Star Tribune
Minneapolis will start auditing violence interrupter groups amid allegations of illegal practices
The city’s agreement doesn’t admit wrongdoing, but it addresses many of the allegations in the lawsuit. The terms include requirements that any future violence prevention requests for proposal by the city explicitly demand that applicants comply with basic accounting standards, including the ability to provide receipts and cancelled checks to support invoices. Each contract proposal will now be evaluated by the same three reviewers to ensure the selection process is fair and uniform. The city will implement new standards on how proposals are submitted and vetted, and community groups must provide more detailed information on “what, how, when and where” services will be provided, according to the agreement.
The city will also mandate a two-hour accounting course for any groups awarded contracts over $50,000. Contractors must submit monthly billing descriptions on services rendered and more granular payroll data. And the city will conduct a formal audit of past invoices for violence prevention contracts within 180 days.
“Important procurement protections were either not being followed by the city or inconsistently being applied,” Thomson said. “They deny any wrongdoing, but they weren’t doing it before and they’re agreeing to do it now.”
In court Wednesday, Thomson said the city has turned over public documents in the lawsuit discovery process that should have been produced in response to the data requests, which he said shows the city systemically fails to follow public records laws.
“The Act requires the City to have procedures in place to timely and properly respond to [data practices act] requests, not repeatedly frustrate them,” he said in a court document. “It is painfully obvious the City had no such procedures and it did not — and still does not — seem to care that it did not. Reckless disregard for obligations qualifies as willful conduct, and the City’s repeated pattern of bad behavior proves it disregarded its obligations recklessly if not intentionally.”
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee voted in secret to release the long-awaited ethics report into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, raising the possibility that the allegations against the Florida Republican who was President-elect Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general could be made public in the coming days.
The decision by the bipartisan committee was made earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the vote who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. CNN first reported the vote.
It’s a stunning turnaround for the often secretive panel of five Republicans and five Democrats. Just last month, members voted along party lines to not release the findings of their nearly four-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and use of illicit drugs while Gaetz was in office.
Democrats had pressing to make the report public even though Gaetz was no longer in Congress and had withdrew as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican vote against it.
Gaetz lashed out Wedneday on social media against the latest development, again denying any wrongdoing. He criticized the committee for its move after he had left Congress, saying he would have ”no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”
”It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” Gaetz posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. ”I live a different life now.”
Most Republicans have argued that any congressional investigation into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent.
While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare.
Officials on Wednesday identified the two women who died in a fiery crash when their vehicle collided with another at north Minneapolis intersection.
Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57, both of Minneapolis, died soon after the wreck late Monday morning at the intersection of N. 26th and Emerson avenues, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Fulks died at the scene, while Reece was declared dead at North Memorial Health Hospital.
Two people in the other vehicle were hospitalized with critical injuries, while a 17-year-old boy waiting at a bus shelter to be picked up for school was hit and taken HCMC with noncritical injuries, police said. Their identities have yet to be released.
Fulks was “a mother of four and very loved in her community!” daughter D’Nia Fulks posted on an online fundraising page started on behalf of the family.
Esther Fulks (With permission from GoFundMe)
A northbound vehicle on Emerson struck the women’s vehicle as it headed east on 26th, police said. The impact sent the eastbound vehicle into the bus shelter, where it caught fire.
Police said they believe excessive speed played a role in the crash, but they have yet to say which driver was suspected of speeding.
Star Tribune
Supreme Court will hear arguments over the law that could ban TikTok in the US if it’s not sold
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear arguments next month over the constitutionality of the federal law that could ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell it.
The justices will hear arguments Jan. 10 about whether the law impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment.
The law, enacted in April, set a Jan. 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold or else face a ban in the United States. The popular social media platform has more than 170 million users in the U.S.
It’s unclear how quickly the high court might issue a decision.
