This from KMSP-TV, “Minneapolis leaders announced a new plan to reduce crime in the city during a 3 p.m. news conference on Thursday. … They discussed the Minneapolis Office of Community Safety’s ‘new plan for reducing criminal activity in the city,’ with a news release adding the office has worked with local, state and federal partners.”
For The Minnesota Reformer, Christopher Ingraham writes, “More than 1,100 Minnesotans died due to excessive drinking in 2021, according to data recently released by the CDC. The number is a record high for the state, representing a doubling of the mortality rate since 2014 and a continuation of a pandemic-era spike in alcohol deaths. Last year more Minnesotans died of alcohol-induced causes than to homicide and suicide combined. The 1,162 alcohol deaths in the latest CDC data would make drinking the 9th-leading cause of death in the state in 2021, more than double the number of traffic fatalities. The alcohol figure is an extremely conservative estimate that doesn’t factor in drunk driving and other deaths indirectly caused by alcohol.”
A KSTP-TV story says, “Richfield man is facing several criminal charges in connection to a light rail train and truck collision earlier this week in Minneapolis. A Metro Transit police officer was at the intersection of Washington Avenue Southeast and Huron Boulevard Tuesday morning when he saw the driver of a utility truck traveling at a high rate of speed make a sharp left turn from Washington Avenue onto Huron Avenue, according to a criminal complaint. … At that time, a light rail train was crossing Huron Avenue and collided with the truck. The officer responded to the crash and the truck driver started running away. According to the complaint, the man — identified as 31-year-old Cohen Jajuanza Jacobs — ran behind two women, took a water bottle from one of their backpacks and continued running as the officer chased him. As the officer got close and ordered Jacobs to the ground, Jacobs allegedly pulled out a box cutter with the blade extended and lunged at the officer. When the officer retreated, Jacobs climbed into the driver’s seat of the squad car.”
For KARE-TV Lou Raguse says, “Of the 48 people now charged in the Feeding Our Future meal fraud scheme, only seven are behind bars at the Sherburne County Jail. Among them include Abdiaziz Farah and Mohamed Ismail, who were previously charged with passport fraud for trying to leave the country. Those in custody also include Mekfira Hussein, who had booked a one-way flight to Ethiopia that was scheduled to leave Tuesday night, according to a new criminal complaint. Hussein’s charges say she stole $6.8 million in federal meal program money and spent little, if any, on meals for kids.”
At MPR News, Dana Ferguson says, “Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday called for the investigation of a Ramsey County judge who ordered the state to continue making payments to Feeding Our Future, an organization at the center of what is alleged to be the largest-in-the-nation COVID-19 fraud scheme. The governor at an unrelated news conference defended the Minnesota Department of Education’s response in uncovering misuse of payments that were intended to feed Minnesota children. And he said that department heads stopped payments to the group but later had to continue making them after Feeding Our Future sued the state for discrimination and won. Walz said he was ‘speechless’ when Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann ruled in favor of Feeding Our Future in April of 2021.”
Stribber Kelly Smith reports, “The state Department of Education wants more than $583,000 back for defending itself in what it is calling a ‘sham’ lawsuit from Feeding Our Future. The nonprofit, accused this week of running a massive scheme to defraud the government of more than $250 million, had sued the Education Department in 2020 after the state cut off its funding, citing concerns over astronomical growth in the number of poor children it claimed to be feeding during the pandemic. The Education Department is claiming that Feeding Our Future’s lawsuit was just a distraction to keep the state from uncovering the fraud …”
An AP story says, “A woman who brought a wild raccoon into a North Dakota bar, which prompted state health officials to issue a warning about potential rabies exposure, is facing criminal charges. Erin Christensen, 38, of Maddock, is charged with misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful possession of furbearers. Christensen was arrested last week after authorities found her and the raccoon by serving several search warrants in and around Maddock.”
For SBNation James Dator writes, “Brett Favre has been able to manage to avoid legal pressure so far, but the walls are closing in on his role in the largest welfare fraud scheme in Mississippi state history. Favre, who has lied from day one about knowing anything about the scheme, has repeatedly been caught in revealed text messages communicating with former Republican governor Phil Bryant, and Nancy New, who ran a non-profit at the center of the scheme. In each instance Favre was either asking about the money changing hands, or working as a fixer to put the two sides together. … on Wednesday another major shoe dropped. John Davis, former director of health and human services, is also now pleading guilty to federal and state charges — in exchange for cooperating with investigators.”
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