WASHINGTON, March 26 [Category: Sociological] -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations posted the following news release: * * * CAIR in the News, March 26, 2025 CAIR-Ohio calls for investigation after Muslim woman attacked in 'possible hate crime' - Columbus Dispatch CAIR: Montgomery County teacher under fire for allegedly harassing, humiliating 8-year-old Muslim student - DC News Now CAIR: Complaint Alleges Mistreatment of 8-Year-Old Muslim Student by MCPS Teacher - The MoCo Show CAIR-MN: Consumer Choices Spur Change - Minnesota W more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 1, 2025: * * * Feeding Our Future: AK-47 edition by Bill Glahn Bill Glahn is a Policy Fellow with Center of the American Experiment. Another twist in an already bizarre court case. I'll get to the rifles in a minute, but first, some background. Two co-defendants (Nos. 1 and 3) in the Feeding Our Future case -- Aimee Bock, the nonprofit's CEO more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 5, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano 'Make Permitting Work Again' for domestic mining, infrastructure The Trump administration has singled out the most crucial electrification metal, copper, as a focus of its domestic minerals policy. Last week, an executive order was released "addressing the threat to national security from imports of co more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn A bitter harvest The CEO of the Minnesota-based free-food behemoth Second Harvest Heartland announced that she will be stepping down from her position. Allison O'Toole will be leaving the organization after leading it for the past six years. You may recall that, years ago, O'Toole served a term as CEO of t more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 16, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan A century of Irish economic independence Three years ago I wrote two articles for Econlib marking the centenary of Irish independence. Here they are to mark St. Patrick's Day At the Irish Free State's birth in 1922, hopes were high that independence from Britain -- what the 18th century nationalist Theoba more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn A tale of two 'town halls' Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to conduct a "town hall" meeting in Rochester tomorrow (Saturday) morning at a local high school auditorium. It's part of his multi-state tour, conducting events in districts held by Republican members of Congress. It is the first event in the s more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 25, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Accounting for growth: Minnesota's slowing relative growth In American Experiment's 2021 report "The State of Minnesota's Economy: 2020 -- A focus on economic growth," we wrote: What matters for economic welfare is per capita income. This is a general measure of welfare, telling us how much per person is  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 13, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer American Experiment testifies in support of HF 16 to ban 'non-cooperation' policies with ICE On Wednesday, March 12, Public Safety Policy Fellow David Zimmer testified in the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee in support of HF 16. You can see a write-up of the hearing by the House here. The Bill, au more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer American Experiment's Public Safety Policy Fellow testifies in support of consequential sentencing bill On Wednesday, March 5, Public Safety Policy Fellow David Zimmer testified before the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee in support of House File 765. The bill, authored by Representative Walter Huds more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 4, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Attendance up, skipping declines as Grand Forks schools crack down on absences One of the most regrettable results of the COVID classroom lockdowns was a significant rise in chronic absenteeism, a.k.a. skipping school. It's a problem nationwide that's proven difficult to get under control, including in Nort more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 20, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Bill would allow new nuclear power plants in MN HF 2002, which would lift Minnesota's nuclear moratorium, cleared the House energy committee last week. The bill's next stop is the House floor. Current state law prohibits the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission from issuing a certificate of need for more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 16, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Can a private company create more government? That's the curious case of the recently-created state Office of New Americans (ONA). The private company in this instance is the Palo Alto, CA-based Emerson Collective LLC. The Collective was founded, and is funded, by Laurene Jobs, the widow of Apple Computer's more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 3, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Poll shows appetite for spending cuts Minnesotans support cutting spending to deal with deficit We are about to move into a new phase of the 2025 Minnesota legislative session. Phase one was the chaos caused by Democrat House members not showing up for work during the first month. Phase two i more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 10, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Spending, not Trump, causing MN budget problems There were some whopper messages at the capitol this week reacting to the new budget forecast. The state budget office announced Thursday that the deficit in the 2028-29 biennium will grow from $5.1 billion to almost $6 billion. There will be le more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 24, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Walz budget still unbalanced Governor Walz made news last week traveling around the Midwest holding tightly controlled town meetings in front of friendly audiences. It feels like he's searching for the meaning of life after an embarrassing national defeat. It also feels like he's bored with h more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 17, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Walz leaves town, Senate debates ethics, House officially tied The dust finally settled on the November 2024 election as the House DFL candidate won the special election in Roseville and Shoreview last week. That means the House is now officially tied 67-67, with Republican Lisa Demuth as Spe more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Cato Institute: Green New Deal may cost $4.7 trillion by 2050 The Cato Institute released a new report this month estimating the staggering costs of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The 2022 law could cost a staggering $1.97 trillion by 2034, and could cost $4.67 trillion by 2050. Recall that the Co more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 10, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Closure of last grocery store in downtown St. Paul shows that city government has reneged on the 'urban social contract' In the current edition of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, I wrote about the sad decline of the Lowertown area of St. Paul. That decline continues with news of the closure of downtown S more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 4, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan DFL deficit: Here come the tax hikes - The problem Yesterday, I testified that: In February 2023, Minnesota Management & Budget forecast a state government budget surplus of $17 billion for the 2024-2025 biennium. In that "historic" session, the DFL trifecta spent every penny of that surplus and between 20 more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 18, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan DFL deficit: House DFLers want to give Minnesota the second highest top rate of income tax in America The DFL deficit In February 2023, Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) forecast a state government budget surplus of $17 billion for the 2024-2025 biennium. In that "historic" session, the DFL trifecta ble more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan DFL deficit: Minnesota's forecast budget deficit grows to $6 billion In February 2023, Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) forecast a state government budget surplus of $17 billion for the 2024-2025 biennium. In that "historic" session, the DFL trifecta spent every penny of that surplus and, between 2019 an more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 11, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan DFL deficit: Senate DFLers want to spend $100 million on reparations Last week, we learned that Minnesota's state government budget surplus for the 2026-2027 biennium had fallen from the $616 million forecast in November to $456 million and that the deficit of $3.5 billion in the 2028-2029 biennium -- or $ more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan DFLers push to eliminate fine for passing a school bus The 'stop-arm' law Last September, as kids across Minnesota prepared to start or return to school, Kare 11 ran an article titled "Back-to-school reminder: Minnesota's stop-arm law means stopping for buses." "We're right around 280 vehicles on the roa more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 17, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Did Minneapolis' city government shred the social contract? Under our "social contract," individuals voluntarily agree to surrender certain rights and freedoms to a governing authority in exchange for protection and the maintenance of social order, forming the basis of legitimate government and political o more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 14, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Earmarks zeroed out of funding bill that prevents government shutdown For more than a decade, members of Congress were banned from slipping spending requests for pet projects in their districts, known as earmarks, into spending bills. But as MinnPost points out, the temptation to bring back the notorious p more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Executive order boosts critical minerals Yesterday, the White House announced an executive order titled "Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production." The order is intended to increase domestic mineral production and decrease reliance on foreign mineral supplies. The executive order id more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 18, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: 'that math ain't mathin" Truer words were never spoken. The six-week-long second trial of Feeding Our Future defendants wrapped up late this afternoon. Now the matter is in the hands of the jury to render a verdict. Your correspondent was there. This round, the defendants are Aimee Bock more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 24, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: 38th guilty plea Abdihakim Ahmed entered the 38th guilty plea, overall, in the Feeding Our Future case this morning. In a 35-minute hearing before Judge Nancy Brasel at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, Ahmed pled guilty to two counts in the sprawling free-food scandal. Ah more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 8, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Aimee Bock takes the stand, a roundup Against the advice of her attorney, Feeding Our Future CEO Aimee Bock took the stand late Friday afternoon in her federal fraud trial. She testified for only an hour before court adjourned at the appointed time for the day. The trial won't resume unt more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 12, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Aimee Bock testifies, Day 2 Your correspondent was there. Defendant No. 1 in the sprawling free-food scandal, Aimee Bock, took the stand for over six hours today at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. The Feeding Our Future founder and CEO had begun her defense testimony lat more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 13, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Aimee Bock, Day 3, and the Lamborghini of despair Your correspondent was there for Day 3 of Aimee Bock's testimony at the blockbuster Feeding Our Future trial going on at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. The founder and CEO of the free-food nonprofit at the center of the  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 4, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: bribery bagwoman accused of stealing $1.6 million? That seems to be the implication of reporting by the Minnesota Star Tribune from inside the Federal courtroom during the current free-food fraud trial. The Star Tribune's Jeffrey Meitrodt reports: The woman who allegedly tried to bribe a more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 19, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: guilty on all counts A jury found two Feeding Our Future defendants guilty of all charges this afternoon, after a six-week trial at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. Deliberations lasted (at most) five hours. The jury began considering the case at 9 a.m. and media were alerted that more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 5, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: snow delays trial and a 37th guilty plea? The snowstorm appears to have wiped out today's sitting of the Feeding Our Future trial against Aimee Bock and Salim Said, Defendant Nos. 1 and 3, respectively. To make up for the delay, additional trial days have been added to the official federa more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 17, 2025): * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: the defense of Salim Said, Aye Begorrah! The second Feeding Our Future trial resumed this morning at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. Your correspondent was there. Salim Said, co-owner of the Safari Restaurant of south Minneapolis, is on trial with Feeding Our Future fou more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 7, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: the Lake Street cluster As the prosecution wraps up its case in the latest Feeding Our Future trial, some interesting details have emerged. Aimee Bock, Feeding Our Future CEO, and Salim Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant, are currently on trial and are Defendant Nos. 1 and 3 in the spra more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 19, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: the pregnant pause We are in waiting mode as the jury deliberates in the 2nd Feeding Our Future trial. The jury began deliberations this morning in the case against Aimee Bock, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, and Salim Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant, Bock's bigg more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 10, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Fleet of small modular reactors to be built at Palisades Last month, the owner of the Palisades nuclear plant signed an agreement to build two small modular nuclear reactors by 2030. If this is successful, these would be the first small modular reactors to be built in U.S. history. The Palisades agre more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 24, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall Gov. Walz doubles down on going after private schools Gov. Tim Walz continues to take aim at nonpublic schools, as his revised budget proposal for the next biennium still eliminates all funding for nonpublic school students. The cuts are labeled "responsible reductions" but total less than half a perce more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 20, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Greenpeace socked with $660 million in damages for Dakota Access Pipeline protests It would be difficult to overstate the likely impact of the jury's decision in the defamation case brought by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline against environmental icon Greenpeace over its role in protesting the  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 12, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Increased homeless calls swamp Rochester police The homeless camps in Rochester may be fewer and farther in between than before the city passed a ban on such activity in public spaces. But the time and money spent by the Rochester Police Department in dealing with homeless individuals continues to increase more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 14, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall Is downsizing the U.S. Dept. of Ed really that alarming? On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced plans to reduce 1,315 staff positions, bringing the agency's total workforce reduction to approximately 50 percent since the start of President Donald Trump's second term. Articles on the sta more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 2, 2025: * * * Jamal Osman, Omar Fateh on video bragging about their help for Feeding Our Future Written by Bill Glahn The ever-alert Lou Raguse of KARE-11 TV is out with a story on how Minneapolis city council member Jamal Osman (Ward 6) went to bat on behalf of Feeding Our Future during the time the nonprofit was allegedly stealing hundreds  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 13, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole Lawmakers owe Minnesotans serious discussion on budget deficit This article originally appeared in the Duluth News Tribune on March 11, 2025. The release of the February budget forecast last week started a second round of blame games. A new candidate, President Donald Trump's chaotic policymaking, is more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 24, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Letter carriers riled up over possible privatization of post office The steady decline in the quality of mail service in recent years has been well documented by MinnPost and other media outlets across the country. The saga over unreliable mail delivery in many areas of Minnesota is escalating, with the i more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Minneapolis crime in more context A Promising Trend Crime in Minneapolis appears to be trending down so far in 2025. For the first time in years, a review of the Minneapolis Crime Data Dashboard shows that the number of crimes is down compared to the same time last year and compared against the year-to-d more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 11, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall Minnesota can no longer hide in its averages A serious look behind our state's average achievement scores shows we aren't doing as well as we like to think we are. Comparing Minnesota's average reading and math performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) with other states' NAE more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Minnesota Power for sale Starting April 1, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) will hold a three-day series of hearings in St. Paul on the proposed acquisition of the electric utility Minnesota Power (MP). Then, the MPUC will take their show on the road, visiting Cloquet, Duluth and three othe more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 10, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole Minnesota's $6 billion deficit is self-inflicted Right on cue, the release of the February 2025 budget focus has ignited a second round of blame games. A new candidate, President Trump's chaotic policymaking, is seemingly now in the middle. At some point, however, Minnesota lawmakers must pass a bal more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 7, 2025: * * * Written by Matt Dean Minnesota's budget is $6 billion overweight and Ozempic is only making it worse This week, Minnesota's budget forecast was downgraded to reflect that in the upcoming biennia, legislators and the Governor will have a budget that is $6 billion more than the projected tax collections. Without irony, the populari more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 25, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Minnesota's case for incarceration Shaping policy The common argument from progressive criminal justice system academics and policy makers is that incarceration is a costly and ineffective tool to control crime. In Minnesota, progressive academics have controlled this narrative and our state correctional more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole Minnesota's looming budget deficit now at $6 billion In the November 2024 forecast, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) estimated a $5.1 billion budget deficit for the 2028-29 biennium. A newly released February 2025 budget forecast shows that the deficit has grown to $6 billion. Figure 1: November  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 19, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall MN homeschool enrollment reaches highest ever Minnesota homeschool enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year is the highest on record, surpassing even the spike during COVID and school closures. New enrollment data from the Minnesota Department of Education reports 31,216 students in the state were home more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 10, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Mr. Glahn goes to St. Paul Your correspondent was at the state capitol this morning, testifying in front of the House's Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee on the topic of fraud in state benefit programs. For those interested in the fireworks (such as they were), the committee posted a vi more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 7, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Musk axes $1 million Winona State federal grant as DOGE ramps up scrutiny Winona State faculty and officials were thrilled to receive word just before the election last October of a $1.1 million federal grant awarded to support civic engagement through the university's newly established nonprofit Civic Cent more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall New license would require teachers to 'analyze relationships through decolonial lens' Gov. Tim Walz's Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) wants a new Ethnic Studies teaching license that would require teachers to "analyze social and human relationships with the natural world thro more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 3, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan No more funding for I-94 'land bridge' boondoggle Today I testified in the House Transportation Finance and Policy committee in support of HF 494, which: ...prohibits the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Metropolitan Council from expending funds for study, project development, or con more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Plan to eliminate indoor facilities at $65 million sports center stuns Rochester voters It was the crown jewel of city officials' pitch to convince Rochester voters to extend the local sales tax for 25 years in 2023. A $65 million regional sports and recreation complex that offered something for everyone, f more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by Matt Dean Rep. Michelle Fischbach wants to cut taxes and catch fraudsters Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach (R-MN7) outlined policy priorities for rural Minnesota at a Thursday evening meeting in Ottertail, MN. About 150 people attended the sold-out event, hosted by the Center of the American Experiment, while about an more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 12, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Retirements of coal generators accelerating in 2025 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published last month an article warning that planned retirements of coal-fired electric-generating capacity are expected to increase in 2025. The EIA reports that electricity generators plan to retire more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 13, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward School board mulls opting out of explicit state student survey On the surface, the Minnesota Student Survey administered through school districts since 1989 by the Minnesota Department of Health sounds innocuous enough. The Minnesota Student Survey shares insight into things affecting our young people sin more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 19, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward School district to sell buses and cut costs after failed referendum Last November residents overwhelmingly rejected the operating referendum that would have supplemented the annual budget of Dover-Eyota public schools by $1 million annually. Since then, officials of the small southeastern Minnesota school  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 13, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Sorry Rep. Pinto, but Minnesotans care about fraud in government spending The trials continue in the Feeding Our Future scandal, the biggest fraud in the United States arising from COVID-19, totaling an estimated $250 million. This is only one example of the rampant fraud perpetrated against the taxpayers  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 21, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole St. Paul should follow the evidence and abolish rent control A consensus is developing in St. Paul that rent control has been disastrous for housing construction. Unfortunately, no one wants to repeal the policy. Instead, City Council members are suggesting amending rent control to permanently exempt  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 25, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Stopping the fraud There are lots of proposals swirling around the state capitol aimed at stopping the fraud rampant throughout state government. Will any of them work? Will any of them gain enough votes to become law? Yesterday, the House of Representatives' Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight com more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn The $7 billion Climate United scandal That's "billion, with a "b." Minnesota has much experience with brand-new nonprofits getting multi-million-dollar grants from the state government. The Feds have managed to go over the top in this latest scandal. The New York Post reports: In one case, former Vice Pres more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn The ship be sinking The upcoming municipal elections in Minneapolis will be a referendum on the city's future. At the moment, the future is not bright. Yesterday, the city's hometown newspaper, the Star Tribune, delivered some more bad news: Minneapolis' total property value falls for second consecutive y more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 11, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn The tariff war that wasn't The Province of Ontario wages a trade war against Minnesota, but without any ammunition. The putatively Conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, launched a trade war of his own against Donald Trump, threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on electricity sales to the U.S. sta more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 24, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole Walz's budget plan ignores Minnesota's long-term fiscal challenge Owing to the growing budget deficit, Gov. Tim Walz has called for more spending cuts, in addition to what he initially proposed in January. Overall, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) estimates that Walz's new budget plan will save $ more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 16, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall What a federal school choice bill would mean for Minnesota A proposed federal scholarship tax credit bill would expand parental choice to all 50 states, providing families a funding option that could be used for a wide variety of educational needs. Through privately funded scholarships, the Educational more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 3, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole What federal spending cuts could mean for Minnesota Minnesota gets a substantial amount of funding from the federal government, particularly through the Medicaid program. Under a resolution passed by U.S. House Republicans, federal funding for Medicaid could be significantly reduced for all states. Thi more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 25, 2025: * * * Written by Katherine Kersten Why all Minnesotans should support H.F. 29 The Minnesota Legislature is currently considering H.F. 29, a bill that does two important things: It repeals Minnesota's K-12 liberated Ethnic Studies mandates enacted in 2023, and It suspends implementation of the Minnesota Department of Education's new  more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 3, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano WSJ: Keeping Up With the Jones Act is Hard to Do In my previous role at Alaska Policy Forum, I spoke and wrote about the costs of the Jones Act, a 1920 law that limits trade between U.S. ports to U.S.-flagged ships. As American Experiment has noted (Isaac Orr) before (John Phelan), this effectively ban more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 4, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Xcel proposes $318M in rebates from nuclear tax credits Xcel Energy proposed to issue a $318 million rebate to Minnesota customers in a press release on Monday. More than half of the refund ($176 million) will come from federal tax credits for nuclear generation, with "the remainder of the refund comi more PR

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, March 26 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 14, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Aimee Bock, Day 4, ending without finishing Your correspondent was there for Day 4 of the trial testimony of Aimee Bock, the founder and CEO of the free-food nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Bock is on trial in the scandal in federal court in downtown Minneapolis along with one co-defendan more PR

MCLEAN, Virginia, March 26 -- Chamber of Progress, a center-left tech industry policy coalition promoting a progressive future, issued the following report on Feb. 25, 2025, by Kaitlyn Harger entitled "Assessing the Impact of a Maryland Delivery Tax." Here are excerpts: * * * With fuel tax revenue in decline, many states are searching for alternative funding sources. Delivery taxes have emerged as a potential replacement, with some states actively considering their implementation. As of January 2025, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, O more PR

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minnesota, March 26 [Category: Medical] -- Medical Alley posted the following news release: * * * NextBeam Launches Research Fellowship to Advance Innovation in Sterilization and Radiation Processing North Sioux City, SD - [March 26, 2025] - NextBeam, a leading provider of Electron Beam irradiation services, is pleased to announce the launch of the NextBeam Research Fellowship, a new initiative designed to support pioneering research in accelerator-based sterilization technologies. The fellowship offers access to cutting-ed more PR

ERLANGER, Kentucky, March 26 [Category: National Defense] -- Disabled American Veterans issued the following news: * * * USAA sends 2023 Disabled American Veteran of the Year to Super Bowl Thanks to the generosity of USAA, the 2023 Disabled American Veteran of the Year, Kim Hubers, was gifted the chance to attend the 2025 Super Bowl. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson coordinated with USAA to officially invite Kim and her daughter. While in New Orleans, Kim had the opportunity to meet Justin, who happens to be her favorite pl more PR

CANTON, Ohio, March 26 [Category: Sports] -- The National Football League posted the following news: * * * Vikings GM Kwesi Odofo-Mensah discusses talks with Aaron Rodgers, J.J. McCarthy's path to starting Aaron Rodgers is still unsigned, and despite some rumblings of a potential pairing with the Minnesota Vikings, it sounds as if that isn't going to happen. Just ask Vikings general manager Kwesi Odofo-Mensah, who spoke plenty on the matter on Wednesday. "Right now given all of our scenario planning, we're happy with our room and obvious more PR