Duluth, Minnesota

The Diocese of Duluth has formally launched the Cause for Canonization of Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh, a Slovenian-born priest who spent roughly 60 years as a missionary in northern Minnesota beginning in the 1860s. Buh served Indigenous communities and Slovenian immigrants across a vast territory, at times traveling by snowshoe or canoe. A Mass marking the start of the process was held September 22 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, drawing hundreds of attendees, including a newly formed historical commission tasked with researching his life and virtues.

Bishop Daniel Felton received Vatican approval to begin the inquiry after consulting with other bishops, noting this is the diocese's first sainthood candidate. The process requires investigators to establish that Buh lived a life of "heroic virtue," a prerequisite before the case can advance toward beatification and eventual canonization, the latter stages of which require verified miracles. Such causes typically span decades; the National Catholic Register puts the average timeline at about 49 years, with no fixed schedule for completion.

Copley Township, Ohio, is asking voters to approve a new fire levy on Nov. 3 after a state law change eliminated an option that officials said could have raised about $1.7 million more per year. House Bill 96 ended the authority of townships and other political subdivisions to seek replacement property-tax levies for elections held on or after Jan. 1, 2026; Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the provision, but the Ohio House and Senate completed a veto override by Oct. 1.

With that option gone, Copley trustees moved to put a three-year, 1.7-mill additional fire levy, Issue 49, on the ballot, which the county estimates would raise more than $1.3 million annually. The township's fire department faces about $4.2 million in scheduled capital spending from 2027 through 2032, including a new fire engine and ladder truck, against roughly $1.6 million in reserves. Unlike a replacement levy, which is imposed at the original voted rate, the new levy would be added on top of the township's two existing continuing fire levies, which remain unchanged. If approved, taxes would first be payable in 2027.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her has reversed course on some proposed 2027 budget cuts, announcing a supplemental budget that restores funding for the Dayton's Bluff Library lease, the Highwood Hills Rec Center, and morning hours at recreation centers citywide. The $574,000 in added spending is funded by $274,000 in savings from the city's shift to even-year elections and $300,000 in new revenue from a franchise agreement with Xcel Energy.

The reversal follows criticism from City Council Member Cheniqua Johnson and East Side residents over an initial proposal that would have closed the only library slated for shutdown and cut rec center services disproportionately affecting the East Side. The Duluth and Case rec center, however, remains on track for eventual closure due to its aging infrastructure and unfunded rebuild costs estimated at $30-40 million. The council is set to vote September 23 on a maximum property tax levy increase, with the final budget to be finalized in December.

Data centers are drawing unusual bipartisan scrutiny as their rapid expansion to support artificial intelligence collides with local concerns over energy use, water consumption, and community impact. While debates over technology and infrastructure often split along party lines, opposition to large-scale data center projects is emerging among both Democrats and Republicans, complicating assumptions about who supports or resists the buildout.

A proposal by Google to site a data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, near Lake Superior's ample water supply, illustrates the trend. Despite the area's Republican lean, skepticism toward the project has not broken down neatly along partisan lines. Similar patterns have surfaced elsewhere, including among conservative legislative candidates in Wisconsin's Republican primary, several of whom favored local control over data center siting rather than outright support.

The dynamic matters for policymakers and industry alike, as the AI sector's massive infrastructure needs increasingly depend on winning over skeptical communities regardless of political affiliation, potentially reshaping how future data center projects are permitted and sited nationwide.

A federal judge in Wisconsin has sentenced Justin Ward, 32, of Ironwood, Mich., to time served and three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to threatening to kill federal immigration agents during a high-profile ICE operation in Minneapolis. Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson handed down the sentence, citing Ward's mental health crisis at the time and the custody time he had already served, which aligned with sentencing guidelines.

The case began in January 2026 when Michigan's Gogebic County Sheriff's Office investigated Ward for threatening a local officer. Deputies tracked him via Facebook posts showing he was heading toward Duluth through Wisconsin, where he then posted threats to kill ICE agents amid the widely publicized Minneapolis enforcement operation. He was quickly arrested following a joint investigation by the sheriff's office and FBI. Judge Peterson imposed strict release conditions, including a curfew and GPS monitoring.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered a halt to all state funding for Flock Safety license-plate cameras, escalating a national backlash against the surveillance network. His office said state agencies are clarifying that funds cannot be used for Flock cameras, a decision that came as the Texas Tribune prepared an investigation into a 2023 legislative auto-insurance fee hike that funded roughly 3,200 Flock cameras statewide. The move follows vandalism of Houston-area cameras, an indicted Lufkin officer accused of misusing Flock data on 100 counts, and the arrest of a former Katy officer accused of using the data to stalk his ex-wife. League City recently became the first Texas city to put its Flock contract to a public vote.

The Texas action joins a growing list of jurisdictions curbing Flock use, including Tempe, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Summit County and multiple Minnesota and Iowa cities, amid Sen. Josh Hawley's Senate investigation into the roughly 120,000-camera network. Flock has added privacy safeguards, including shorter video retention and suspicious-search detection, while defending the technology as a key public safety tool amid ongoing misuse and data-sharing concerns.