Minnesota News - Howie Hanson

16 May 2025 · 2 min read

Minnesota Court of Appeals to decide if state can prosecute cannabis crimes on tribal lands

By Max Nesterak The Minnesota Court of Appeals will review whether the state may prosecute tribal members for cannabis crimes on most Native reservations in the state, wading into new

30 Mar 2025 · 4 min read

Minnesota Senate Democrats propose budget cuts amid bleak financial outlook

By Michelle Griffith and Madison McVan, Minnesota Reformer Minnesota Senate Democrats released two-year budget targets Friday that would enact nearly $2.5 billion in cuts over the next four years

28 Mar 2025 · 3 min read

Cities and developers want state money to convert office buildings to housing, other businesses

The credit — called the “credit for conversion of underutilized buildings,” or the “CUB credit” — would apply to buildings at least 15 years old.

24 Mar 2025 · 2 min read

Prosecutors say Eichorn lied about access to firearms, tried to hide laptop

When law enforcement agents entered the apartment, they found a red bag containing $1,000 cash, an SD card, a handgun and ammunition, a laptop and a factory-reset iPhone.

15 Dec 2024 · 3 min read

Minnesota: An easy mark

By J. Patrick Coolican, Minnesota Reformer Last week Gov. Tim Walz told Minnesotans that one of the drivers of the state’s emerging “fiscal imbalance” — i.e., over the next

15 Aug 2024 · 8 min read

After George Floyd’s killing, policing defined Tim Walz’s tenure

By Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer Public safety has proven to be the most difficult governing and political challenge of Gov. Tim Walz’s tenure. The pandemic fueled a spike in

2 Aug 2024 · 2 min read

Suicide ticks down, remains more common in Greater Minnesota

Suicide rates are much higher in parts of greater Minnesota than they are in the Twin Cities metro. In northeast Minnesota counties like Lake and Cook, the suicide rate is three or more times higher than it is in metro counties like Hennepin, Scott or Dakota.

2 Aug 2024 · 5 min read

Labor likes Gov. Tim Walz for vice president — and other labor news

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told CNN that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear are his two favorites for vice president given their track records of supporting unions.

23 Jul 2024 · 3 min read

Minneapolis City Council considers another $1.4 million in workers’ comp settlements with cops

By Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer The Minneapolis City Council is poised to approve another $1.4 million in workers’ compensation settlements with 10 former police officers. A council committee voted

8 Jun 2024 · 5 min read

Minnesota DFL agrees to legislative hearings on copper-nickel mining — and other labor news

By Max Nesterak, Minnesota Reformer Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly round-up of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: DFL party reaches rocky compromise on

30 May 2024 · 3 min read

DFL Party Chair Ken Martin, Walz call for resignation of embroiled Sen. Nicole Mitchell

Mitchell has been embroiled in scandal ever since she was arrested in April for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home to steal some sentimental items of her late father, including his ashes.

24 May 2024 · 2 min read

This winter marked the lowest ice cover on the Great Lakes in 50 years, experts report

By Kyle Davidson The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said this year marked a record low in ice coverage on the Great Lakes, which comes as no surprise to Minnesotans who

24 May 2024 · 4 min read

Four years after George Floyd, Minnesota’s racial gaps remain stark

By Christopher Ingraham Four years ago this week, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. The event was captured on video, inspiring protests and riots in Minnesota and beyond.

20 May 2024 · 5 min read

Chaotic end leaves Democratic Legislature with a few wins

By Michelle Griffith Democratic lawmakers in the final hour of the 2024 legislative session passed a 1,400 page bill that includes a lengthy list of policy items, from minimum

19 May 2024 · 3 min read

Lawmakers expected to fund infrastructure, economic development projects on Iron Range

By Madison McVan A swing-district Iron Range Democratic lawmaker is driving an effort to create a special pool of financing for Range-only infrastructure projects. The tax omnibus bill, which House

13 May 2024 · 2 min read

Advocates continue push for public investment in early childhood education

By Madison McVan, Minnesota Reformer Early education providers and teachers from the Iron Range piled on a bus headed south on Monday morning, shuttering their childcare centers for the day

6 May 2024 · 4 min read

The Timberwolves are crushing, just like Minnesota

By Eric Harris Bernstein, Minnesota Reformer For the second edition of Tax and Spend, I was planning to respond to yet another Star Tribune op-ed declaring that high taxes are

9 Apr 2024 · 6 min read

Nearly 4 years after Floyd protests, police misconduct complaint outcomes are finally released

By Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer Recently released city documents, first reported by the Star Tribune, show at least a dozen Minneapolis police officers were disciplined for misconduct in the days