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Minnesota faces funding deadline after Trump administration freezes childcare payments

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Minnesota faces funding deadline after Trump administration freezes childcare payments

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Minnesota officials have until next week to turn over information on childcare providers and parents receiving federal funds or risk losing federal childcare funding, according to a notice sent to providers.

Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) told childcare providers in an email Friday that information about funding recipients must be sent to the federal government by Jan. 9, The Associated Press reported.

The notification came after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday it will freeze all childcare payments to Minnesota following fraud allegations involving some childcare centers.

“We recognize the alarm and questions this has raised,” DCYF said in the email. “We found out about the freezing of funds at the same time everyone else did on social media.”

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MINNESOTA FRAUD COMMITTEE CHAIR CLAIMS WALZ ‘TURNED A BLIND EYE’ TO FRAUD WARNINGS FOR YEARS

HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced the halt of childcare subsidies to Minnesota on Dec. 30. (HHSTV1 via YouTube)

The DCYF instructed providers and families relying on the frozen funds to continue the program’s “licensing and certification requirements and practices as usual.” The email does not say if recipients need to take any action or provide any information.

The state agency said it “did not receive a formal communication from the federal government until late Tuesday night,” after the DHS announced it would freeze all childcare payments to Minnesota.

All states must submit additional verification before receiving more childcare funding.

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CNN ROASTED FOR ‘EFFORT TO DISCREDIT’ SHIRLEY’S VIRAL REPORTING ON ALLEGED FRAUD AT MINNESOTA DAYCARE CENTERS

Nick Shirley upended the news cycle last week with a 42-minute video investigating Minnesota daycare centers that appeared inactive despite receiving millions of dollars in government funding.  (Nick Shirley)

On Friday, the DCYF said the state Office of Inspector General conducted on-site compliance checks this week at nine childcare centers referenced in a viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley, who was accusing them of committing fraud.

In his video, Shirley visited several Minnesota childcare facilities, including the Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, which he said appeared inactive despite receiving state childcare assistance funds.

Investigators found the centers operating “as expected,” according to DYCF, and children were present at all sites except for one, which it said was not yet open for families at the time of the visit.

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The department said it has ongoing investigations at four of the centers, and has 55 open investigations involving providers receiving funding through the Child Care Assistance Program.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST SAYS HE’S GOTTEN DEATH THREATS, TOLD HE’LL BE ‘KIRKED’ OVER MINNESOTA FRAUD VIRAL VIDEO

Children sleep during nap time at Minnesota Child Care in Minneapolis, Minn., on Dec. 30. (Renee Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

At a news conference Monday, Minnesota DCYF Commissioner Tikki Brown said prior inspections of the centers did not uncover fraud, noting that regulators are conducting unannounced visits in response to concerns raised by the video.

“We are aware of a video that’s being circulated that has gained local and national attention about childcare centers in Minnesota,” Brown said. “While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Milwaukee, WI

Where to watch San Antonio Spurs vs Milwaukee Bucks: Live stream, start time, TV channel, odds for Saturday, March 28

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Where to watch San Antonio Spurs vs Milwaukee Bucks: Live stream, start time, TV channel, odds for Saturday, March 28


The San Antonio Spurs can clinch no worse than the Western Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed with a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in an afternoon matinee game on Amazon.San Antonio is heavily favored with a moneyline of -2500, while Milwaukee is at +1100.

How to watch San Antonio Spurs vs. Milwaukee Bucks

  • Time: 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT

  • Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.

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Team records

  • San Antonio Spurs: 55-18 (No. 1 in Southwest Division)

  • Milwaukee Bucks: 29-43 (No. 3 in Central Division)

Odds

  • Spread: San Antonio Spurs -18.5

  • Moneyline: Milwaukee Bucks +1100) / San Antonio Spurs -2500



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Minneapolis, MN

Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump

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Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump


ST. PAUL, Minn. — Organizers of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies across the country are predicting that the protests against the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration could add up to one of the largest demonstrations in U.S. history, with Minnesota taking center stage.

Organizers say more than 3,100 events have been registered in all 50 states, with more than 9 million people expected to participate.

And they’ve designated the rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul as the national flagship event, in recognition of how the state where federal agents fatally shot two people who were monitoring Trump’s immigration crackdown became an epicenter of resistance.

Headlining that observance will be Bruce Springsteen, performing “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote in response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter. Springsteen’s Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, which has a “No Kings” theme, kicks off Tuesday in Minneapolis.

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Minnesota organizers have told state officials they expect 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol grounds, where last June’s event drew an estimated 80,000 people.

The St. Paul rally will also feature singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda,Sen. Bernie Sanders and a long list of other activists, labor leaders and elected officials.

The White House dismissed the nationwide protests as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.

“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Rallies are also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events, said in an interview. Countries with constitutional monarchies call the protests “No Tyrants,” he said.

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For those unable to attend in person, another activist group, Stand Up For Science, is hosting a “virtual and accessible” event online.

National organizers told reporters in an online news conference Thursday that they expect Saturday’s protests to be larger than the first two rounds of No Kings rallies, which they estimate drew more than 5 million people in June and more than 7 million in October.

“This administration’s actions are angering not just Democratic voters or folks in big blue city centers – they are crossing a line for people in red and rural areas, in the suburbs, all over the country,” said Leah Greenberg, the other co-executive director of Indivisible. “The defining story of this Saturday’s mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting,”

Two-thirds of the RSVPs have come from outside of major urban centers, Greenberg said, listing registration surges in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in competitive suburban areas of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

“Millions of us are rising up from all walks of life, from rural communities to big cities at No Kings,” said Katie Bethell, executive director of MoveOn, another major organizer. “And as we do so, we will send the loudest, clearest message yet that this country does not belong to kings, dictators, tyrants. It belongs to us.”

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Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



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Indianapolis, IN

Love & fouls: How Ex-Pacers Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson were greeted in Indy

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Love & fouls: How Ex-Pacers Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson were greeted in Indy


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  • Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson received a warm welcome and a tribute video in their first return to Indiana.
  • Mathurin engaged in friendly trash talk with his former teammates, particularly Andrew Nembhard.
  • The Pacers traded the players due to roster needs and future contract and luxury tax considerations.

INDIANAPOLIS — Before they were traded together to the Clippers in February along with draft picks for Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown, Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson had both spent their entire NBA careers in Indiana.

The Pacers took Jackson in the first round of the 2021 draft and Mathurin in 2022. Jackson, who spent just one year at Kentucky before entering the draft, made his NBA debut at 19. Mathurin, who spent two years at Arizona was 20. Both of them viewed Indianapolis as the place where they became men and professionals.

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So it meant a lot to them that they were warmly received in their first game back after the trade. The Pacers put together a tribute video combining their highlights and played it during the first timeout of Friday’s game, which the Clippers eventually won 114-113. Mathurin and Jackson got a big ovation then each got one again when they checked in the game off the bench.

“It meant the world,” Mathurin said. “It meant the world. Indy is my first home. I was able to get drafted over here and just being loved by the fans and most of the organization was great. I love the fans.”

There was clearly love from his teammates too, though it looked a lot different than the appreciation he got from the fanbase.

Mathurin was famous during his time at Indiana for his competitive nature and trash talk. He’s supremely confident in his game and driven by a desire to beat everyone at every competitive endeavor all the time. He talked trash with teammates who were guarding him in practice, telling anyone who tried that they couldn’t guard him, so naturally he did the same when they were taking him on in an actual game. It wasn’t clear exactly what words were being exchanged between Mathurin and his former teammates, but it was clear there were a lot of them.

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“Always talk trash with Benn,” Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith said with a smile. “There was nothing that we hadn’t done before.”

The back-and-forth was particularly fiery between Mathurin and Pacers point guard Andrew Nembhard, Mathurin’s classmate from the 2022 NBA draft. Nembhard took on the assignment of guarding Mathurin whenever the two were in the game and he made a point to be physical with Mathurin, so much so that he seemed more willing to foul Mathurin than allow him to shoot. Nembhard picked up five fouls in 32 minutes — most of them on Mathurin — while Mathurin made 0 of 3 field goals in the first half and 2 of 8 for the game but also made 12 of 15 free throws for 17 points.

“It was fun, man,” Mathurin said. “He was talking a lot of crap. I did pretty well for an off night. He called it an off night. I don’t know. He couldn’t guard me. How many fouls did he have? Stop fouling me, you know what I’m saying? That’s the only way to stop me. But that’s my guy, man. That guy has a really, really bright future ahead of him. I consider him my brother. He’s got a lot of great things coming to his way. I’m super-blessed to compete against him. … He’s one of the best defenders in the league.”

The Pacers drafted Mathurin because they believed he could be one of the league’s best young scorers and he was during his time in Indiana. In 2022-23, he scored the third-most points of any rookie in Pacers history and became the first Pacers player since Rik Smits in 1989 to be named first-team All-Rookie. He averaged 16.1 points per game in his 3 1/2 seasons and is the third-leading scorer in the 2022 draft class behind only Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams.

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Mathurin was averaging 17.8 points per game for the Pacers when he was traded and he’s averaging 19.9 points per game since he was acquired by the Clippers on 14.4 field goal attempts per game, a career high. He’s had some issues with efficiency and is shooting just 19.7% from 3-point range (13 of 66), but he’s given the Clippers a potent scoring wing off the bench and he’s averaging 2.4 assists per game. That’s more than he ever averaged in a season for the Pacers.

“He’s been great at getting to the free-throw line and drawing fouls,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But also, last game I think he had a career high in assists. Making the right play when guys are open. Making the right play, hitting the first open guy. I think last game he had seven assists, so just understanding what we need from him every single night.”

Jackson has also filled a needed role for the Clippers. He wasn’t getting much action as of the Pacers’ meeting with the Clippers in Los Angeles on March 4. At that point, he’d played in just three of 10 games with the Clippers and hadn’t played more than six minutes in any of them.

However in that game, promising young center Yanic Konan Niederhauser suffered a Lisfranc injury in his right foot which will keep him out for the rest of the season. Jackson stepped in and scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting and ever since he’s been starter Brook Lopez’s backup at center. Jackson scored in double figures in five of the last seven games. With four points on 2 of 2 shooting in Friday’s game, he’s made 15 consecutive field goal attempts over the last four games. He’s averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds on a remarkable 76.4% shooting in 17 games with the Clippers.

“He’s been very helpful,” Lue said. “I think his athleticism, being able to run the floor, get behind the defense on pick-and-rolls. And then, what’s huge for us is defensively, being able to switch 1 through 5 and being able to give teams different looks outside of Brook who is always in a deep drop. You come in with Isaiah who can switch 1 through 5 at times. And what’s surprised me the most is I didn’t know he could post up smaller guys. If you throw him the ball around the basket, he’s been finishing really well.”

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Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has been pleased to see both find success in Los Angeles. They were ultimately willing to part with them, he said, because they believe in Zubac as their answer at center and because Mathurin was headed toward restricted free agency in the offseason and the Pacers weren’t sure they’d be able to keep him and a reasonable luxury tax figure. However, they did realize they were giving up good players.

“They’re guys we loved,” Carlisle said. “But it’s good players to get good players and then there’s economic issues involved too. We just weren’t going to be able to make it work with Benn contractually. The Clippers have found a guy that is a terrific young scorer.”

Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.



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