Alberta votes today on starting a path toward independence, and a new Ipsos poll has 70% of residents planning to stay in Canada against 23% for the separatist option. A separate Angus Reid survey found that 60% of those backing the process say they mainly want to send Ottawa a message, while 37% name independence as their goal.
— via Southwest Journal, Nebojša Vujinović
Fourteen live shows in 16 days turn war, family trauma and climate dread into stage and gallery art across the Twin Cities. A dance-theater retelling of a 12th-century war poem shares the Crane Theater bill with a teen ghost story, while a St. Paul gallery makes climate anxiety public art.
— via Sahan Journal, Myah Goff
A missed interview notice sent to an old mailbox cost one Ethiopian refugee his legal status in Minnesota. Attorneys say it's part of a federal sweep pushing vetted refugees into an asylum system already buckling under backlogs.
— via Sahan Journal, Nicolas Scibelli
Trump told Minnesotans to "fight back" against Somali immigrants, and residents say the "green light" is already fueling fear. Elders and hijab-wearing women now avoid leaving home, even as some suspect the timing of a federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar is tied to her reelection bid.
— via Sahan Journal, Katelyn Vue
A Maplewood councilman who once dreamed of just living there topped the mayoral primary with 44% of the vote, outraising the incumbent $29,000 to $1,300. He could become the city's first Hmong mayor in a community where one in five residents is Hmong.
— via Sahan Journal, Valentina Contreras
Five north Minneapolis residents are suing Owens Corning, inviting anyone within three quarters of a mile of the shingle factory to join. The class action follows an EPA finding in June that the plant violated the Clean Air Act with excess sulfur dioxide, and years of city fines over odor complaints.
— via Sahan Journal, Andrew Hazzard
Minneapolis's superintendent just scrapped plans to close at least 15 schools next year, a month after her own staff proposed it. She says community pushback drove the reversal, but board members are already fighting over whether words are enough.
— via Sahan Journal, Becky Z. Dernbach
Thuba Nguyen is challenging a 20-year incumbent for Coon Rapids mayor after he took 60% of the primary vote, with a fraction of his campaign cash. Her run was fueled by anger over how city leaders handled ICE activity fears during Operation Metro Surge.
— via Sahan Journal, Binta Kanteh
A judge ordered his release. Fifteen minutes later, ICE had him again, out a back door instead of the lobby where his lawyer waited. At least five men at the Whipple building have faced this pattern, one with a dislocated shoulder, as a judge warns the tactic guts habeas relief entirely.
— via Sahan Journal, Cait Kelley | MPR News and Regina Medina | MPR News
Mayor Jacob Frey nominated interim Chief Bill Peterson to lead Minneapolis police permanently, all four finalists for the job internal picks after a nationwide search drew 20 applicants. A critic calls Peterson "steeped in the same old culture" behind George Floyd's murder; he says staffing shortages are his biggest challenge now.
— via Sahan Journal, Mohamed Ibrahim
Federal fights over mail-in voting and warnings about election interference have Minnesota voters on edge heading into November. Sahan Journal is hosting a free live event October 15 in St. Paul with the Secretary of State and community advocates to separate myth from fact before Election Day.
— via Sahan Journal, Sahan Journal
FBI agents sold an 18-year-old an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, then arrested him on the spot, ending a nearly two-year undercover operation at the Mall of America. Authorities say he planned to kill as many as 60 people during a scheduled arts festival.
— via Sahan Journal, Gene Johnson | Associated Press and Ellen Schmidt | Associated Press
A St. Cloud bank wants to seize HmongTown Marketplace, suing owner Toua Xiong for $6.6 million and asking a judge to install a receiver who could change the locks and fire staff. The St. Paul market has anchored Hmong vendors and families for two decades, and a Nov. 24 hearing will decide its fate.
— via Sahan Journal, Katelyn Vue
Minnesota's governor race pits Amy Klobuchar, leading in money and polls, against Lisa Demuth, who's betting fraud scandals under Tim Walz can flip it. Below, every key race on the ballot and what voters need to know to cast one.
— via Sahan Journal, Joey Peters
A sheriff's comments on Somali youth gangs sparked backlash from community leaders. A former caseworker who spent years with Somali American delinquent youth in Ohio says both sides are missing the point, and lays out what the data behind the headlines actually shows about who's involved and why.
— via Sahan Journal, Mahdi Warsama
A century-old St. Paul foundry just stopped melting metal for good, after years of complaints that it was the county's top industrial source of smog and lead pollution. Neighbors celebrated with pumpkin painting and local food, then turned straight to the next fight: zoning the site and taking on another foundry across town.
— via Sahan Journal, Andrew Hazzard
A judge ordered Ivan freed from ICE detention. Five federal agents were waiting inside the building to arrest him again before he reached the door, and his lawyers call it a new tactic to dodge release orders.
— via Sahan Journal, Cait Kelley | MPR News
Nine Somali men, three from Minnesota, spent about a month shackled at Guantánamo before a private flight dumped them in Mogadishu with no warning and, in one case, no phone or cash. Some held valid work permits. One missed his mother's death in detention because ICE wouldn't let him call home.
— via Sahan Journal, Mohamud Farah
A kindergarten caterpillar drawing once got Grover Hogan into a better school. Now the Minneapolis artist left a job at the Walker Art Center to reimagine the entire tarot deck, and their debut solo show opens this weekend with 20 of 22 cards already reinvented.
— via Sahan Journal, Myah Goff
A 76-page investigation finds St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her violated city policy but didn't commit sexual harassment, after Police Chief Axel Henry accused her of workplace harassment. Her's interviews reveal she gave investigators her own version of events, often framing the conduct as misread attempts to bond with police officials.
— via Sahan Journal, Mohamed Ibrahim
