ST. PAUL (KVRR/KFGO) — Making Minnesota schools safer is the idea behind the Shield Act. The bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Elliott Engen of White Bear Township. He says it would provide funding for schools to set up security plans using technology like bullet-proof windows and doors, lockdown systems, and direct communication with law enforcement. Engen wants the grants…
Republican State Rep. Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring sworn in as House SpeakerUPDATE 8:29PM : Democrats respond to Republicans holding session in the House without them. Former Speaker of the House Rep. Melissa Hortman said, “Very strange afternoon indeed. We saw something on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives today that we have never seen in Minnesota history,…
ST. PAUL (KVRR) — Attempts to legalize sports betting in Minnesota have been proposed in the state Legislature every year since a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 paved the way for states to decide. But in the end the proposals ultimately failed to gain lawmaker’s approval. But lawmakers are about to get another proposal. So will this be the year…
ST. PAUL (KVRR) — Minnesota House Democrats are threatening not to show up for the first day of the session if a power-sharing agreement isn’t reached with Republicans. The body was tied at 67 until a judge decided that Curtis Johnson didn’t live in the district he won in November. That gave Republicans a slim 67-66 majority but it won’t…
State Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D) Woodbury, Minn.DETROIT LAKES, Minn. – State Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury will stand trial for first-degree burglary later this month in Becker County. Mitchell appeared at a settlement conference Tuesday for the alleged break-in at her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April. No agreement was reached and the judge scheduled jury selection to begin Jan….
ST. PAUL (KVRR) — Gov. Tim Walz has called another special election to fill another vacancy in the legislature which has put the balance of power in play. It will be held Tuesday, January 28 to fill the seat of Democrat Sen. Kari Dziedzic who died last Friday from ovarian cancer. She represented District 60 in Minneapolis. Dziedzic’s death leaves…
The Minnesota House chamber. Photo courtesy of Minnesota House Public Information Services.ST. PAUL, Minn. (Michelle Griffith – Minnesota Reformer) Republicans flipped three key swing districts in the Minnesota House, making the party breakdown an even 67-67 between Republicans and Democrats, according to preliminary election results. If the results stand, this would mean an end to the two-year Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta control…
FILE – Ruby slippers once worn by Judy Garland in the “The Wizard of Oz” are displayed at a news conference on Sept. 4, 2018, at the FBI office in Brooklyn Center, Minn. Terry Jon Martin, the aging reformed mobster who has admitted stealing the slippers, gave into the temptation of “one last score” after an old mob associate led…
The Minnesota Capitol Building. Courtesy of Minnesota House Public Information Services.(Minnesota Reformer) Minnesota House Democrats are steaming into the final 40 days of the election campaign with a $2.5 million cash advantage over House Republicans, according to campaign finance reports released Wednesday. Labor unions and wealthy individuals with a long history of generous giving to Democrats combined to give the…
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The push to expand Amtrak’s new Borealis passenger rail line across Minnesota is gaining steam. Amtrak launched the Borealis Amtrak route between St. Paul and Chicago in May. The route saw more than 18,500 passengers in its first month. Brian Nelson with All Aboard Minnesota says that the Minnesota Legislature is looking to expand passenger rail,…
