Star Tribune
Duluth man pleads guilty to criminal sexual conduct with girls
DULUTH – With freshly selected jurors waiting nearby for the start of an expected days-long trial, a Duluth man facing criminal sexual conduct charges took a last-minute plea deal instead of facing the women he abused when they were children.
Clint Franklin Massie, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning at the St. Louis County Courthouse to the four counts from incidents dating back to 2008-09 when two of his victims were young girls. The deal dismissed one of the counts against him. His sentencing is scheduled for March 20, and he could end up with more than nine years in prison. Massie, who was initially charged in February 2023 and has been out on $300,000 bail, was released until his sentencing.
In each case, the victim was known to Massie — whether they were related or through their shared membership at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. He was friends with their parents and regarded as a fun, child-free uncle, according to reports from the investigation.
Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Michael Ryan told the court that the victims were satisfied with the deal.
“They have been involved in talking this through,” he said to Judge Dale Harris.
After Massie pleaded guilty, would-be witnesses and their supporters filed into the courtroom filling rows. Massie, dressed in a dark suit coat and khaki pants, turned to look. Ryan questioned him on the victims’ accusations — four specific scenarios where he had touched girls: during a sleepover at his house, when alone on a tractor, or beneath a blanket while others were in the room.
Massie said in court there were a lot of big gatherings and shared meals within this the group. It wasn’t unusual for one of the many children to sit on his lap.
At times Massie paused and said he couldn’t remember exact details or motives. At other times he deferred to what he told investigating officers last year. In each instance he ultimately agreed with the scenario presented by the prosecution.
Star Tribune
FBI increases reward for Brian Thompson’s killer to $50,000
As the manhunt for the masked man who executed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk entered its fourth day on Saturday, the FBI upped a reward for tips on the identity of the killer to $50,000.
No new breakthroughs in the search have been announced since Friday evening, when law enforcement officers discovered the suspected killer’s backpack in Central Park.
According to the New York Post, Mayor Eric Adams told reporters at a police holiday party on Saturday that the “net is tightening.”
Authorities believe the person wanted in Wednesday’s shooting has left the city on a bus. Thompson, who was gunned down outside a Hilton in midtown Manhattan, was in New York to attend an investors’ conference for UHC’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, a health insurer and the nation’s fourth-largest company with headquarters in Minnetonka.
Investigators have relied on the web of video cameras spread out throughout New York City to locate Thompson’s suspected killer. Officials say the gunman arrived in New York on Nov. 24 on a bus that originated in Atlanta. Video footage captured the man briefly removing his mask while checking into an Upper West Side hostel and purchasing a water bottle and snacks at a Starbucks on the morning of the shooting.
After shooting Thompson, the suspect sailed off into Central Park on a bike. Video later tracked him entering a bus station on the northwestern edge of Manhattan.
The cold-blooded shooting of Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two who lived in Maple Grove, drew reactions of shock and outpourings of grief from across the nation, including public officials, colleagues, and Thompson’s own community in the west metro suburbs.
But the killing of the insurance executive, who once led a business unit that has been scrutinized for denying health care claims, has sparked a public debate about the role and power that insurers wield in the American health care system.
Star Tribune
UCare closing offices amid insurer scorn after killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO
Thompson’s fatal shooting “has created a new level of unease in our industry,” the Minnesota Council of Health Plans told the Minnesota Star Tribune in a statement. “The vitriol on social media following this tragic event is unsettling and concerning.”
“Thousands of people work for health plans here in the Twin Cities and across the state,” said the trade group, which is not an insurer but an association of health plans founded 40 years ago. “Not only are these Minnesotans dedicated and invested in supporting access to care, but they also receive their care here, they raise families here and they support their communities.”
Medica employs about 3,000 people, mostly in Minnesota.
UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest health insurer and a division of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, which said Friday it was partnering with law enforcement to ensure workplace safety while reinforcing security guidelines and building access policies. United employs about 19,000 people in Minnesota.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota said in a Friday statement it had elevated security measures and protocols at its headquarters in Eagan, while asking workers to “remain aware and vigilant and report any unusual activity.”
Star Tribune
Passive home project in north Minneapolis boosts affordable houses
Passive house principles can help residents save $200 to $300 on energy bills every month compared to an average home, Lassiter said. In the summer, the solar panels will likely generate more power than the home uses, giving future residents potential earnings on their energy bill.
Urban Homeworks focused on remodeling projects until about 2017, said Anne Ketz, the nonprofit’s real estate development director. After the economic crash and mortgage crisis in the late 2000s, the group could buy homes in north Minneapolis for $1, she said. But when the housing market rebounded, the group began focusing on new construction.
Urban Homeworks always tried to incorporate energy efficiency into its projects, including working with the University of Minnesota to construct net-zero homes, which use solar energy but have less stringent energy-efficiency standards than passive homes.
In 2021, Minneapolis solicited bids for the passive home project. Urban Homeworks jumped at the opportunity. Passive homes cost about 20% more to build than standard new housing, Ketz said, so city funding provided a chance for the organization to try it.
The nonprofit sells directly to buyers, and markets its homes towards residents of color who live in north Minneapolis. But the homes are available to anyone meeting income criteria. The first five passive homes are eligible to buyers who earn up to 80% of the area median income; that’s $97,800 for a family of four in Hennepin County.
Four of the five homes are being sold in coordination with the City of Lakes Community Land Trust, which allows families to build equity in homes while controlling the underlying plot to keep the property affordable in perpetuity.