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Comer to say Tim Walz ‘enabled fraud,’ failed whistleblowers in bombshell Minnesota hearing

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Comer to say Tim Walz ‘enabled fraud,’ failed whistleblowers in bombshell Minnesota hearing

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House Oversight Committee Republicans are readying to confront Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison at a high-stakes hearing on welfare fraud Wednesday morning.

“While Governor Walz hesitated, taxpayers lost billions. Attorney General Ellison has likewise claimed his office was aggressively holding fraudsters accountable, but when his statements were tested against the record, they fell apart,” Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will say, according to prepared opening remarks obtained by Fox News Digital.

“We have spoken with over thirty whistleblowers, many of them current employees and Democrats, who say they were ignored, retaliated against, and even surveilled for raising concerns. Instead of protecting the whistleblowers, the Walz administration protected the system that enabled fraud.”

Hours before the hearing kicked off, the committee released a 53-page report that accused both Walz and Ellison of knowing about the fraud allegations far earlier than previously thought.

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of retaliating against whistleblowers who tried to bring attention to fraud in Minnesota. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“While the Committee continues to review documents and meet with whistleblowers, it is evident that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud in federal programs administered by the State of Minnesota much earlier than they told the American people,” the report said.

“Transcribed interviews with current and former public officials from the State of Minnesota have confirmed that Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison would have been aware of fraud in the [Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)] and high-risk Medicaid programs administered by DHS as early as spring 2019 and fraud in [state food aid] programs administered by [the Minnesota Department of Education] as early as April 2020.”

Both Walz and Ellison previously pushed back on any accusations that they knowingly allowed fraud in Minnesota’s social programs and have accused Republicans of politicizing the situation.

TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWERS

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The high-profile hearing is the culmination of a monthslong probe by the House Oversight Committee targeting allegations of fraud in Minnesota.

The panel previously interviewed current and former officials within the state’s government, including those focused on food aid. 

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Feb. 12, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged multiple people with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future. However, the probe has since widened to multiple state-run programs being investigated for potential fraud. Childcare providers receiving state funding, mainly within the Somali community, are also under scrutiny.

WALZ SLAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR TEMPORARILY HALTING MEDICAID FUNDING TO MINNESOTA: ‘CAMPAIGN OF RETRIBUTION’

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And the committee’s report accused the state’s progressive leadership of ignoring evidence of fraud in a bid to appease the Somali community in Minneapolis.

“The Committee has found that Minnesota lacked adequate oversight efforts to verify that taxpayer dollars were being used appropriately and could have stopped the flow of money to fraudsters at any time but chose not to for fear of political retribution from the politically active Somali community,” the report said.

“Further legislative efforts at the federal level are necessary to prevent this massive waste, fraud, and abuse of federal dollars from ever happening again.”

In his opening statement, Comer will call the scandal “one of the most extensive breakdowns of oversight this Committee has ever examined.”

“Billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen from social services programs while warnings piled up, whistleblowers spoke out, and state officials chose delay and denial over action,” he will say. 

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“Federal prosecutors estimate that as much as $9 billion may have been stolen from just fourteen Medicaid programs administered by the State of Minnesota. As our investigation has shown, it happened because state leadership failed, repeatedly, to intervene. What we’ve uncovered in Minnesota is not a paperwork error or a few bad actors slipping through the cracks. It is a sustained failure of leadership.”

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Meanwhile, Democrats on the committee have accused Comer of trying to distract from the fallout of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis — including the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.

“I encourage folks to watch those videos and see what’s happened for themselves. And I’m hopeful that this committee investigates this incident and that we have full accountability,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said during a previous hearing on Minnesota fraud.

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Detroit, MI

A newspaper seller with a giving nature is David Woods’ legacy

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A newspaper seller with a giving nature is David Woods’ legacy



Angelette Green has sold newspapers in Detroit for many years. But lately the news she has shared has focused on one person, the late David Woods, who sold papers for Woods at an iconic location.

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  • The article pays tribute to David Woods, a beloved newspaper hawker who worked for Angelette Green and recently passed away.
  • Friends and family remember David Woods as a giving, loyal, and dependable presence in the community.

In today’s world, where most Americans and people around the globe get their news from digital devices, Detroiter Angelette Green represents something much different.

And in the process, she’s providing living proof that old school printed newspapers still have a dedicated audience.

On most weekdays, often during odd hours, while working for an independent contractor, Green plays an important role in making printed newspapers — including the Detroit Free Press — available in the Detroit market by delivering papers to area gas stations and other businesses that sell the papers.

Then on Sundays, Green can be found outdoors across the Detroit area, at newsstands that primarily sell the Sunday Free Press, which each have “hawkers” (salespeople) that work for Green, who drives her team members to their locations in a van.

Green provides chairs for her hawkers at each newsstand, but says sitting is not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to selling Sunday newspapers.

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“If I come by and see one of my people just sitting, I’ll say: ‘If I was a lion, huntin’, I wouldn’t miss my meal, because you’re not moving,” stated Green, a 1974 Mackenzie High School graduate who worked in the electronics department for Texas Instruments in two Texas towns for 19 years before returning to Detroit in 2002, which set the stage for her newspaper journey.

Green continued: “Mostly, people work for the tips. I pay them, but they make more money with the tips, especially if you’ve been at a spot for a long time. That’s why you need to move around so the people can see you.”  

But it’s what (or rather, who) folks didn’t see Sunday, May 24, on the corner of Seven Mile Road and Livernois, in the heart of the Avenue of Fashion, that had folks talking.

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David Woods, the gentle giant hawker who worked for Green, stood watch over the newsstand on that corner for years. He died May 13 at the age of 37.

“Dave was a giving person and a quality human being,” Green said fondly of her friend, who became a part of her Sunday newspaper hawking team around 2009 and later became a familiar face and presence for drivers, bikers and pedestrians alike. “Dave didn’t wave the papers around, but he built up a clientele here on this corner because customers always knew that he would be here — through rain, sleet, snow and any other kind of weather.

“We could always count on Dave every Sunday. And he was the same way when it came to his family and friends. Dave’s mother passed when he was 14 and he was kind of incorporated into another family. Dave became like a father figure to the younger children, and when that mother passed, Dave stepped all the way up for the younger kids. He was just an awesome man and I’m going to miss the heck out of him — Dave, Dave, Dave.”

Green’s respect for Woods drove her to take on yet another responsibility on May 24 as she stood in for Woods at the newsstand, informing everyone she knew with a connection to Woods about his funeral service, which was scheduled to take place on May 27 at the Hutchinson Funeral Home in Detroit.

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In one instance, the person Green informed was as close to Woods as she was.

“Big Dave was like family and we were cool from Day 1,” Green’s brother, Orlando, recalled about the impression Woods made on him, his sister and their late father David Green, when Woods joined the Green’s family newspaper business.

“Big Dave was just a loyal, cool, giving, gentle giant. The people loved Big Dave. And once he settled in at Seven Mile and Livernois, nothing bad ever happened at that corner.”

It was at that corner, which decades ago was the home to two former anchor businesses on the Avenue of Fashion — Revco drugstore and B. Siegel Department Store — where a Detroiter, who wished to be known only as Dexter F., learned from Angelette Green that Woods had died.

“I met Dave about seven or eight years ago, right at this corner, as he was giving out papers and he received me,” said Dexter F., whose Detroit Tigers cap featured a miniature Dexter Avenue street sign attached to it. “Dave was a giver, a good spirit and a love spirit. And I’m going to miss him.”

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As Dexter F. spoke during the morning of May 24, the voice of Misty Taylor could be heard in the background when drivers made quick stops at the corner to purchase newspapers.

Taylor said she was more than happy to give her cousin, Angelette Green, a hand with selling papers. And when the traffic near the corner became less busy, Taylor also was happy to share her thoughts about Woods.

“I’ve been around David several times through the years dealing with these papers and he was a wonderful, spiritual young man,” the 64-year-old Taylor recalled. “He was warm at heart with an intelligent mind. David was just an outward good person.

“I’m happy to come back and fill in, but he will be missed.”

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Later in the morning, Taylor was in need of a restroom break, so she borrowed some of the goodwill that Woods had established somewhat recently with Lily’s & Elise Tea House, at 19037 Livernois, where retired Detroit fireman and Vietnam Navy veteran John Miller would bring water out to Woods on Sundays when Miller was helping out at his granddaughter’s business.

Those who knew Woods well say it was only fitting that Miller helped to take care of Woods’ hydration needs on Sundays because giving was something that Woods specialized in — particularly away from his appointed newsstand.

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“When it came to taking care of people with food, Dave always came through,” said Ron Goss, who sells Sunday newspapers at the corner of Curtis and Myers in northwest Detroit and also is Woods’ cousin. “Even if there wasn’t enough food to make an extra plate for someone, he would find enough.”

Like Goss, Detroiter Tiara Boyette had a longtime relationship with Woods that spanned more than 20 years. During that time, Woods no doubt shared his food with Boyette on many occasions. But on Memorial Day evening, Boyette wanted to talk about another form of nourishment that Woods, a proud father of two, provided.

“Though we did not share blood, we shared a bond built on love, loyalty, and years of memories that I will cherish forever,” Boyette said. “David was someone who protected the people he loved, showed up when it mattered, and made those around him feel cared for.

“Losing him has been heartbreaking, especially knowing there were still so many plans, conversations, and moments ahead of us that will never come. I will always be grateful for the time we shared and for the love he gave so freely. David will forever hold a special place in my heart and will never be forgotten.”

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Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.



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Milwaukee, WI

NCAA baseball tournament: Milwaukee drills UCF in Auburn Regional

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NCAA baseball tournament: Milwaukee drills UCF in Auburn Regional


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  • The Milwaukee Panthers defeated the UCF Knights in the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s Auburn Regional.
  • Milwaukee’s offense scored nine early runs, capitalizing on five extra-base hits and five walks.
  • UCF faces an elimination game against the host team and No. 4 national seed, Auburn.

Milwaukee proved its offensive outburst in the Auburn Regional opener was no fluke, though UCF’s pitchers certainly aided the Panthers’ efforts on May 30.

The Horizon League champs tagged the Knights for five extra-base hits and capitalized on five walks in the first three innings to cruise for a 13-6 victory at Plainsman Park. Milwaukee (27-31) sits in the driver’s seat to become just the 10th regional No. 4 seed to advance to supers in NCAA baseball tournament history.

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UCF (32-22) will meet Auburn (39-20) at 3 p.m. Sunday in an elimination game. The winner will turn around and face Milwaukee at 8, needing to upend the Panthers twice.

Milwaukee scored the game’s first nine runs to win for the 22nd time in their last 30 games. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead the day before to stun Auburn.

Andrew Williamson demolished his fourth home run of the regional to lead off the sixth inning, a 443-foot blast with an exit velocity of 110 mph off the bat. Evan Jones gave the Knights a chance at an improbable comeback with a career-high 4⅓ innings of two-run relief.

Here are three takeaways from an untimely upset that puts the Knights on the brink of elimination.

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UCF had no answers for the top of Milwaukee’s order

Milwaukee’s big bats at the top of the lineup set the tone and proved to be near-impossible outs for UCF’s pitchers.

Panthers leadoff hitter Grant Ross reached base in each of his five plate appearances, including an unorthodox solo home run deflected off the head of UCF center fielder De’Amez Ross — reminiscent of an infamous 1993 José Canseco blooper in Cleveland.

“We’re just gritty, man. We’re grinding it out,” Grant Ross told the ESPN+ broadcast crew after the game. “We knew we had the talent all along. It’s just clicking.”

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Charlie Marion singled twice, walked twice, was hit by a pitch and scored twice. Dylan O’Connell smacked doubles in his first two at-bats and drove in four runs.

The Panthers chased Mateo Gray after 1⅓ innings. He found the strike zone on just 13 of his 27 pitches, allowing three hits and three earned runs. UCF burned through five of its bullpen arms, a potentially problematic situation for the rest of the weekend.

Home plate umpire exits after taking foul tip off mask

Play was halted for 20 minutes in the second inning when home plate umpire Blake Felix absorbed a foul ball off the face mask — a fastball thrown by Milwaukee starter Aric Ehmke that UCF catcher Zak Skinner tipped.

Felix was visibly shaken up, and he met with the on-site athletic training staff before heading into the dugout. He underwent testing for a concussion and did not return, replaced behind the plate by second base umpire Travis Carlson.

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Alan Gorewitz filled the void at second base for the remainder of the evening.

UCF faces elimination against No. 4 national seed Auburn

The Knights will need to knock out the fourth-ranked team in the country to keep hope of a first trip to supers alive.

Auburn rebounded to eliminate NC State in a 17-13 slugfest in earlier action Saturday. Five Tigers had multi-hit games; Ethin Bingaman and Cade Belyeu each homered twice, and Chase Fralick drove in six RBIs.

UCF has a 5-6 all-time record against the Tigers, though it swept a three-game series at Plainsman Park during the abbreviated 2020 season.

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Auburn’s pitching staff has allowed 26 runs through two regional games. During the regular season, the Tigers ranked fourth in Division I with a 3.45 ERA.



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Minneapolis, MN

Mamdani’s housing plan is inspired by YIMBY darlings, like Austin and Minneapolis

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Mamdani’s housing plan is inspired by YIMBY darlings, like Austin and Minneapolis


New York City has gone YIMBY.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his new housing plan on May 26, with an agenda to build 200,000 new affordable homes, convert existing hotels and office buildings into low-cost apartments, and support the city’s tenants against “bad landlords.” He has endeared himself to the pro-housing, “yes in my backyard” cohort.

The scale of the mayor’s affordable housing plans is ambitious, especially for a city as populous and expensive as New York. But City Hall has some tangible inspiration. As Mamdani repeated in a series of press conferences this week, NYC needs to be more like Austin and Minneapolis. Seattle, Vienna, and Auckland also got honorable mentions.

What these cities have in common is fewer zoning regulations and more housing investment from local governments. One of the biggest drivers of skyrocketing housing costs in New York and cities across the country is simple supply and demand: There isn’t enough housing for everyone who wants it, allowing home sellers and landlords to hike prices for scarce goods. Some cities that built big have seen rent and home price growth slow or even reverse. Mamdani and pro-building advocates hope that the same can happen in the Big Apple.

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“Let the lessons other cities have learned guide our future,” the mayor said to a crowd in Astoria, Queens. “Let our size be our strength. Let us implement these policies at scale. Let the largest city in the nation deliver the largest housing transformation this country has ever seen.”

Other cities show that increased housing supply lowers cost

Other big cities — both in the US and internationally — have tried similar strategies to boost housing access. Mamdani has pointed to the success of Minneapolis’ “2040 plan,” which focused on growing housing supply with new, denser builds and increased options for low- and middle-income residents. A paper by researchers at Middlebury College estimated that rents and home prices in the Twin City were 17% to 34% lower than they would have been without the reforms.

Austin successfully lowered median rents by 18.2% between their 2022 peak and 2026 — a difference of $302 per month, a Realtor.com report found. The key reason was an increase in supply coupled with slowing demand: The city invested in building more homes, and migration to Austin dipped compared to COVID-era highs.

Seattle, meanwhile, made zoning reforms to encourage affordable housing and protect tenants. Vienna heavily subsidizes more than half of the city’s housing supply, keeping rents low. And Auckland passed legislation to make it easier to build homes and invest in urban infrastructure.

Nikolai Fedak, president and founder of the organization New York YIMBY, told Business Insider that Mamdani’s plan is “an excellent first step” to address the housing crisis, and he would like to see the mayor push more market-rate development in neighborhoods with easy access to train and bus lines.

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“It is fantastic to see a Mayor begin to embrace the reality of supply and demand curves but we have much farther to go,” he said. “And the best and easiest step to make this happen would be razing and replacing neighborhoods of single-family mansions sitting on some of the most valuable and transit-accessible real estate in the entire country.”

Mamdani has committed billions of dollars to increase NYC’s housing supply, which may help meet demand and encourage more affordable rents. His plan to freeze the rent on the 44% of the city’s apartments that are stabilized, however, risks pushing up prices for unstabilized units. St. Paul tried something similar, and one study found that the policy largely cut costs more for higher-income renters, and the rent control was eventually walked back in favor of building new homes.

Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the nonprofit Groundwork Collaborative, told Business Insider that Mamdani’s plan “centers around one goal: growth,” and the success of these housing projects depends on buy-in from the public and private sectors. Cutting outdated regulations is a good start, he said.

Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel — a NYC resident himself — added that he appreciates Mamdani’s “yes, and” approach to housing, and said that the mayor has done a solid job with policies that both incentivize developers to build more affordably and appeal to the YIMBY contingent: “To thread that needle is difficult,” he said.

Building large-scale affordable housing is a heavy lift. There are funding hurdles at both the City Council and state level, alongside longstanding zoning restrictions that can prevent new construction or the conversion of existing commercial buildings. In NYC, where half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, it’s also challenging to make that housing accessible.

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The recent overturning of a longtime state cap on home construction in NYC will allow more homes to be built, City Hall has said, and the mayor is working with the state and federal government to ensure future funding for housing projects. The administration also plans to build dense housing on property the city already owns, reducing some cost and regulatory barriers.

“New York City will build,” Mamdani said. “And then New York City will build some more.”





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