Star Tribune
These new laws are going into effect in the new year
Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, sponsored this bill after she had to pay $500 for a wig because insurance didn’t cover it after she was diagnosed with cancer and began chemotherapy.
“I want to make sure that others who don’t have the resources can get a wig,” Dziedzich said in May. “Research shows that losing hair related to cancer has a negative impact on quality of life. Loss of self-esteem. Do you wear a cap, do you wear a scarf, what do you do?”
Landlords are now prohibited from retaliating against residents who want to establish a tenants’ rights association. Property owners must also keep common areas “reasonably maintained” and the law requires landlords to notify tenants about energy assistance programs for low-income families and individuals by Sept. 30 of each year.
Landlords must now offer alternative housing, or the right to end a lease, if construction delays on new buildings prevent tenants from moving into their units.
Three Minnesota women have been accused in federal court of enriching themselves from a health care fraud scheme, spending the proceeds on private jets, luxury vehicles and other items.
The charges lay out how the three reportedly used an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment center called Evergreen Recovery, Inc., based in St. Paul, to defraud Medicaid and other health care programs by billing for treatment that was not provided and services that were not eligible for reimbursement.
The scheme also allegedly involved the defendants using free housing as a kickback to induce clients to remain in Evergreen Recovery treatment so the clients’ names and information could be used to overbill Medicaid.
Charged in the case is Shawn Ashley Grygo, 37, of Forest Lake; Shantel Rene Magadanz, 34, of Stacy; and Heather Lynn Heim, 46, of St. Paul. Each faces nine counts of wire fraud, among other charges.
Magadanz and Heim made their first appearances in federal court Thursday. Grygo is set for to appear in court Monday. None have entered a plea, according to online court records.
The complaint identifies Magadanz as the chief executive of Evergreen, Heim as the lead financial and operations officer and Grygo as the head of day-to-day operations.
From March 2018 to July 2024, Evergreen submitted invoices for $30 million from Medicaid and Medicaid-funded health care programs, the complaint said.
The three received excessive salaries in return. Magadanz was paid $600,000 in 2023, and was on track to receive more than $1 million this year, according to the complaint.
Star Tribune
Duluth bike group asks for safer roads after cyclist dies crossing Mesaba Avenue at rush hour
DULUTH – Alice Tibbetts slipped into all the gear she wears to make herself more visible to vehicles as a decades-long, year-round bike commuter: bright yellow jacket, reflective vest, several lights and a reflective helmet.
“The question is, would this have saved me from a driver going 42 miles an hour down Mesaba [Avenue]?” she asked, referencing a commuter-heavy road. “The answer is no.”
Tibbetts and other members of Vibrant Streets Duluth, a chapter of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, hosted a call to the city of Duluth, St. Louis County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation for improved safety Thursday afternoon in response to the Dec. 4 death of a cyclist who was struck by two cars and killed as he crossed a high-traffic highway here during rush hour. The group is asking for speed monitoring or flashing beacons at dangerous crossings, enforcement of pedestrian right-of-way laws, data-driven solutions and a city transportation commission.
Steven Edward Hoover, 60, was hit at 5 p.m. as he crossed Mesaba Avenue below First Avenue W. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to a news release from Duluth police.
The day after Hoover’s death, members of Vibrant Streets Duluth visited the site of the crash to clock traffic using a radar gun. Forrest Vodden, the group’s chairman, said it wasn’t a scientific study, but a 15-minute sampling found most drivers exceeding the speed limit by 8-10 miles per hour and some drivers surpassed 50. The speed limit on this stretch is 30.
“We just wanted to get a feel for the speeds at that time of day at that location,” he said.
The transportation commission could be a reality. In his state of the city speech earlier this year, Mayor Roger Reinert noted that Duluth has 39 boards and commissions and he was looking to the city council to align and reform some of these groups. At the same time, he suggested the formation of a transportation commission that would offer input on streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and other paths.
City Councilor Mike Mayou, who was at Vibrant Streets Duluth’s event, said he could see such a committee developing within the next six to eight months, if not sooner. The logistics of it still need to be planned.
A 38-year-old Bois Forte Band of Chippewa member was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Tower on Tuesday night, near Fortune Bay Resort Casino.
Amanda Boshey was struck as she walked along a road near the turn into the resort, about a mile from her home, a spokesman for the band said in a news release.
The FBI has found a person of interest in the case, the release said. The agency is investigating because the death occurred on tribal land.
Boshey, a mother to five children, worked as a laborer for a construction company and was in recovery from a substance-use addiction, the release says. She would have been sober for three years next month. A fund will be set up at the Embarrass Vermillion Credit Union for her children.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office assisted tribal police in the aftermath of the accident.
