Star Tribune
Former judge, former public defender in Hennepin County Attorney race
In the race for Hennepin County attorney, voters will choose between two candidates who have differing views and experience with the criminal justice system and how to keep residents safe.
Martha Holton Dimick, 69, a retired Hennepin County judge, is running as a tough prosecutor while Mary Moriarty, 58, former Hennepin County chief public defender, is a reformer who wants to hold cops accountable. Both candidates agree that addressing gun violence and reducing recidivism are top priorities, but they have different ideas on achieving public safety.
Moriarty said data will guide charging decisions and policies to target implicit racial bias and root causes of crime. Holton Dimick wants repeat offenders to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Moriarty has spent the majority of her career litigating against the office she seeks to lead, while most of Holton Dimick’s tenure was spent as a prosecutor and judge who worked for the County Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2009.
Recently, a group of 32 senior prosecutors in the County Attorney’s Office penned a letter in support of Holton Dimick. Meanwhile, 41 staffers from the county’s public defenders office wrote in support of Moriarty, who also has the DFL endorsement.
Moriarty would be the first openly gay woman to lead the office and Holton Dimick would be the first Black woman to oversee Minnesota’s largest public law office, comprising 200 attorneys, 260 support staff and $69 million budget.
This is the first county attorney election since the murder of George Floyd, which placed the office under a national spotlight. Retiring County Attorney Mike Freeman charged former officer Derek Chauvin within days of the killing before the state Attorney General’s Office took over the prosecution.
Freeman was frequently criticized for convening grand juries to investigate fatal shootings of civilians by police. He later admitted this process lacked transparency, and both candidates vow greater transparency in the office if elected.
Grand juries for police misconduct
Holton Dimick: “I’d rather take it by a case by case basis … I’m not going to close the door on grand jury indictments, but I feel safer saying I would rather keep the decision myself. I don’t want to give those cases over to the AG office.”
Moriarty: “I would not use a grand jury just because of their secretive nature completely controlled by prosecutors, no defense attorneys or judges… I’m not sending cases to other county attorneys either because voters of Hennepin County will have elected me to make those decisions … I’d partner with the Attorney General on a case by case basis.”
Violent crime
Holton Dimick: “I think we have to send a message that we are not going to mollycoddle these violent criminals any further and we’re all to make sure that they are adequately punished. Victims are entitled to have relief. And so our community’s entitled to have relief. I want violent criminals held accountable. And I want the consequences to fit the crime.”
Moriarty: “I’m a big advocate of the Office of Violence Prevention. They are trying to train trusted messengers in the community to recognize when something’s brewing and train them with conflict mediation skills and try to interrupt violence before it happens … We should treat violence like a disease in approaching this entire system from a public health lens.”
Police misconduct
Holton Dimick: “I think we can do reform and public safety together. The Minneapolis Police Department, the culture is damaged. We didn’t need the Department of Human Rights to tell us that.” She said she voted no on the charter amendment to replace the MPD.
Moriarty: “Prosecutors see more video [body and dash camera] than police leadership … We’ll flag that and give it to police leadership so that they can have that conversation to interrupt behavior. Nip that in the bud before it gets worse.” She will not disclose how she voted on replacing the MPD.
Cameras in courtrooms
Holton Dimick: “We have open courtrooms. People are certainly invited and can come and observe any court proceeding that they want to … Other than the high-profile cases, no, I’m not a fan.”
Moriarty: “I think there is a place for cameras in the courtroom. I wish it would actually become more normalized in a way where people could see the ordinary day to day, not just something that’s sensationalistic.”
Diversifying juries
Holton Dimick: “There’s nothing wrong, I don’t see, with the process. I think it’s just that people don’t understand how it’s done, and that it is done totally anonymously … It’s kind of a disingenuous attack on the jury system.”
Moriarty: “I think we are way behind other states. We use driver’s licenses, voter registration and IDs. And other states use library cards, government assistance, all kinds of other lists, which would bring us a much more diverse jury. And so I am very much in support of that.”
New MPD Chief Brian O’Hara
Holton Dimick: “I’m really quite impressed with him. I think he’s going to come in and going to change that police department into a more progressive police department that is more engaged in the community.”
Moriarty: “He seems to be saying the right things and acknowledging there needs to be change to build trust in the community. He has worked under a consent decree and it appears we’re headed in that direction.”
Dozens wept and embraced before releasing scores of balloons Saturday over north Minneapolis to remember two community pillars who were killed in a fiery car accident.
The crowd gathered near 26th and Emerson avenues to remember Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57. They died on Dec. 16 when Teniki Latrice Elise Steward, 38, allegedly drove through a red light and struck their vehicle. A teen waiting at a nearby bus stop also was injured.
Fulks and Reese “gave their love and their hard work and dedication to the community. And as you can see, there’s people out here for them,” said Fulks’ daughter, D’Nia. “I’m going to miss my mom. That was my world, I was with her day in and day out. I was hoping to come home to my mom and it didn’t happen.”
“It means a lot,” Esther’s son, Joseph Loyd, said of neighbors attending the balloon release. “It shows what they contributed to the community and how much they meant to people. Not just their own families, but they touched countless other families and helped people.”
Emmary Thomas set a candle down at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece at 26th and Emerson avenues in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Flowers, balloons, candles and pictures sat at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Drakarr Lobley hugged a supporter during Saturday’s balloon release for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. Lobley is Reece’s son. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Family and friends said Fulks and Reece were pillars of the community who treated strangers like family and brought love to those around them. Both had worked as navigators for the Minneapolis Cultural Wellness Center since 1998, connecting residents to food, clothing, shelter and other resources.
“They reminded us daily of the transformative power of service, love, and cultural connection,” Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director of the Cultural Wellness Center, said in a statement. “They were not just navigators — they were beacons of hope, guiding people toward brighter futures.”
At the crash scene Saturday, loved ones embraced while shedding tears and sharing memories. Anthony Hamilton’s “I Can’t Let Go” played as passing motorists shouted condolences and words of support. Caution tape strung to a traffic cone near the intersection fluttered in the wind.
Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.
The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.
According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.
Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.
A panel of independent health experts recommended this month against older adults using vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent falls and fractures, citing inadequate evidence to support their effectiveness.
The guidance from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force underscores the risks of supplementation without prior testing and diagnosis for a vitamin D deficiency or for osteoporosis.
While vitamin D and calcium are important for bone health and muscle function, the task force, a blue-ribbon panel of experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, said the supplements do little to reduce falls or fractures, and they may increase the risk of kidney stones.
The task force said the recommendation applies to people living at home, including women who have gone through menopause and men 60 years and older. It does not apply to people in assisted living or nursing homes because people living in those facilities may be more prone to health complications, including risk of falls.
Patients whose medical providers have suggested supplements as part of their clinical regimen are recommended to continue with that guidance.
The task force assigned a grade of D to the recommendation, indicating that it advises against use of the supplements because of moderate or high certainty that they provide no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits — discouraging its use.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among people 65 and older, a problem that increased steadily from 2012 to 2021. In 2020, health care spending related to falls in older adults that did not result in death was $80 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
John M. Ruiz, a task force member, said the answer to minimizing the risk of falling does not lie in vitamin supplementation. He said a review of research by the health experts found no dose of vitamin D with or without calcium was useful in preventing falls and fractures.
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