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CHANGING MINNESOTA
Fewer Hennepin County children enter foster care. But family reunifications become less likely, too, report says.
Foster care numbers have fallen by half, according to annual data from Hennepin County Human Services. But Black and Native American children continue to be overrepresented in Minnesota’s child-welfare system. And once these children enter foster care, they’re less likely to reunite with family.
PRIMARY ELECTION
Your Minnesota Primary Election Day 2022 results
Minnesota voters cast their ballots for the primary election on Tuesday, August 9, to determine which candidates advance onto the general election in November. Here are the results.
primary election
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar narrowly wins primary against former Minneapolis Council Member Don Samuels.
Public safety advocate and former council member Don Samuels said he will support Omar in the November 8 general election. Omar is seeking her third term in Congress.
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democracy & politics
Mary Moriarty and Martha Holton Dimick beat packed field in Hennepin County attorney primary.
Mary Moriarty and Martha Holton Dimick will advance to the November 8 general election, when voters will determine which one will run the state’s largest public law office.
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Bethlehem Gronneberg, 2016 Bush Fellow is Inspiring Minds
Founder of Fargo’s uCodeGirl, Bethlehem Gronneberg is multiplying her impact from Ethiopia to Fargo and back again
LATEST STORIES
South Washington County voters reject $462 million referendum for school expansions.
The 10-year plan would have raised property taxes to construct two new elementary schools, expand three high schools, and renovate schools throughout the district. It would have also closed Newport Elementary, the district’s most diverse elementary school.
Liz Lee handily defeats John Thompson in primary to represent St. Paul’s East Side.
As a child, Liz Lee lived in St. Paul public housing with her parents and four siblings, and later, a home on St. Paul’s East Side. The daughter of Hmong immigrants, Lee graduated from Yale University and worked on Capitol Hill before running for local office.
Are you an adult learner, remote worker, or parent planning for your child’s upcoming school year? Are you looking for resources and strategies to stay connected through the internet?
Join us to discuss how qualifying Minnesotans can benefit from digital learning and technology. Learn how to find practical solutions to overcome barriers like lack of technical support and ability to adopt digital skills
Minnesota has never elected a Black woman to the state Senate. Zaynab Mohamed and Erin Maye Quade are on track to change that.
An additional three candidates, Clare Oumou Verbeten, Farhio Khalif, and Marla Helseth, will also be vying for historic wins in November.
The Minnesota primary election is Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know to vote.
The results of Tuesday’s primaries determine which candidates will continue on to the November 8 general election ballot.
Prairie Island Indian Community nuclear concern powers net zero carbon emissions plan.
To disentangle itself from a power plant it never wanted, Prairie Island Community created a $46 million plan to produce net zero carbon emissions within the next decade.
Cedric Alexander becomes Minneapolis’ first community safety commissioner.
The new position oversees police, fire, 911, emergency response, and violence prevention efforts.
Loss, death, and Iranian politics haunt singer-songwriter Aida Shahghasemi’s new album.
Aida Shahghasemi immigrated from Iran to Minnesota when she was 13. She sings in Farsi, and will perform at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday to mark the release of her third album.
Drums explode and saxophones wail at a north Minneapolis band camp paying homage to the high-energy stylings of Black colleges and universities.
Three alumni of historically Black colleges and Universities run an annual summer camp that teaches “show style” marching band techniques associated with the schools. The free camp teaches students discipline as they learn to dance and play instruments.
Black Twin Cities women find hope in law prohibiting discrimination based on hair.
A form of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair (CROWN) Act is either being considered or passed into law in 44 states, including Minnesota.
Hiawatha Golf Course proposal divides Minneapolis residents.
Black golfers say the south Minneapolis course holds a special place in history. Others say an 18-hole course in marshland isn’t environmentally healthy.
Keep kids safe around water this summer with this list of free swim lessons, tips, and beaches with lifeguards.
Free swim lessons, water safety events, and beaches with lifeguards can help reduce the risk of drowning.
Minneapolis and St. Paul adopt innovative strategies to keep kids safe in the water, especially those at higher risk of drowning.
Children of color are more vulnerable to water perils than their white peers, grim data show. With that in mind, swimming instructors are stressing safety before swim strokes.
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Bethlehem Gronneberg, 2016 Bush Fellow is Inspiring Mind and Bridging Gaps
Founder of Fargo’s uCodeGirl, Bethlehem Gronneberg is multiplying her impact from Ethiopia to Fargo and back again
Out: chicken soup. In: Mango, lychee, bok choy. A Twin Cities nonprofit wants new recipes to serve ailing clients who are Hmong, East African, and Latino.
Open Arms of Minnesota provides free meals to Minnesotans with serious illnesses. Got a culturally specific recipe to share? You could earn $200!
Teo Nguyen paints Vietnam at peace in a new exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
After moving to the U.S. as a teenager, Teo Nguyen confronted media misrepresentations of the people and place he left behind. His new show at MIA presents a picture of Vietnam without the war and its stereotypes.
In Minnesota’s forest management, Indigenous knowledge now shapes scientific practice.
Traditional ecological knowledge, once dismissed as unscientific, has gained attention and respect from Minnesotans working with forestry and wildlife.
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe citizens vote to remove ‘blood quantum’ requirement for membership.
The seminal referendum acts as a guide for tribal leaders, who will now decide whether to ask voters to amend the tribe’s constitution.
Editor’s note: Why we’re not changing a quote in our voter guide about the Hennepin County attorney’s race. 
Sahan Journal published a voter guide this week in collaboration with Pollen Midwest. Some readers on social media have criticized an opinion that a politician, Mark Haase, expresses in the text. We think voters should be able to read that perspective—and feel free to criticize it.
Minnesota senate subcommittee drops most ethics complaints against Omar Fateh.
State Senator Omar Fateh, a DFL legislator from Minneapolis, had faced ethics complaints related to campaign finance and his campaign’s handling of absentee ballots. Later in the hearing, Omar’s former campaign manager and legislative aide, Dawson Kimyon, took the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions about his work on Omar’s 2020 campaign.
An unusually high number of candidates are vying to become the next Hennepin County attorney.
Seven candidates with a wealth of experience are campaigning to lead the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. The county attorney sets priorities for criminal prosecution, but also touches many facets of daily life, such as child support. Some consider it the most powerful job in the county.
Former judge and state lawmaker Tad Jude wants a safer county.
Thaddeus “Tad” Jude’s public service career began in 1972 when he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives at the age of 20. He later became a district court judge in Washington County. Jude says the county attorney should make decisions based on a defendant’s behavior and should exercise “a color blind application of the law.”
Jarvis Jones childhood in inner city Chicago will guide his leadership as county attorney.
Jarvis Jones helped establish the Minnesota Minority Lawyers Association and was the first African American president of the Hennepin County Bar Association and the Minnesota State Bar Association. If elected, he wants to create working groups that will examine data from the county attorney’s office in order to enact reform.