Star Tribune
Itasca County faces backlash over 10 Commandments display in new jail
DULUTH — The new Itasca County jail includes a two-story-tall display of the Ten Commandments, a choice under fire by many who discovered that and other religious quotes painted on its walls during recent tours of the northeast Minnesota facility.
The display was so overwhelming it made Grand Rapids resident Dana Butler tremble, she said, while walking through the new $75 million jail last week.
“The whole time I was thinking if I were in here, it would be very clear to me that I was not in a safe place,” she said.
The Madison, Wis.,-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has fielded 20 complaints, it said, many alleging the displays are unconstitutional. It sent a letter this week to the county asking it to investigate and remove the displays. “Repaint and repent,” a press release says.
Itasca County Sheriff Joe Dasovich, new to the role in 2023, said he didn’t make the decision to install the words, but he took responsibility for it. He’s weighing the decision to remove the religious displays but said he’s heard an overwhelming call to keep them.
A social media post from the Lighthouse Christian Academy, a private school in Grand Rapids, called on its followers to tell the Itasca County Board to leave the jail quotes as they are. The post said a “group of atheists” wanted them painted over.
When Dasovich first saw the walls, “I knew that it would cause people to feel a certain way,” Dasovich said, but he didn’t sense there would be opposition from inmates because voluntary faith-based programs offered to them at the jail are well attended.
“I’ll take everything into account and make a decision, and I may not be happy with my decision,” Dasovich said, acknowledging the potential of a lawsuit.
Jail administrator Lucas Thompson, who Dasovich credited for an efficient, “well-thought out model” of a jail, was responsible for overseeing the project on the jail staff end.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation argues that the religious displays violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which says government must remain neutral on the topic of religion. One quote painted on cell block walls and attributed to former President Ronald Reagan reads “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.”
“What the county has essentially done is to say to these inmates … that if they want the answers to their woes, it has to come from the Bible,” said Hirsh Joshi, a legal fellow from the foundation who wrote the letter to the county.
And it’s a captive audience, he said, with no way to avoid the apparent proselytizing for those who hold different beliefs.
Last year, county government fielded complaints about a different constitutional controversy: an under-the-radar county board approval of a gun-rights resolution stating opposition to new laws that would infringe on Second Amendment rights.
The jail quotes seem like another way Itasca County government is showing its “authoritarian” leanings, said Grand Rapids resident Brian Vroman, who sent a complaint to the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
“This is government imposing religion,” he said, on incarcerated people who still have rights. “It’s pretty audacious and pretty reckless.”
Aside from the overt religious tone, some have pointed out that a few quotes are inaccurately attributed. One credited to first U.S. President George Washington was actually said by George Washington Carver, a Black scientist and inventor.
The Itasca County justice center in Grand Rapids includes government offices and a courthouse addition, increased space for inmates and programs and a mental health practitioner on staff, a rarity in northern Minnesota. It includes 184 beds for inmates, up from space for 75 at the current jail. The county of just over 45,000 residents overwhelmingly approved a 1% sales tax to pay for the project in 2022.
Star Tribune
Investigators searching for additional victims as Hastings man faces child porn charges
A 27-year-old Hastings man has been accused in federal court of producing child pornography over a roughly two-year span, and investigators are trying to identify additional potential victims.
Hunter James Geidlwas charged with four counts of either production or possession of child pornography in federal court Dec. 10. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to the charges, Geidl employed and used minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for producing explicit videos from July 2022 to March 2024. He is also accused of possessing a video file of pornographic material involving a minor in 2022.
Geidl made his initial appearance in court Friday and remains in custody, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.
Investigators believe other minors may have been victimized and ask that if anyone believes their child has been in contact with Geidl to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.
“She was really into the Replacements. So for her to have her dad suddenly playing in the band, it would be like my dad joining the Rolling Stones.”
Slim Dunlap, right, with Paul Westerberg during a 1987 Replacements concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis. (Brian Peterson, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Dunlap played guitar on the final two Replacements studio albums, also including 1991’s “All Shook Down.” Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson later credited him for sparking a new spirit in the band and extending their run during their waning years.
After the break-up in 1991, Dunlap toured with Dan Baird of the Georgia Satellites, who led the first fundraising campaign on Dunlap’s behalf in the days after his stroke.
Finally, in 1993, Dunlap got his own chance to shine as a singer/songwriter.
He channeled his love for Hank Williams, Chuck Berry and vintage blues alongside the Replacements’ Stones and Faces influences on his debut album, “The Old New Me,” issued by former ‘Mats manager and Twin/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson on the Medium Cool record label. A second solo album came three years later, “Times Like This,” similarly earning a cult-loved status — especially among fellow musicians.
Springsteen publicly raved about those records numerous times, including in a 2014 interview with NPR’s Ann Powers: “I hope I get a chance to cut one of his songs,” said the Boss. “Check out the two Slim Dunlap records, because they’re just beautiful rock ‘n’ roll records. I found them to be deeply touching and emotional.”
A 59-year-old utility worker died Tuesday after falling from the bucket of a boom truck at a job site north of Big Lake, according to Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Ben Zawacki.
Thomas L. Stewart of Dayton fell about six to eight feet and suffered significant head injuries while working in the ditch on the north side of 241st Avenue NW, just west of 185th Street in Orrock Township.
First responders performed life-saving efforts at the scene before Stewart was transported to St. Cloud Hospital, where he was pronounced dead late Tuesday.
Stewart worked for the Minnesota-based utility company Connexus Energy. In a response to a Facebook post about the incident, a representative from Connexus thanked people for their thoughts and prayers, and clarified the utility worker was not electrocuted in the incident.
“We’re heartbroken over the passing of our friend and colleague but we are waiting for family and friends to be notified so we cannot share additional information,” Stacy Downs, communications specialist at Connexus, said Wednesday.
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