Minneapolis

The Minneapolis City Council voted 9-4 on Thursday to eliminate the Office of Community Safety, which oversees the police and fire departments, emergency management, neighborhood safety, and 911. The nine-vote margin is enough to override a veto from Mayor Jacob Frey. Dissenting votes came from Linea Palmisano, Elizabeth Shaffer, Jamison Whiting, and Michael Rainville.

Supporters argued the office added costly bureaucracy without improving accountability for police overspending. Opponents favored restructuring or budget cuts instead of elimination, warning the council would lose oversight authority. The vote follows interim commissioner Todd Barnette's planned resignation after the council stalled on his reappointment. Frey and office leaders are expected to respond.

In Clearcreek Township, Ohio, artist Stan Herd carved a 1-acre earthwork into a Warren County hayfield depicting a farmer, a cow and a sign reading "Not for Sale to Data Centers." Commissioned by Data Center Payoffs, a group tracking industry political donations, the piece was unveiled at an Oct. 24 rally attended by Rep. Greg Landsman and built with help from neighbors across party lines.

Ohio has 257 data centers in development, the fifth-most nationally, with an estimated $40 billion in planned investment by 2030. Rural land use, water and energy demands have fueled backlash, and voters in 18 municipalities, including Trenton and Wilmington, will decide related zoning ballot measures in November.

A Minneapolis City Council committee voted 9-3 to advance a proposal disbanding the Office of Community Safety (OCS), created by Mayor Jacob Frey in 2022 after voters rejected replacing the police department with a new public safety agency. A full council vote could come as soon as Thursday. Supporters, including Council President Elliott Payne, say the office muddled the chain of command between the mayor and police chief; critics call the move reckless and warn it would boost MPD's influence while sidelining alternative response programs. Eliminating the commissioner role would save about $2 million amid a budget crunch, though OCS initiatives like unarmed mental-health crisis response would continue under the mayor's office.

St. Paul's City Council has approved a new approach to homeless encampments after the closure of the Pig's Eye Park camp this summer shifted hundreds of residents to a growing encampment along Shepard Road, now exceeding 400 people. Nearby residents report increased fires, thefts and other incidents since August.

The plan requires a 60-day outreach period before closing an encampment, unless there is an immediate public safety threat, and calls for a temporary six-month indoor shelter this winter plus a permanent shelter modeled on Minneapolis's Avivo Village. Costs could exceed $2 million, requiring county and state support. Mayor Kaohly Her's office says it is reviewing the proposals' viability while continuing planned transitions at other encampments.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised Somali migrants as the "CEOs of the future" at a Somali Networking Night event, saying the community's entrepreneurship was a reason it has faced federal scrutiny. Frey said the Trump administration "came after" the Somali community earlier in the year, framing the criticism as a reaction to growing Somali-led business success in the city.

The remarks follow comments by President Trump in January alleging roughly $19 billion in Somali-related fraud involving federal funds in states including Minnesota, California, and Illinois, and vowing to cut related funding. The claims gained attention after citizen journalists, including Nick Shirley, publicized investigations into Minnesota childcare centers that received federal aid but showed little evidence of operating with children present.

Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant Monday at Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C. residence, seizing her phone, passport and computers, as part of a probe into whether she or her late father falsified her citizenship paperwork decades ago. The investigation could potentially lead to denaturalization proceedings against the congresswoman. Members of Minnesota's Somali community, including Minneapolis City Council Vice President Jamal Osman, denounced the raid as an abuse of power and an escalation of Trump's rhetoric against Omar and Somali Americans. Omar called the raid an "outrageous abuse of power" meant to intimidate a political opponent. Trump said the matter was up to the Department of Justice, calling Omar a "terrible person."

Minneapolis and St. Paul are taking different approaches to autonomous vehicle policy as companies like Waymo eye expansion into the Twin Cities. On Oct. 1, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance 7-6 requiring a licensed human safety monitor inside driverless rideshare vehicles, with immediate access to steering, braking and acceleration, plus minimum wage pay for the monitor and a city licensing requirement for AV companies. The measure would make Minneapolis the first U.S. city with such a rule. Waymo called it a "de-facto ban," and Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed it, arguing thoughtful safety regulation shouldn't function as a backdoor ban. Council member Robin Wonsley said she would pursue a worker-focused resolution if the veto override fails.

St. Paul took a more cautious route, with its City Council voting Oct. 14 to study how driverless cars could affect public transit, rideshare drivers, people with disabilities, public safety and emergency response before crafting any rules. No timeline exists for the study, for Waymo's potential Minneapolis launch, or for whether Minneapolis has the nine votes needed to override Frey's veto.