MINNESOTA COURT OF APPEALS Archives

Xcel can pay lower rate to community solar subscribers, Minnesota appeals court rules

August 5, 2025

KVRR Staff,

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — Xcel Energy can retroactively reduce payments to most of the roughly 30,000 Minnesotans who subscribe to community solar gardens, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Monday in a significant victory for the utility company. The decision ratifies an earlier Minnesota Public Utilities Commission order that cut compensation for customers who subscribed to “legacy” gardens built…

Appeals court asks for more information about cannabis license lottery

November 29, 2024

KVRR Staff,

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Court of Appeals is asking state regulators for more information about how they determined eligibility for the state’s first cannabis license lottery. Several social equity applicants hoping to get one of the preapproval licenses sued after the Office of Cannabis Management denied their applications. A district court judge blocked the Office from holding the…

Another Minnesota Supreme Court Justice announces retirement

January 16, 2024

TJ Nelson,

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chutich, the first openly gay justice on the state’s highest court, announced her retirement Tuesday. Chutich was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton to the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2012 and to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2016, then elected in 2018. Her resignation gives Democratic Gov. Tim Walz two…

Appeals court says Minnesota governor had authority to impose mask mandate

July 10, 2023

KVRR Staff,

ST. PAUL (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz had the legal authority to mandate face masks when he declared a public health emergency in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday. Walz declared a peacetime emergency in March 2020 and mandated masking in most indoor public spaces in July 2020. The conservative Upper Midwest…

Court Hears Appeal By former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin

January 18, 2023

KVRR Staff,

Derek ChauvinST. PAUL — An attorney for Derek Chauvin asks an appeals court to throw out the former Minneapolis officer’s convictions in the murder of George Floyd. He told the Minnesota Court of Appeals the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of the extensive pretrial publicity, and fears of violent protests that led to unprecedented…

Minnesota appeals court rules Trump flag is protected free speech

May 3, 2022

Jim Monk,

BUFFALO, Minn. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has sided with a man who said he shouldn’t have been fined for flying a huge Donald Trump flag over his business, calling it a protected expression of free speech. The Buffalo City Council had found the flag that Jay Johnson flew over his construction business in 2020 violated a local sign ordinance…

Groups Line 3 Appeal Will Not Be Heard By Minnesota Supreme Court

August 24, 2021

TJ Nelson,

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Supreme Court will not take up an appeal by tribal and environmental groups opposed to Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline project. A spokesperson for Enbridge says they are pleased with the decision. Minnesota Court of Appeals had earlier ruled that the Public Utilities Commission certificate of need and route permit was granted correctly. Enbridge…

Tribes Attempt To Stop Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Denied

February 2, 2021

TJ Nelson,

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An appeal by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and White Earth Band of Ojibwe to stop construction on the controversial Enbridge Line 3 pipeline replacement project is denied by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. A statement from Enbridge says it is pleased with the decision but not surprised. They say the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission…

Court upholds Minneapolis cop’s conviction in Damond case

February 1, 2021

Jim Monk,

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a former Minneapolis police officer’s murder conviction in the 2017 shooting death of an unarmed woman who had dialed 911. Mohamed Noor is serving 12 1/2 years in the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, whom he shot once in the stomach when she approached his patrol car in the alley behind…

Neighbors Lose Fight to Save Historic St. Paul Church

The former St. Andrew's Catholic Church has been an anchor in the Como Park neighborhood for nearly a century.

July 24, 2019

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Preservationists and others who have worked to save a historic church in St. Paul have lost an appeal and are lamenting its demise. The former St. Andrew’s Catholic Church has been an anchor in the Como Park neighborhood for nearly a century. But now plans to demolish it can begin because those who fought to…