Star Tribune
Police in Ohio launch homicide investigation after bodies of 3 women found in home
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio launched a homicide investigation after the bodies of three women were found Saturday inside a home in Columbus.
Officers were called to a home on the city’s south side just before 4 p.m. Saturday for what a 911 caller described as a medical event. Police found three women who were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua.
He said the killings were considered homicides, but he did not have further details, including what led up to the killings.
”Unfortunately, this is a very complex scene with the amount of victims that we have,” he told reporters Saturday. “It’s going to take a little bit longer to make sure that we’re very careful in going through the scene meticulously so we do not miss any key piece of evidence.”
He said investigators were interviewing witnesses and looking for video evidence.
Fuqua said Saturday that no suspects had been taken into custody.
Columbus police did not immediately have an update on the homicides on Sunday.
Star Tribune
The GOP stoked fears of noncitizens voting. Cases in Ohio show how rhetoric and reality diverge
Before the November presidential election, Ohio’s secretary of state and attorney general announced investigations into potential voter fraud that included people suspected of casting ballots even though they were not U.S. citizens.
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Wayzata City Council member Alex Plechash is the new chairman of the state GOP, edging out incumbent David Hann for the Minnesota Republican Party’s top post.
Plechash, a former RNC national committeeman, said in an interview Sunday that he’s hoping to put together a team that’s “laser focused” on winning on 2026, when Minnesotans will elect a new governor. He said he wants to bring all organizations affiliated with the Republican Party “into the tent.”
Under Hann’s leadership, Republicans broke Democrats’ trifecta at the state Capitol this year. Hann also oversaw a period of financial recovery for a party previously saddled with six-figure debt, with a blitz of donations replenishing party coffers after President-elect Donald Trump headlined the GOP’s annual fundraising dinner. He didn’t immediately return requests for comment Sunday morning.
Hann’s bid for reelection featured a crowded field of challengers. Other contenders were Army veteran Bret Bussman and former gubernatorial candidate Mike Murphy.
Plechash said fundraising is a top priority, adding he intends to reach out to previous donors who recently stopped contributing to the party, along with those who haven’t given to the GOP but share its values.
“In both cases, I would need to present a story that shows that we will be successful, because people with that kind of money essentially are investors, and they want to see a return on their investment,” he said, declining to comment on the specifics of the fundraising pitch.
The DFL decried Plechash’s victory in a statement released Saturday night. “The Minnesota GOP has been completely captured by the most extreme, fringe activists in Minnesota politics,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin wrote, blaming Hann’s loss on “far-right activists.”
If the planned Blue Line light-rail extension were built today, riders would step off at the final stop in northern Brooklyn Park to acres of farmland and empty fields.
Brooklyn Park has hired a firm to study how best to guide development in the northwestern part of the city, where 700 acres, much of it privately owned, are undeveloped and not hooked up to city utilities. City leaders are planning for part of the project — about 245 acres north of Hwy. 610 at the interchange with Hwy. 169 — to become a biotech district, essentially a hub for medical and health technology companies. Officials also expect housing and mixed-use development to be built on the site.
“You should not have a city with 700 undeveloped acres located near a metro center like Minneapolis or St. Paul,” Mayor Hollies Winston said. “It’s kind of unheard of because of that proximity and the ability to build industry and development that can connect to that city. We’re behind the eight ball on this, so we’re moving quickly.”
The Legislature this past session approved the biotech district and granted the city the authority to issue bonds and leverage other tools for development. Winston said a next step will be seeking tax increment financing for the district.
Erin McDermott, a senior planner with the city, said Brooklyn Park and the surrounding area already hosts many medical manufacturers and suppliers, and officials hope to build on that network. The goal is to attract up to 10,000 new jobs and open as many as 3,000 housing units, although no potential tenants have been announced.
A separate study will explore developing the biotech district.
Winston said a main goal is increasing the city’s tax base, saying that Brooklyn Park takes in less commercial property tax revenue than some nearby cities of similar size.
