Category: Minneapolis, Minnesota Local News

A 19-year-old woman with a brief but extensive penchant for speeding crashed her car on a well-traveled Minneapolis street late at night and left one of her passengers to die in the fiery wreck, according to charges filed Friday.

Mackenzie Rose Lene, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with hit-and-run criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with the single-vehicle crash on March 31 that killed 20-year-old Cole Jacob Thompson, of Blaine, and severely burned another of her passengers.

Lene was jailed Wednesday afternoon and remained there in lieu of $10,000 bail. She is due in court May 30. Her attorney, Joshua London, declined to comment on the allegations.

The passenger who survived has at least another month of skin grafts and surgeries in the hospital, the criminal complaint noted. His name has yet to be released.

Court records show that Lene has been cited for speeding four times from April 2022 to July 2023, exceeding the limit anywhere from 21 to 29 mph.

She also was charged nine months ago and convicted in Hennepin County of a misdemeanor for drinking and driving while under the age of 21 in Maple Grove.

Thompson died one day before his 21st birthday.

“When Cole was born on April Fool’s Day,” his online obituary read, “he ‘understood the assignment’ and brought intense laughter and spread positivity everywhere he went. Throughout his life, ‘Caveman’ Cole was the CEO of adventure and had an authentic vibe like no other.”

A posting on an online fundraising campaign on behalf of the family read that “Early Easter morning, two Blaine police officers knocked on Kris and Carie Thompson’s door to deliver the worst news any parent can ever hear. Kris and Amy’s eldest son, Cole Jacob Thompson (Lorenzen), had passed away in a tragic car accident the night before. … Now, instead of celebrating Easter as a family, they were faced with the realization that Cole would never be coming home.”

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers arrived about 12:35 a.m. and saw that the car had hit a tree. Thompson was down in the road and appeared dead. A second male was standing near the car and appeared to have serious burns along with a concussion and three broken ribs.

Two people nearby told police they heard an explosion, ran toward the street and saw Lene and a man standing outside the car. One of the witnesses told police that he and another man pulled a passenger from the backseat and placed him on the ground. The other witness reported seeing Lene and a man leaving and climbing over a wall as emergency responders arrived.

Police traced the car to a home roughly three-fourths of a mile away and collected video surveillance from the area that showed a man and a woman, later determined to be Lene and one of her passengers, walking in the alley and speaking to each other.

“I’m going home as soon as possible,” Lene said. “I have to talk to my dad … ruined my life, don’t you understand.”

The man responded, “You’re going to be OK when you get home.” He then said, “I’ll help you find your car in the morning.”

Lene yelled, “It’s burnt the [expletive] up!”

The seriously burned passenger told officers days later that all four were in Lene’s car that evening and were “passing around a bottle of alcohol” before attending a birthday party. The passenger said Thompson didn’t want to drive, so Lene got behind the wheel and was “driving fast and aggressively.”

Minnesota tourism continued its recovery in 2023 as the industry returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to projections released by the state’s tourism agency.

Explore Minnesota tracked about 77 million trips throughout the state in 2019. After a drastic pandemic drop and slow but steady recovery, officials counted about 76.6 million visits in 2022. The numbers represent trips taken by both Minnesotans and out-of-state visitors.

Explore Minnesota projects a 2% increase in the number of trips taken in 2023 over the previous year. The agency’s estimates show a modest increase in the number of visitors who traveled to and through central and southern Minnesota during the year and a slight decrease in the number of folks visiting the seven-county metro area and its northwest reaches.

The new study Explore Minnesota commissioned used geolocation data collected from smartphone apps between June 2022 and May 2023 — weeks before Taylor Swift drew tens of thousands to downtown Minneapolis and months before Caitlin Clark fever helped lead the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament to sell out for the first time in its history.

“We’re really excited,” Explore Minnesota Communications and Media Relations Manager Chris Morgan said. “We definitely anticipate and are hopeful to see a year-to-year rise.”

The Grand Casino in Mille Lacs County and Gull Lake were the top destinations for visitors to central Minnesota — each accounting for about 1 in 8 trips to the region. And in the metro area, nearly one-third of visitors went to the Mall of America.

The top destination in northeast Minnesota was Duluth and the Canal and Lincoln park areas. In northwest Minnesota, Lake of the Woods and Leech Lake drew the most visitors, while downtown Rochester and Treasure Island Casino were the largest draws in the southern region.

“We want people to not only visit one place in Minnesota but also to see the whole state,” Morgan said. “One of our missions is to bring eyes and tourists to all destinations.”

While the agency doesn’t control when major pop stars or blockbuster sporting events take over the metro, Morgan said Explore Minnesota mostly concerns itself over how to get folks to stay in the state once they’re already here.

“We know that events bring tourism,” he said. “We want to elongate those stays.”

Northeast Minnesota, which includes the North Shore and surrounding areas, saw a drop in traffic of about 6.4%.

Morgan hopes Explore Minnesota’s new “Star of the North” campaign will lead to further boosts in tourism across the state and for some of the regions that saw a downturn in travel. The state Legislature set aside $25 million for the effort, which Morgan said is meant to draw tourists to every region in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Explore Minnesota also estimates that people of color only account for about 11% of the trips taken in 2023. Black and brown vacationers have long worked to diversify outdoor spaces, regularly citing a lack of comfort in predominantly white and rural regions of the state.

That’s why Morgan said the agency’s latest ad blitz is looking to make sure it “celebrates all of Minnesota’s diversity, cultures and its many heritages and communities.”

After all, Morgan said, the more people travel, the more money flows through local economies.

“When we have more visitors, the local businesses benefit, the bigger businesses benefit,” Morgan said. “The citizens of Minnesota benefit.”

The city of Minneapolis is trying to get plugged into its music economy.

Starting Friday, an online questionnaire dubbed the Minneapolis Music Census will begin asking musicians and music professionals within the city about their backgrounds, where they live, where and how they work, and other information related to their profession.

The census, which is anonymous, can be filled out over the next two weeks at mplsartsandculture.org. It’s being conducted by a company called Sound Music Cities out of Austin, Texas, where city-run music initiatives have helped the town earn its slogan as “the live music capital of the world.”

In Minneapolis, the census work is being spearheaded by the city’s new Arts & Cultural Affairs Department with support from the Minnesota Independent Venue Alliance (MNIVA), Meet Minneapolis, First Avenue, Hennepin Theatre Trust and other organizations within the music community — where the buzz for the data-collecting project is building.

An offshoot of the National Independent Venue Association that successfully lobbied for financial support from Congress during the pandemic, MNIVA brought the idea of the census to the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department last year after hearing of its success in other cities, including Seattle and New Orleans.

“We’re extremely optimistic about this,” said Jack Kolb-Williams, executive director of MNIVA and a longtime Twin Cities music promoter with the nonprofit all-ages organization Catalyst Music.

“It will provide a much more thorough picture of what is happening in our music community, a foundation of data that can be valuable for advocacy and addressing the issues that need to be addressed.”

Sound Music Cities founder Don Pitts, a former music liaison with the city of Austin, said the data his company collected in other cities already has been put into effect at their respective city halls.

Some examples: Sacramento, Calif., added another tier for entertainment licenses making it easier for restaurants and coffee shops to host live music. Chattanooga, Tenn., sparked more collaboration from the local university and Chattanooga Tourism, plus it enlisted a program for journalism students to work for various media outlets spotlighting artists and venues in lieu of full-time music writers in town.

“What we have seen is, there are usually a couple of big-ticket items that get addressed and a lot of smaller tweaks and adjustments from community organizations using the census data,” Pitts said.

Of course, predicting what might happen at Minneapolis City Hall once the data is compiled is more of a guessing game.

The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board has taken some public relations knocks the past couple of years since it ignored a petition to start paying musicians for its Music in the Parks series, and for trying to charge a licensing fee for buskers in parks.

Mayor Jacob Frey issued a statement supporting the census.

“Minneapolis musicians are world-class,” Frey said. “So are our city’s venues, clubs, festivals, radio stations and audiences. We want the world to know about the brilliance of our unique and diverse music scene, and the Minneapolis Music Census will help guide us there.”

The city’s director of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department, Ben Johnson, believes the census will see real results. He said his department’s very existence — conceived during the pandemic — is evidence the city is getting more serious about boosting the music scene alongside all the other arts sectors.

“The city hasn’t had [an arts] department for 50 years, so it’s playing catch-up,” Johnson said, emphasizing he wants the census to reach all corners of the music scene: “I want to hear from Native musicians, East African musicians and everyone that reflects this city’s rich diversity.”

Some of the ideas Johnson threw out for after the census is completed include: programs promoting access to studios, audio and light technicians, and other mentors for rising musicians; and maybe even a program to support artists going to the annual South by Southwest Conference in Austin.

Johnson also urged non-musician professionals who work in venues, studios, education and other music-related businesses to fill out the online questionnaire. The deadline is April 26.

“This is a great way for us to get to know our music scene and see who really is in it,” he said, “and to find ways to get artists to be seen and developed.”

Minneapolis Music Census

Online: mplsartsandculture.org

Deadline: April 26.

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

A discussion with Ed McDevitt, Executive Chef of Masa & Agave

Looking for a wide selection of agave-based spirits in a beautiful, intimate atmosphere?  Would delicious Mexican cantina food enhance the experience? Look no further than Masa & Agave, located in the Ivy Hotel at 201 S Eleventh Street. We talked to Executive Chef Ed McDevitt about blending ancient traditions into the modern world to create an unforgettable dining experience. 

Chef Ed McDevitt Q:  What is your experience in the restaurant industry, and have you specifically worked in Mexican cuisine before? 

A:  I have been cooking since I was fifteen. I’ve worked in fast food to fine dining and everything in between. I spent 7 years as the executive chef for the flagship Rosa Mexicano on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I was also the corporate chef for a small restaurant group in Brooklyn which specializes in Mexican and Colombian cuisine. 

Q:  I read in your bio that your mother and grandmother were instrumental in instilling an ethic of “putting everything into your efforts” as you were first learning to cook. How does that impact your approach at Masa & Agave? 

A:  It all starts with research, looking for the highest quality ingredients, looking into the history of a dish or ingredient. I have the utmost respect and admiration for Mexico, the diversity of flavors from region to region, the culinary traditions, the mix of ancient traditions blended into the modern world all play a part in a rich and vibrant culture.

Elote

Q:  The Masa & Agave website tells us that your restaurant is “not just a place to eat and drink, it’s a cultural journey.” Can you tell us more about that idea? 

A: We’re an authentically-inspired, absolutely delicious Mexican cantina boasting one of the Twin Cities’ largest collections of agave-based spirits, fantastic Margaritas and exceptional craft cocktails.  We pay homage to Mexican cuisine with bold flavored, regionally-inspired recipes prepared in a scratch kitchen. And we celebrate generations of mezcaleros and their craft with classic mezcal pairings and presentations, handcraft agave-based cocktails mixed with regional ingredients.

Q:  Can you recommend any must-try dishes or drinks for first-time visitors? 

A:  The Huitlacoche quesadilla is a must try. It’s a fungus that grows on the ear of corn, and which blends the sweetness of fresh corn with the earthiness of an oyster mushroom. For beverages, the Masa and Agave – it’s a play on Mexican street corn in cocktail form.

Q:  What’s the décor of Masa & Agave?

A:  A little dark, a little moody. You’ll find intimate gathering spots for groups or couples. The spotlight is on our hand-picked collection of agave spirits, which fill shelves behind the bar and throughout the space. 

Q:  Will you offer happy hour specials?

A:  Not happy hour, but we will be launching industry and DJ nights! Follow us for updates! For happy hour, check out the daily happy hour at Breva, our sister restaurant located inside the Hotel Ivy.

Q:  You mention that we should follow for updates – how may we stay up to date on what’s happening at Masa & Agave? 

A: Follow us @masaandagave, check out our website masaandagave.com and join our email list!

A Hennepin County judge has approved a defense request to subpoena an independent use-of-force expert consulted in the murder case against a Minnesota state trooper, but she denied a flurry of other evidentiary motions the defense raised.

Judge Tamara Garcia ruled that Trooper Ryan Londregan’s attorneys made a “plausible argument” that reports, meetings notes and other draft documents produced by the expert, Jeffrey Noble, are relevant to the defense’s case and that he should be allowed to testify.

For weeks, both parties have argued over what, if any, information the defense is entitled to from Noble, a retired deputy police chief from Irvine, Calif., retained by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty during the charging review process.

Noble’s preliminary opinions sparked controversy after court records revealed that he had expressed the preliminary opinion to prosecutors that Londregan acted reasonably to protect his partner when he shot and killed motorist Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop last summer.

“The danger was not hypothetical,” Noble observed, according to a two-page summary of the virtual meeting between Noble and Moriarty’s staff on Oct. 13, 2023. However, Noble asked for more time to review the case and “refrained from offering an ultimate opinion” on whether lethal force was justified, the memo states.

Moriarty did not wait on his final report. She charged Londregan, 27, with second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault, two days before dismissing Noble from further work on the case.

Since then, the defense has sought to verify Noble’s statements by requesting that he hand over any records, notes or communications on Londregan since his first contact with Moriarty’s office. Prosecutors quickly moved to quash the subpoena last month, arguing that it was “extremely overbroad and burdensome.”

In her 17-page order, Garcia noted that Noble has not objected to the subpoena, nor has the state provided any information about the burden to him.

“Londregan has also made the plausible argument that the documents are relevant to his defense, even if the materials are not dispositive to the case,” Garcia wrote in her April 3 ruling. She went on to say that compliance of the subpoena “is not unreasonable under the totality of the circumstances.”

Garcia denied five defense motions seeking to compel various categories of discovery materials from Moriarty’s office regarding Noble, including all text and email communications between him and members of her staff.

Such administrative correspondence is protected as “work product” under the law, Garcia ruled, and therefore not required to be disclosed by the state. She did, however, order that prosecutors turn over all external communications with the media — such as public news releases — as well as a list of every individual interviewed in connection with the case.

Londregan’s attorneys hoped to depose Noble ahead of the upcoming hearing on April 29. But Garcia denied that request, citing court rules saying that a deposition may only be ordered when there is “reasonable probability that the witness will be unavailable to testify at trial.”

“[The defense] has not shown that Noble is unavailable to testify at either a hearing or trial,” she wrote, according to the recently filed order. “Indeed, all input from the parties indicates that Noble is alive, in good health, and perfectly willing to fly to Minnesota if subpoenaed or retained as an expert witness…. The fact that Noble lives in California does not make him unavailable.”

Noble has provided expert testimony in previous police killing cases in Minnesota, including those of George Floyd and Philando Castile. He was most recently consulted last year in a St. Paul police deadly use-of-force case, where he concluded that the officers were in “imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” when they shot and killed 65-year-old Yia Xiong as he wielded a knife.

That analysis helped inform state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi’s decision last month to rule the shooting justified and not charge St. Paul police officer Abdirahman Dahir.

Public Works crews are gearing up to start the City’s comprehensive street sweeping program to clear away what has accumulated in the streets over the winter. The City has scheduled Tuesday, April 16, for the first day of sweeping. Beginning Monday, April 15, drivers should watch for hot pink temporary “No Parking” signs to avoid a ticket and tow.

Starting April 16 for approximately four weeks, sweeping crews will take care of more than 1,000 miles of city streets. To make sure the crews can do the most complete job possible, temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets are clear of parked vehicles. Drivers need to follow street sweeping parking rules or they may have their cars ticketed and towed to the Minneapolis Impound Lot.

Find your street on the schedule! Starting Friday, April 12, you can see when your street is scheduled to be swept by visiting the interactive street sweeping map.

Learn more about street sweeping.

A member of a prominent Minneapolis street gang received a sentence of nearly 20 years in federal prison Wednesday as part of the government’s ongoing campaign targeting gang, gun and drug crimes in the Twin Cities.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced 32-year-old Montez Brown to more than 19½ years before issuing a scathing rebuke of the decadeslong violence she described as plaguing north Minneapolis and surrounding communities.

“This is the end of the line,” Brasel said, pointing out that Brown refused to turn away from gang activity after two previous state prison terms. “Prison is the only tool that I have, and being lenient here will deter no one.”

Brown, whose street name is “Tez Blood,” pleaded guilty last year to participating in a racketeering conspiracy and distributing fentanyl. His sentence Wednesday came nearly a year after he and dozens of others were indicted on charges brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

The RICO Act, first rolled out in the 1970s to go after organized crime families, is being used by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger to link dozens of alleged members of prominent Minneapolis street gangs such as the rival Highs and Lows of north Minneapolis to murders, robberies, drug trafficking and gun crimes.

Prosecutors say the Highs street gang has “attempted to hijack much of north Minneapolis” for more than 20 years, rendering public spaces into open-air drug markets and preying on vulnerable youths. Brasel handed down the same sentence sought by prosecutors, who argued that Brown was “an entrenched member of the Highs, and his conduct has made his name synonymous with the Highs criminal enterprise.”

According to court filings, the Highs began laying claim to areas of north Minneapolis in 2004 and have since dominated a large swath of the community. They are engaged in a violent rivalry with the Lows gang; each gang’s name stems from their locations north or south of W. Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis.

In memos filed with the court, prosecutors wrote that Brown “explicitly engaged in attempted murder, distributed massive amounts of drugs, and regularly controlled numerous firearms — including a switch — along with tens of thousands of dollars in gang proceeds.”

Frederick Goetz, Brown’s attorney, asked for a prison term between 11 and 12 years. He said Brown had sought to better himself in the year since being jailed in this case, and pointed to a crowded courtroom of family members and supporters whom Goetz said would be there to assist Brown upon his release from incarceration.

Law enforcement officials arrested Brown in April 2023 and seized 9,700 fentanyl pills, thousands of dollars in cash and two firearms — including one outfitted with a machine gun conversion device, or switch, and an extended magazine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Wesley said that after Brown was arrested, he phoned relatives to try to coordinate getting rid of the fentanyl and drug proceeds left behind at a family member’s home. Before Brown’s sentencing on Wednesday, Wesley billed him as a “model Highs member.”

“He started at a young age and absolutely nothing has deterred him from criminal activity,” Wesley said.

Wesley said Brown sold counterfeit fentanyl pills as early as 2017 and “as far as I’m aware he is the first Highs member to do that and he is one of the first people to bring that dangerous drug to Minnesota.”

Brown was said to be a highly respected Highs member who encouraged fellow gang members and handed out guns to them one evening in 2021, as the Highs retaliated against the killing of one of their own by the Lows.

Brown tearfully apologized to the court and to his eight children before being sentenced on Wednesday. He described being raised in a house without a father present and said he looked to the streets for a “proper role model.”

“I know I’m going to prison for a long time,” Brown said. “Once I do get out I would like to … reach out to young kids in my community and tell them my experience — that no matter what, the streets will fail you.”

A coalition of police reform groups on Wednesday chastised elected officials for allowing the Minneapolis police union to conduct closed-door contract talks through the state Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS), instead of continuing to bargain in the open.

Shifting the negotiations to private mediation was “a pretext for shutting out the public,” said Stacey Gurian-Sherman, of MPLS for a Better Police Contract, a watchdog group that won a lawsuit permitting citizens to observe labor negotiations for the first time in the city’s history.

Gurian-Sherman and about 20 supporters held a news conference on the sidewalk outside the BMS office Wednesday to highlight concerns that without public scrutiny, contract discussions will focus solely raising wages without ensuring necessary reforms.

They criticized Mayor Jacob Frey and the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis for denying public access.

Under state law, either party — public employers or labor unions — can request that negotiations be moved to mediation, a generally closed process that bars public observers and shields any documents from potential data requests. The police federation asked a state mediator to intervene Dec. 1, arguing that the five public meetings to date had been “ineffective” in addressing the key issues.

In a brief interview Wednesday, Johnny Villarreal, the mediation bureau’s commissioner, defended the closed-door policy, saying that “we think it’s best for the process and the parties to reach a mutual agreement with the assistance of a trained professional mediator.”

He has stood firm in that opinion, even after receiving a letter from Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne and Vice President Aisha Chughtai in February urging Villarreal to make the negotiations public.

“Closed mediation may indeed lead to a resolution, but it risks producing outcomes that lack the public accountability and reforms fervently sought by both the community and the City Council,” they wrote.

In his response, Villareal noted that any agreement would be subject to “transparent public scrutiny during the ratification process of the public employer.”

A city spokeswoman echoed comments by Villareal, citing state statute that mediation remains closed unless the BMS commissioner determines that it would not facilitate a resolution.

Minneapolis’ current police labor agreement was adopted in March 2022 after state mediation, and it expired Dec. 31 of that year.

The police union has long sought double-digit pay raises for its rank-and-file officers. It argued last fall that wages have not kept pace with many suburban law enforcement agencies, which are competing for the same limited pool of candidates. But city leaders balked at the union’s request for a one-year 13.25% raise, saying it could not manage the $11 million price tag.

Last month, federation officials pointed out that Minneapolis City Council members proudly joined the picket lines for Public Works employees, who secured a historic a wage increase of nearly 30% over the next three years.

“This is a stark contrast to the Minneapolis Police contract negotiations,” Sgt. Sherral Schmidt, union president , said in a statement at the time. “Our contract has been expired for nearly 15 months and have made little progress towards resolving the issues, nor have we been given a wage package anywhere close to what other bargaining units have received.”

She called on Frey to take a proactive stance in advocating for his police force.

As of January, the Minneapolis Police Department employed 565 officers — with 25 on long-term leave — down from about 900 in 2020. Frey and Chief Brian O’Hara say replenishing the ranks is critical to maintaining the downward trends in violent crime the city saw last year, a respite from a sharp rise in homicides and record gun violence over the past three years.

City Council members have previously criticized the police contract for lacking many of the disciplinary changes reformers demanded in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers in 2020. The reform coalition has urged that a new contract include language that would enhance police accountability and rein in misconduct.

Exhibit showcases the history of the city’s LGBTQIA+ community spaces

On April 18, the photography exhibit Going Out, Coming In: LGBTQ+ Spaces in Downtown Minneapolis returns to Mill City Museum. The public is invited to view the free exhibit, which will be located in the museum’s central Mill Commons area.

Previously displayed during the summer of 2023, Going Out, Coming In showcases the importance of downtown Minneapolis’ LGBTQIA+ community spaces throughout the 20th century. The exhibit details how queer history is present and intertwined with the neighborhood’s development during that time period.

Through this exhibit, visitors can deepen their understanding of downtown Minneapolis and those who lived in and visited the community. Images highlight places where the city’s queer community gathered to address the systemic challenges of discrimination, urban renewal, and HIV/AIDS.

This exhibit is part of an ongoing partnership between Twin Cities Pride and the Minnesota Historical Society. It is inspired by the Twin Cities LGBTQ+ History Tours developed by TC Pride and MNHS in 2022.

Going Out, Coming In will be on display during regular museum hours from April 18 to July 14 2024.

The exhibit is made possible through funding provided by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.