Minnesota

Minnesota dad who ranted against Trump election gunned down wife, ex-girlfriend and his 2 kids in murder-suicide

Published

2 days ago

November 10, 2024

Minnesota dad who ranted against Trump election gunned down wife, ex-girlfriend and his 2 kids in murder-suicide

A Minnesota dad who ranted against President-elect Donald Trump online shot and killed his wife, ex-partner, and his two sons before turning the gun on himself, according to authorities.

The shooter, 46-year-old Anthony Nephew, had a “pattern of mental health issues,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said on Friday — one day after authorities found five people dead inside two homes in the city.

Authorities found Anthony Nephew’s ex-partner Erin Abramson, 47, and their son, Jacob Nephew, 15, dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside their home Thursday afternoon, police said.

After identifying Anthony Nephew as a suspect, police found his 45-year-old wife Kathryn Nephew, and their 7-year-old son Oliver Nephew dead from gunshot wounds inside their family home close by.

Anthony Nephew was also found dead inside the home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Before his rampage, Anthony Nephew had been sharing left-wing and anti-Trump posts on his Facebook account.

“My mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, and a lot of the reason is religion,” Anthony Nephew wrote in July.

“I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross.

“Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid are this week.”

In another post, he accused Republicans of “making it harder for women to leave” abusive relationships.

“Gilead here we come,” he wrote, referencing “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian novel turned Hulu series in which women, who have been stripped of their rights, are forced to reproduce for the ruling class.

Anthony Nephew shared other political posts, including an image of former president Barack Obama, Trump, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The word “hate” sits under Trump’s face, while the words “hope,” “heal” and “grow” correspond with the Democratic politicians.

“Not that anyone cares, but as an Independent voter, I would really like to see both the political parties in our country pick better candidates,” he wrote in July. “We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and not fascism.”

Anthony Nephew previously even issued a chilling warning about his mental health battles, writing in an op-ed in the local Duluth News Tribune in 2021, “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide.”

“Mental health in this country is stigmatized, ignored, or treated as a burden for the individual to bear alone, with little help and less understanding,” he wrote.

“Americans deny they have mental health struggles. Because they have to, because they’re told to, or because they don’t realize their mind is broken.”

Police in Duluth, a city of nearly 90,000 residents about 135 miles north of Minneapolis, have not yet determined a motive in the shootings.

Police said there is no ongoing threat to the community.

With Post wires.

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Minnesota

10 to know: Minnesota prep stars ready to commit

Published

7 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Press Room

10 to know: Minnesota prep stars ready to commit

Champlin Park’s Carly Gilk was the Star Tribune’s All-Minnesota Volleyball Player of the Year this fall, and she’s pictured here posing for a photo for her mom, Shelley, when they arrived for the Star Tribune’s annual June celebration for prep athletes at Target Field. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Minnehaha Academy • Basketball • Undecided

A 5-8 guard and the No. 2-ranked senior player in Minnesota scorched the nets for the Red Hawks last season. She became the fifth-fastest player in state history to reach 3,000 career points. She’ll announce her decision Friday from a list that includes Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s • Basketball • Creighton

The 5-10 guard missed last season with a knee injury but averaged 20 points as a sophomore in 2022-23 playing alongside current Michigan freshman Olivia Olson. She also received offers from the Gophers and Iowa two years ago.

Creighton is getting an outstanding player in Kendall McGee of Benilde-St. Margaret’s. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Roseville • Cross country and track • North Carolina

The two-time Minnesota boys cross country state champion and reigning 1600m and 3200m title holder will head to the Tar Heels, currently ranked 11th in the nation. Mechura will race different distances and courses in college, but his personal bests (4:08 mile, 8:56 3200m, 14:32 5K) make him a promising collegiate distance competitor.

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Minnesota

AAA: Minnesota average gas prices fall under $3 per gallon

Published

14 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Press Room

AAA: Minnesota average gas prices fall under per gallon

FRIDLEY, Minn. — Minnesota’s average gas prices have dropped to $2.95 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s cheaper than the nationwide average, but overall prices are at their lowest levels across the country in more than three years.

Minnesota is one of 28 states under $3 per gallon, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices.

“While the election has come and gone, gas prices have stayed the course, with the national average price of gasoline declining for a fourth consecutive week as seasonal demand weakens and Americans begin to take refuge from falling temperatures,” he said in a news release.

Akshay Rao, a professor at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management who has tracked gas prices for 40 years, said the story through the decades has remained pretty much the same: there are times of the year when it’s more expensive than others — like spring and summer — due to an uptick in demand.

Changes driving additional fluctuations have been the war in Ukraine and uncertainty in the Middle East with the war in Gaza.

“The past few years, we’ve had a couple of other reasons for some enhanced variability in gas prices, typically in the upward direction, because of the war in Ukraine and the uncertainty in the Middle East, but that’s been compensated for by a fair amount of production here in the United States,” he said. “So we are now the largest producer and exporter of crude oil on the planet, and as a result, we’re doing quite well.”

The national average is down 16.7 cents compared to a month ago and is 32.3 cents per gallon cheaper than it was a year ago, GasBuddy estimates. For drivers, the price plunge at the pump is welcome news.

Nathan Phillips, a 17-year-old at Fridley High School, said he will be more likely to use his car now that gas is less expensive. He remembers when it was much higher.

“It was $3.49, and 1731399747 it’s dropped to $2.84 and that’s extra money in my pocket at the end of the day,” Phillips said. “I’m playing a sport right now so having a job is kind of tough so having that little extra cash — I mean that goes a long way.”

Four Corners Gas and Convenience in Fridley had some of the cheapest gas in the area Monday night. Yasir Abuhaleigah, its owner, said he tries to keep prices as low as possible to give customers a break on a key necessity.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it under $3, but as soon as I got that deal, I passed it along to my customers,” he said.

Wisconsin’s average is lower than Minnesota’s at $2.82. Gas is at its highest in places like California and Hawaii, which are more than $4 per gallon and 35 to 45 cents cheaper in Texas and Oklahoma, GasBuddy found.

Will these prices last? Rao said it’s impossible to know for sure.

“My crystal ball is broken. It’s in the shop. But if I was to make a wild guess, these prices will last typically until the spring, when again, demand will increase as people get done with the school year and begin planning their summer trips and so on and so forth,” Rao said. “So this is a pattern that you can see year in year out. The more, I suspect, interesting question is, by how much? What is the calibration of this? And that’s where I’m missing my crystal ball.”

Caroline Cummings

Caroline Cummings is an Emmy-winning reporter with a passion for covering politics, public policy and government. She is thrilled to join the WCCO team.

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It’s time Minnesota Republicans learn from their mistakes

Published

22 hours ago

November 11, 2024

Press Room

It’s time Minnesota Republicans learn from their mistakes

For White, it’s a completely different story. White underperformed both Trump and his fellow down-ballot Republicans by a significant margin. In 86 counties, Trump overperformed White by an average of 8.7 points. White’s support among Republicans drags even further compared to his congressional counterparts, with White trailing those Republican candidates by an average of 11.6 points per county. White’s biggest losses of Republican voters weren’t found in heavily populated counties, but in rural areas like Houston County where White trailed Congressman Brad Finstad by 20 points and Trump by 16.5 points.

While detractors will claim these are merely anecdotal, the Trump/Klobuchar counties also highlight our failings as a party. Scott and Carver counties, where Action for Liberty’s presence is growing and wildly supported White’s candidacy pre-primary, saw White lose to Klobuchar in reliant GOP areas Trump won. Meanwhile, Republicans, with the exception of White, were able to find success in counties like Anoka, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Beltrami and Winona. Furthermore, while White may claim this is the closest any Republican has come to defeating Klobuchar, we must remember that this is the first time Republicans have run against Klobuchar in a presidential year where the winds were in the GOP’s favor. In 2006, Klobuchar’s first win came at the height of the antiwar movement that saw George W. Bush’s approval numbers tank. In 2012, Klobuchar ran with a popular Barack Obama in office and a campaign that invested in states around the country. And 2018 marked a blue wave during Donald Trump’s first midterm — historically a huge loss for the party in power.

Ultimately, these trends — which only existed in the U.S. Senate race this year — occurred without negative advertising against White and minimal funds spent by Klobuchar on running a campaign against Republicans.

The reality is simple: When given the choice between White and Klobuchar, Minnesotans chose to skip the question altogether or to hold their nose and vote Democrat.

As White continues to scheme with a post-election announcement that could cost Minnesota Republicans a potential victory in 2026, we must do better. In 2024, Republicans chose an un-electable candidate in Royce White. Then Republicans rejected the un-electable candidate while giving President Trump and other down-ballot Republican candidates their vote. As we look ahead to 2026 — when Tim Walz, Tina Smith, Keith Ellison and others are on the ballot — we owe it to Minnesotans and to ourselves not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Preya Samsundar is a GOP communications consultant with K2 & Company. She has worked for Nikki Haley’s presidential super PAC, the Republican National Committee, President Donald Trump, and other Republican candidates around the country. She lives in Burnsville.

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