Minnesota
Midday Headlines – April 16th, 2024 – Minnesota News Network
>>MN 1st Lady Walz, Lawmakers, Advocates Rally for Gun Safety
(St. Paul, MN) — Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, lawmakers, gun violence survivors, and more are gathering at the State Capitol this morning (TUES, 9 a.m.) to advocate for gun safety. Led by Moms and Students Demand Action, the group will rally for current legislation being considered by Minnesota lawmakers, including bills requiring improved secure firearm storage, gun owners to report Lost and Stolen guns to law enforcement, and a reduction in gun trafficking. Other rally speakers include Senator Bonnie Westlin of Plymouth, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Red Lake School shooting survivor Fran Mendoza.
>>NWS Issues Red Flag Warning in Northeast MN for Extreme Fire Risk
(Undated) — The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Red Flag Warning for several northeast Minnesota counties effective immediately through 9:00 p.m. due to extreme fire risk conditions. Affected counties include Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis. No burning is allowed when the warning is in effect, and residents should check any recent burning piles to ensure the fire is completely out.
>>U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear Mike Lindell’s Petition on Cell Phone Seizure
(Washington, DC) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a petition from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell that the FBI violated his constitutional rights when agents seized his cell phone at a fast food drive-thru in Mankato two years ago. The high court discussed the issue in late March and issued their decision Monday without comment. Lindell says the U.S. government has been “weaponized” against him, and he’ll return to court to try to get his cell phone back. Lindell is the subject of a federal investigation into a security breach in the 2020 election in Colorado.
>>Twin Cities Felons Pleads Guilty to Illegal Possession of a Firearm
(Minneapolis, MN) — A Twin Cities man has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm. Court documents say 45-year-old Salvador Pachecho was stopped by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper on October 7th, 2022, for multiple traffic violations. Troopers smelled marijuana in the car, and a drug-sniffing dog located additional drugs in Pachecho’s vehicle. A search of the car turned up a Kahr .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol inside a backpack. Pachecho is set to be sentenced at a later date.
>>Wadena Man Sentenced to Over 13 Years in Prison in Connection with Vehicular Homicide
(Stillwater, MN) — A Wadena man has been sentenced to over 13 years in prison for his role in killing 80-year-old Shirley Bilden of Maplewood in 2021. 36-year-old Scott Hardy pleaded guilty in February to a plea deal convicting him of the charge of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, resulting in death. Court documents say police responded to a call that a Chevrolet Tahoe parked outside a Cub Food in Oakdale was stolen around 4 p.m. July 10th, 2021. When officers arrived and asked Hardy to leave the car, he fled quickly. Police eventually found Hardy had run a red light, which caused a crash between two other vehicles. Three people were injured in the crash, including Bilden, who died from her injuries four days later at the hospital. Hardy was arrested shortly after fleeing the collision, attempting to steal another car at a nearby cemetery.
>>Nearly 100 MN Farms Recognized As Century Farms
(Minneapolis, MN) — Almost 100 farms in Minnesota are receiving recognition for being family-owned and operated for over a century. The Minnesota State Fair and Minnesota Farm Bureau have announced this year’s Century Farms list. One family has continuously owned each of the 97 farms on the list for at least 100 years, is still being used for farming, and covers a minimum of 50 acres. This year’s list includes several farms that date back to the 1800s, the oldest being the Berquam-Krogstad Family Farm in Houston County, originally purchased in 1855.
>>Minnesota Lotto Winner
(Roseville, MN) — Someone playing the lottery in southwestern Minnesota is nearly two million dollars richer. A Gopher 5 ticket sold at Food N Fuel in Worthington is worth $1,911,615. The game is played on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The prize now resets to $100,000 for the next drawing.
>>Ludacris and T-Pain Coming to the 2024 Minnesota State Fair
(Falcon Heights, MN) — Hip-hop artists Ludacris and T-Pain will perform at the Minnesota State Fair on August 27th. Ludacris has sold over 24 million rap albums and is an actor in the Fast & Furious movie franchise. T-Pain is an award-winning rapper, singer, and producer known for using the auto-tune effect on his vocals. Tickets for the August 27th show go on sale this Friday.
Minnesota
Minnesota investigators say child care centers captured in viral video were operating as expected
Minnesota
Game Recap: Kings 5, Wild 4 (S/O) | Minnesota Wild
Matt Boldy scored late in the third to tie it and ultimately send the game to overtime, helping the Wild (25-10-8) extend their point streak to six games (3-0-3). Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, Jake Middleton and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves.
It was the second game of a back-to-back for Minnesota, which is coming off a 5-2 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Wild and Kings will play again in Los Angeles on Monday.
“It was far from perfect of a game from us,” Faber said. “I thought we could have played better. With that quick turnaround, we’ll take the point. Now we need two in the next.”
Kempe put the Kings up 1-0 at 6:08 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot from close range off Anze Kopitar’s cross-slot pass from below the goal line.
Middleton tied it up 1-1 at 8:28, getting his first goal of the season in 36 games on a snap shot from the left circle set up by Mats Zuccarello.
“I think he thought I was Kirill (Kaprizov) in the slot there, so it was nice to get one,” Middleton joked. “I normally have a few goals before I take 35 games off from scoring, so this one was getting a little stressful but we got it out of the way.”
Perry gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 16:57 of the second period when Byfield’s shot struck him in the wrist and redirected in for the power-play goal.
Eriksson Ek tied it 2-2 at 18:23 on the power play, taking Quinn Hughes’ stretch pass at the offensive blue line for a short breakaway, fending off defenseman Joel Edmundson and scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Byfield put Los Angeles back in front 3-2 at 4:54 of the third period. He shot the puck caroming off the boards back into the crease, where Wallstedt lost it in his skates and it was eventually knocked in by a Wild stick during the ensuing scramble in front.
“Shouldn’t be, that was terrible,” Byfield joked when asked if he knew it was his goal. “No, it’s good. I think it’s two now that were liked that, so I’ll take them how they come.”
Minnesota
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the defensive as fraud allegations mount after viral video uncovered Somali aid scheme
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against the ever-growing fraud allegations levied against him in the disastrous aftermath of a viral video where an independent journalist cracked open a crucial part of the alleged Somali aid scheme.
A spokesperson for Walz, a Democrat who frequently provokes President Trump’s ire, addressed a bombshell video posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley.
“The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,” the spokesperson told Fox News.
The spokesperson added that Walz has “hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”
In the 43-minute video published on Friday, Shirley and a Minnesotan named David travel around Minneapolis and visit multiple childcare and learning centers allegedly owned by Somali immigrants.
Many were either shuttered entirely, despite signage indicating they were open, or helmed by staff who refused to participate in the video.
One of the buildings they visited displayed a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center.” The ‘learning’ center is supposed to account for at least 99 children and funneled roughly $4 million in state funds, according to the video.
Shirley appeared on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show” on Sunday evening and boasted about his findings. He joked that the alleged scheme was “so obvious” that a “kindergartener could figure out there is fraud going on.”
“Fraud is fraud, and we work too hard simply just to be paying taxes and enabling fraud to be happening,” Shirley said.
“There better be change. People are demanding it. The investigation have been launched just from that video alone. So there better be change, like I said we work way too hard to be paying taxes and not knowing where our money’s going,” he added.
Many officials have echoed Shirley’s calls for change, with FBI Director Kash Patel even announcing that the agency surged extra personnel to investigate the resources doled out to Minnesota. He said this is one of the first steps in a wide-reaching effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”
Federal investigators say half of the $18 billion granted to Minnesota since 2018 could have been stolen by fraudulent schemes — amounting to up to $9 billion in theft.
As of Saturday evening, 86 people have been charged in relation to these fraud scams, with 59 convicted so far.
Most of those accused of fraud come from Minnesota’s Somali community.
Shirley’s mega-viral video cracked 100 million views Sunday night.
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