Star Tribune
Southeast Minnesota city delays, then certifies election results after tension and distrust
ORONOCO – Residents here have watched over the past two years as city leaders fought amongst themselves numerous times, from firing a former city administrator to a lawsuit over a citizen’s First Amendment rights.
That was supposed to change after this month’s elections.
The Oronoco City Council temporarily delayed certifying its election results this week after members on Wednesday disagreed over when Daniel Spring, who won a special election on Election Day, could start serving on the council.
Though the council certified the results Friday, the incident marks the latest squabble among city leaders and concerned residents in this community of about 1,800 people just a few minutes north of Rochester.
Spring replaces Erv De Vlaeminck, who was appointed in February after former Council member Carl Krause resigned. Spring was supposed to start next week, but several council members Wednesday disputed that date, arguing De Vlaeminck should have until the end of the year like other council members under guidance from the League of Minnesota Cities. Council member Jim Phillips adamantly refused to certify the election results until De Vlaemink was allowed to serve until January.
City Administrator Jason Baker and Mayor Ryland Eichhorst disagreed, citing rulings from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office saying a candidate who won their seat through a special election should serve as soon as the election is certified.
“It doesn’t matter that (the election was) in November with this one,” Baker said. “They would take over right after the election was done, the results were declared.”
Council members recessed Wednesday night and met Friday morning, reaffirming the direction from state election officials to have Spring start later this month. More than a dozen people attended the council’s special meeting Friday morning, some laughing and jeering after outgoing Council member Jim Richards noted the council always intended to ratify the election results.
The Minnesota State Auditor’s Office has ended its review of controversial Orono land deals that transferred property rights to city officials and became a point of debate in recent elections.
The City Council in recent years vacated public rights-of-way on property for Planning Commissioner Bob Erickson and Council Member Matt Johnson. Critics said the moves potentially made their land more valuable while also reducing public access to the lakeshore.
A group of former Orono mayors asked the auditor’s office in 2022 to investigate, saying they believed the deals represented a conflict of interest and went against longstanding policies aimed at preserving public access to Lake Minnetonka. Officials who defended the deals, meanwhile, described them as an effort to clean up century-old land records that hindered development.
In a September memo, shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune this week, the state auditor’s office wrote that it was clear the land deals had been controversial.
“However, we do not see a basis for further OSA inquiry into them, as such inquiry would have to be based in determinations that either are for courts to decide (e.g., were the vacations beyond the broad discretion afforded to the City Council for such matters) or left to the will of the voters, who ultimately judge the wisdom of the City’s elected council members in their exercise of the power given to them,” the memo said.
Neither Erickson nor Johnson could immediately be reached for comment.
In an interview Friday, State Auditor Julie Blaha said her office’s review focused on two main points: whether Orono city leaders overstepped their authority and whether there was a conflict of interest.
Blaha said the transfers didn’t “hit that bar of being clearly outside the public interest in a way we could decide that,” though she left open the possibility “a court could decide that.”
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department, will also lead a newly created National Energy Council that will seek to establish U.S. ‘’energy dominance’’ around the world.
Burgum, in his new role, will oversee a panel that crosses all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation, Trump said in a statement. As chairman of the National Energy Council, Burgum will have a seat on the National Security Council, Trump said.
”This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump wrote. His new policies will help drive down inflation, win an ”arms race” with China over artificial intelligence and even expand U.S. diplomatic influence around the globe, Trump claimed without explanation.
He accused the ”radical left” of engaging in a war on American energy, in the name of fighting climate change. His policy of energy dominance, which he also espoused during his first term, will allow the U.S. to sell oil, gas and other forms of energy to European allies, making the world safer, Trump said.
Trump has called oil and natural gas, along with minerals such as lithium and copper, ”liquid gold” that should be exploited to the maximum extent possible.
We will ”DRILL BABY DRILL,” expand ALL forms of Energy production to grow our Economy, and create good-paying jobs,” Trump said.
Burgum, 67, was elected North Dakota governor in 2016, his first campaign for elected office. A former software executive, he led Great Plains Software, which Microsoft acquired for $1.1 billion in 2001. Burgum has also led other companies in real estate development and venture capital.
Burgum has taken a pro-business style as governor of a state where agriculture and oil are the main industries. He’s pushed income tax cuts, reduced regulations, and changes to animal agriculture laws and higher education governance. Burgum also emphasized a ”data-driven” approach to governing, advocated for a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in the state and prioritized engagement with tribal nations.
Star Tribune
Onetime Stillwater guard given 2¼-year term for helping murder inmate distribute meth in prison
A onetime corrections officer at Minnesota’s high-security prison in Stillwater received a 2¼-year prison term Friday for helping an inmate distribute meth inside the prison’s walls.
Faith Rose Gratz, 26, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul after she pleaded guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
The inmate, Axel Rene Kramer, 37, was sentenced Wednesday to a 15-year term after pleading guilty to the same count. His sentence will run concurrent with the 24-year term he received in 2010 in Cottonwood County for aiding and abetting second-degree murder stemming from the shooting of Alberto Samilpa Jr., 20, of St. James, Minn., in 2007.
State Corrections Department records show that Kramer was to have been released from prison about eight months ago and then be put on supervised release until November 2031.
Ahead of Gratz’s sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office told the court in writing that “on the phone, law enforcement found thousands of text messages between Kramer and Gratz. Many of the messages were mundane or discussed a burgeoning romantic relationship between Kramer and Gratz. However, numerous times over the several months of messaging, Kramer instructed Gratz on how to obtain drugs.”
Gratz and Kramer “discussed … getting married once Kramer was out of prison,” another court document read.
After her prison stint is up, Gratz will be on supervised release for two years.
According to federal court documents:
