Star Tribune
Melanie Benjamin will not run again to lead Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
After serving more than two decades as the popularly elected chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Melanie Benjamin announced she will not seek a sixth term in office this year.
Benjamin, who was first elected to the role in 2000, is one of the longest-serving chief executives in the history of the east-central Minnesota band of 4,700 members, 2,300 of whom live within the reservation boundaries.
During her tenure, Benjamin diversified the band’s economy by expanding its commercial enterprise beyond gaming and situating the band as the largest employer in its region, according to a news release issued Thursday. She also worked to protect the band’s tribal sovereignty.
“She has aggressively fought to protect the existence of the Band’s reservation, defeating claims by Mille Lacs County that it was disestablished over 100 years ago,” the release states. “Under Benjamin’s determined leadership, the Band ultimately secured legal confirmation that its reservation remains intact in a 2016 legal opinion from the U.S. Interior Department Solicitor and in a 2022 federal court decision.”
During her tenure, Benjamin also worked to expand programs focused on preserving the Ojibwe language and testified before Congress on multiple issues, including tribal self-governance, public safety, and investments in infrastructure, health and education.
“Serving as chief executive for my band has been the greatest honor of my life,” Benjamin said in the release. “I love public service, but I have now accomplished what I first set out to do as chief executive. I learned from Art Gahbow, our past chief executive, that one of the most important jobs of any leader is to prepare the next generation to take over. That has been a focus of my work, and I am very proud of our new warriors. They are now ready to lead our tribe with vision and skill.”
The band’s general election will be June 11. The newly elected chief will take office July 8.
Benjamin said after her term ends, she hopes to continue focusing on advancing leadership development and opportunities for Native women and youth. She also plans to continue her public service as a board member for organizations including the Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations, the American Indian Law Resource Center and the state’s Housing Finance Agency.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.