u/seamusmaldoun

https://www.startribune.com/mn-sex-trafficking-medicaid-fraud/601879533?utm\_source=gift

Charges against members of a Twin Cities sex trafficking ring have shed light on what prosecutors call an elaborate conspiracy between an alleged pimp, an Anoka County prosecutor and several others that also defrauded the state of more than $1 million in Medicaid funding.

On top of citing more than a dozen alleged victims of sex trafficking, the allegations now include that former Anoka County prosecutor Andrea Sampson purchased two “commercial sex houses” and one was turned into an assisted living home that billed Medicaid for more than $500,000.

Sampson, 35, was also allegedly at one time a sex worker for the man at the center of the sex trafficking ring, Frank Reeves, and became romantically involved with him. In January, Sampson texted Reeves asking that since she was, “not in trouble,” could they get married soon. Reeves responded, “We can’t get married with you in jail … I’m just playing … Baby I have things to do.”

Defense lawyers for the group that’s dubbed itself the Minnesota 15 have received some, but not all, government evidence related to the case. The documents confirmed that the government prosecutor who convened the grand jury to obtain the indictments was Deputy Attorney General Brian Lynch, a high-ranking Justice Department official who attended the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol.

Lynch was appointed this year to be co-director of the Joint Task Force Vanguard, a special unit dedicated to prosecuting left-wing political violence.

Lynch was reportedly photographed participating in the Capitol protest, standing inside a restricted zone, while rioters stormed the building. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment from the Minnesota Star Tribune about Lynch’s involvement at the protest , but an official told Talking Points Memo last month that while Lynch was present at Jan. 6, he “never entered the Capitol, left the grounds after a brief period, and did not commit and was never accused of any violation of law.”

Kevin Riach, the lawyer for lead defendant Issac Sant, revealed the discovery materials in a court motion Thursday in which he demanded additional disclosures and indicated he intended to file a motion to dismiss for “selective prosecution.”

The Trump administration vacated or commuted the sentences of numerous individuals convicted for their actions related to Jan. 6, Riach argued, while prosecuting Minnesotans who protested ICE.
“The government’s initial disclosures chronicle [Homeland Security Investigations’] abuses and confirm the political animus driving this case,” the lawyer wrote, saying federal agents were “fueled by visions of this vast and irrational conspiracy.”

As part of the grand jury presentation in the case of the Minnesota 15 protesters, the Justice Department displayed a diagram arguing that several major labor unions were connected in “the Conspiracy” at the core of the case.

The unions, which traditionally align with Democratic political candidates, include the AFL-CIO, Minneapolis Federation of Educators, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and the Service Employees International Union.

A day after CoreCivic announced it was reopening the long-shuttered private prison it owns in Appleton, Minn., the company said it was selling the facility to the federal government for almost half a billion dollars.

It is unclear how the sale will impact the small western Minnesota town, which relies on property taxes from the facility for much of its budget. Federal prisons and other government properties are typically tax exempt.

“We can’t handle that hit,” said Council Member James Massee, who said the details of the deal were unclear Wednesday afternoon.

Appleton borrowed $28 million to build the prison as an economic development tool in 1992 and later sold it to CoreCivic. The prison closed in 2010, and the town never fully recovered from the economic hit.

Swift County property records show the prison was valued at $14 million, roughly half what it cost to build in 1992. CoreCivic is expected to pay $768,566 in property taxes this year which is divided between the city, county and Lac qui Parle Valley School District.

Another Hot Cheeto take on this one.

Hell ya Anita!

I think the decision to grant a preliminary injunction on this is the right move at the moment.

I also didn’t know Donny Jr. advises both Kalshi and Polymarket. He also has a financial stake in Polymarket.

Thoughts ?

“We request the Environmental Protection Agency take all appropriate measures under the U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement (AQA) to address the impact of Canadian wildfire smoke on families in the Great Lakes and the Northeast,” the GOP lawmakers wrote in the July 20 letter. “Canada must meet its clean air promise and prevent future wildfires from impacting our communities.”

It’s the second time since last summer that Finstad and Stauber signed onto a letter blaming Canada for high concentrations of wildfire smoke making its way into the state. Unlike last year, however, a significant portion of the air pollution last week came from wildfires ignited by lightning on Minnesota’s side of the border.

The lawmakers also take their criticisms of Canada’s forest management practices a step further in this year’s letter, accusing its government of violating the AQA. As evidence, they point to a 2022 report from Parks Canada, which shows that the federal agency completed fewer prescribed burns almost every year between 2014 and 2021.

Nicknamed the “Acid Rain Treaty,” the AQA was signed in 1991 by then U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It set strict limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the toxic air pollutants primarily responsible for causing acid rain, and charged environmental regulators in both nations to reduce the levels of those pollutants.
The treaty was later amended to include other air pollutants that contribute to smog.

University of British Columbia ecologist Lori Daniels, who studies forest management practices and assists the Canadian government with its prescribed burns, said the American lawmakers’ accusations are unfair and uninformed.

Daniels said the GOP lawmakers have based their opinion on one federal agency that manages a fraction of Canada’s total forests. In British Columbia, she said, the provincial Wildfire Service conducts 40 to 50 prescribed burns every year in coordination with Indigenous nations and community organizations — more than double the number reported in most years by Parks Canada in the 2022 report.

“That report is for such a limited area compared to the 1.3 billion acres of forest in Canada,” Daniels said. “It’s a bit cherry picking.”

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-gop-lawmakers-are-once-again-blaming-canada-for-summer-wildfire-smoke-is-it-fair/601871064?utm\_source=gift

On Monday, a judge nominated by President Trump sided with the state, throwing the case out of court. The judge, Eric C. Tostrud of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, said the state and local laws challenged by the administration did not impinge on federal authority, as the Justice Department had argued.

https://www.startribune.com/police-search-immigration-twin-cities-flock-license-plate-cameras-ice-dhs-metro-surge/601807825?utm_source=gift

Twin Cities police departments said they did not share the data with federal agencies. Records obtained by the Star Tribune show federal agencies had a means of accessing that data anyway.

The Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office, which collaborates with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), searched the camera data in at least half a dozen Twin Cities suburbs. Police in North Carolina and Indiana also searched cameras in Fridley for immigration purposes. So did the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

About 30 state, county and federal agencies across the country searched camera data in at least eight Twin Cities suburbs for immigration enforcement between November and March, according to a review of hundreds of thousands of searches run on suburban Twin Cities license plate readers.

1. The public can read and comment on scoping documents on the DNR’s webpage for the project .

2. You can review hard copies of the documents at the DNR’s Library in St. Paul (500 Lafayette Rd. N.), the Duluth Public Library (520 W. Superior St.) and the Aitkin Public Library (110 1st Ave. NE.)

3. Two public meetings are planned during the comment period:

4. Aug. 5, 5-9 p.m. at McGregor High School (148 S. 2nd St)

5. Aug. 12, 5-9 p.m. at the National Sports Center (1750 105th Ave. NE, Blaine)

https://www.startribune.com/meet-the-minnesota-man-winning-your-prediction-market-wagers/601863670?utm\_source=gift

Open gift link in browser not the app.

Curious on others’ thoughts on this. This man is a sharp and continually winning against the “dumb money” pouring into these markets.

“Your Average Joe is not going to win at this,” said Davies, who estimates his overall earnings at about $1.1 million.

Davies’ success illustrates a key concern some consumer advocates have raised about the inexperienced traders signing up for Kalshi and Polymarket: The person you’re betting against has the tools and know-how to beat you every time.