Star Tribune
Rochester passes homeless camp ban as legal issues loom
ROCHESTER — This community will soon have a ban on public camping to deter homeless camps, in spite of legal threats and a pending Supreme Court decision.
The Rochester City Council Monday night passed, by a 4-3 vote, a proposed ordinance banning public camping, the culmination of months of debate that would allow Rochester police to arrest homeless campers on public land, a misdemeanor.
The ban is on track to go into effect next month after the city holds two ordinance readings at future council meetings.
Area police last summer urged local officials to create the ban, arguing they needed more legal consequences in the face of a growing number of camps around town. Rochester officers broke up more than 130 camps last year and found three dead homeless residents in public parks.
The proposed ban has raised questions among critics concerned Rochester will effectively criminalize being homeless. Attorneys with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services threatened to sue the city last month on behalf of three homeless residents if the ban was approved. They argue the city’s definition of public camping and the ban itself is overly broad.
Supreme Court to hear similar case
A U.S. Supreme Court case over a challenge to a 2018 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that homeless people could not be punished for breaking anti-camping ordinances if not enough shelter beds are available. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case later this spring.
Critics say the case reflects a similar situation in Rochester, where a little more than 70 overnight shelter beds are available to homeless residents at any one time. Olmsted County typically estimates about 200 unhoused adults and 400 unhoused children live in the area, though homeless counts have increased over the past year.
City officials say they tweaked the ordinance in response to those concerns. Residents are given a warning first, and police must help homeless residents find a safe place to go and notify them of available services before moving to arrest someone. Unsheltered folks are given 48 hours to move on from their camp.
“We in fact put safeguards and guardrails on ourselves,” Police Chief Jim Franklin said.
A barrier to escaping homelessness?
Council members Brooke Carlson, Molly Dennis and Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick voted against the ban. They also tried and failed to tweak the ordinance to remove consequences for people who live and sleep in cars. Dennis condemned the ban, arguing criminal charges could potentially put up more barriers for homeless residents trying to find homes.
“People who are surviving, they need as much help as possible,” she said.
City officials said the court would likely divert residents charged with violating the ban to other programs rather than convicting them. Homeless residents could face up to 90 days or a $1,000 fine, but City Attorney Michael Spindler-Krage said all but the most extreme cases would likely be ordered to a work program or county services instead.
“For these types of offenses, we are always looking for options to avoid a conviction on someone’s record,” Spindler-Krage said.
Still, most council members revealed they struggled with the vote. Normal Wahl called the ban “not perfect,” but argued the city needed more ways to address homelessness.
“If there were a perfect answer every city would be doing it,” Wahl said.
A former Medtronic consultant received an 18-month prison sentence this week for his role in a scheme linked to the $1.6 billion acquisition of an Israeli medical device company in 2018.
A federal jury in February convicted Doron “Ron” Tavlin, 69, of Minneapolis, of one count of conspiracy to engage in insider trading and 10 additional counts related to securities fraud. That same jury found David Jay Gantman, 58, of Mendota Heights, not guilty of all charges against him. A third defendant — Afshin “Alex” Farahan, 57, of Los Angeles — pleaded guilty in 2022 and has yet to be sentenced.
“His crime was cynical and brazen. It was also reckless,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert wrote in a memo calling for a 3-year prison term. “Tavlin’s conduct had the potential to blow up a deal that a team of executives and financial advisers had been diligently negotiating for months.”
Tavlin is now scheduled to self-surrender Jan. 5 to begin his prison term, which will be followed by 320 hours of community service.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Tavlin learned about a secret, pending acquisition by Medtronic of Mazor Robotics, where he worked as vice president of business development, in 2018. Tavlin also previously worked as a consultant to the Ireland-based Medtronic, which also has a headquarters in Fridley.
Tavlin illegally tipped off Farahan, his friend, about news of the imminent acquisition and told him to keep the news secret. Farahan knew the deal would likely result in a boost to Mazor’s stock price and quickly bought more than $1 million of the company’s stock throughout August and September 2018. Medtronic announced plans to acquire Mazor, which specialized in robotics for spinal procedures, in September 2018 and the deal closed three months later.
Prosecutors said Farahan netted more than $245,000, and Gantman made $255,000 in profit by selling the securities quickly after the deal was publicized. Farahan paid Tavlin for the secret information about the pending deal — including a $25,000 kickback about a year later —according to prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, who sentenced Tavlin Monday, also ordered Tavlin to pay a special assessment fee of $1,100 – or $100 per each count. Frank did not impose a fine.
Star Tribune
Charges detail assault in Minneapolis that led to shooting rampage, killing one in Kandiyohi County
Another friend of the ex-girlfriend arrived to help. He pulled up in a car as the group exited the apartment and Matariyeh immediately pointed a gun at him before pounding on the windshield with the gun. Everyone fled as Matariyeh ran back inside the apartment.
The two men met in a parking lot before attempting to return to the apartment. That’s when they looked up and saw Matariyeh on the balcony. Matariyeh immediately began firing multiple shots at them as they took cover behind parked cars.
It was around this time that Minneapolis police officers arrived and made contact with Matariyeh’s ex-girlfriend. She believed he was still inside the apartment, but officers later learned that he had fled. They reached him on the phone. He told officers he was going to kill innocent people if he couldn’t speak with his ex-girlfriend or see his daughter, who was at daycare at the time. He later told police negotiators that “he wanted to go out by ‘suicide by cop.’”
All the while, Matariyeh was speeding westbound.
Police officers pursued him near Cosmos in Meeker County after being alerted that Matariyeh might have stolen another vehicle at gunpoint in Carver County.
Around 2 p.m. he pulled into the rural driveway of Peter Mayerchak in Lake Lillian. Mayerchak, who was in his yard placing hay over his septic mound, went and greeted Matariyeh, who shot him in the chest.
Mixing progressive dreams with dire warnings, a group of DFL leaders riled up a group of volunteers in St. Paul on Thursday morning, urging them to push on through the day’s freezing rain and fatigue in the remaining days before the election.
Several elected officials including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar told the group of about 150 campaign staffers, volunteers and union members about how meaningful their work is to keeping DFL control of the Legislature, as the electeds start a statewide bus tour to turn out votes.
“We are here to keep our trifecta here in Minnesota,” U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar told volunteers on Thursday. “We’ve got five days, people!”
On the Republican side, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said earlier this month that the House Republican Campaign Committee had raised a record $2.7 million ahead of the election and she said Republicans have also set records in volunteering and door-knocking as they work to break DFL control.
Minnesota Democrats hold a rally before starting a bus tour around the state to get voters excited, including Rep Ilhan Omar, Sen Amy Klobuchar, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, Rep Betty McCollum and Sen Tina Smith on Thursday. (Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
“Republicans have the momentum and resources heading into the final stretch to win the majority and restore balance to Minnesota,” Demuth said in a statement. “Minnesotans are ready to move on from the expensive two years of Democrat one-party rule.”
House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said she thought voters preferred action to the gridlock of divided government. “They’re looking for people who can get things done,” she said.
These last-minute get-out-the-vote efforts come as Democrats around the country push to keep control of state legislative chambers and try to flip a few statehouses that Republicans hold by just a few seats.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the arm of the national Democratic party that works on statehouse races across the country, has spent $500,000 on Minnesota races this year, including House races and the state Senate contest.
