MinnPost

Our next Public Meetings 101 workshop is Nov. 2. This is open to any Minnesotan looking for support in following government meetings in their community. The following week, we have our quarterly program orientation, which equips attendees to take paid notetaking assignments covering the Twin Cities.

Months before the opening of the Green Line Extension, riders’ perception of transit safety remains a critical concern.

Every single person interviewed said the same thing when asked about the biggest misconception about homelessness.

The project has received millions in state and federal planning dollars alongside private and philanthropic funds. So what’s the latest?

Advocates credit community collaboration as key to addressing opioid addiction among Karen and Karenni youth in St. Paul.

Hey I'm putting together a "mailbag" version of my @minnpost.com Cityscape column. Send me questions and I'll try to get to 'em!

Steve Sack's View: Musk and Ukraine

“I don’t want to just sit there and like have some committee look at [fraud and waste]. I want to get started right away. And I really have to because of this idea that we’re going to have to have a balanced budget.”

Minnesota artist Seitu K. Jones uses art to connect African American culinary traditions to Africa in a new exhibit at the Minnesota Museum of American Art.

This recurring conflict illuminates downtown Minneapolis’ fundamental flaw, writes Bill Lindeke in Cityscape.

The Wolves are once again zigging (towards ballhandlers) as the league zags (towards multifaceted big men).

A long-ago controversy in southern Minnesota came up in a debate between candidates for a Minnesota legislative seat.

Trump’s pardons of executives convicted of healthcare fraud, administration moves to weaken some protections against abuses, and a high-profile error by Trump regulators stand in contrast with the administration’s proclaimed fraud-fighting goals. ..via KFF Health News

Money spent on lobbying has reached historic heights, in both Minnesota and the nation, since Trump assumed office in January of last year.

“We’re really seeing taxpayers now questioning: Well, why should we have to pay, when it was these business entities that knowingly dumped [PFAS] into our community?” said Avonna Starck, the state director of Clean Water Action. “So it is a huge issue in this election.”

He’s still the underdog but there are indications that Democrat Jake Johnson’s campaign against Rep. Brad Finstad surged over the summer.

Fact Brief: Did U.S. diesel fuel prices reach an all-time high this fall?

"There isn’t enough accessible, nonpartisan information for voters to know how candidates will approach the science and technology issues that affect their lives," write Kenna McRae, Sol Taylor-Brill and Amanda Scharenbrock in Community Voices.

“The impact of this raid is not necessarily helpful to Republicans,” said Steven Schier, a political science professor emeritus at Carleton College. “Donald Trump is not popular in the state, and the raid may further boost Democratic turnout in response.”

The Minneapolis City Planning Commission, a 10-member body of elected officials that advises the City Council on land use, advanced regulations on Oct. 13 that would rein in the size, noise and geographic reach of data centers within city limits.

Steve Sack's View: Gas up with Trump

“It’s not the way I wanted my career to end at [the U.S. Department of Justice], but I’ve never once regretted the decision,” Thompson said.

A lobbyist once told DFL state Sen. Aric Putnam there are 3 types of legislators: 1/3 are dedicated public servants. 1/3 are furniture. 1/3 are dangerous morons. Putnam considers himself part of the first 1/3. He needs to overcome attack ads claiming otherwise to hold a key seat in St. Cloud.

“She’s not in this race,” Cedrick Frazier said of Mary Moriarty. “She’s not here. She’s not running again.”

Minnesota State’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a proposal to transfer up to $25 million each year for the next four years to schools in financial crisis. The money would largely come from peer institutions — primarily two-year community and technical colleges.

Special interest groups are heavily targeting Senate DFLers in Greater Minnesota.

Some good coverage of the election outside the bubble of the Twin Cities by @brianarola.bsky.social and @minnpost.com www.minnpost.com/elections/20...

"Solving community problems and creating a region that works for all people requires us to stay curious and learn, question information rooted in bias or partisan agenda, and to make informed decisions," writes Ramla Bile in Community Voices.

"The instability of our times calls for performance that confronts both the violence of this moment and the histories that brought us here. On Twin Cities stages, makers are responding with decisive points of view, creating moments of beauty and — yes — entertainment," writes Sheila Regan.

In a season of new faces like LaMelo Ball, the Minnesota Timberwolves will go nowhere without veteran Rudy Gobert, writes Britt Robson.

A 2016 internal report warned that Minnesota State could face multimillion dollar budget holes and “a future that is financially unsustainable.” At a Century College town hall last week, Minnesota State chancellor Scott Olson said that report “was put on a shelf.”

wrote about the pending closure of hourcar and evie -- and the effect that will have on those who've made it a part of their lives for years now

"The cratering of grant support [for HourCar] is a downstream effect of Washington, D.C., abandoning its previous commitments to local governments and nonprofits," writes Bill Lindeke in this week's Cityscape.

President Donald Trump and his attorneys frequently argued that the “60-day rule” barred former Special Counsel Jack Smith from filing updated indictments or pushing forward with criminal trials on the classified documents case near an election.

For nearly two decades, live mussels have served as a little-known first line of defense for detecting pollution at the Minneapolis Public Works water treatment plant, which supplies water to nearly half a million people throughout the metro area.

In a recent debate, Minnesota attorney general candidate Ron Schutz pledged to insulate himself from his vast stock portfolio if elected. Schutz is deeply invested in Meta, Microsoft, and more than a dozen more corporations looking to build, use or maintain hyperscale data centers.

In a live interview Saturday as part of the MinnPost Festival, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon described the coordination underway with state, local, and community partners to enable “a war room mentality” on Election Day.

Fact Brief: Did Lisa Demuth sign a letter in support of Kristi Noem and ICE during Operation Metro Surge?

While Swanson has demonstrated that she’s a good campaigner, having held more than 180 events in the district, fundraising and other factors work against her.

Historian Colin Woodard has spent his career arguing that the U.S. is not one country, but eleven rival cultures laid down by colonial settlement patterns. He'll be at MinnPost Festival to talk about his new book, "Nations Apart." Tickets still available >> www.eventbrite.com/e/minnpost-f...

These latest comments about mail-in voting — along with the red-state rallies — underscore the political peril that analysts see facing Republicans and Trump. ...via News From The States

A generation ago, a writer set out to capture the cultural challenges of our state’s newest residents. How do things look now?

Graphite Publishing marks 20 years this year. It keeps growing, thanks to a uniquely Minnesota community of new music creators.

Secretary of State Simon will separate fact from politics on Minnesota's voting systems: what the claims of a “broken” system rest on, and what Minnesotans should expect when they show up at the polls this fall. MinnPost Festival tickets are almost gone>> www.eventbrite.com/e/minnpost-f...

Even as Frey points to the city’s ongoing investment in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund as a win, it will likely take another hit this year.

Given the dilemma around cuts and taxes, St. Paul should put more value on its public spaces by improving its parking technology, writes Bill Lindeke in this week's Cityscape.

Did you know Minnesota law once had the same loophole that helped shield fraternity members who are alleged to have raped a Cornell University student from prosecution?

Proponents of the seal of climate literacy argue that young people must understand and combat climate change, without waiting for political leaders to reach consensus on how it should be taught in schools. ...via @hechingerreport.org

Twin Cities musician Jim Walsh brings the Mad Ripple Hootenanny to MinnPost Festival 2026. Featuring protest music, past and present, to close a day of sessions on deportation raids, dismantled agencies and a country arguing with itself. Tickets >> www.eventbrite.com/e/minnpost-f...