Minnesota
Federal agents raid 2 Twin Cities stores in SNAP fraud probe
Federal agents say they executed criminal search warrants at two Twin Cities stores on Thursday as part of an investigation into $2.1 million of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fraud.
Eighteen other stores were part of the investigation and are suspected of violating the SNAP program; they were issued administrative charging letters, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The probe — called “Operation Cold SNAP” — started in February. The USDA says that as part of the schemes, retailers would exchange taxpayer-funded SNAP benefits for cash or other items.
“They bring the card into the store and instead of buying an eligible food item, which is what SNAP is for, they exchange the benefits of that card for cash, for money. And then the retailer will take that money on the card, spend it,” USDA Inspector General John Walk said.
In the past, the USDA has said the cardholder usually winds up with less cash than the card is worth, benefitting the business.
Walk says fraudulent SNAP retailers steal from victims, including children that rely on the funds.
“If the responsible adult, whether it be parent or guardian are trafficking the funds, it’s actually that child that’s going to suffer from it, because the food benefits will never reach that child,” Walk said.
Data from the federal government shows about $1.2 billion in SNAP benefits were trafficked between 2015 and 2017 — about 1.5% of the total cost of the program, which is around $100 billion. However, Walk said on Thursday that reports show improper payments could be as high as 10%.
The USDA did not share what the cash is being used for in these cases, but said in past investigations, people have trafficked benefits for cash, guns and drugs.
Meteorological summer kicks off June 1 and lasts through August. So, is the heat here to stay in Minnesota?
With temperatures near 90 lately, summer is on everyone’s mind. The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center says it’s a toss-up when it comes to temperatures over the three-month season.
“We’re going into an El Niño, and probably a very strong one, or a super El Niño, as they say,” said Pete Boulay, a climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “And looking at past history, might be a cooler-than-normal summer. But we’ll have to wait and see what happens. If you stay dry, it’s going to be hard to stay cool.”
And no doubt, Minnesota has been dry already with drought conditions persisting across northern and southwestern parts of the state.
“Most places in the state are about 1-3 inches short of normal for May, and right about this time of year, we should get about an inch of rain a week,” Boulay said. “Every time we don’t get that rain, every week that goes by, the drought will come back.”
The summer outlook says it is more likely that conditions remain drier than average through August. Though we’re past the majority of Minnesota’s wildfire season, Boulay said if conditions are right, that could create elevated fire threats, unless you’re lucky enough to see some rain.
“We’re in that kind of lazy pattern right now. There’s a high pressure off to our east, and we have kind of the return flow coming out of the south, so warm, and you know, you still might have one of those thunderstorms pop up very isolated, but maybe you’ll get lucky and get one, but most people won’t,” he said.
Boulay said he doesn’t see any change in sight in the short-term with more heat on the way to kick off June.
Summer warmth will hang on in the Twin Cities Wednesday, with some storms possible later in the day.
Highs will be in the upper 80s to near 90. Isolated thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon and evening, mainly across southern Minnesota.
Thursday will be dry, warm and less humid, though highs will stay well above normal.
Friday will bring pleasant late-May weather with sunshine and highs mainly in the 80s.
The weekend looks to be quiet and comfortable as dry conditions continue.
School was not in session over the holiday weekend, but a four-legged friend still managed to pay a visit to a Zimmerman, Minnesota, Montessori school.
The entire incident lasted less than 10 minutes, but left Prairie Hill Montessori with a shattered door and quite the story to tell.
“We got a call, we were up at our cabin… I was more concerned about the deer, which is just the way I am,” said Katherine Curtis, the school’s owner and instructor.
Curtis says the entire moment was caught on CCTV. It shows the deer break through a tempered glass door before tearing through the building, knocking items off shelves and attempting to exit through another door.
Eventually, a local sheriff’s deputy responded and was able to shoo the deer out the door.
“We were all like amazed at how fast it all happened. Actually, how fast the sheriff was able to get here,” Curtis said.
On Tuesday, Curtis was using the incident as a teaching moment. The school had painted a life-size deer on the boarded-up door, and students were coloring deer photos.
“All of the children came in this morning and reported to me what happened,” she said. “It’s unique. It’s something we can remember for years and we’ll have the video. The kids can remember it as something unique and special that happened to us at Prairie Hill.”
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