A 2023 murder inside the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter happened after the alleged assailant was permitted to play the violent video game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla “in violation of the program’s rules,” according to a lawsuit KARE 11 and others are reporting on. “A court-appointed psychologist who reviewed the case … noted the swinging of the guitar [which is how the death occurred] was ‘potentially near exact to some of the dynamics observed’ in the game.”
The Trump administration is suing Minnesota and the Minnesota State High School League, saying policies allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls sports are in violation of Title IX, reports WCCO-TV and others.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has canceled roughly $300 million in grants as part of a program helping farmers access land, markets and capital, MPR News reports: “There were three projects active in Minnesota aimed at helping Latino, Indigenous and BIPOC farmers. All have lost funding, effective March 26.”
Building permits in Rochester are booming, with 2025 marking a record-setting $1.2 billion in new construction, reports the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Roughly half of those projects were Mayo Clinic-related.
The Deportation Data Project has released data showing at least 4,000 people in Minnesota were detained during Operation Metro Surge and that the vast majority of them were from Central and South America, reports the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Trump repeatedly referenced Somali residents accused in social services fraud schemes as a leading factor for sending thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities in December. Yet, most Somalis living in Minnesota are here legally, and the new data shows fewer than 3% of those detained during the surge were from Somalia.”
And don’t miss the latest stories from MinnPost…
Thankfully no reports of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla followed by murder at the Whipple Federal Building, but 12 hours of recent testimony in federal court detailed non-working phones, people being treated like ‘animals.’ It prompted a federal judge to again side with detainees and their attorneys as the case moves forward. (read more)
Fertilizer has joined fuel in the sticker-shock club post-Iran war, and that’s hitting Minnesota farmers hard. (read more)
Shannon Watson’s latest Middle Aisle column argues that social media is poisoning the Minnesota Legislature. (read more)
More than 100,000 people showed up to the Minnesota Capitol on Saturday for the latest “No Kings” protest, and you can see photos and read some of their stories here.
