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Miami Herald
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Some communities won't fly new state flag: ‘It's not a greater Minnesota flag'
MINNEAPOLIS - Old Glory is the only flag flying outside Detroit Lakes City Hall. You won't see the Minnesota state flag - the retired one or the new one that a number of communities refuse to hoist on flagpoles. Minnesota's new state flag was divisive from the start, especially in deep red, rural areas. The flag redesign process sparked intense Republican-led opposition as the DFL-controlled Legislature formed a commission in 2023 to replace the old flag. Some counties passed resolutions rejecting the new design before it was adopted last year. Now some cities are voting against flying it. "I think part of it is people think the new flag is ugly," said Detroit Lakes Mayor Matt Brenk. "Some people think the old flag was racist. I mean, there's all sorts of reasons that people are picking a side on this deal." Detroit Lakes is the latest city to oppose flying the new state flag in north-central Minnesota, where you're more likely to see the old banner on front porches, farms and lakefront properties. "We were on the lake this weekend and noticed a lot of the old flags and a few new ones," said Pequot Lakes Mayor Tyler Gardner. "They typically wouldn't have had a state flag before. It used to just be the American flag." Pequot Lakes is still flying the retired state flag and doesn't plan on raising the new one, Gardner said. "It drives us nuts that there's a divisive argument over a flag, that, let's be honest, it's a state flag. Does anybody really look at them that much?" Crosslake is also supporting the old state flag. In May, the council unanimously voted not to fly the new one. The cities are in Becker and Crow Wing counties, which also don't fly the new state flag. Only state buildings are required to fly the state flag. It's optional at city- and county-owned buildings: Some fly the old flag, many raised the new one, and some never flew the state flag. Julie Ring, executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties, said in an email that she was unaware that any counties had taken action against the new state flag. The League of Minnesota Cities said it doesn't track flag activity, nor is it a topic on which it provides guidance or opinions. The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office shares flag etiquette, but it wouldn't weigh in on the cities and counties refusing to fly the new flag. Crow Wing County was the first to pass a resolution against the flag design, followed by Nobles, Houston and McLeod. The cost associated with replacing flags was cited as a concern. Even if a county opts out of supporting the official state flag, it is required in every courtroom. The 87 county courthouses are funded and overseen by the state as part of the judicial district court system. Kyle Christopherson, state court spokesman, said judicial districts worked with each county separately to determine payments for flag and seal replacements in courtrooms. Some counties fronted the bill while most were paid for by the state. The Ninth Judicial District, made up of 17 counties in northwest Minnesota, for example, paid for flag and seal replacements in all counties except Aitkin and Crow Wing. County Administrator Deborah Erickson said Crow Wing spent $10,000 to replace the state seals and nine flags in the courthouse. She sees the new state flag flying outside the Brainerd fire station on her drive to work. The county decided not to hoist the new flag at its veterans memorial, where the retired flag previously flew. Many jurisdictions didn't switch over to the new flag for practical, not political, reasons. In Dodge County, officials decided to use up their remaining stock of old flags. "It's just until the current supplies run out, then we would make the conversion," said County Administrator Jim Elmquist. The average outdoor flag lasts up to 90 days, depending on weather. A few old flags are still flying, but Elmquist said they will be replaced by fall. Faribault passed a resolution in February 2024 against the new state flag design, but the city hasn't opposed flying it since, said city spokesman Brad Phenow. "Now we've been following suit, and if we know when a flag needs to be replaced, we replace it with a new one," he said. The former state flag displayed the old state seal, which showed a white settler plowing a field while looking at a Native American man riding toward him on horseback. The imagery dates back to when Minnesota was still a territory and is viewed as a celebration of the idea that settlers were destined to take over the land. Tribes criticized that image as racist and it has long been the subject of controversy. High school students first brought these concerns to state lawmakers in 2017, but a redesign push didn't take hold until recently. A 13-member commission was given four months in late 2023 and a budget of $35,000 to redesign the flag and seal. They sifted through thousands of flag submissions from the public and narrowed it down to a finalist while making a few tweaks. The winner was a deep blue abstract shape of Minnesota with a white eight-pointed star - a nod to the state's motto, "Star of the North" - next to a block of light blue to represent Minnesota's abundance of water. The old flag was adopted in 1957, while the state seal represented Minnesota for most of the state's 166-year history. Both were replaced in 2024 on May 11 - Statehood Day. Crosslake Mayor Jackson Purfeerst cited the Native American imagery as a reason the city voted to continue flying it. "We are flying the original Minnesota state flag because of how rich Crosslake's history is with Native Americans and the tribes," Purfeerst said in a video on Facebook that garnered more than 500 comments of praise. "We have multiple Indian burial grounds all over town. We had one of the biggest battles of Native Americans on Rush Lake. ... We are honoring our history, we are honoring our culture, and we are honoring who came before us." In Babbitt, on the eastern edge of the Iron Range, the City Council first approved a measure opposing the new flag in 2024. It voted in February against flying the new flag, a decision that Councilor Jim Lassi says has garnered much community support. "Historically, we've probably had one of the most beautiful flags out of all 50 states," Lassi said. "You could tell right away that it represents Minnesota," with lakes and showy lady's slippers woven into the design. Lassi said the new flag is "ugly" and caters to "wokeness." Detroit Lakes went back and forth on the new flag. In March, the council voted in support of flying it, but then came backlash from residents and some council members. They voted again in May to not fly it, then in June decided not to fly either state flag after a tie-breaking vote from the mayor. Brian Ahlsten, who lives in Detroit Lakes and previously lived in the Twin Cities, said at the June council meeting that the new state flag doesn't represent rural Minnesota. "Some have tried to turn this into a left vs. right issue," he said. "This is more of a Twin Cities vs. greater Minnesota issue. … This flag serves to drive a wedge between us. It's a Twin Cities flag. It's not a greater Minnesota flag." Wendy Spry, who serves on the council and is an enrolled member of White Earth Nation, said the flag was changed for a reason. "This council turned its back on unity and welcomeness," she said. --- (Jana Hollingsworth, Trey Mewes and Jp Lawrence of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.) --- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vance Boelter, accused of assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman, apprehended
GREEN ISLE, MINNESOTA - JUNE 15: Law enforcement stage in a neighborhood on June 15, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota. Law enforcement agencies are searching for a suspect in the killing of DFL State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, who were shot at their home yesterday. DFL State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and hospitalized in a separate incident. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a press conference that the shooting "appears to be a politically motivated assassination." (Photo by) Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights. Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized. The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter's abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home. At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol. In the state's new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine — which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman's DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric. 'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said. 'Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.' Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin. The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid rising political violence since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats of violence against his political enemies and praised his supporters who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024. Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans' daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the Associated Press reports. At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans' home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning. When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle. Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds. In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list. Evans said Sunday that the document is not a 'traditional manifesto that's a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.' Instead, it contains a list of names and 'other thoughts' throughout. On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an interview with the Star Tribune and other media outlets, Boelter's roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be 'gone for a while' and 'may be dead shortly.' Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter's arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter's capture. On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter's wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter's family members are in custody. Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter. Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter's motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,' he said. Fragments of Boelter's life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs. Boelter's LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the New York Times reported. Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the Star Tribune reported. The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the 'director of security patrols,' and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but 'it was never a real company,' Carlson told the Strib. Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the New York Times reported. In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people. The reporting on Boelter's religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn't appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity. 'What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you're a part of, then you're going to be rewarded,' Denker said. The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a statement from Yvette. The Hoffmans' nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is 'enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a statement. On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him. On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vance Boelter, accused of assassination of DFL House leader Melissa Hortman, apprehended
Law enforcement stage in a neighborhood on June 15, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota. Shooting suspect Vance Boelter later surrendered. (Photo by) Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights. Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized. The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter's abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home. At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol. In the state's new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine — which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman's DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric. 'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said. 'Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it. Talk to a neighbor rather than argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.' Boelter is a Christian who voted for President Donald Trump and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights, according to interviews with his childhood friend and videos of his sermons posted online. A list of potential targets — including Hoffman and Hortman — included abortion providers and other Democratic elected officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin. The attack, which has shocked Minnesotans and the nation, comes amid rising political violence since the emergence of President Donald Trump, who has made repeated threats of violence against his political enemies and praised his supporters who, for instance, attacked officers while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He later pardoned all of them. He survived two assassination attempts in 2024. Authorities say Boelter attacked the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin at approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. An unsealed criminal complaint indicates that the Hoffmans' daughter called the police to report the shooting of her parents, the Associated Press reports. At around 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park police headed to the Hortmans' home to proactively check on them following the attack on the Hoffmans, said Drew Evans, superintendent at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at a press conference Saturday morning. When they arrived, the officers saw the attacker in a fake law enforcement uniform shoot Mark Hortman through the open front door, according to the complaint. Out front, emergency vehicle lights flashed from a Ford Explorer outfitted to look like a cop car. When the officers confronted the shooter, a gunfight ensued, and the killer escaped, abandoning the vehicle. Inside, Hortman and her husband, Mark, were dead from gunshot wounds. In the SUV, police found a document with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list. Evans said Sunday that the document is not a 'traditional manifesto that's a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.' Instead, it contains a list of names and 'other thoughts' throughout. On Saturday afternoon, police raided a home in north Minneapolis where Boelter lived part time. In an interview with the Star Tribune and other media outlets, Boelter's roommate and childhood friend David Carlson shared a text message Boelter sent him at 6:03 a.m. saying that he would be 'gone for a while' and 'may be dead shortly.' Federal and state warrants were out for Boelter's arrest, and the FBI was offering a $50,000 award for information that led to Boelter's capture. On Sunday morning, law enforcement officers detained and questioned Boelter's wife as she was driving through Mille Lacs County with other family members. Evans said Sunday none of Boelter's family members are in custody. Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officers located a car linked to Boelter in Sibley County within a few miles of his home address in Green Isle. From there, teams from dozens of law enforcement agencies fanned out in search of Boelter. Boelter was spotted in the area, and officers converged around him, Evans said. He declined to provide some details of the tactics used by law enforcement to capture Boelter. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate Boelter's motives, Evans said, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation…those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation,' he said. Minnesota House Democratic leader dead after targeted shooting; Democratic senator also shot Fragments of Boelter's life available online, and interviews with those who know him, shed light on his religious and political beliefs. Boelter's LinkedIn page indicates that he spent many years working in food production before becoming the general manager of a 7-Eleven. More recently, he worked at funeral homes, the New York Times reported. Boelter was facing financial stress after quitting his job to embark on business ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Carlson, the Star Tribune reported. The website for a private security firm lists Boelter as the 'director of security patrols,' and his wife as the CEO. He purchased some cars and uniforms but 'it was never a real company,' Carlson told the Strib. Carlson said Boelter is a Christian who strongly opposes abortion, the New York Times reported. In recordings of sermons Boelter delivered in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he railed against abortion and LGBTQ people. The reporting on Boelter's religious life suggests that his beliefs were rooted in fundamentalism, though he doesn't appear to have been ordained in any particular denomination, said Rev. Angela Denker, a Minnesota-based Lutheran minister, journalist and author of books on Christianity, right-wing politics and masculinity. 'What this kind of theology says is that if you commit violence in the name of whatever movement you're a part of, then you're going to be rewarded,' Denker said. The gunman shot John Hoffman nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, according to a statement from Yvette. The Hoffmans' nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook that Yvette used her body to shield her daughter. John Hoffman is 'enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a statement. On Sunday night as leaders spoke to the press, Boelter was being questioned by law enforcement, but officials declined to say where he was detained and which agency was questioning him. On the steps of the State Capitol Sunday, mourners created an extemporaneous memorial for Hortman, who will be known as one of the most consequential progressive leaders in recent state history. Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here are some of the projects funded by the $700 million infrastructure deal
Construction on the Robert Street Bridge on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Saint Paul, Minn. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/Minnesota Reformer) After bipartisan legislative leaders publicly pronounced an infrastructure bill dead for the year, they resurrected it during closed-door negotiations and shepherded the $700 million deal through the Legislature during a one-day special session Monday. The infrastructure bill is called a 'bonding bill' because the state government issues bonds — i.e. borrows money — to pay for the projects. Sixty percent of both the House and Senate must vote 'yes' to allow the state to issue bonds, so bonding bills require robust bipartisan support. This one passed 116-15 in the House and 57-10 in the Senate. The bill distributes money across the state to a wide variety of projects. In some cases, the funding will go to a state agency, which has discretion over where exactly the money goes; in other cases, lawmakers directed money to a specific project. The DFL-controlled Legislature passed a $2.6 billion infrastructure package in the 2023 session, including $1.5 billion in bonds. In 2020, lawmakers passed a $1.9 billion bonding bill. Here are the biggest-ticket items: $176 million to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority to build, upgrade and repair municipal water treatment plants. $84 million to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, mostly for asset preservation; $24 million will go toward a new transportation center at Alexandria Technical and Community College. $80 million to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, largely for road and bridge repairs. $60 million to the University of Minnesota. $67 million for a new Bureau of Criminal Apprehension headquarters in Mankato. $55 million for a new 50-bed psychiatric facility on the campus of the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center. $44 million to the Department of Natural Resources for asset preservation, accessibility, flood mitigation and more at state parks. $40 million for repairs and upgrades of state prisons. $29 million to the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority, mostly for the rehabilitation of public housing. $16 million to the Metropolitan Council, the vast majority for metro-area sewer work and $1 million for tree planting. $13.7 million to the Minnesota Zoo, mostly for a new animal hospital. $11.5 million for the Capitol complex, mostly to make one of the underground tunnels connecting the buildings compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The rest is for asset preservation and security improvements.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP scores win as Legislature repeals health care for undocumented adults
GOP scores win as Legislature repeals health care for undocumented adults originally appeared on Bring Me The News. Minnesota lawmakers voted Monday to strip MinnesotaCare health insurance from undocumented adults. The measure, which was the most controversial of the legislative session, passed both the House and Senate after leaders reached a budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown. In the evenly-divided House, DFL caucus leader Melissa Hortman was the only Democratic lawmaker to vote for the bill's passage. In the DFL-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope and others joined Republicans in voting for the bill. "I cannot vote to shut down our state, I just can't," Rest said in brief remarks on the Senate floor. "I made an agreement, I gave my word," Murphy said shortly before the vote. "I will vote for this. And it's among the most painful votes I've ever taken." The move rolls back a 2023 legislative accomplishment for Democrats, handing a major win to GOP lawmakers who refused a series of offers from DFL leaders and continued to leverage the threat of a government shutdown to get the bill across the finish line. Around 17,000 undocumented adults are currently enrolled in MinnesotaCare, which offers state-subsidized health care plans for low income people who pay premiums in exchange for coverage. The move is expected to save the state $56.9 million in the 2026-27 biennium. Opponents of the bill decried the measure as shameful and several Democratic lawmakers have said the change will cause some undocumented immigrants to die as serious health issues go undetected or untreated. Democrats have also claimed fiscal responsibility is not the motive of the GOP, as the change could drive costs associated with emergency hospital care. This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
