The largest landlord in Willmar has filed a lawsuit against the city and its staff, accusing council members of being hostile to the company.

The property owner, Suite Liv’n, said the city had “schemed” to shut down its operations, said the suit, filed Nov. 5. The lawsuit says emails by city council obtained via data requests show that city council members had hoped to revoke the company’s rental license.

Leslie Valiant, city administrator for Willmar, declined to comment on the litigation, other than to say the matter has been referred to legal counsel and an insurer.

Dean Zuleger, chief operating officer of Suite Liv’n, has in the past threatened litigation against Willmar, accusing the city of bias and rental inspector Ryan Tillemans of working for another owner of rental units, in what it said was a conflict of interest, the West Central Tribune reported in 2023.

The company in Willmar has had a reputation of allowing properties to fall into disrepair; the West Central Tribune reported finding black mold and standing water in some buildings in 2022.

This was due to a “property management company that didn’t do their job,” Zuleger said in a recent interview with the Star Tribune, adding that Suite Liv’n now has on-site management.

In 2022, Suite Liv’n agreed to give refunds to 877 households after a settlement totaling approximately $50,000 to $60,000 with the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. The housing company had improperly imposed a utility surcharge, a statement by Ellison’s office said at the time.

Suite Liv’n is the city’s largest landlord, owning about 25% of multifamily housing units in Willmar, a city of 21,000 about 90 miles west of Minneapolis. The company on its website describes itself as Christian and evangelical-based.

Skygazers in Minnesota and around the U.S. will enjoy one more chance to see a supermoon before the end of the year.

The supermoon, also known as the Beaver Moon, will appear fullest on Friday, November 15, at 3:29 p.m CST., NASA said. That’s before sunset in Minnesota, but the moon will appear full for about three days around this time, until a few hours before sunrise on Sunday morning.

The stunning moon occurs when it is as close to Earth in its lunar orbit as it ever gets, while also being full. Supermoons only happen three or four times per year, and always appear consecutively.

The name Beaver Moon comes from the Maine Farmers’ Almanac, which began publishing Native American names for full moons in the 1930s. NASA said Mid-fall during the November full moon was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs, NASA said. Another theory is the name comes from the busy pre-winter period for beavers, according to the space agency.

November’s full moon is the last of four consecutive supermoons, slightly closer to Earth and brighter than the first of the four supermoons in mid-August.

The next supermoon won’t be until October 2025.

A one-time substitute teacher who was banned from a Minnesota school district after being accused last month of re-enacting George Floyd’s murder in class has now lost his job as a police officer in western Wisconsin, the city’s mayor said Monday.

Prescott Mayor Robert Daugherty told the Star Tribune that the City Council on Monday reached a separation agreement with Steven Dwight Williams, 48, and accepted his resignation effective Friday in lieu of his termination.

Students reported to Principal Sarah Sorenson-Wagner that Williams, teaching on Oct. 14 for the first time at Woodbury High School, wanted them to know about his life as a police officer. According to the district, he put a student on the ground as part of a re-enactment of Minneapolis police actions that led to the murder of Floyd in May 2020.

Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes, contributing to Floyd’s death. Chauvin and three other Minneapolis officers were convicted and sentenced to prison in connection with Floyd’s death.

In addition, Williams mimicked holding a gun and pointing it at students, stated police brutality is not real, told sexist jokes and engaged in “inappropriate and racially harmful behavior” during English classes for sophomores and seniors, according to a letter Sorenson-Wagner sent to parents.

The statement added that Williams had been in law enforcement for many years in his native Wisconsin and Montana and had been on Prescott force for about two years. He was immediately put on administrative leave from the Prescott force in the wake of the allegations.

In March of this year, Williams was granted a three-year, short-term substitute teacher’s license for all grades, according to state records. Following Williams’ alleged conduct at Woodbury High School, a report was filed with the Minnesota Department of Education. As of Friday, public records show no disciplinary findings by the department against him.

Staff Writer Tim Harlow contributed to this report.