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Substance-use disorder clinic in Minneapolis pushing back against the opioid crisis

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Substance-use disorder clinic in Minneapolis pushing back against the opioid crisis


Clinic fighting substance abuse in Minneapolis

“You have a pump, we pump the syrup for the methadone, it’s all controlled by computer,” Dr. Sadik Ali explained to a visitor.  

For six months now, Ali has been running ‘Pathway to Recovery,’ a substance-use disorder clinic in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

He isn’t mincing words about the often-deadly impact of opioids in the city.

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“Currently, we’re averaging about 100 clients a day,” Ali says. “The growing opioid crisis our community is facing is a tragedy. There’s a devastation taking place.”

The latest numbers from Hennepin County show in 2023, there were more than 10,000 emergency room visits involving opioids and 373 opioid-related fatal overdoses.  

“This is it, man,” says Duran Warsame. “You can die any moment, so you shouldn’t be playing Russian roulette.”

The 38-year-old from Minneapolis says he’s been drug-free for five months after starting treatment at the clinic.

But for a year-and-a-half, he battled an opioid addiction.

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“It’s very dangerous, man, and not to take it lightly,” Warsame declares. “We have a lot of deaths; this thing is messing up our community. Today, it could be somebody [who] might have to die today, you know? We don’t know.”

One section of the clinic is used to dispense clean needles, along with methadone, naloxone, which reverses the effects of an overdose, and other medications used to treat substance-use disorders.

The work is outside the clinic walls as well.

“Giving out needles, doing outreach on the bridges, giving out syringes,” Ali notes. “Trying to get people resources like housing and things like that.” 

In another area, there’s an outpatient clinic, which provides counseling, vocational training, coordinates housing for about 38 people and other wraparound services.

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Ali says about 40% of his clients are from the East African community, and about one-third are from the Native American community.

On Saturday, those services included a one-day expungement clinic for people with non-violent offenses.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office has been holding the clinics around the state.

RELATED: Expungement clinic in North Minneapolis helping clear non-violent offenses from record

“Expungement means sealing your criminal records from the public view,” explains Nilushi Ranaweera, a Minnesota assistant attorney general. “So that helps people get jobs, housing, even helping parents go on field trips with their children. They have turned their lives around, paid their dues to society, but still, a 20- or a 30-year-old conviction will drag them down.”

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For Olivia Bouton of Champlin, it was a matter of sealing a misdemeanor conviction for driving with expired license plate tabs when she was 18 years old.

“It’s still better to get all that stuff off your record and have just a clean background,” she says. “Now I work in health care, so it’s not something I want to follow me around.”

The expungement procedure does not erase or destroy a person’s records, but it does seal them from public view, Ranaweera explains.

Meanwhile, Warsame is training at the clinic to be a carpenter.

He says he’s feeling hope again.

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“I’m already engaged in a project over here, helping out with the detox center, making cabinets and beds for them,” he declares. “I’m looking into the long run, building houses, traditional and modern, and maybe get into trade skills like HVAC and being an electrician. It doesn’t stop here.”

Ali showed us a number of beds and cabinets that have already been constructed by clients in the training program.

But he says the clinic is also dealing with some hard truths about finances.

About 60% of the facility’s services are billable — Ali says the rest of the costs come out of his own pocket.

He hopes to open a detox unit in May, but right now, he doesn’t have the funds to do it.

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“Just to build and renovate this place, we spent about $1.94 million,” Ali explains. “This place was gutted out, and this is what you see now.”

He says he’s applying for grants and hopes he can get some financial help from the state and Hennepin County.

Ali also hopes the area’s political leaders and the public are listening.  

“We’ve been begging for help. We want to get this detox up and running,” he declares. “This is not going away, and it doesn’t matter if we put our heads in the sand. It’s like trying to drain a sea with a bucket of water. And you can’t do it alone.”

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Minneapolis, MN

Man killed over Louie Vuitton bag, suspect was on bond for suspected carjacking, charges say

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Man killed over Louie Vuitton bag, suspect was on bond for suspected carjacking, charges say


Minneapolis police are investigating a homicide on Feb. 24, 2026.  (FOX 9)

A man is dead after a witness said he refused to give up a Louis Vuitton bag while being robbed by multiple men at gunpoint. 

Abdirahman Khayre Khayre, 20, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree robbery for the incident that happened on the evening of Feb. 24 in Minneapolis. 

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READ MORE: Man fatally shot in south Minneapolis apartment building

Fatal Minneapolis shooting after robbery 

The set-up:

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Minneapolis police responded around 10:42 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Abbott Apartments, located on the 100 block of East 18th Street in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Officers then found a dead man in the lobby who had been shot multiple times. 

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A witness to the shooting said he and the victim arrived at the apartments to “hang out” with Khayre, according to the criminal complaint. 

The witness said he became suspicious when Khayre he left the room multiple times and “appeared to be stalling.”

The robbery:

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The complaint states the witness reported three men then came into the room and yelled “Give me everything.” The men were armed with Glock handguns that had extended magazines as well as an AR-style rifle.

They then stole two guns from the witness, and one of them was handed to Khayre.

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When the men demanded a Louis Vuitton bag from the victim, he refused, leading to a fight between them all.

The shooting:

The witness said when he walked toward them, Khayre pointed the witness’ stolen gun at him and racked it. 

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The witness then got out of the room, ran toward the lobby and heard multiple gunshots. He then saw two of the men flee out the back of the building, but didn’t see what direction they went in.

The victim was then found dead. 

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The aftermath:

Khayre was then identified by the witness in a photo lineup, according to the criminal complaint. 

Police say video footage corroborated much of what the witness reported.

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Khayre was on conditional release for a suspected carjacking at the time of the shooting, according to the complaint. 

The Source: This story uses information gathered from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County and previous FOX 9 reporting. 

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Minnesota’s Iranian community: Mixed emotions on US-Israel strike

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Minnesota’s Iranian community: Mixed emotions on US-Israel strike


The local Iranian community in Minnesota is expressing mixed emotions following the recent joint U.S.-Israel strike on Iran.

Local reactions to the strike

What we know:

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The strike resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to President Donald Trump and Iranian state media. Many Iranians in Minnesota feel this could lead to freedom for their country.

Nazanin Naferipoor shared that her sister in Iran was initially happy about the strike, believing it might bring about freedom. However, communication has been cut off since the strike began, leaving many worried about their loved ones.

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The other side:

Hamid Kashani from the Minnesota Committee in Support of a Democratic Iran expressed mixed feelings about the strike. While he hopes for change, he is concerned about the potential loss of innocent lives.

Fazy Kowsari emphasized that the attack targeted the government, not the religion, and criticized the political motivations behind the strike.

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Upcoming rally at Nicollet Mall

Why you should care:

A rally is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at Nicollet Mall and 11th Street. Organizers view the U.S. strike as a rescue operation for Iranians held hostage by the regime, rather than an act of war.

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Ex-MN Twins Pitcher Sentenced For Shooting His In-Laws

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Ex-MN Twins Pitcher Sentenced For Shooting His In-Laws


AUBURN, CA — Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his father-in-law and attempting to murder his mother-in-law in a 2021 ambush-style shooting at a Lake Tahoe-area home.

A Placer County jury previously found Serafini, 51, guilty of fatally shooting 70-year-old Gary Spohr and seriously wounding Spohr’s wife, 68-year-old Wendy Wood, on June 5, 2021, at their home on the lake’s west shore. Wood survived the attack but died a year later.

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said that Spohr and Wood were loving grandparents and detailed how Serafini’s crimes had affected the couple’s family members and friends.

“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.

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On the day of the shooting, Serafini’s wife, the victims’ daughter, had taken the children to the lake to visit their grandparents.

Prosecutors said the deadly ambush stemmed from a dispute over a $1.3 million investment in a ranch renovation project. The victims had reportedly contributed the money.

In one text message shown in court, Serafini wrote, “I’m gonna kill them one day,” referencing a dispute over $21,000, prosecutors said.

He also sent other threatening messages, including “I will be coming after you” and “Take me to court,” according to ABC10.

Jurors also found Serafini guilty of several “special circumstance” sentencing enhancements, including lying in wait, use of a firearm, and that the attack was willful, deliberate and premeditated. He was also convicted of first-degree burglary.

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Prosecutors had also charged Serafini with child endangerment, saying he put his infant and toddler sons at risk by having a gun in the home. Jurors found him not guilty on that count.

The case also involved a second defendant, 33-year-old Samantha Scott, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory in February, according to the New York Post.

A left-hander, Serafini was a 1992 first-round pick for the Minnesota Twins. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies, pitching for six MLB teams over seven seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.





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