My colleague Pat Pheifer reported the contents of long-awaited search warrants that enabled St. Paul police to raid the Iglehart Avenue home of Mike Whalen before the Republican National Convention. This was the raid I blogged about earlier this month, and photographed above by my colleague David Joles. Police handcuffed members of a New York media collective that monitors police conduct during protests, who were staying at the Whalen’s residence at 949-951 Iglehart. Nothing was seized, and no one was charged.

The path that led to the raid wound through a south Minneapolis bookstore, summoned the ghosts of 1970s radical movements and culminated with the delivery of suspicious packages to Whalen’s home on the Saturday before the RNC, according to the search warrants. Search warrants are supposed to be filed within 10 days after they’re executed, but nothing arrived at the Ramsey County courthouse well beyond it. At first, it looked as if they had been sealed by a judge, but as Pheifer reported, they ended up at the Ramsey County attorney somehow.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a tale about a little girl named Autumn, a pair of shoes, roller coasters and the little-known phenomenon of shrinking children.

Autumn, 6, is the youngest of the three Larsen kids, who live with their father Dave and mother Bobbie Jo near Diamond Lake in south Minneapolis. All year long Autumn looked forward to riding the big rides at Valleyfair, the amusement park. Last summer she had been too short, and watched with green eyes as her brother Dakota had all the fun.

In the ensuing months, the girl’s red-topped head grew closer and closer to the magic 48 inch threshold. By July, she was 46.75 inches tall.

Her parents dreaded the prospect of another trip to Valleyfair with Autumn grounded while her sister and brother soared. Then the Valleyfair web site gave them some uplifting news. A child who stands 48 inches in shoes would qualify for the rides.

Read the rest of this entry »

In August, Betty Ponto was at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, all ready to fly out on her whirlwind two-week European vacation. She got into the security line and quickly moved to the ticket-checker. First-class ticket? No, she replied. Sorry, wrong line. Ponto was directed to the other queue, which featured a big crowd waiting their turn for the dismantling ritual. First-class flyers, meanwhile, zipped straight to the waiting metal detectors and agents of the Transportation Security Administration.

That struck Ponto as wrong. “These folks were hired by the government. There shouldn’t be priority given to first class,” said Ponto, who lives in Shorewood and works in Ameriprise’s technology division.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why has this old cavalry training building at Fort Snelling sat vacant for eight years, and what is its future? Whistleblower found out. Read about it here.