited Restrictions on Abortion Could Lead to Increased Taxes

The Center Square

Minnesota is more friendly to abortion than some of its neighbors, and that might impact Minnesota taxpayers.

Some abortion clinics are moving from states that are banning or limiting abortions to states such as Minnesota with fewer abortion restrictions. For example, Red River Women’s Clinic moved from Fargo, N.D., to Moorhead, Minn., to continue performing abortions, and says on its website that it offers abortion care and family planning services to all of North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and South Dakota.

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Outgoing Minnesota Lawmaker Pursues New Legal Avenue in Abortion Fight

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A retiring Minnesota lawmaker and pro-life activist is asking his local city council to consider adopting a pro-life ordinance.

Outgoing state Rep. Tim Miller proposed a “Life City” ordinance before the Prinsburg City Council last week. The ordinance would allow citizens to sue medical providers for helping to carry out an abortion within city limits. The mother or father of the child would not be subject to litigation.

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Minnesota Department of Agriculture Asks Public to Weigh In on Food Purchase Assistance Program

The Center Square

Taxpayers have until Dec. 12 to tell the Minnesota Department of Agriculture how they want it to distribute $3.16 million in grants through a community food procurement and distribution program.

In September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its Agricultural Marketing Service signed an agreement with Minnesota under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. The American Rescue Plan authorizes the program to maintain and improve supply chain resiliency, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Sept. 7 news release said. The program’s goal is to buy local food from socially disadvantaged farmers and distribute it to the state’s underserved communities. Nationally, the USDA is awarding up to $400 million to states and Tribal governments to buy food from producers in the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.

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University of Wisconsin System Closing Richland Campus, Just 60 Students Enrolled

The Center Square

by Benjamin Yount   The University of Wisconsin is all but closing one of its smallest campuses. UW President Jay Rothman said in a letter Tuesday the UW-Platteville will end all in-person classes at its Richland campus. Rothman ordered Platteville’s chancellor to end the degree program at the Richland campus because only 60 students are taking classes there right now. “While the University of Wisconsin System remains committed to the branch campuses and to providing as broad of access for students as possible, there comes a time when financial pressure and low enrollment makes in-person degree level academic instruction no longer tenable,” Rothman wrote in his letter. Next year the 60 Richland students will be transitioned to either the Platteville or Baraboo campuses. No one is saying what will happen to the faculty and staff members teaching at the Richland campus. And Rothman isn’t saying if this will be the last or only small UW campus to close. “Each of the branch campuses have a different strategy about what it’s going to look like going forward,” Rothman said earlier in the week. “But we’ve got to address [enrollment], and we have to have the branch campuses be sustainable in the…

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Study Concludes Michigan Charter School Enrollment Increased During Pandemic

The Center Square

Student enrollment for Michigan charter schools increased each year during the pandemic while traditional public-school enrollments dropped.

Data compiled by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools tracked three years of enrollments during the pandemic and show Michigan’s charter schools had a 2.14% increase, or 3,147 students, between 2019 and 2022. NAPCS researchers relied on available public records for its study of 41 states, concluding charter school enrollment increased in 39 of the 41 states covered by the study during the three years of the pandemic.

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McCarthy Says GOP Will Remove Omar from Committee Assignment

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he will follow through on his promise to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee when Republicans retake control of Congress.

“Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks. I’m keeping that promise,” McCarthy said on Twitter.

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Whitmer Appoints Kyra Bolden to Michigan Supreme Court

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will appoint Kyra Harris Bolden to fill a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to serve on the state’s high court.

Justice Bridget McCormack resigned this year, leaving an open seat. Bolden, a current state Representative, was a Democratic pick for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court during the Nov. 8 election but lost.

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University of Minnesota to Host Author of ‘The 1619 Project’

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The University of Minnesota has announced an event with Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the The 1619 Project, a journalistic endeavor that “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”

On the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 6, Jones will be participating in a “moderated discussion” with Kyndell Harkness, a photographer and assistant managing editor of diversity and community at the Star Tribune. The event, free and open to the public, is hosted by U of M’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

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Minnesota AG’s Office Objects to Pro-Life Group’s Attempt to Intervene in Abortion Case

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A Minnesota-based advocacy group called Mothers Offering Maternal Support (MOMS) has taken action to restore common-sense abortion restrictions for young girls and women, against the wishes of Attorney General Keith Ellison.

The group, which has close to 50 members, filed a new motion on Monday, Nov. 14 in its effort to oppose a ruling made by Ramsey County Judge Thomas Gilligan on July 11.

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Ridership Reports of $147.5 Million Taxpayer-Funded Suburban Detroit Transit Agency Kept from Public

The Center Square

SMART officials in suburban Detroit say they won’t release ridership figures for the $147.5 million taxpayer-funded bus operation for fear of misinterpretation. 

“We are currently operating at 65% service levels and ridership is trending back to approximately 70%,” said Brandon Adolph, the acting assistant vice president of marketing and communications for Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation. “Thus, any ridership data wouldn’t be accurate due to the fact we aren’t at our 100% levels prior to the pandemic.”

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Incoming Michigan Democratic Leadership Mostly Mum on Line 5

The Center Square

Lansing’s crop of newly elected and reelected officials is mostly mum on the fate of Line 5, or more specifically, the five-mile dual pipeline spanning the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac.

The 2022 midterm election delivered majorities for Michigan Democrats in the state House and Senate, and the governor’s office – a trifecta for the first time in 40 years. State public policies and litigations could be significantly impacted by both chambers and the reelection of two key Democrats, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

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Minneapolis Bans Pro-Life Activists from Sections of Public Sidewalks

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The Minneapolis City Council adopted an ordinance Thursday that will prohibit pro-life sidewalk counselors from being on sections of public sidewalks.

“We believe this proposal is unconstitutional and want to express our opposition as we prepare to challenge it should it go into effect,” said an email from Thomas Wilkin, Pro-Life Action Ministries’ sidewalk counseling manager.

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