Star Tribune
Scott County Canvassing Board to certify 54A race with Tabke leading
House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth said in a Nov. 21 statement that Republicans in the chamber will pursue all legal options, including a potential election contest, “to ensure the integrity of the results in District 54A.”
The Cold Spring Republican contended it’s “impossible” to certify the election when the margin between Tabke and Paul is smaller than the number of ballots for which officials can’t account. She called on Scott County to “prove chain of custody if the ballots are located and guarantee that there was not malicious activity” that led to the ballots “being removed or destroyed.”
At last week’s recount, Hanson noted the Scott County Board doesn’t have the authority to call for a new electoral contest. She emphasized the audit remains ongoing but declined to give an update on the status of the missing absentee ballots.
The continued interest in this race — tight since election day — speaks to its significance.
Early returns showed Paul, a Bloomington police officer, ahead in several precincts by small margins. Tabke, a former Shakopee mayor who has served two nonconsecutive House terms, maintained advantages in northeast Shakopee and a precinct north of Shakopee High School.
A few days after election night, Scott County officials rescanned some ballots cast in Shakopee following a scanning machine malfunction. The updated, unofficial results increased Tabke’s advantage by one vote, to 14. Paul then requested a recount, with the margin between the two contenders remaining within the threshold set by state law for a taxpayer-funded one.
Not much remains today of Camp Snoopy, the woodsy indoor theme park where Charlie Brown and the gang once came to life inside the Mall of America.
Curious Minnesota recently did a dive into what happened to the beloved theme park and how Nickelodeon Universe came to be.
The giant red dog bowl where groups met up, the Snoopy bounce house, the whimsical fountain — all were replaced years ago by the characters and branding of Nickelodeon Universe.
But Camp Snoopy still conjures nostalgic memories for the people who grew up visiting this unique attraction. People at the mall can still experience pieces of the original park, like the Log Chute.
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Star Tribune
Mankato police and city officials meet with Muslim community at Islamic Center of Mankato
MANKATO – City and police officials attempted to reassure members of the Muslim community of Mankato recently after concerns about a suspected arson at a mosque.
“Every single Mankatoan has value and should feel safe,” said Jeremy Clifton, Mankato’s recently appointed director of public safety, before a gathering of about 40 attendees at the Islamic Center of Mankato on Friday.
Last week, members at the mosque said a man attempted to set part of their mosque on fire as part of a “brazen” act on Sunday afternoon. The Mankato police, however, said the Islamic Center of Mankato had not faced any threat, and a man was simply lighting firecrackers.
Clifton on Friday said the man who lit firecrackers near the mosque apologized.
The public safety director added that he will have better communication with leaders in the Muslim community in the future.
The man, who was not identified, has been cited for sale, possession and use of prohibited fireworks, a misdemeanor, the Mankato Department of Public Safety said in a statement last week.
People gathered at the mosque for Friday prayers said they felt Mankato police had downplayed their concerns. Abdi Sabrie, a co-founder and board member of the mosque, said many in the Muslim community in Mankato worry about their safety after the reelection of Donald Trump. He said the president-elect’s first term led to an increase in anti-Muslim vandalism attempts in Minnesota.
In 2016, a shirtless man attempted to tear down the Islamic Center’s sign, and in 2021, two vandals spray-painted slurs on a car owned by a member of the mosque.
There is “no known connection” between an employee who was stabbed in the neck at a Fleet Farm store in Carver over the weekend and the man who attacked her, officials said Monday.
The stabbing occurred about 2 p.m. Sunday at the Fleet Farm just off Hwy. 212 near the Jonathan Parkway exit, the Carver County Sheriff’s Office said.
The employee, a 17-year-old girl from nearby Jordan, was taken by ambulance to HCMC, where she was last reported to be in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said. Her identity has yet to be released.
The suspect, a 31-year-old man from Kansas City, Kan., was arrested about an hour later during “a high-risk traffic stop” in Chanhassen, according to the jail log and the sheriff’s office.
Charges have yet to be filed. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
“There is no known connection between the suspect and the victim,” read a statement from the sheriff’s office, which did not offer a motive for the attack.
