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Part of Jesse James’ gang of robbers helped put this Minnesota town on the map

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Part of Jesse James’ gang of robbers helped put this Minnesota town on the map


MADELIA, Minn. — What happened to Jesse James and his band of bank robbers after they fled Northfield? Some of them ended up near the town of Madelia.

“I go somewhere and people ask, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Northfield.’ One of the first things that most people say? ‘Oh, the Defeat of Jesse James Days,’” said Galen Malecha of Northfield. 

Sept. 7, 1876, marked the beginning of the end for Jesse James and his crew. While attempting to rob a Northfield bank, a gunfight broke out and the residents drove the raiders out of town.

“Cole Younger says, later in life, that when they were in Northfield on Division Street, it was ‘Hell’s Gallery,’” said Tim Freeleand, “Defeat of Jesse James” emcee.

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Younger and his brothers fled west with Frank and Jesse James. Near Lake Crystal, Minnesota, the James brothers left the rest of the group behind, hoping to lure law enforcement away from their fellow thieves. That’s when the Youngers made their way to Madelia.

“It was reported that this was the most exciting time Madelia had ever seen,” said Pam Sandbo of the Watonwan County Historical Society.

The Youngers and their friend, Charley Pitts, were noticed by Oscar Sorbel, the son of a farmer. The teenager then made a Paul Revere-like ride into town and alerted Sheriff Glispin, who quickly formed a posse that tracked the criminals down near the Watonwan River.

“He says, ‘OK, so this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to walk in straight at them and shoot. Shoot until they are down or we are,’” said historian Adeline Yates.

The Younger brothers’ gang had a decision to make at that point: surrender or stand and fight. They chose to do the latter, and they paid the price for it.

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Yates said the Younger gang shot first. The town posse, known as the Magnificent Seven, returned fire, killing Pitts and wounding Cole, Bob and Jim Younger. The revolver Jim used that fateful day can be found at the county historical society.

“My two uncles were involved in the capture out here,” said Yates.

Yates said the brothers were taken into town and temporarily jailed at the Flanders Hotel before they were transferred to Faribault, and later sentenced to life in prison in Stillwater.

“My uncles kept in touch with the Younger brothers in Stillwater, and they actually wrote letters,” said Yates.

For years, Yates and others would organize a re-enactment in September to commemorate the town’s famous capture. She says visitors even came from other countries to watch.

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“This is where we did the shootout. And all our visitors got to sit on the hill and got to see all of this, all the way down across here,” said Yates on a plot of land a few miles out of town.

Glen Christensen’s dad helped get a mural about the shootout painted near downtown Madelia.  

“Because that was such a big deal to the town, we thought this would be the perfect place to put it on top of the oldest building in the county,” said Christensen.

While parts of the story are tragic, Christensen believes the mural shows rural Minnesota’s resiliency: How people can put their differences aside and rise up when they’re needed most.

“There may be problems or maybe things you have to deal with, challenges you have to deal with. But the town always comes together and finds a way to solve it,” said Christensen. “Whether it’s the Younger brothers’ capture or the fire that took place in 2016. We always find a way to get together and make it happen and continue evolving forward.”

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Bob Younger died in prison. Cole and Jim Younger were later paroled. The Watonwan County Historical Society in Madelia also has a display that details the events that led to the Younger brothers’ capture.



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Minnesota investigators say child care centers captured in viral video were operating as expected

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Minnesota investigators say child care centers captured in viral video were operating as expected


A video by a right-wing content creator accusing several Somali-owned child care centers in Minnesota of fraud went viral and led to compliance checks by Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The agency says they were operating normally, except for one that was not yet open when investigators arrived.



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Game Recap: Kings 5, Wild 4 (S/O) | Minnesota Wild

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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.

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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.

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“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.”



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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the defensive as fraud allegations mount after viral video uncovered Somali aid scheme

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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.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz listens during a hearing with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at the US Capitol on June 12, 2025 in Washington, DC. Getty Images

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.”

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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.

YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a mega-viral video on Friday uncovering new parts of the alleged Somali aid scheme. X / Nick Shirley

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.

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Shirley was kicked out for trespassing in one of the centers. X / Nick Shirley
Shirley joked that the alleged scheme was “so obvious” that a “kindergartener could figure out there is fraud going on. X / Nick Shirley

“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.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was fielding additional personnel to investigate fraud in Minnesota. FNTV

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.

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Shirley’s mega-viral video cracked 100 million views Sunday night.



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