February 3, 2018

Black Lives Matter Minnesota issues 'travel alert' for St. Paul

Black Lives Matter Minnesota is advising black visitors and other people of color to “exercise caution” while visiting St. Paul during Super Bowl LII.

“The St. Paul Police Department is the deadliest department in the state of Minnesota, killing more people annually than any other department in the state,” reads the BLM advisory, the first such advisory issued by the group.

A spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department declined to comment Thursday.

Trahern Crews, a spokesman for Black Lives Matter Minnesota, said the group is not discouraging tourists from visiting St. Paul, but they want greater professional repercussions for officers who use unnecessary force.

Crews also noted incidents of police brutality have been alleged across the metro.

Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2018/02/01/black-lives-matter-minnesota-issues-travel-alert-for-st-paul/

February 3, 2018

Vermont governor thankful for help in Jay Peak fraud case

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Latest on a ski resort owner who agreed to pay back $81 million he was accused of using illegally (all times local):

7 p.m.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has expressed his appreciation for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission's work investigating a ski resort owner who has agreed to pay back $81 million he was accused of using illegally.

Miami businessman Ariel Quiros was accused of massive fraud involving foreign investors' money in Vermont's Jay Peak ski area. He has agreed to give up ownership of two ski resorts and says he's pleased to be another step closer to resolving the claims against him.

The Republican governor and Democratic state Attorney General T.J. Donovan said Friday the SEC settlement with Quiros will provide a federal receiver with legal title to the Jay Peak Resort, the Burke Mountain Resort and other properties acquired by Quiros with investor money.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/the-latest-vermont-governor-thankful-for-help-in-fraud-case/472423173/

February 3, 2018

Mississippi pushes abortion ban at 15 weeks, earliest in US

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi lawmakers pushed ahead Friday with a bill to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which would be the earliest ban nationwide and create a possible court challenge.

Mississippi already bans most abortions after 20 weeks. It's tied with North Carolina for the nation's earliest ban.

Members of the Republican-controlled House on Friday passed House Bill 1510 by a vote of 79-31, with Republicans and some Democrats supporting it. The measure would allow exceptions if a woman's life is endangered or a fetus has a severe abnormality. The bill goes to the state Senate for more debate.

House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson, a Braxton Republican, said Mississippi wants to prevent women from being adversely affected by abortion.

"Women deserve real health care, not some fake health care that involves the destruction of human life and a woman's health," said Gipson, a lawyer and Baptist minister.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/mississippi-lawmakers-debate-banning-abortion-after-15-weeks/472386273/

February 3, 2018

Another 2,000 Kentuckians could lose disability benefits

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Another 1,965 people in eastern Kentucky could lose their federal benefits because of a disgraced attorney who made millions by bribing judges and doctors to OK disability checks for his clients.

The Social Security Administration plans to notify nearly 2,000 people in eastern Kentucky that they will have to defend their status in court. All of them are connected to Eric Conn, a flamboyant attorney who billed himself as "Mr. Social Security" in television ads before his empire crumbled beneath the weight of a federal investigation. About half of those new cases involve Conn and a convicted former administrative law judge, according to Social Security Administration Acting Press Officer Mark Hinkle.

Hinkle said the new cases were identified by the Office of the Inspector General in November. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers' office said notifications will go out soon, but in a piecemeal fashion instead of all at once. People affected will have a hearing before an administrative law judge to determine if they can keep their benefits. People will have at least 30 days to gather evidence and hire attorneys. Disability payments will continue throughout the redetermination process.

These new batch of cases are in addition to the 1,800 cases associated with Conn's law practice the federal government has already reviewed. Some of them have sued the government seeking to stop those redetermination hearings. That case is pending in federal court.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/another-2-000-kentuckians-could-lose-disability-benefits/472406783/

February 3, 2018

Minn. Reps. Cindy Pugh, Kathy Lohmer, local GOP official warn of Muslims 'infiltrating' precinct ...

Minn. Reps. Cindy Pugh, Kathy Lohmer, local GOP official warn of Muslims 'infiltrating' precinct caucuses

Two GOP state legislators and a local Republican Party official warned on Facebook this week of a plot to “mobilize Muslims to infiltrate our Republican caucuses on Feb. 6.”

State Reps. Kathy Lohmer, R-Stillwater, Cindy Pugh, a third-term Chanhassen Republican, and Dave Sina, the chairman of the Fourth Congressional District GOP, posted to Facebook that “a friend” went to a caucus training held at a local mosque, where he witnessed Muslim-Americans being taught to “penetrate” and “infiltrate” American politics to enact a Muslim political agenda.

The posting drew a swift rebuke from fellow Republicans, the League of Women Voters and an interfaith religious group.

Jennifer Carnahan, chairwoman of the Minnesota GOP, said Muslim-Americans are welcome to caucus with the Republicans.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/local-gop-official-warns-of-muslims-infiltrating-precinct-caucuses/471764094/

February 3, 2018

Super Bowl Live security firm fired after not conducting proper background checks

The Minneapolis-based firm that was providing security at Super Bowl Live was replaced Wednesday for insufficient background checks of its employees, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The Super Bowl Host Committee replaced EPG Security Group with G4S, another Twin Cities firm, sources said Friday.

Host committee spokeswoman Andrea Mokros declined to provide information about how the problem was discovered, how many EPG employees were involved or what their duties were.

But Minneapolis Police Lt. Bob Kroll said that the site that EPG was guarding was left shorthanded after several of its officers were yanked away by federal authorities. Mokros declined to comment on that characterization.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/super-bowl-live-security-firm-fired-after-not-conducting-proper-background-checks/472420453/

February 3, 2018

Club Jager protested, closes early on second night back

MINNEAPOLIS -- The reports of Club Jäger's rebirth are greatly exaggerated.

On Wednesday, the bar owned by Julius DeRoma, a financial backer in 2016 of ex-Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, staged a "soft (re)opening" event, promising the bar would go back to its "original roots," a description which apparently meant "no stupid collectivist games."

The note promoting the reopening signed off, "Vielen Dank!," a German expression of gratitude.

The bar's first night back since a staff walk-out was scheduled to run from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Asked early that night if the bar would stay open later, or if it had any customers at that time, manager Josh Portwood declined to get into specifics.

Thursday night, at least a handful of people showed up. To protest.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/restaurants/club-jager-protested-closes-early-on-second-night-back/472275653

February 3, 2018

Maryland Democrat says his party needs to focus on jobs as he visits Iowa as presidential hopeful

DAVENPORT — If the Democratic Party wants to win elections, its first declared 2020 presidential hopeful said Friday that it needs to focus on jobs, rising wages and bringing people together.

U.S. Rep. John Delaney, D-Maryland, kicked off his sixth trip to Iowa with a stop in Davenport, Burlington and Tipton, touting bipartisanship.

That will be the theme of a television ad his campaign intends to run during the Super Bowl on Sunday.

But he also offered the case the party needs to focus its attention more sharply on economic matters, calling it a “missed opportunity” if the message strays from that path.

Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/maryland-democrat-says-his-party-needs-to-focus-on-jobs-as-he-visits-iowa-as-presidential-hopeful-20180202

February 3, 2018

Audit: $380,000 in improper spending at Iowa Communications Network

The State Auditor has identified $379,500 in improper disbursements and undeposited collections resulting from management decisions “not in the taxpayers’ best interest,” by the former executive director of the Iowa Communications Network.

Richard Lumbard, of Marion, led the ICN, the state government’s distance learning and broadband carrier network, from 2014 until he was fired Jan. 4. The audit released Thursday covers January 1, 2015, through January 2.

Lumbard’s actions raised alarm bells for his staff last summer when he pushed for the purchase of two pre-owned semi-trailers containing video production equipment, the audit states.

The trailers were delivered to Wind and Fire Ministries Mission Base, in Marion, which Lumbard serves as Chief Executive Officer, auditors found. Lumbard later directed people to sell equipment from the trailers on eBay under the vendor name COH Logistics, an organization with which Lumbard also is affiliated.

Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/audit-380000-in-improper-spending-at-iowa-communications-network-20180118

February 3, 2018

Former Anamosa officer gets $750K settlement for sex discrimination suit

Amy Ford has wanted to be a police officer since fifth grade, when a Bettendorf cop visited her classroom. After she became one, she almost kept quiet about the sexism she said she experienced in the Anamosa Police Department because she thought complaining would end her career.

But Ford, a 38-year-old wife and mother, decided she needed to come forward for herself, for other female employees and for her daughter, now 9.

“I’m showing Aubrey what it’s like to stand up for herself,” Ford said.

Ford won a $750,000 settlement from the city of Anamosa and its insurer last month, avoiding a trial at the height of the #MeToo movement.

Ford said the size of the award, of which she received nearly $430,000 after legal costs, validates concerns she raised about sexist emails, bias in department purchases and retaliation by police after she complained about discrimination.

Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/former-anamosa-officer-gets-750k-settlement-for-sex-discrimination-suit-20180202