Recently, it seemed that federal law enforcement was beginning to cooperate with local authorities in the investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Operation Metro Surge. But while the state investigation has received hard drives and body camera footage, the Justice Department has not provided the cell phone of ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Good, nor the firearms involved in the incidents, and it appears further cooperation will not be forthcoming.
The lessons learned by community groups during Operation Metro Surge are now being applied to “election defense,” with groups like Monarca holding new trainings for how to respond to potential federal interference with voting.
“What the other side is counting on is that we’re not going to react in an organized manner, that we’re just going to descend into chaos, and everyone’s going to bump into walls and be screaming, ‘Everything is on fire!’” volunteer trainer Jessi Meliza said. “That’s really what we’re trying to combat.”
We knew the DOJ did not appreciate when U.S. District Judges John Tunheim and Patrick Schiltz participated in a New York Times interview about Metro Surge, but now the Justice Department is pressing to disqualify them from two immigration-related cases.
With a vote on proposals for the future transformation of Minneapolis Public Schools on hold for now, the upcoming election of school board members has taken on new significance. The next school board will have at least three and possibly five new members, and you can learn more about the candidates you’ll be voting for here.
Issues swirling around AI in traffic enforcement continue as Stillwater has renewed its contract with Urban SDK, which employs artificial intelligence-powered traffic analysis. The council voted 4-0 for the renewal, but community members are pushing back, claiming that there was not enough discussion about the plan prior to the vote.
A study from the Center of Rural Policy and Development found that the ability of students to find local college options in northern Minnesota helped keep them closer to home and find jobs there.
For example, the study found 51% of northeast Minnesotans who stayed in the region for college remained there for work. Conversely, only 18.3% of northeast Minnesotans who traveled elsewhere in the state for school returned to their home region afterward.
And finally in your Minnesota news roundup: One weather model is predicting snow for central and southern Minnesota as early as next week, but don’t put the ice scraper back in your car just yet. The prediction comes from the American model, which is “notorious for randomly producing big snowfall totals that never verify.” Just remember, as finger jockey J.P. Prewitt said, “Models don’t think for themselves.”
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