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Willmar’s largest landlord sues city

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The largest landlord in Willmar has filed a lawsuit against the city and its staff, accusing council members of being hostile to the company.

The property owner, Suite Liv’n, said the city had “schemed” to shut down its operations, said the suit, filed Nov. 5. The lawsuit says emails by city council obtained via data requests show that city council members had hoped to revoke the company’s rental license.

Leslie Valiant, city administrator for Willmar, declined to comment on the litigation, other than to say the matter has been referred to legal counsel and an insurer.

Dean Zuleger, chief operating officer of Suite Liv’n, has in the past threatened litigation against Willmar, accusing the city of bias and rental inspector Ryan Tillemans of working for another owner of rental units, in what it said was a conflict of interest, the West Central Tribune reported in 2023.

The company in Willmar has had a reputation of allowing properties to fall into disrepair; the West Central Tribune reported finding black mold and standing water in some buildings in 2022.

This was due to a “property management company that didn’t do their job,” Zuleger said in a recent interview with the Star Tribune, adding that Suite Liv’n now has on-site management.

In 2022, Suite Liv’n agreed to give refunds to 877 households after a settlement totaling approximately $50,000 to $60,000 with the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. The housing company had improperly imposed a utility surcharge, a statement by Ellison’s office said at the time.

Suite Liv’n is the city’s largest landlord, owning about 25% of multifamily housing units in Willmar, a city of 21,000 about 90 miles west of Minneapolis. The company on its website describes itself as Christian and evangelical-based.



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E. coli infections traced back to Red Cow restaurants and Hen House Eatery in Minnesota

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Ten cases of E. coli have been identified from customers who ate hamburgers at several locations of the Red Cow restaurant chain and at Hen House Eatery in downtown Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Friday.

The ground beef product connected to those infections was also distributed to other unidentified establishments, according to the Health Department. Additional cases from other locations could be identified, and other potential cases were already under investigation.

The confirmed cases involve meal dates from Oct. 31 through Nov. 7, and illness onset dates from Nov. 4 through Nov. 9, according to the department. Those affected range in age from 9 to 70 years, and two of them have been hospitalized.

Red Cow and Hen House Eatery owners are fully cooperating with the investigation and have already made product changes to prevent further illness, the department said. Red Cow has a total of six locations in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Wayzata and Rochester.

Symptoms of E. coli typically include stomach cramps and diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Illness can set in anywhere from one to eight days after exposure. About 5% of cases can lead to severe complications such as acute kidney failure.



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St. Paul police release video of officers shooting murder suspect who appeared to point gun

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St. Paul police released footage Friday of the moment officers converged up on and shot a man wanted for murdering his pregnant ex-wife after he appeared to point a gun at them.

The police department’s body worn and dash camera footage shows officers Matthew Foy and Eric Jaworski speed towards Stowers in their squad car at around 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 9. Stowers, 36, was wanted for allegedly killing his pregnant ex-wife, Damara Alexis Stowers, 35, who was found dead in her North End apartment on Oct. 19. An anonymous tipster said Stowers was on a bike at a laundromat in the West Seventh neighborhood that day, and the caller confirmed the bicyclist was Stowers as officers waited to verify his identity.

Foy’s engine roared as they sped through the 1100 block of West Seventh Street towards Stowers, stopping about 30 yards from him. That’s when investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension say Stowers raised a gun at police. A gun was found near the spot outside where he was shot, the agency said.

Jaworski shot five times through Foy’s front windshield as they screeched to a stop, shattering glass with bullets that appeared to strike Stowers. Foy exited the car moments afterwards, shooting four times towards Stowers before reporting that shots were fired.

Stowers turned and ran before Jaworski fire a fifth shot, sending Stowers to the ground. The video then showed four officers approach Stowers with their guns drawn.

“What the [expletive] is going on?” a witness standing yards from Stowers said as police converged on the scene. Jaworski yelled at Stowers to stay still as they approached.

Stowers was taken to Regions Hospital but died some time later. More than six officers were placed on administrative leave, standard procedure for police shootings investigated by the BCA. No other injuries from the shooting.

“We are committed to the sanctity of the independent investigation; we are also committed to the transparency of our actions. That’s why we are releasing the body-worn camera (BWC) and in car camera footage from this incident. No one wants apprehensions to result in the use of force of any kind. Not using force is always our goal—and is the outcome of the majority of our officers’ interactions.” said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry. “We grieve with the families impacted, our community, and our officers. We hope that with working together as a community, we can prevent these outcomes in the future.”



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Minnesota sues Zaza Cannabis, seeking destruction of illegal products

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In the first case of its kind in Minnesota, the state is suing the Zaza Cannabis Dispensary after finding products in its stores that contained more than 70 times the legal limit of THC.

The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is seeking destruction of the products with illegal amounts of THC, the intoxicating substance in marijuana.

The lawsuits filed in Hennepin and Ramsey county courts followed a September inspection of Zaza that was prompted in part by complaints from the public about the potency of the stores’ products.

State inspectors, the lawsuits said, caught employees smuggling illicit products out the back door during the inspections.

Zaza operates stores in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Employees answering the phone at those locations said they could not comment on the lawsuits.

“The Office of Cannabis Management takes seriously its responsibility to protect the health and safety of Minnesotans and ensure compliance within the hemp-derived cannabinoid marketplace,” said Josh Collins, a spokesman for OCM, said in a statement.

The action marks the first time that the state agency has sued a cannabis retailer.

Minnesota legalized hemp-derived THC products in 2019, including low-potency forms of the drug, but kept more intoxicating higher-potency products illegal, including “vape pens” and hemp flower that includes more than 0.3% of any form of THC, the lawsuit says.



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