Minnesota
Minnesota woman walking again 4 years after being paralyzed: “I wasn’t going to let myself down”
CRYSTAL, Minn. — Life can change in an instant — Jen Kelly knows that firsthand.
Kelly started riding horses when she was just 8 years old. As an equestrian with years of experience, she’s taken a tumble or two — until a tumble in September 2020.
“It happened quickly and I landed on my face,” Kelly said. “I had been instantly paralyzed from the back down.”
Kelly broke three vertebrae in her neck and crushed her spinal cord. Facing the fear of never walking again, five words from her doctor kept her going: “You’re going to walk again.”
“Those were literally and figuratively my marching orders from there on out,” Kelly said.
Kelly spent months at North Memorial and then spent rehab at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.
“Walking is exceptionally complex,” Dr. Mandy DeRasmi with Courage Kenny said. “It’s a lot of coordination and balance and strength.”
At Courage Kenny, Kelly had access to cutting-edge technology and top neurosurgeons. Day after day, Kelly put in the work.
“She always wanted to try new things,” DeRasmi said. “She would do research on her own and come to me and be like ‘Oh, what do you think about this? What do you think about this? What do you think about this? Should I try this? Should I but this?’”
Throughout it all, it was Kelly’s mindset that stood out to doctors.
“You can tell a difference with the patients that have a little bit of gumption to them,” DeRasmi said.
Kelly had both gumption and gratitude.
“I really pushed hard and I really expected a lot from myself,” Kelly said. “And I wasn’t going to let myself down, let alone the others who support me. The new normal is about being grateful for the ‘yay moments.’ When I first recovering, something as simple as holding a toothbrush was amazing.”
Those small yay moments led to big ones.
“To see my horse again, to pet him, to talk to him, and to be in the barn and smell the hay and smell the horses,” Kelly said. “Year, that was a real milestone moment for me.”
While Kelly is now walking, her recovery will be a life long endeavor and healing process. She said she will continue to focus on her mobility , balance an strength.
“There’s really two paths you can take,” she said. “You can take I the discouraged depressed place and that really is self pity, or you can look outward and that’s about gratitude. So, I chose the gratitude path.”
Kelly hopes her story touches just one person, then it’s all worth it. Someday, she wants to write a book.
Police in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, are searching for a suspect after an individual was injured in a shooting following an altercation on Friday morning.
Officers responded to the 3300 block of 76th Street around 2:45 a.m. for a report of shots fired and a person who had been hit by gunfire, according to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. They found the 911 caller, who was struck by a bullet. They were taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, officials said.
Investigators said the suspect was trying to get into the vehicle of the caller. Both individuals shot at each other after a short verbal altercation, according to police.
The suspect, whose description has yet to be disclosed by law enforcement, left the scene on foot.
Police are asking area residents who have video of the shooting or the suspect to email the footage to them.
Anyone who sees the suspect is urged not to approach them and to call 911. According to police, they are considered armed and dangerous.
Can you park in your own driveway with a pickup truck? HOA answers
Can you park in your own driveway with a pickup truck? HOA answers
A bipartisan bill limiting homeowners’ association fees, implementing new transparency and conflict-of-interest rules and establishing a path to dissolve some HOAs passed the Minnesota Senate Wednesday. The bill (SF1750) now heads to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk for final approval.
Homeowners in Minnesota have faced massive charges from their HOAs for questionable construction projects, like new roofs and siding. A 2025 Reformer investigation found that some HOA management companies hired their own subsidiaries to complete expensive construction projects. In at least one case, a homeowner wound up in foreclosure due to hefty assessments.
The bill passed by the Senate — and previously, by the House — would cap HOA fines at $100, with exceptions for repeat violations, health and safety risks, property damage or illegal rentals. It would require board members and property managers to disclose their financial relationships and recuse themselves from decisions from which they could financially benefit.
If signed into law by Walz, it would also require HOAs to make budgets available prior to meetings and to provide copies of contracts to residents upon request.
Multiple homeowners interviewed by the Reformer said that their questions for their HOA were referred to the board’s attorney — and then the resident was charged legal fees for the lawyers’ time.
The bill would bar HOAs from charging residents legal fees for questioning fines or charges unless a formal hearing is held and the fine or assessment is upheld.
The legislation is the product of years of collaboration and negotiations among homeowners, HOA board members, lawmakers and property management companies. In 2024, the Legislature created a working group tasked with proposing reforms to the state’s laws governing HOAs and similar organizations. Lawmakers on the task force held several listening sessions to hear homeowners’ horror stories (and support for HOAs via some dedicated board members).
The recommendations from that group became the foundation of the bill passed Wednesday.
“The reforms in this bill will rein in abusive HOAs by empowering residents with more information, more rights and more protections,” said Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, the top Republican on the Senate housing committee and a member of the HOA working group. “This bill is a true bipartisan compromise — in addition to adding consumer protections, nearly every concern raised in good faith was addressed.”
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
The Minnesota Humanities Center has awarded more than $2.8 million in legacy grants for 43 festivals around the state.
This is the second year the Minnesota Legislature has provided funds from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. The Humanities Center received 141 applications and $14,149,967 in requests for proposed projects. The average grant request was $101,475 and 35 percent of applicants were outside of the seven-county metro area.
“I am thankful for the hard work of our review panels in reviewing the applications submitted,” said CEO Kevin Lindsey in a news release. “Funding will support the many unique, diverse and wonderful festivals in Minnesota that build our community and make our state an amazing place to live.”
St. Paul organizations that received funding include: 825 Arts ($122,700), Arts Us Center for the African Diaspora ($49,380), Full Circle Theatre Company ($51,250), India Association of Minnesota ($20,000), Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center ($40,000), International Festival of Minnesota ($194,250), Mizna ($55,000), Monarch Joint Venture ($37,840), Music Mission ($14,545), New Native Theatre ($114,500), Rondo Avenue Inc. ($80,000), Selby Avenue Jazz Festival ($100,000), the United Hmong ($220,000), Twin Cities Jazz Festival ($150,000), Walker West Music Academy ($100,000) and Westside Boosters Youth Athletic Club ($220,000).
Minneapolis organizations include: BIPOC Foodways Alliance ($62,160), Friends of Global Market, Inc. ($25,000), Minnesota People of Color LGBT Pride ($20,000), MSP Film Society ($100,000), Northeast Mpls Art Association ($38,067), Oromo Diaspora Media ($37,972), PCYC ($50,035), Rebound, Inc. ($24,825), SEAD Project ($82,800), Somali Museum ($56,366) and West Broadway Business and Area Coalition ($24,000).
Other groups in the metro that received funding include: Bloomington Pride ($10,000) and Tehor Tibetan Organization of MN ($24,000) in Bloomington; South St. Paul’s Dance Projects by ME ($50,000); Hiddo Soor International Organization ($55,000) and Pan Asian Arts Alliance ($49,800) in Plymouth; Minnesota Vietnamese Language School in Roseville ($16,500); and Brooklyn Park’s Umunne Cultural Association ($60,000).
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