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Mni Sota Fund receives $1.5 million from MacKenzie Scott
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota nonprofit furthering Native homeownership received a $1.5 million donation from MacKenzie Scott.
Scott, an author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has given millions of dollars to nonprofits.
Andrea Reese, a board member and former staffer, said the donation will do so much for the Mni Sota Fund.
“I was like jumping up and down like crazy,” said Reese. “It was such a huge honor.”
The Mni Sota Fund provides wealth-building services and access to capital for the Urban Indian community.
“Having a very culturally responsive native home buying resource has made a huge impact the last 12 years that it’s been in operation,” said Reese.
Minnesota is among the worst in the nation for facial disparities in home ownership. While 77 percent of white households own their home, only about 49 percent of Native American families do, according to the American Community Survey.
“I think that a lot of the barriers are very systemic and very perpetuated by the traditional lending institutions,” said Reese,
Homeownership also impacts the health of communities too, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
“I believe it’s it comes from that stability,” said Reese. “It comes from that stability and having the security, that you have a safe place to be. And that provides financial security, it provides mental health, it provides physical health.”
There are only five full-time staff members with the fund. Reese says this donation will help so many find their way home.
On Monday, the largest pumpkins will battle in a weigh-off for the champion title. Anoka’s Travis Gienger has grown one that’s in the hunt.
ANOKA, Minn. — Editor’s Note: This video originally aired on Oct. 10, 2023.
Oh my gourd! Have you ever seen a pumpkin this big?
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, has raised what he hopes will be a world-record-setting pumpkin and he is en route to California to see if he can win the title.
In 2023, Gienger won the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, Calif. with a 2,749 pound behemoth. The pumpkin – dubbed Michael Jordan after the basketball legend – not only won the competition but broke the world record.
On Monday, this year’s behemoth pumpkins will go head to head for the 2024 Championship. Gienger’s submission – named Rudy – has not been weighed before the competition, according to a social media post.
Let’s be clear, this is not just for bragging rights: For the winning grower, there’s a prize of $9 per pound with an additional $30,000 for a world-record pumpkin.
The cost of unleaded bumped up 14 cents per gallon in the last week, which analyst Patrick De Haan blames on rising tensions between Iran and Israel.
MINNEAPOLIS — Anyone filling up the family truckster this weekend had to have noticed an uptick in the price of petrol.
Consumer app and website GasBuddy says the average price of unleaded across the Twin Cities Monday is up 14 cents over the previous week to $3.16. That’s 12.7 cents higher than a month ago.
GasBuddy’s daily survey of 1,106 stations across the metro found the cheapest gas station was selling for $2.84 while the most expensive was $3.59, a difference of 75 cents per gallon which underlines the importance of shopping around.
Across the entire state of Minnesota, the cheapest gas was being pumped at $2.70 per gallon, while the highest-priced petroleum was $3.59, a gap of 89 cents.
GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan blames the hike on Iran’s rocket attack on Israel and continuing conflict in the Middle East. De Haan says so far, Hurricane Milton has not had an impact on petroleum prices and despite one-third of gas stations in Florida being without gas at some point last week, he expects the big picture to improve,
“With oil prices recently starting to fall again, the rise we saw could end before you know it,” De Haan predicted. “And with restoration happening in Florida, we could start to see a decline in gas prices in the weeks ahead, with a good chance of seeing the first sub-$3 per gallon national average since 2021.”
GasBuddy says the news is better with diesel, with the national average declining 3.4 cents per gallon in the last week. Diesel currently stands at $3.57 per gallon- the lowest price since January 2022, over 900 days ago.
For more on gas prices and where you can find the cheapest places to fill up, check out the GasBuddy website.
Events Monday range from a voting rally in Minneapolis to a public talk about the Native vote at Virginia Tech. It comes three weeks before the election.
MINNEAPOLIS — As Native Americans across the U.S. come together on Monday for Indigenous Peoples Day to celebrate their history and culture and acknowledge the ongoing challenges they face, many will do so with a focus on the election.
From a voting rally in Minneapolis featuring food, games and raffles to a public talk about the Native vote at Virginia Tech, the holiday, which comes about three weeks before Election Day, will feature a wide array of events geared toward Native voter mobilization and outreach amid a strong recognition of the power of their votes.
In 2020, Native voters proved decisive in the presidential election. Voter turnout on tribal land in Arizona increased dramatically compared with the previous presidential election, helping Joe Biden win a state that hadn’t supported a Democratic candidate in a White House contest since 1996.
Janeen Comenote, executive director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, which is involved with at least a dozen of these types of voting events across the country, said this year it’s especially important to mobilize Native voters because the country is selecting the president. But she cautioned that Native people are in no way a monolith in terms of how they vote.
“We’re really all about just getting Native voters out to vote, not telling them how to vote. But sort of understanding that you have a voice and you’re a democracy, a democracy that we helped create,” said Comenote, a citizen of the Quinault Indian Nation.
In Arizona, her coalition is partnering with the Phoenix Indian Center to hold a town hall Monday called “Democracy Is Indigenous: Power Of The Native Vote,” which will feature speakers and performances, along with Indigenous artwork centered on democracy.
In Apex, North Carolina, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh, the coalition is working with the Triangle Native American Society for an event expected to include a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and a booth with nonpartisan voter information and giveaways.
While not a federal holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day is observed by 17 states, including Washington, South Dakota and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., according to the Pew Research Center. It typically takes place on the second Monday in October, which is the same day as the Columbus Day federal holiday.
