Posted inEDUCATION
Worried about teacher shortages in Minnesota? School districts have an answer: Come apply for a job.
With school just a few days away, districts like St. Paul Public Schools would like you—yes, you!–-to become a teacher, an education assistant, or a substitute. But the much-hyped “teacher shortage” isn’t a problem in some wealthier cities. And many schools need to hire staff in roles like special education.
Posted inEDUCATION
What you need to know to register your Minnesota K–12 student for free school meals
After two years of free school meals for all students, families will now need to fill out a form to qualify. Here’s what you need to know.
Posted inBUSINESS & WORK
Entrepreneur Juan Mejia persevered as banks turned him down for loans. Recent research says people of color disproportionately face challenges accessing credit.
Juan Mejia opened grocery stores in Long Prairie, Marshall, and Willmar, Minnesota, with no bank loans. He struggled to obtain loans due to several issues some say prevent people of color from accessing credit to build wealth.
Posted inHEALTH
Here’s how to get free COVID tests from the federal government, which will stop taking requests after September 2.
U.S. households have until Friday, September 2, to request four free at-home COVID tests from the federal government. The government made a total of eight free tests available to households; those that have received eight are not eligible to request more tests.
Posted inINSIDE SAHAN JOURNAL
Sahan Journal is hiring two reporters to join our amazing newsroom. Please apply!
Sahan Journal is adding two reporters to our nonprofit news team. We’re looking for journalists with a passion to tell stories that matter to Minnesota’s immigrant communities and people of color. We believe our journalism can change the news narratives in communities that have been ignored—or poorly served—by mainstream news. Come help us build a collaborative newsroom that reflects our talents, values, and vision.
Posted inEDUCATION
Black girl magic is real. Meet the St. Paul educator who has discovered the secret to unlocking student ‘superpowers’ in the classroom.
Mercedes Yarbrough creates comics about Black entrepreneurship and teaches her students to use magic glasses that can help them picture a better world. Her colleagues describe her as an inspirational teacher. She sees herself as a next-gen Mr. Rogers.
Posted inNEWS PARTNERS
First-of-its-kind survey examines trauma, healing among Indigenous survivors of family separation.
The Child Removal in Native Communities survey will ask survivors difficult questions about their experiences with boarding schools, foster care, and adoption.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
An explosion of color welcomes customers at this State Fair booth selling clothes and wares from Ghana.
Batakali Fashion Design sells wares from Ghana at the International Bazaar. Bright colors and a mix of patterns set the items apart from other goods.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Big? Check. Stick? Check. Giant egg roll on a stick passes the State Fair test.
QueViet Concessions offers a taste of Vietnamese cuisine with its giant egg roll on a stick, cream cheese wontons, and iced Vietnamese coffee.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Union Hmong Kitchen brings Hmong food to the Minnesota State Fair for the first time. Here’s what head chef Yia Vang says you should try.
What’s on the menu? Purple sticky rice, Hmong sausage, and lychee-coconut colada! The pop-up in Minneapolis’ North Loop has made its way to the International Bazaar at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.
Posted inNEWS PARTNERS
Minnesota set to become ‘abortion-access island’ in the Midwest, but for whom?
Out-of-staters have long traveled to Minnesota for abortions, but as neighboring states restrict access to the procedure, data suggest patients of color may not make the trip.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Oromo singer-songwriter Haacaaluu Hundeessaa’s life and music is celebrated in a new documentary.
Haacaaluu’s music served as the soundtrack to the Oromo revolt. A new documentary, “Spear through the Heart,” looks at his contribution to Oromo music, culture, and social justice.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Big foods, big crowds, and a giant slide: Many new Minnesotans will be going to the State Fair for the first time this year. Here’s a look at opening day.
The Great Minnesota Get-Together runs from August 25 to September 5.
Posted inEDUCATION
‘People are in tears about all the new possibilities’: Ilhan Omar reflects on the historic fight to cancel student loans and what it means for people like her.
As a new immigrant, Omar took on student loans at a for-profit college. Since her first run for office, she’s worked to make sure others don’t fall into the same “traps” she did. “I’d only been in the country for five years when I went to college,” the DFL Congresswoman says. “And so my family didn’t have the literacy, the fluency in the system, to help me navigate it.”
Posted inEDUCATION
Lawsuit alleges that new policy protecting Minneapolis Public Schools teachers of color from layoffs discriminates against white teachers.
The suit, which is backed by the nationwide conservative organization Judicial Watch, was filed after the provision drew the attention of right-wing media outlets. In Minnesota, retaining teachers of color has broad support.
Posted inEDUCATION
President Biden announced a historic student loan forgiveness plan on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know to relieve your student debt.
What student loans are eligible for forgiveness? How much is being relieved? When do I need to start making payments again? What does this mean for Minnesotans? We’ve got the answers below.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Top candidates for Minnesota governor disagree on the future of immigrants in Minnesota.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen said in a July radio interview that resettling immigrants without sufficient resources would be “undercutting so much of Minnesota’s fabric of life.”
Posted inNEWS PARTNERS
Return of rare Ojibwe horse lifts spirits—but its conservation needs help.
Thousands of Ojibwe horses once lived near Ojibwe communities on both sides of the Minnesota-Canada border. They would roam free part of the year, but at other times were gathered to help with labor.
Posted inNEWS PARTNERS
The State Fair starts Thursday: Here’s how to get there.
The Minnesota State Fair begins Thursday. As many as 2 million people will pass through the gates by the time the event wraps up on Sept. 5, Labor Day. Here’s how to get there.
Posted inNEWS PARTNERS
Entrepreneur Houston White is building Black economic power in north Minneapolis.
Minnesota has gaping racial inequities and a modest Black middle class. Houston White aims to change that with market-driven community development.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
After murder-suicide, grieving brother of St. Paul man struggles to comprehend shootings that orphaned five children.
Chee Nou Xiong said the children of Yia Xiong and Ka Lor will need emotional and financial support as they adjust to their dramatically altered lives.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Tragedy in St. Paul: Couple dies in apparent murder-suicide with five young children in the home.
The deaths of Ka Lor and Yia Xiong marked the second such tragedy in the Minnesota Hmong community this summer.
Posted inCHANGING MINNESOTA
Two years after Trump left office, the International Institute of Minnesota is expanding to help welcome and resettle new arrivals
Who greets newcomers from Congo when they land at MSP International Airport? The International Institute of Minnesota helps immigrants and refugees resettle in Minnesota. The agency recently expanded its St. Paul offices and tripled its staffing.
Posted inINSIDE SAHAN JOURNAL
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
Posted inHEALTH
Keeping track of the applesauce: Federal Child Nutrition Programs make it possible for Minnesota nonprofits to serve low-income kids. But while the lunch may be free, you pay for it in paperwork.
Federal authorities allege that Child Nutrition Programs in Minnesota turned into a feast for fraud. This summer, Youthprise, a Twin Cities nonprofit, invited Sahan Journal to visit a neighborhood library and see the exacting work that goes into serving federally-subsidized meals to low-income kids. That means measuring chicken salad, following the clock on lunchtime, and tracking meals with a ticker.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
‘Our family is broken’: Tekle Sundberg’s supporters release new bystander video of his fatal shooting by Minneapolis police.
The July 14 shooting occurred during what Tekle’s family says was a mental health crisis. “We want information,” his father said.
Posted inHEALTH
Mental health therapists often don’t know how to help patients cope with racial trauma. A pilot program just launched in Brooklyn Center aims to address that.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has partnered with a provider specializing in remote counseling sensitive to lived experiences. If it works in a city still reeling from the killing of Daunte Wright and the pandemic, the insurer plans to expand the program.
Posted inHEALTH
Bewildered by the rapidly shifting landscape of abortion access? Don’t despair. In Minnesota, the procedure remains legal, and there’s financial and travel assistance for people seeking care.
Two health experts answer commonly asked questions about where and how to obtain an abortion. There’s help for out-of-state people, too.
Posted inEDUCATION
Ryn Alicia lived in her car during college; a new program for foster youth could give her and others stability and success.
The Fostering Higher Education Act passed last year in the Minnesota legislature. It distributes grants to foster youth, covering the full cost of attendance at public, tribal, and most private colleges statewide.
Posted inEDUCATION
New Minneapolis summer school program helps immigrant high-schoolers.
More than half of the students enrolled in the Newcomer Summer High School program are from Afghanistan.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Minnesotans are organizing to help people suffering from drought and famine in Somalia and Ethiopia. You can too. Here’s how.
Hungry children. Lost livelihoods. Lost lives. As climate change and supply-chain blockages exacerbate the misery in the Horn of Africa, immigrant communities are raising money to help.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Minnesota Representative John Thompson: The exit interview
In an unfiltered conversation with Sahan Journal, the state Representative from St. Paul blamed his landslide August 9 primary election loss on racially motivated slander and DFL money. “I refuse to conform, because the system won’t conform for my people,” Thompson said.
Posted inCHANGING 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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & 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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Ibrahim Mohamed loses primary, ending run to become Scott County’s first commissioner of color.
Ibrahim Mohamed made history in 2020 when he was elected as Shakopee’s first Black school board member. He had hoped to become the first Somali and person of color to serve as Scott County commissioner.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Erin Maye Quade beats Justin Emmerich in DFL state Senate primary.
Erin Maye Quade claimed national headlines in April when she went into labor while speaking at the DFL endorsement convention. She campaigned as a champion of reproductive rights.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Zaynab Mohamed moves one step closer to becoming the first Black woman to serve in the Minnesota Senate after winning the DFL primary.
Zaynab Mohamed was born in Somalia and grew up in south Minneapolis, where she helped provide for her family. If she beats her Republican challenger in the November general election, she would also become the youngest woman to serve in the state Senate.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Omar Fateh defeats challenger Shaun Laden in DFL state Senate primary.
State Senator Omar Fateh defeated challenger Shaun Laden, a union organizer, to advance to the November general election. Controversy has surrounded Omar for much of the year: his brother-in-law and former campaign volunteer was convicted of lying about absentee ballots, and Republicans filed ethics complaints against Omar.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Sponsored Content
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
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
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.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Cedric Alexander becomes Minneapolis’ first community safety commissioner.
The new position oversees police, fire, 911, emergency response, and violence prevention efforts.
Posted inArts
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.
Posted inEDUCATION
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.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
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.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
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.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
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.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
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.
Sponsored Content
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
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
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!
Posted inArts
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.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
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.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
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.
Posted inINSIDE SAHAN JOURNAL
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.”
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
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.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Minnesota legislator Ryan Winkler says he’ll build coalitions to combat crime and reform the criminal justice system.
Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler says he has 15 years of experience bringing people to the table to resolve disputes. The county attorney’s office needs to examine its own biases in order to address racial equity in prosecution, he says.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Retired judge Martha Holton Dimick wants to help Minneapolis hire better police officers, and hold them accountable.
Martha Holton Dimick believes the community, prosecutors, and police can work together to combat violent crime.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Prosecutor Saraswati Singh vows to hold police accountable if elected as county attorney.
Saraswati Singh prosecutes murder, sexual assault, and domestic assault cases in Ramsey County. She says she’s ready to bring those skills and an eye for reform to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Lifelong public defender Mary Moriarty wants to reform the county attorney’s office by analyzing data.
As the former chief Hennepin County public defender, Mary Moriarty’s used to challenging the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Now, she’s hoping to reform it from the inside. Moriarty says the office needs to improve the analysis of its own data in order to reform the criminal justice system.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Former Minneapolis City Council president Paul Ostrow wants to bring transparency and accountability to the county attorney’s office.
Paul Ostrow says he will “aggressively” prosecute people who sell fentanyl, a dangerous opioid that has claimed many lives. Cracking down on violent crime and reforming the criminal justice system can occur in tandem, says Ostrow, an assistant Anoka County attorney.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Informed by the shadow of war, Amane Badhasso is running to uplift Minnesota’s immigrant voices. She’d become the first Oromo to serve in Congress.
Amane Badhasso wants to get Minnesota immigrants involved in politics by becoming their representative in Congress. Amane is an Oromo refugee from Ethiopia who is running in the August 9 primary to unseat Representative Betty McCollum. The winner of the DFL primary will likely win the general election in the Fourth District, which includes cities like St. Paul, Maplewood, Woodbury, and Oakdale, and other parts of Ramsey and Washington Counties.
Posted inDEMOCRACY & POLITICS
Minnesota Congressional candidate Amane Badhasso explains her political platform.
Amane Badhasso, an Oromo refugee from Ethiopia, is running in Minnesota’s August 9 primary to unseat Representative Betty McCollum (DFL). Her platform includes expanding Medicare, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and demilitarizing U.S. foreign policy.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Car-share programs try to reach low-income drivers in Twin Cities neighborhoods most harmed by pollution.
HourCar, the hub-based car-share program, recently added over 100 electric vehicles to a new system called Evie. The cars are available in areas of environmental concern on a first-come, first-served basis.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Test drive: What’s it like to use an Evie Carshare in the Twin Cities?
Where can you find an electric vehicle in Minneapolis and St. Paul? What do you need to sign up for Evie Carshare? And how much does it cost? Is it the same as HourCar? Everything you need to know about borrowing a car!
Posted inSponsored Content
Lines Drawn: Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Appreciation
Communities know best when it comes to the health inequities they experience, and the solutions that will have the greatest impact.
Posted inArts
About Hmong people, for Hmong people: photographer Pao Houa Her’s new show opens at the Walker.
Pao Houa Her’s solo show, Paj qaum ntuj/Flowers Of The Sky, will open at the Walker Art Center on Thursday, July 28. The images were taken around Mount Shasta, California, where many Hmong people own and operate marijuana grow farms.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
‘You’ll never meet someone like Tekle’: Friends remember Tekle Sundberg as spiritual, thoughtful, and deeply supportive of those he loved.
Despite his own struggles, Tekle was always there for friends going through their own crises, friends say. They want to make sure he’s remembered for more than the way he died.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Rights advocates say Minneapolis must issue city IDs to residents, unveil list of ‘pro-immigrant’ demands.
Minneapolis passed municipal ID ordinance in 2018 but halted implementation over concerns information could be used to identify immigrants for deportation.
Posted inBUSINESS & WORK
Piles of plastic and styrofoam plates spurred Ying Xiong to create Hmong-inspired, compostable dinnerware.
Ying Xiong’s JY Line sells compostable plates made of sugarcane and utensils made of cornstarch. She was inspired to create eco-friendly alternatives to the plastic and styrofoam dinnerware she sees at many large Hmong events.
Posted inBUSINESS & WORK
What’s Vivian Aronson’s recipe for social media stardom? Old pickle brine and a dose of authenticity.
Vivian Aronson’s social media dominance began with short videos posted on TikTok. She grew her YouTube channel, CookingBomb, from about 20,000 subscribers to more than 1.67 million in less than two years, and has since published a cookbook and appeared on Good Morning America.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Minneapolis police prepared less-lethal measures to resolve the standoff with Tekle Sundberg before snipers shot him, reports show.
Minneapolis police officers planned to use rubber bullets and gas to apprehend Sundberg. Instead, after six-plus hours, they shot him. A log from emergency responders details the hours leading up to his death.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Body camera video offers incomplete view of how Tekle Sundberg standoff led to fatal Minneapolis police shooting.
Body-cam footage and incident reports released Wednesday reveal new details about the fatal police shooting of Tekle Sundberg. The reports show that police planned to use less-lethal force in the six-hour standoff before police snipers shot Sundberg.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Transcript details panicked call from Tekle Sundberg’s neighbor before fatal shooting.
Arabella Foss-Yarbrough called 911 on July 14 to report that bullets were being fired through her wall, nearly hitting her. A transcript of the call reveals her terror before police arrived to confront her neighbor, Tekle Sundberg.
Posted inCLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Northern Minnesota tribes sue Environmental Protection Agency over state’s new water quality standards.
Two northern Minnesota Native American tribes have sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to reverse recent changes the state made to its water quality standards. The tribes argue the changes are likely to damage wild rice and pollute waters on their reservations and treaty-protected lands.
Posted inBUSINESS & WORK
Mary Taris couldn’t find enough books with Black characters for her children. Now, she’s opening a bookstore in downtown Minneapolis.
Mary Taris couldn’t find enough books for her children featuring Black characters, so she founded her own publishing company–Strive Community Publishing. “We’re really striving to connect across cultures,” Taris says.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Tekle Sundberg’s family say he was having a mental health crisis when Minneapolis police killed him. They criticized police negotiations.
In an unusual move, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a news release Saturday asking for the public’s help investigating the shooting. The bureau asked anyone with pictures, videos, and audio of the shooting to submit them to investigators.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Minneapolis police shot and killed Andrew Tekle Sundberg from a rooftop across the street, new search warrants reveal.
Two officers with Minneapolis police’s SWAT team were stationed on top of an apartment building across the street when they shot Andrew Tekle Sundberg, according to court documents. Few other details have emerged a day after the fatal shooting.
Posted inBUSINESS & WORK
Honduran couple brings bilingual law firm, gourmet coffee to St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood.
Making It in Minnesota: Inti Martínez-Alemán was a rising young laywer in Honduras 11 years ago when his attorney mother, whom he worked with, was assassinated. Now he and his wife are building a new life–and two businesses–in Minnesota.
Posted inPOLICING & JUSTICE
Minneapolis police shot and killed Andrew Tekle Sundberg after a six-hour standoff. The shooting remains under investigation.
Police say they responded Wednesday evening to shots being fired in a south Minneapolis apartment building and confronted the man, leading to an overnight standoff. Police identified him Thursday night as Andrew Tekle Sundberg.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Minneapolis man seeks reparations from the church that enslaved his ancestors.
In 2017, top clergy and officials from the Society of Jesus and Georgetown University apologized for selling 272 enslaved Black people to three Louisiana plantations in 1838. Elton Wright-Trusclair and other descendants say the apology and atonement gestures that followed were not enough.
Posted inCULTURE & COMMUNITY
Behind the scenes at Suldaan Seeraar’s mega-show in Minneapolis: The huge audience, the ticketing snags, and that booing thing with Ilhan Omar.
The Somali music star behind YouTube hits like “Axdi Dhowra” and “275” talked to Sahan Journal about his North American debut, opening doors for Somali musicians—and plans for a second Minnesota show. “To the beautiful audience who attended the concert, I want to thank you,” Suldaan said.
