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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.
A criminal complaint alleges the suspect was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash.
MINNEAPOLIS — Criminal charges have been filed against a St. Paul man in connection with a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday night in Minneapolis that left one person dead and several others injured.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Talon Covie-Carderell Walker, 29, is now charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, prosecutors believe Walker was driving a Chevy Avalanche pickup truck at high speeds when he started a chain-reaction crash on the I-94 exit to Dunwoody Boulevard on Wednesday evening. A total of seven vehicles were involved.
The State Patrol said Natalie Gubbay, 26, who was driving one of the other vehicles, died at the scene. Several others were hospitalized following the crash, including Walker. Two children were also among those injured.
The complaint alleges Walker was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash. Investigators also said an open bottle of liquor was found in Walker’s vehicle. Results of a blood alcohol test are pending, according to the complaint, but investigators said Walker has previous driving convictions and lost his license in 2021.
Industry experts say several airlines were already waiting for deliveries of Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
MINNEAPOLIS — This week union workers who build planes for Boeing rejected a new contract deal.
64% of the 32,000 machinists voted against the deal in another major setback for the company. The strike that has halted most of Boeing’s aircraft production for over a month will continue.
The strike is further delaying deliveries for many Boeing customers who are already dealing with production delays.
It could soon have a big impact across the country, from concerns over plane safety to the cost of flying.
Hassan Shahidi with the Flight Safety Foundation says many airlines were already waiting for Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
“Prior to the strike there were already challenges,” Shahidi says. “This strike is exacerbating the situation even further.”
Shahidi says some of the airlines may have aging airplanes that will have to stay in use longer than the companies had planned for, but he argues that is a minor issue and he is not worried about passenger safety.
“All aircraft that are flying are certified by the FAA, are airworthy and safe,” Shahidi says.
He argues a much larger issue is how the strike will impact the airline industry’s plans to grow in the coming years.
He says most of the orders for new Boeing airplanes are from airlines that are expanding to meet passenger demand.
“To have other companies trying to come in and meet that gap is going to be challenging in terms of both supplies, labor and processes that are going to be needed to produce the highest quality of airplanes,” Shahidi says.
According to Delta’s website, the airline recently ordered 100 Boeing 737’s with an option to buy 30 more.
Those planes are scheduled to be delivered sometime next year and the company says some of those airplanes will be deployed to MSP.
KARE 11 reached out to Delta to see if the Boeing strike could affect the delivery of those planes, and whether the strike could impact Delta’s ability to add new flights in the coming years, but we haven’t heard back from the company at this time.
Sun Country says their entire fleet is made up of 43 Boeing airplanes.
A company spokesperson says all of Sun Country’s airplanes are “mid-life aircraft” meaning they are purchased used from other companies.
This spokesperson says this unique business model will insulate Sun Country from the impacts of the Boeing strike, and the company won’t see a shortage of airplanes anytime soon.
KARE 11 also reached out to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to see if the airport and local travelers will see any impacts of the Boeing strike.
An MSP spokesperson sent KARE-11 the following statement:
“We do not anticipate any immediate impacts at MSP from the Boeing strike. While a strike could push back delivery of aircraft to airlines and lead to future schedule adjustments by those airlines, any impacts would not be expected to affect MSP any more than other airports across the country.”
The victim’s wife identified their neighbor as the likely suspect following ongoing disputes.
MINNEAPOLIS — A shooting that followed months of alleged harassment from one neighbor to another has escalated to a public sparring session between the Minneapolis Police Department and City Council.
According to court documents, MPD was called to a hospital in the city for reports of a gunshot victim on Oct. 23. Upon arrival, the officers learned a man, identified as Davis Maturi, had been shot and was transported to the hospital from his home on Grand Avenue in Minneapolis.
The criminal complaint in the case said Maturi’s wife told officers that their neighbor, identified as 54-year-old John Sawchak, “almost certainly” was the person who shot her husband, alleging that Sawchak had harassed and threatened the couple for months.
Mrs. Maturi allegedly told officers that her husband was pruning a tree near their property line on that day.
“Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you,” the suspect allegedly told the victim, according to the complaint.
The charging documents lists seven prior police records of incidents between the neighbors before the October shooting, including several allegations of threats and racism by Sawchak against Maturi.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine. Sawchak is not currently in police custody.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey shows anger and blame being directed at the MPD for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara scheduled a news conference on Friday afternoon to respond to the council’s accusations.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday that it filed charges against Sawchak.
“After Mr. Sawchak shot Mr. Moturi on Oct. 23, the case was submitted to our office on Oct. 24. We immediately charged Mr. Sawchak with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and felony harassment and stalking, enhanced for racial bias,” said a statement from the office.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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