Star Tribune
Republicans pick Alex Plechash as new state party chair
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.”
Star Tribune
Volunteers keep Christmas alive in shuttered church with a Nativity scene with a live baby and carols in German
When Reeck first joined, he was uncertain whether people would donate to help keep the church standing. But they’ve raised more than $300,000 in the past three decades, which has helped the nonprofit refinish the pews, replace the stained glass windows in their original style, redo the roof, tuckpoint the bricks and install a ramp.
Most people on the nonprofit’s mailing list are connected to the church through relatives, but the connections seem to get looser every year. And some people just yearn for a nostalgic Christmas service, Jenniges said: “Every year, we get people from the outside who say, Oh my gosh — I can’t believe you still do this. You can’t let it be lost.”
Susan Lorenz uses a broom to hang tinsel on a 20-foot tree ahead of the Christmas service at Salem Historical Church in Paynesville. The church closed in 1968 but volunteers organize the holiday service each year. (Jenny Berg)
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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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.
Waltz says federal agencies are “pointing at each other” to figure out mysterious drone sightings
Volunteers keep Christmas alive in shuttered church with a Nativity scene with a live baby and carols in German
Ambassador Oksana Markarova says Ukraine is “not asking for other troops”
Waltz says federal agencies are “pointing at each other” to figure out mysterious drone sightings
Volunteers keep Christmas alive in shuttered church with a Nativity scene with a live baby and carols in German