Free Republic

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Mall of America now has a new way to keep shoppers safe. A new high-tech layer of security has been added after gun-related incidents in recent years. Signs let you know you're coming face to face with new facial recognition technology. "Very mixed feelings about this because it could be useful and not so useful sometimes," said Melva Bargiela, a long-time Minnesota resident who is now living in Spain. Cameras with the ability to map faces have been installed to give shoppers peace of mind while detecting potential threats. "I think they're watching us all the...

A dam in south central Minnesota failed Monday morning - leading to fears of flooding for at least 45,000 residents in the valley below. Citizens in low-lying areas of the Minnesota River Valley have now been told to evacuate - as officials continue to monitor whether the Rapidan Dam will fully give in. The 114-year-old dam on the Blue Earth River is about 90 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Aerial footage shows a house just a few feet away from the tributary being completely engulfed by the floodwaters. It was later revealed an Xcel Energy substation located at the dam was...

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland acknowledged Tuesday that the Biden administration’s climate agenda, which is reliant on global critical mineral supply chains, is strengthening China. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing on her agency’s proposed 2024 budget, Haaland was repeatedly grilled about the administration’s environmental policies blocking further domestic production of critical minerals and opening the door to further reliance on Chinese-sourced minerals. In one exchange with Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., Haaland affirmed that green energy sources “deepen” reliance on Chinese imports. “I’m telling you right now that 63% of rare earth mining [occurs in China],” Reschenthaler stated. “By deductive reasoning,...

In Minnesota, 50% of students cannot read at grade level. If we were to apply the traditional academic grading scale to that outcome, the public education system in the state would get a solid F.. That abysmal performance was the topic of much debate during this term of the Minnesota legislature, prompting the Democrat trifecta to pass “the READ Act,” an effort to replace the failed “whole language” method of literacy training with traditional phonics education. “Whole language” is an absolute joke, recognized even by many on the Left as a toxic methodology that fails students. In essence, “whole language”...

Looking at staying at Hyatt place. Do we avoid mall of America?? Thanks Luigi

If Minnesota wants to reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the state must rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, a sector where pollution is still on the rise. A path to phasing out building emissions exists, according to a new report commissioned by Clean Heat Minnesota, a diverse group of energy experts, cities, community service organizations, and consumer advocates. The report, called the Minnesota Building Decarbonization Analysis, shows that billions of dollars in investments and dedicated planning will be needed to help the state hit its climate targets. But doing so is possible, and best accomplished...

Polling outfit Decision Desk HQ released some stunning numbers Friday, showing Donald Trump ever so slightly ahead in two blue states that went for Biden in the last election, which could spell doom for the president’s reelection if they turn on him in November. The survey showed Trump up an ever-so-teeny 0.2 percent in Virginia and an absolutely eye-opening 1.6 percent in Minnesota. The Gopher State's numbers are not stunning because the former president is so far ahead—1.6 percent is a small margin—but because he's even close in a state that Biden won by seven last time around. It’s got...

St. Cloud State University finalizes plan to cut back on degrees, minors amidst budget problems Nearly one in three degree programs at St. Cloud State University will get the ax, due to budgetary problems. Roughly 60 percent of minors are also getting the boot at the public university, according to a recent announcement. “In a presentation to the campus community on Tuesday, SCSU Acting President Larry Lee confirmed the university will suspend 42 degree programs and 50 minor programs,” KARE 11 reported yesterday. The news outlet reported that other cuts were made last year as well. “The reductions will leave...

Raz Segal faced pushback over a piece he wrote for Jewish Currents in the days after Oct. 7The University of Minnesota has “paused” the search for a new director of its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies after initially tapping an Israeli who accused Israel of genocide less than a week after Oct. 7. Jewish groups had opposed the planned hiring of Raz Segal after learning of it last week, and two members of the center’s advisory board — one of whom is Jewish — resigned over the appointment. Segal, who is currently the director of a Masters program in...

On Oct. 13, just six days after Hamas terrorists infiltrated the Jewish state and slaughtered more than 1,000 Israelis, Stockton University professor Raz Segal penned an op-ed accusing Israel of genocide. Months later, the University of Minnesota tapped Segal to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, prompting resignations from members of the center's advisory board. On Friday, Minnesota's interim College of Liberal Arts dean, Ann Waltner, extended an offer to Segal to serve as the center's chair, according to an internal email obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The decision prompted immediate pushback from members of the center's...

A Minnesota transgender high school student had her jaw broken in two places after she used the men's bathroom. Cobalt Sovereign, 17, says she was assaulted by a fellow student as she left the bathroom at Hopkins High School on May 30. She said the student looked over the stall and called her a '******' and then punched her in the face as she was leaving. Sovereign, who uses she/her pronouns, told KARE: 'I was hit in the jaw and at the time one of my teeth exploded, pieces in my mouth.' She was rushed to hospital and had three...

It may or may not be the most significant retraction of a scientific paper ever, but it certainly is in the ballpark. The paper helped create and sustain the theory that amyloid protein buildups caused the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and was one of a number of apparently fraudulent papers written by Sylvain Lesné, a professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. All the paper's authors agreed to retract, save Lesné, who has been under investigation for manipulating data. "Authors of a landmark Alzheimer’s disease research paper published in Nature in 2006 have agreed to retract the study in...

June 4 (Reuters) - A Texas prosecutor asked the state's highest criminal court on Tuesday to reverse a pardon granted by Governor Gregg Abbott to a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder and sentenced to prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, a Democrat whose office tried the murder case, said he asked the state Court of Criminal Appeals for a special order, called a writ of mandamus, to overturn Abbott's action. Garza told a news briefing in the state capital of Austin that Abbott, a Republican, violated the separation of...

(The Center Square) – Any Minnesota voter can now sign up for a permanent absentee ballot. As of June 1, Minnesota joined eight other states and Washington, D.C. to allow all voters, irrespective of disability status or age, to register online to permanently vote absentee. This will allow voting as early as 46 days before an election. To leave the permanent absentee list, the voter must send a written request to their county elections office. Absentee ballots will no longer be sent to the voter’s address if it’s returned as undeliverable, the voter is pronounced dead by the county or...

A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic. These seven are the first of 70 defendants expected to go to trial in a conspiracy that cost taxpayers $250 million. Eighteen others have pleaded guilty, and authorities said they recovered about $50 million in one of the nation’s largest pandemic-related fraud cases. Prosecutors say just a fraction of the...

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has released the name of the third person killed at the scene on Thursday evening as Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 35. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed Saturday that Mohamed shot and killed Officer Jamal Mitchell. Mohamed’s cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds. Court records show that Mohamed had a criminal history dating back to 2006, including burglary and firearms charges. Officer Jamal Mitchell died at the hospital as a result of the shooting. SNIP

The Minneapolis police officer gunned down in an ambush-style attack was killed while trying to help the suspect, who initially pretended to be a victim in need of help during Thursday’s mass shooting, according to officials. Officer Jamal Mitchell, 28, responded to a reported shooting inside an apartment in the city’s trendy Whittier neighborhood and ran out of his car to aid the shooting victims, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said in a press conference late Thursday. But the man he had he was rushing to help wound up being the suspect, who fatally shot the “courageous hero”...

Law enforcement sources tell FOX 9 that one Minneapolis police officer has died after a gunman opened fire in a neighborhood south of downtown. In total, FOX 9 is told six people were shot during the incident: two officers and four citizens. Minneapolis police have confirmed two officers and at least four civilians were injured in the situation but nothing further at this point. Police have swarmed the area of Blaisdell Avenue and 22nd Avenue for the shooting. As of 7:30 p.m., things seemed to have calmed down some.

US Central Command announcing destruction of eight drones in and around Yemen... In the aftermath of the guilty verdict at his trial in New York, President Donald Trump's fundraising website crashed... Three dead, including a police officer, in a mass shooting incident in Minneapolis... Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, critically wounded in an assassination attempt May 15, moved,,, The message tonight from the Biden Administration...US weapons provided to Ukraine can be used to attack Russia... "This was a disgrace, this was a rigged trial" President Donald Trump Reacts Outside Court Following Verdicts... The US beefing up sanctions on Ugandan public...