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This prison newspaper has been publishing for more than a century

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This prison newspaper has been publishing for more than a century

Previous issues of the Prison Mirror, which has been publishing since 1887, sit on display in the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater.

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Inside a state prison near Stillwater, Minn., past the armed guards and the wings of cells stacked one on top of another, tucked in the corner of a computer lab, Richard Adams and Paul Gordon are fervently discussing grammar.

Both men are on staff at the Prison Mirror, a newspaper made by and for the people held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater. Gordon had written a profile on the prison art instructor. He read it aloud to Adams.

“I was curious if there was a certain style or something he preferred to paint. ‘When I get time I like Bob Ross, the guy that does the painting on the TPT channel,’” Gordon recited, referencing the Twin Cities’ PBS channel. Adams leaned in, a confused look on his face, and asked him to repeat the sentence.

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“Is that what he said?” Adams asked. “It sounds like you’re saying you like the guy from the TPT channel.” He suggested Gordon add an attribution to the quote, like “he said” or “he replied.”

Conversations like this have been happening in this prison for more than a century. The Prison Mirror is one of the oldest prison newspapers in the country, running since 1887. Publications like this aren’t common, but in an era where many journalism outlets in the free world are struggling to thrive amid scores of layoffs, journalism behind bars is actually growing.

Richard Adams, left, Paul Gordon, center; and Patrick Bonga make up the staff of the Prison Mirror at the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater. The men say they're limited in what they can write about, but they still find meaning in the work.

Richard Adams, left, Paul Gordon, center; and Patrick Bonga make up the staff of the Prison Mirror at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater. The men say they’re limited in what they can write about, but they still find meaning in the work.

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“Overall we do see a growth and a lot of interest in starting publications, starting podcasts even. And so that’s really quite exciting,” says Yukari Kane, CEO of the Prison Journalism Project.

Thirty years ago, she says there were estimated to be only six prison newspapers. Today, there are more than two dozen. That doesn’t take into account the hundreds of incarcerated writers submitting work to publications on the outside, like The Marshall Project’s Life Inside series.

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Kane says this kind of work can offer a window into what prison is actually like, one that prison administrators aren’t necessarily going to offer up freely.

“There’s a lot of information that people who are inside prisons see and are experiencing every day. There’s some reporting that can only be done from inside,” she says.

Even if a newspaper doesn’t circulate far beyond the prison yard, it can offer a sense of empowerment for its writers.

“Having a newspaper, it’s beneficial to everybody. It informs the population. It gives you a voice,” Gordon says. “There’s a quote I like: You can either be an agent of destiny or a victim of it.”

Patrick Bonga, a senior editor, works on the layout for the latest issue of The Prison Mirror at the Stillwater prison.

Patrick Bonga, a senior editor, works on the layout for the latest issue of the Prison Mirror at the Stillwater prison.

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The Stillwater prisoners write book reviews, legal explainers, and summaries of local, national and international events for the monthly newspaper. One man recently submitted an essay on homesickness. Another wrote an editorial criticizing lockdowns. The men on staff — there are only three of them — had to apply for these unpaid jobs, and they’re highly sought after.

Adams says the job requires a lot of reading and research about what’s going on around the world and the prison. There are challenges. They don’t have the internet, for instance, so they have to rely on print media and articles printed out by prison staff.

‘They do have freedom of the press technically, but they’re not free themselves’

The prison also has to approve everything the paper publishes. The men say that can limit what they write about, especially if they want to report on the harsher aspects of their lives.

“I am limited in the sense of, they’re not going to let me print all types of crazy things about the water or the lockdowns or getting restrained or anything like that, which is understandable to a degree,” Gordon says.

Last fall, around 100 Stillwater prisoners refused to return to their cells. Gordon says the disobedience was their way of protesting extreme heat, poor water quality, and staffing shortages, which he says often result in lockdowns. He plans to write about it, but says he has been retaliated against in the past for sending reporting to outside publications.

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“I was a lot more aggressive in my writing back then, and that was a learning experience for me,” he says.

Paul Gordon poses for a portrait at Stillwater Correctional Facility on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Stillwater, Minn.

Paul Gordon, who has been in prison for nearly 20 years, says he hopes “to write something that matters.”

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Brian Nam-Sonenstein, a senior editor at the Prison Policy Initiative, says punishment for doing journalism behind bars is common.

“You can lose what are called good time credits, which are essentially time off of your sentence based on good behavior. You could go to solitary confinement. You could have your privileges revoked,” he says.

“They do have freedom of the press technically, but they’re not free themselves,” says Kane, of the Prison Journalism Project. “So they do face consequences in and potentially with the work that they do.”

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Plus, having everything approved by prison administration can undermine the whole journalistic endeavor, though the ability to write freely varies widely across prisons, Nam-Sonenstein says.

“Incarcerated newsrooms are not necessarily fully captured organs of prisons, but we do have to recognize the constraints that are placed on them, especially when we compare it to free world journalism,” he says.

Marty Hawthorne, an instructor at the prison who oversees the paper, says he believes the prisoners have

Marty Hawthorne, an instructor at the prison who oversees the paper, says he believes the prisoners have “right to do what they’re doing,” when it comes to publishing the newspaper.

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Marty Hawthorne works at the Stillwater prison and oversees the Prison Mirror.

“They have a lot of freedom. My philosophy is: It’s their newspaper. It’s not my newspaper,” he says. “I believe they have a right to do what they’re doing.”

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He says if the men plan to publish something critical, he makes sure whoever they’re writing about has an opportunity to respond. But he says he also pushes back when leadership tries to censor stories he believes are fair.

“Because that is my job,” he says. “They’re incarcerated people, right? They don’t have power or authority. Somebody has to speak up for them in these places.”

Gordon, who has been serving a life sentence for nearly 20 years for murder, has been working at the paper only for a few months.

“I believe my job is only to lay out the positions, and then let people come to their own conclusion,” he says. “I hope to write something that matters and through writing, I hope to leave a much different footprint than the one I’ve already left on the world.”

Patrick Bonga poses in his cell at Stillwater Correctional Facility on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Stillwater, Minn.

Patrick Bonga, posing in his cell, says practicing journalism has changed the way he thinks about the world and helped him fight against bias.

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Patrick Bonga, a senior editor for the paper, says including all sides to a story has changed the way he thinks about the world. He’s been in and out of prison multiple times. Now in for assault, he says the newspaper is helping break that cycle.

“For the first 40 years of my life, any other opinion other than mine did not matter. But now just having to be objective and to put stories together that aren’t one sided, I’m now starting to practice in my own life a lot of fight against bias. And that’s a big thing,” he says.

For Gordon, making the paper isn’t just about journalism. It’s about getting to a turning point.

“When we first come to prison, it’s a journey to figure out how to do this time. We come here and we’re mad at the world, that life didn’t work out. We spend day after day after day trying to figure out and find that one moment where if we would have made that one decision, everything would have went right,” he says. “Then we get mad at the people around us for nobody helping us in that one moment. And it’s a journey to finally get to the point that we take responsibility for our own actions, that we can finally grow.”

Adams says he wants to keep his stories positive.

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“I don’t want to bring negativity to the paper because we all know what’s wrong. Let’s bring some more of what’s positive, what’s right,” he says.

He set up a suggestion box in his cell, for other prisoners to weigh in on what they want to read. He also wants to start an advice column. He’s a father, and he thinks other men will have questions about how to be a good dad, even if their relationship with their kids is mostly over the phone.

Richard Adams poses for a portrait at Stillwater Correctional Facility on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Stillwater, Minn.

Richard Adams hopes to write positive stories for the paper the give other prisoners the tools they need to be successful when they leave prison.

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Right now, he’s writing about side hustles men can get once they’re released to make a little extra money – things like driving for Uber and DoorDash, or selling flowers.

“You have a choice while you’re here, where you can change or you can go back out there and do the same things that got you in here. You can go back out there and at least try to make a difference,” he says.

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After all, most people in prison get out and return to their communities. Adams wants to give them hope and the tools to start over when and if they get the chance.

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Video: Will the ICE Agent Who Shot Renee Good Be Prosecuted?

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Video: Will the ICE Agent Who Shot Renee Good Be Prosecuted?

new video loaded: Will the ICE Agent Who Shot Renee Good Be Prosecuted?

With the Trump administration unlikely to bring a federal case against the ICE agent who killed Renee Good, our criminal justice reporter Jonah Bromwich explains some of the obstacles for any Minnesota prosecutors trying to charge the agent.

By Jonah E. Bromwich, Christina Shaman, Nikolay Nikolov, June Kim and Sutton Raphael

January 16, 2026

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Trump threatens military action in Minneapolis. And, inside his healthcare plan

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Trump threatens military action in Minneapolis. And, inside his healthcare plan

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s top stories

President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to stop protests in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, immigration officers shot an immigrant man in the leg, sparking unrest on the city’s north side. There are as many as 3,000 federal immigration officers on the ground or expected to arrive soon in the Twin Cities, NPR’s Meg Anderson tells Up First.

Protesters (R) are confronted by an ICE supporter during a demonstration outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan.15, 2026. Hundreds more federal agents were heading to Minneapolis, the U.S. Homeland Security chief said on Jan. 11, brushing aside demands by the Midwestern city’s Democratic leaders to leave after an immigration officer fatally shot a woman protester.

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  • 🎧 Fierce resistance to ICE’s presence continues noisily, as community members follow immigration agents in their vehicles. Anderson notes that observers filming and making noise are peaceful acts of resistance that are constitutionally protected. However, ICE has responded aggressively over the last five days with tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse crowds. Some people in the community are afraid to leave their homes, including an asylum seeker, who asked to only be identified by her first initial, A. She feels like she can’t see a future for herself or her family.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado came to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump for the first time and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. She is pushing to remain part of Venezuela’s future after the U.S. military operation that resulted in the seizure of Nicolás Maduro. Trump has sidelined Machado and is backing Venezuela’s acting president.

  • 🎧 After Maduro’s capture, Trump shockingly said he was not backing Machado for president because she didn’t have the support or respect within her country. Bloomberg and The Economist‘s recent polling shows she has substantial support, and people widely believe her party won the disputed 2024 presidential election by a landslide. NPR’s Carrie Kahn says the timing of Machado’s meeting was extraordinary as acting President Delcy Rodríguez gave a scheduled State of the Nation speech. Venezuela was attacked by the strongest military in the world, but it has to resume diplomatic relations with the U.S., she said.

Yesterday, Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation, which he has dubbed the “Great Healthcare Plan.” The White House issued a fact sheet outlining a framework the administration is asking Congress to develop, with four pillars: drug price reforms, health insurance reforms, price transparency for health costs, and fraud protections and safeguards.

  • 🎧 One thing that jumped out to NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin about the fact sheet is that the policies are not new, but like a compilation of the greatest hits of Republican health policy ideas. The proposal doesn’t mention repealing Obamacare, but, given the sparse details provided, it seems to want to let people use federal dollars to buy plans that don’t offer comprehensive coverage. The president’s plan could potentially weaken Healthcare.gov because its plans can be expensive but offer essential benefits and don’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

Life advice

An illustration shows a person in the foreground, lying on a pillow with their eyes open, staring up at the sky. They have small red veins in their eyes, and they appear mildly distressed. They float on an open ocean, water splashing up around them as they drift towards the horizon, where a large alarm clock rises as if it were the morning sun. The person in the image is depicted in cool, blue and purple color tones, with the alarm clock sunrise shown in pinks and golds, giving the image a dreamy look.

People who have a fear of not being able to sleep are experiencing a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety,” which, if it is left untreated, can prevent people from getting any shut-eye. One of the most effective ways to overcome this form of anxiety is through cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). But you don’t need the official program to benefit from CBT-I. Whether you’re dealing with some sleep stress or simply struggling with an off-night from time to time, these CBT-I practices can help:

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  • 💤 Wake up at the same time every day, which can help your body know when it’s time to get sleepy.
  • 💤 Pick a time to transition from daytime activities to nighttime activities in an effort to focus on winding down for bed earlier.
  • 💤 If stress comes before bedtime, put some dedicated “worry time” on your calendar during daylight hours. You could use that time to write out what’s bothering you so you can relax later.

For more guidance on how to beat the anxiety of insomnia, listen to this episode of NPR’s Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

Weekend picks

Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir and Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir and Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

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Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Kristen Stewart makes her feature-length directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir about growing up with an abusive father and confronting personal memories. Hear what Stewart told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep about the film.

📺 TV: NPR’s Eric Deggans finds Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to be promising, setting the table for future achievement, but not quite ready to prove its value against Trek series legends like Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.

📚 Books: The new year brings promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and more. See what publishes this month.

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🎵 Music: From Dry Cleaning’s Secret Love to Jenny On Holiday’s Quicksand Heart, check out the new music that was released today. Plus, a musical playlist to start your weekend off right.

❓ Quiz: I scored a decent seven out of 10. Think you can beat that? Put your knowledge to the test!

3 things to know before you go

Tom Sinclair today, smiling while he holds a large cauliflower.

Tom Sinclair today, smiling while he holds a large cauliflower.

Tom Sinclair


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Tom Sinclair

  1. When Tom Sinclair was 6 years old, he wandered away from his family’s campsite on Lake Superior and got lost. At dawn, he heard the voice of his unsung hero, a stranger who was part of an extensive search to find him. Now, at 66, Sinclair still keeps the newspaper clipping about his rescue and believes the man saved his life.
  2. A new national database helps track how state and local governments spend their share of settlement funds. This includes the District of Columbia, which will receive more than $80 million in opioid settlement money over the coming years. (via WAMU)
  3. Jodie Foster has spoken French since childhood, but only now has she taken on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A Private Life. And, she hopes to take part in more French films.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.

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Video: Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

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Video: Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

This Is a cellphone video filmed by the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. The White House press secretary said this footage reaffirmed President Trump’s previous claim, based on other videos, that Ms. Good, quote, “didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over.” “Get out of the car.” “Whoa.” Watched in isolation, the cellphone video might look like that’s the case, but when analyzed alongside other angles of the shooting synchronized by The Times, a much more complicated picture is revealed. More footage will likely emerge, but the currently available visual evidence still shows no indication agent Jonathan Ross got run over. The footage does provide some visibility into the positioning between the agent and Ms. Good’s S.U.V. and the key moments of escalation. And it establishes, millisecond by millisecond, how agent Ross put himself in a dangerous position near her vehicle in the first place. About three minutes before the shooting, footage shows Ms. Good and her wife parked their maroon S.U.V. in the middle of the street and begin honking and heckling. Administration officials say they were impeding and blocking immigration agents. Footage shows 11 vehicles maneuver around the S.U.V., including this Chevy Tahoe driven by agent Ross. When he exits, he’s already filming Ms. Good’s S.U.V., not with a body camera typical of most law enforcement, but using a cellphone in his hand. It’s not clear why. The agent‘s footage shows his interactions with Ms. Good — “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” — and her wife. “I’m not mad.” “That’s OK. We don’t change our plates every morning.” There’s verbal jabbing. “It’ll be the same plate when you come. Talk to us later. That’s fine. U.S. citizen, former disabled veteran.” We see the agent switching the phone from his right hand to his left as he heads toward the front seat of his Tahoe. “I say, go get yourself some lunch, big boy.” During this time, on the other side of the S.U.V., two new agents arrive in a pickup. We see Ms. Good motions them to go around her. “Out of the car. Get out of the fucking car.” Over the next six seconds, we see one agent reaching into the S.U.V., Ms. Good starting to drive, then agent Ross firing three shots. “Hey!” Now let’s go back and analyze some of the key contested moments of the agent’s cellphone video, alongside other footage, to break down what happens during these critical six seconds. Here, the agent‘s cellphone footage shows he’s moving directly in front of the S.U.V. as it’s reversing and rotating towards him, initiating a three-point turn, apparently to leave. Law enforcement officers are trained to avoid doing this because it puts them in danger, and often leads to the use of force against drivers. His cellphone is focused squarely on Ms. Good. She looks down, shifts into drive, and begins turning to the right, away from the agent. Cut to this high angle and zoom in. We can make out the agent’s body and his arm filming. We can also see, at the same time, he’s beginning to lift his other arm. On these cameras, we can see what’s happening around agent Ross. The other agent is yelling orders and reaching into Ms. Good’s S.U.V. Her front tire spins as she continues turning right. Agent Ross is at least a few feet away from Ms. Good’s S.U.V. He does not appear to move out of the way. As the S.U.V. rolls forward, the agent unholsters his firearm. We see in his cellphone video, at this moment, the camera drifting off to the left. The agent is no longer focused on filming. It’s at this point in the cellphone video where it first looks and sounds like the agent‘s getting knocked violently. On the other camera, we can see what’s happening. Here is agent Ross aiming his gun at Ms. Good. And here is his outstretched arm, leaning toward her vehicle, which is barely visible behind the Tahoe. His phone, which is gripped in his left hand, flips over when the agent’s hand lands on the front of the vehicle. There’s an audible thud when it hits. The camera rotates up towards the sky. Again, while it appears the agent’s getting knocked over, we can see that’s not the case from the other angle, which shows he’s standing with his hand near the headlight, his torso and legs away from the vehicle. In the cellphone footage, the agent’s face flashes on screen, then it goes black. The other angle shows us why. We can see the agent’s foot sliding, his hand bracing against the S.U.V. and his arm getting pressed into his chest. It is impossible to determine if this is happening because of the S.U.V.’S movement or the icy asphalt or, more likely, both. And what’s very unclear, because of the limited quality and availability of footage, is whether the agent‘s upper body gets swiped by the vehicle as his left foot slides back. This moment is when agent Ross fires. We see the other agent pulled back from the S.U.V. Both of them stumble, apparently slipping on the ice. This is also the moment many have said looks like agent Ross getting run over. And it does when watched at full speed. But looking more closely, we can see in multiple angles that there is a visible gap between the vehicle and his legs, indicating his feet are positioned outside the S.U.V.’S path. The agent’s left hand is still against the vehicle and gripping his phone. We see, as he fires, it’s recording the clouds and the trees overhead. It’s not because the agent is knocked to the ground. The other angle shows he’s still standing, continuing to maintain his grip on his phone and his gun, and we see a clear and growing gap between his body and the S.U.V. as he fires a second shot and a third. None of the bullets have the effect of stopping the S.U.V., but they kill Renee Good. According to our analysis of audio from agent Ross’s cellphone video, this is his reaction: “Fucking bitch.” “What the fuck? You just fucking — what the fuck did you do?” According to a White House spokesperson, agent Ross, quote, “suffered internal bleeding after he was struck by the car.” ”Shame, shame, shame.” Later that evening, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that he had been treated at a local hospital and released.

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