“DHS takes seriously our role in promoting the health, safety and well-being of children and vulnerable adults, and our obligation as a steward of a significant amount of public dollars. The Office of Inspector General continues to review tips, referrals and data to identify the need for investigations,” department officials said in a statement.

In the letter to Demuth, DHS Inspector General Kulani Moti said there are nearly 300 agencies doing the early autism intervention work who are enrolled in Minnesota Health Care Programs.

The agency does screening site visits when a provider is enrolling in the health care programs, Moti noted, and they have to fill out an assurance statement attesting that they have certain experience and training. Individuals in contact with kids and families also have to pass a background check. The state does a revalidation screening process for the autism service providers every five years.

Moti outlined two potential next steps that could bring additional oversight: licensing service providers and clarifying whether DHS should be required to review the employment status of providers. The agency has been consulting with people in the autism community on whether the state should license early intervention providers and is going to give lawmakers their recommendations on that in the upcoming legislative session, the letter said.

“We look forward to working with you in the upcoming legislative session to strengthen the oversight of EIDBI,” Moti wrote.

The letter also listed the outcomes in the 10 closed investigations into autism intervention providers from the past five years. In the most recent cases, both closed this January, the state recovered more than $86,000 from Northstar Therapy Services in Edina, and recovered $192,000 and leveled a $5,000 fine on St. Paul-based Senzilla Health Services, Inc.

While Timberwolves guard Mike Conley was in Minneapolis for Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings home game, where he fired up the crowd before kickoff, his west-metro home was targeted by burglars, police said Wednesday.

The break-in of Conley’s sprawling residence in Medina occurred mid-afternoon Sunday and was the second of three carried out that day by at least two suspects while the homes were unoccupied, said Police Chief Jason Nelson.

In each instance, the chief said, the thieves got away with a yet-to-be determined amount of jewelry.

The perpetrators “may have done some surveillance or figured out some patterns” of the people who lived at the homes before striking, Nelson said.

In each case, the suspects approached the houses from the rear, broke in through lower-level windows, entered primary bedrooms, scooped up what jewels they could and were out within five minutes, the chief said.

Video surveillance at the Conley home on the southwest side of the city captured the image of a vehicle driving off that might be tied to the suspects. Nelson said there have yet to be any arrests.

One of the other homes was down the street from Conley’s, while the third was on the southeast side of Medina, the chief said.

Conley’s multimillion-dollar residence sits along a road with few other homes within shouting distance.

If someone glues countless seeds and beans onto a board to create your likeness, the correct response is thank you.

Minnesota artist Christy Klancher bent over her canvas, manipulating tiny grains of millet and quinoa with a toothpick tipped with Elmer’s glue, nudging split peas into tidy rows. Around her in the sweltering Agriculture/Horticulture building at the Minnesota State Fair, crowds watched this crop art demonstration avidly. Millet face. Wild rice mullet. Poppy-seed eyes a-twinkle. A portrait of ex-teen idol John Stamos was coming together before their very eyes, a face familiar to any eyes that witnessed the 1990s firsthand.

What, you might ask, was the response from Stamos to this ultimate of Minnesota honors, being rendered in crop art?

“Crap art,” the small-screen star posted on X, with a photo of his seed-and-bean doppelganger.

Now there’s going to be weirdness between us, John Stamos.

There’s a story behind this incredibly niche crop art beef, so gather around, Minnesota, and learn the story of Riot Fest, an excellent Chicago music festival that has been trying to lure Stamos — best known for playing Uncle Jesse on saccharine ‘90s sitcom “Full House” — into its lineup for years.

Riot Fest — unofficial and irreverent motto: “Riot Fest Sucks” — has carved Stamos in butter, curated an exhibit of fine Stamos art and hired other celebrities to stand in for him and pledge never to set foot on the fest.

Riot Fest 2024 runs from Sept. 22-24 in Chicago’s Douglass Park with a lineup of more than 90 acts, from Beck to Public Enemy to St. Vincent to Rob Zombie to Waxahatchee. Stamos, once again, is a no-show.