Immigration

DFL-Backed "North Star Act" Aims to Establish Minnesota as a Sanctuary State

The Summary: Hennepin County, Minneapolis, and other local leaders support DFL lawmakers in proposing the North Star Act, a bill aiming to designate Minnesota as a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants.

The Legislation: The proposed legislation would prohibit state and local law enforcement from inquiring about an individual's immigration status or assisting in civil immigration enforcement.

Precedent Across the Country: Currently, there are 12 states in the nation that have declared themselves “sanctuary states” through executive action or passage of a law.

Dem Urgency: DFL lawmakers expressed urgency in passing the legislation, citing concerns over former President Donald Trump's hardline stance on immigration as the likely GOP nominee. 

GOP Opposition: Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said it was wrong to "make Minnesota a more enticing place to go to avoid the consequences of violating immigration law.”

Police

Minneapolis Taps External Oversight Organization for Police Reform 🚓

The Summary: Minneapolis has chosen Effective Law Enforcement for All as the independent body to monitor the police department's progress in eliminating race-based policing, following a court-enforceable agreement.

About ELEFA: The nonprofit organization specializes in reshaping police departments to reduce use-of-force incidents. ELEFA's team in Minneapolis will be co-led by Michael Harrison, a former Baltimore police commissioner and former superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department

Scope of Work: The firm will receive up to $1.5 million annually to oversee the city's efforts in establishing lawful policing practices. It will also provide regular public updates on new MPD policies.

How We Got Here: The MPD's engagement in discriminatory practices led to interventions by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, exposing a pattern of racist and abusive behavior.

Politics

❯ “I Got Whooped”: Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips came in a distant third place in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary with 1.7% of the votes, while Joe Biden dominated with 96.2%. Despite the result, Phillips has vowed to stay in the race citing new polls showing President Biden struggling with independent voters.

❯ Dem Leader Steps Down: On Friday, Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic revealed a cancer recurrence and announced her decision to step down from her position once a replacement is chosen. The Democrats, with a narrow 34-33 majority, will face a significant leadership shuffle as they head into the upcoming session, set to begin on Feb. 12.

Government

Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Shows Promising Results 💲

The Summary: Two weeks ago, a new report came out from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve detailing preliminary results from the Minneapolis Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot across a number of metrics. 

The Background: Beginning in 2022, the city of Minneapolis enrolled 200 low-income families in the pilot program that gave the families $500/month for two years. The pilot will end in June of 2024. 

The Results: According to analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the pilot led to positive results for the families food security, financial security, well-being, and psychological wellness.

What Else We’re Reading…

“She was married to a murderer but didn't know it.”

This new story from Kare11 is hard to believe until you read it. Rachel Firkus met Nick Firkus soon after both of their spouses passed away. The St. Paul couple went on to marry and have three kids, but even well into their marriage, Rachel couldn’t shake the idea that Nick had something to do with his previous wife’s death. Read the full story here.

Sports

🏆 Olympics Bound: Dakotah Lindwurm finished in third place in Saturday’s Marathon Olympic Trials securing her a spot on the 2024 Olympic team. Lindwurm is a St. Francis native and currently lives in the Twin Cities where she trains with Minnesota Distance Elite, a professional running team. Check out this awesome photo of her crossing the finish line in disbelief. 

🐺 Wolves Win For Finch: The Timberwolves won against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. The win secured Chris Finch’s coaching spot in the NBA All-Star game. 

🏀 Gophers Bball Win OT Thriller: The Gopher basketball team beat Northwestern at home in a game that required overtime. With the win, the Gophers find themselves square in the middle of the Big 10 standings.

🏒 Hockey Roundup

❯ Gopher men’s hockey went 1-0-1 against the #4 ranked Wisconsin Badgers with both games going to OT.

❯ The #5 Gopher women’s hockey swept St. Thomas at home, outsourcing them 8-3.

❯ Minnesota’s PWHL team dropped their game to Toronto before heading into a 10 day break. 

Quick hits

Headlines From Around The Twin Cities ✔

❯ Fire that damaged offices of Minnesota conservative organizations being investigated as arson (MPR)

❯ Despite lack of snow, the Loppet Cup has been given the green light – over 30,000 spectators are expected for the event (WCCO)

❯ Millions of dollars have already been donated to Minnesota Congressional candidates ahead of 2024 election (Axios)

❯ Charges are being brought against a Blaine woman who sexually assaulted teen boys in town for a hockey tourney (Bring Me The News)

❯ Community input is being sought for a proposal to turn the former Third Precinct into a Black cultural center (Sahan Journal)

Beyond the Twin Cities

Headlines From Greater Minnesota ✔

❯ New poll from KSTP shows 49% of Minnesotans want to keep the old state flag, 23% like the new flag, and 21% say the state should start over with a new design (KSTP)

❯ The city of Rochster is challenging residents to go plastic free for month of february (KTTC)

❯ Starting next Wednesday, Minnesota will roll out a new state program offering rebates of up to $2,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle (WCCO)

❯ Six months after legalization, marijuana is still not widely available in Minnesota (MPR)

The Final Word: Warm weather continues 🌡

Well, the warm weather is expected to continue this week. The other thing that is expected to continue? Minnesotans talking about the warm weather. To add to this conversation, check out this video of someone ice skating in short on Lake Bde Maka Ska over the weekend.

-Patrick