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 … Continue reading Documents shed renewed light on Wisconsin’s Foxconn deal

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. … Continue reading FAA flight data:  A glimpse at the jet set for Super Bowl, Final Four

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 … Continue reading In Ramsey County, a glimpse at the confusion surrounding Trump’s new immigration stance

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 … Continue reading PRM’s Amazon bid lawsuit heads to a hearing

By Mike Kaszuba In the spring of this year, the State of Minnesota submitted a high-profile bid to have the United States Army build a Futures Command Center in the state.  The bid – while ultimately unsuccessful – provided a revealing look at how the University of Minnesota tried to market itself to the military. … Continue reading The University of Minnesota courts the military

By Mike Kaszuba Documents found in Peter Smith’s Minnesota motel room last year only hinted at his role as a Republican operative who specialized in political opposition research on Bill and Hillary Clinton.  However, the work that Smith was reportedly doing prior to his death in May of 2017 has intrigued both reporters and congressional … Continue reading A Republican operative’s death in Rochester

By Mike Kaszuba In the fall of 2016, three Minnesota counties volunteered to send sheriff’s deputies to North Dakota to provide police support as protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline project drew national attention. In early December of that year, Saint Paul-based non-profit Public Record Media asked the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for internal correspondence … Continue reading Tracking A Data Request Regarding The Dakota Access Pipeline

By Matt Ehling and Mike Kaszuba The U.S. military provided coaching on how to handle media inquiries during a 2014 military training exercise in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and included advice on how to limit information should a “serious accident or incident involving injury or death” occur. The latest documents from the U.S. Special Operations … Continue reading New federal documents describe 2014 “Brass Star” military training exercise

By Mike Kaszuba Three days prior to this year’s Super Bowl, the Minnesota Vikings hosted a private dinner at St. Paul’s Union Depot for some of the wealthiest people in the United States — the team owners of the National Football League. Documents obtained by Public Record Media (PRM), a Saint Paul-based non-profit, show how … Continue reading The Union Depot Hosts a Vikings Party

By Mike Kaszuba One day after a Tesla automobile crashed in rural Minnesota last summer, Tesla’s director of field performance engineering contacted the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s office about the accident.  In an e-mail, he wrote that federal regulators were asking the car company about the crash. Kandiyohi County officials had sent out a press release … Continue reading A Tesla crashes in Minnesota