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Fair geared to college-bound Native American students
Hundreds of Indigenous high school students converged on the Minnesota History Center to learn more about higher education options.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A college fair geared to Minnesota’s Indigenous population drew hundreds of students to the Minnesota History Center Monday.
All of the colleges and universities that set up tables at the Native American College Fair represented campuses that also have support services specifically geared toward Indigenous students, such as American Indian centers.
“It feels great. I’ve talked to a lot of colleges I’ve been looking at and they’ve given me a lot of good advice and they’ve talked to me about financial aid and my options especially as a first-generation student,” Shania Isais, a senior at Irondale High School, who identifies as a member of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Community, told KARE.
“I used to want to do medical school, but now I’m looking more towards law because of debate. I found I have a passion for arguing for things I really want to help support.”
There were more than 50 tables set up throughout the History Center, plus panel discussions in the 3M Auditorium, and food trucks in the courtyard.
The fair also drew some older Native American students, including Marine combat veteran Jedidiah Lyons. He’s currently enrolled in a two-year program at Red Lake College in Minneapolis and was curious about his options for a four-year college.
“I want to go into business. I’ve always dreamt of building my own business, running my own thing. I’m good with my hands, I do woodworking and all that stuff, so I just want to know the ins and outs of everything to run a business,” Lyons told KARE.
“Every table we go to the people are friendly, they’re informative. Some of the tables I just wanted to get their cool stickers and I just stick around because they start talking about everything and it’s interesting. So, it’s a great time here.”
Mindy Meyers, who works with Native American students in the Anoka Hennepin School District, is one of the organizers of the event. She said Indigenous students are very underrepresented in college settings.
“We put this together with intentionality to be able to create safe space with our Indigenous students across the state to explore what their options are,” Meyers explained.
“In my nine years of working with Indigenous high school students, just not always seeing themselves represented in spaces creates this unconscious feeling they don’t belong there.”
She cited the case of a young woman who’s pursuing an engineering degree only because a training opportunity was presented to her.
“Although she was amazing in the field of math and science, she never thought about engineering until she was pushed to go to a summer engineering program. She straight-up stated, ‘As a Black, Indigenous woman I didn’t see myself reflected there.”
The recruiters at the University of Minnesota Morris table had the advantage of advertising that their campus waives tuition for Native American students. That tuition waiver is part of ongoing efforts to address the fact that the campus was once the site of an Indian boarding school.
“We offer a tuition waiver to Native American students. They either have to be an enrolled member of a tribe or a descendent of an enrolled member and just have the paperwork to prove it,” Addy Lutchen, a Native Alaskan who attended Morris and now works for the university, explained.
“They still have to find funding for their food and housing, but they can stack scholarships on top to cover that. The scholarships can come from us or from tribes. For instance, my tribe had a scholarship available to me. So, they can use those kinds of things and hopefully come out of school with no debt or low debt.”
Gov. Tim Walz also stopped by the event to welcome students and to make a pitch for them picking a Minnesota college rather than going out of state.
“My commitment as governor is to make sure you are seen, heard and valued in this state and that your heritage is lifted up as a part of who we are,” Walz told students.
On his way out of the History Center Walz told KARE, “It’s essential, I think, to get in front of these folks and say, ‘Look, Indigenous people are contemporary. They’re here right now. We need them in Minnesota’!”
Walz is on track to become the first governor in state history to visit all 11 tribal nations within the state’s borders. His running mate in 2018 and 2022, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, is the first person of color elected to a statewide office in Minnesota and the highest-ranking Native American person to hold a statewide office.
Prosecutors say Mychal Allan Stowers was on work release from prison when he shot his pregnant ex-wife, and then shot another man during a carjacking.
ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul police are looking for a man now charged with two counts of second-degree murder after allegedly shooting his ex-wife and her unborn child.
A criminal complaint filed against 37-year-old Mychal Allan Stowers details the two murder counts as well as carjacking and assault charges associated with his getaway.
St. Paul squads were dispatched to 139 Sycamore St. E. just after 9 p.m. Oct. 19 on reports of shots fired. Arriving officers were met by residents who told them they heard gunshots in apartment 3. Police entered the apartment and found a woman laying on the floor surrounded by spent 9mm shell casings. Paramedics responded and declared the victim dead just before 9:30 pm.
Police later identified the victim as 35-year-old Damara Alexis Stowers.
Investigators on the scene found a loaded handgun on a bed in a different bedroom, along with photos from an ultrasound. In the apartment mailbox were two letters, one addressed to the victim and the other to a Mychal Stowers. While officers were in the apartment a cellphone rang, and the contact name that showed was “My$hon Stowers.”
Neighbors described seeing a heavyset man in his late 30s or 40s running from the scene. One told officers he heard four or five shots from the apartment, walked outside, and soon heard two more from a few blocks away.
The owner of the building told police the victim was in the process of being evicted, and that her ex-boyfriend had been living in the apartment with her, which was against the lease.
Additional officers were dispatched to 99 Acker Street, a few blocks from the apartment shooting scene, at around 9:15 p.m. on reports of a carjacking. They found a man who had been shot in the leg, breaking his femur. The victim’s friend said they were standing outside a running vehicle when a heavyset Black male ran up, said something they did not understand and then shot the victim. The assailant then stole the running gray Audi.
The complaint states that on the same day an employee of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office reported that Mychal Stowers called, said he had shot someone and wanted to turn himself in. Despite the call, Stowers did not turn himself in.
Records from the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) show Stowers was released from prison in March after serving time for another murder, was on work release and supposed to be living at a halfway house. He had had been granted a pass to visit his “ex-wife” at 139 Sycamore.
Preliminary tests show the same gun fired spent shells recovered at both the murder and carjacking scenes, and the defendant matches descriptions of the shooter from witnesses at both scenes.
At this time Michael Stowers is not in custody.
Donald Edmondson suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest at his north-side apartment building on Nov. 24, 2023.
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis man who pleaded guilty to entering another man’s apartment and shooting him to death last year was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office released a statement saying 59-year-old Walter Hill was sentenced on second-degree intentional murder charges in 60-year-old Donald Edmondson’s November 2023 killing.
Prosecutors said Hill was given 337 days of credit for time already served.
“Mr. Edmondson should still be alive,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “A violent act committed with such disregard by Mr. Hill has taken him from his family. This sentence delivers accountability and protects our community, and I hope it brings some measure of peace to Mr. Edmondson’s loved ones as they attempt to move forward with their lives.”
According to police, Edmondson suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest at his north-side apartment building on Nov. 24, 2023.
The attorney’s office said Hill entered his guilty plea Monday.
Turns out, Twin Cities realtor and billboard personality Kris Lindahl is in on the joke.
MINNEAPOLIS — The makers of the video game “Call of Duty” launched a new, locally inspired campaign Friday, coinciding with the release of the franchise’s newest installment, “Black Ops 6.”
Motorists might notice real estate agent Kris Lindahl, famously seen with his arms out over every interstate in town, was replaced by *ahem* “The Replacer,” an Activision character played by actor Peter Stormare.
For the next few weeks, The Replacer will step in for Lindahl not only on billboards but also on advertisements across television, streaming and social media platforms.
But why does Lindahl need The Replacer’s help, you might ask?
So he’s free to play “Black Ops 6,” of course.
The Replacer isn’t new to Minnesota. He also once stepped into the shoes of Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.
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