By Mike Kaszuba Nearly three months before most Minnesotans knew that Google was interested in building a large data center in Sherburne County, local officials were already putting together a public subsidy package for the multi-billion-dollar company. New documents obtained by Saint Paul-based non-profit Public Record Media (PRM) show that the broad outlines of an […]
By Mike Kaszuba In 2017, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker announced that tech giant Foxconn would be building a major liquid crystal display manufacturing facility in the state. Walker touted the project as one that could transform Wisconsin in the same way Silicon Valley had remade the San Francisco Bay area. Despite the outward excitement, state […]
By Mike Kaszuba After being kept from the public for over eighteen months, Minnesota’s unsuccessful bid to have Amazon locate a second corporate headquarters (“HQ2”) in the state was released on May 6th. The bid document, however, contained few surprises – many of the public subsidies and locations that were offered to the company had […]
By Mike Kaszuba Two years after his body was found in a Rochester, Minnesota motel room, Republican operative Peter Smith emerged as a figure who drew the interest of Robert Mueller III as part of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mueller’s 448-page report, which was released Thursday, […]
By Mike Kaszuba Three hours before Super Bowl LII began last year in Minneapolis, a charter flight listed simply as “Saudi VIP” arrived in the Twin Cities from Washington, D.C. The plane would stay just a few hours – long enough for the game to be played – and then depart back to the U.S. […]
By Mike Kaszuba In July 2018, as Ilhan Omar was running for Congress, the rapidly rising Minneapolis DFLer suddenly faced questions about money she was paid to give speeches at community colleges while she served on a higher-education finance committee as a state legislator. Though Omar returned the money, claiming the speeches were booked before […]
By Mike Kaszuba In August of 2011, music legend Bob Dylan had just turned age 70. Newly obtained records show that the University of Minnesota reached out to his representatives at that same time about an archiving project. Documents obtained by Saint Paul-based non-profit Public Record Media (PRM) reveal that the school was interested in […]
By Mike Kaszuba Nearly two years ago, the Trump administration took office and pressed to harden immigration policies. New documents show how one Minnesota governmental entity – the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office – found itself caught in a confusing conflict that pitted the White House against many local officials. “I wanted to make sure that […]
By Mike Kaszuba and Matt Ehling New court filings show that state officials have become more strident in denying they possessed Minnesota’s unsuccessful bid for Amazon’s second corporate headquarters (HQ2) — a position that appears to be at odds with earlier records showing that they worked closely on the bid with economic development non-profit Greater […]
By Mike Kaszuba When Tyler Johnson scored three touchdowns in a victory over Miami University of Ohio in September, there was a single word on the front of his University of Minnesota football helmet. The word: ROW. It was there because of an unusual agreement between the school, second-year head football coach PJ Fleck and […]
