By Mike Kaszuba When criminal prosecutors, led by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, began a “Help Seal My Record” project last year to enable people to seal their convictions for low-level crimes, thousands raced to file applications. On the first day of the program alone – Oct. 1, 2020 – 307 applications were received after … Continue reading Documents: “Help Seal My Record” project draws interest, but relatively few sealed records

By Mike Kaszuba In the aftermath of the high-profile police killing of George Floyd, the City of Minneapolis signed two contracts this year with The Agape Movement Co., a group that included former gang members that was formed after Floyd’s death to help young black men avoid a criminal lifestyle. In early June, The Agape … Continue reading Documents: The Agape Movement’s early progress reports in Minneapolis give few details

By Mike Kaszuba The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System says that its regional banks – like the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – have a limited obligation to comply with federal public information laws when they carry out their duties. In a new letter to Public Record Media (PRM), a non-profit based … Continue reading Federal Reserve Board: Regional banks have limited FOIA obligations

By Mike Kaszuba The 911 phone call came at 2:22 in the morning –– nearly five hours after the Minneapolis police abandoned their nearby Third Precinct headquarters on what became the most intense night of protests last year following the death of George Floyd. “This fire is out of control,” the caller told a police … Continue reading 9-1-1 transcripts: Third Precinct residents in fear, panic during riots

By Mike Kaszuba In 2018, Chinese telecom giant Huawei came under increasing scrutiny in the United States over allegations that it stole trade secrets and violated sanctions on Iran. At the University of Minnesota, officials watched as major schools across the country began distancing themselves from the company. Internal university memos –– filed as the … Continue reading As federal scrutiny grew, U slow to sever ties with Chinese telecom

By Mike Kaszuba Nearly a half century ago, Kenneth Dahlberg was briefly in the spotlight as a Minnesota connection to Watergate, the political scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation following the break-in at the Democrat National Committee headquarters. FBI documents newly-obtained by Public Record Media (PRM), a non-profit based in Saint Paul, provide … Continue reading FBI records: Revisiting Watergate, and Kenneth Dahlberg

By Mike Kaszuba New documents show that an acrimonious dispute has broken out involving the normally staid Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. At issue: A proposed constitutional amendment in Minnesota that calls for ensuring children have a right to a quality public education. The players: The president of the federal bank, who has taken a … Continue reading Federal Reserve’s Kashkari to key education policy critic: “You had done little to no work”

By Mike Kaszuba Four days before the November presidential election, state officials and the FBI issued a report giving police advice on how to handle potential threats and hazards at polling places in Minnesota. While the report – which has not been previously disclosed — cautioned that there were at the time no known credible … Continue reading Police told to watch for threats, Boogaloo Boys at Minnesota polling places

By Mike Kaszuba Just eight months after becoming president of the University of Minnesota, Joan Gabel was immersed in controversy and second-guessing over the school’s COVID-19 response. The pandemic had quickly forced the state’s largest school to effectively shut down not only its 50,000-student campus in the Twin Cities, but its other campuses across Minnesota … Continue reading Documents: U struggled to address, recover from public relations hit over COVID refunds

By Mike Kaszuba Two months after Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson took office in early 2019, a sheriff’s office advisory board set a key date:  The sheriff’s office would tentatively begin encrypting radio traffic on April 10 for all police departments using the county’s dispatch service. The move was noteworthy because Hutchinson, during his campaign … Continue reading For Hennepin County’s new sheriff: A quick pivot to encryption