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| |  | Traditional sports betting isn't technically legal in Minnesota, but you can still bet on prediction markets. (Adam Sage / City Cast Twin Cities) |
| Feds Sue to Block Minnesota's Betting Ban | Last week, Minnesota became the first state in the country to pass an outright ban on prediction markets, and the federal government quickly filed a lawsuit to prevent the ban from going into effect. Prediction markets are websites that allow users to bet money on the outcomes of real-world events – from whether Tim Walz will resign before 2027 to the outcome of tonight's Lynx game. [Minnesota Reformer] | - Blurry jurisdiction: By passing the prediction market ban, Minnesota is asserting its power to regulate sports betting, a power given to states by the Supreme Court. But because of the way bets are classified on prediction markets, the federal government is arguing that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission maintains the sole power to regulate them, superseding state authority. [🎧 City Cast Twin Cities / Minnesota Reformer]
- Context: The CFTC has been friendlier to prediction markets under the Trump administration, and has already sued five states over their attempts to regulate prediction markets. President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. serves as an advisor to popular prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket. Trump Media & Technology Group is also engaged in a "marketing and promotion collaboration" with a prediction market owned by Crypto.com. [Minnesota Reformer / Wired]
- Whether to ban weather betting: Michael S. Selig, commissioner of the CFTC, claimed that the ban would hurt farmers who have traditionally relied on futures contracts to hedge against the financial risk of bad weather harming their crops. In response, legislators introduced a last-minute revision to exclude weather betting from the bill. It's up in the air whether the ban will actually go into effect in August, but you'll probably be able to bet on it until then. [🎧 City Cast Twin Cities / Minnesota Reformer]
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| What the Cities Are Talking About |
| O'Hara out: Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara resigned yesterday evening amid allegations that he interfered with an investigation into his alleged sexual relationships with city employees. Mayor Jacob Frey accepted O’Hara’s resignation after informing him he could face disciplinary action up to and including firing. Frey had nominated O’Hara for a second term earlier this month, but the city council had not yet voted on his confirmation. [MPR News] |
| ICE on trial: ICE agent Gregory D. Morgan Jr. was barred from possessing any firearms or leaving the country while his criminal case proceeds. Morgan is accused of pointing his gun at a Minnesota motorist while driving on Hwy. 62 in February. In other ICE prosecution news, an employee of ICE who runs background checks for the federal government was just sentenced to a year's probation and $1,500 in fines for soliciting a prostitute, and ICE agent Christian Castro has not yet been arrested for charges related to the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis. [Sahan Journal / Star Tribune / Hennepin County Attorney's Office] | | Tiny dancers welcome: The Current's free music festival for kids will be back this year at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Children's Theatre Company on June 14. It's an all-day event with multiple stages, a Kids' Disco, and interactive art making. My coworkers with young kids told me it's a really big deal. [The Current] | | | MN vs. 3M (again): Minnesota is suing 3M again for alleged PFAS contamination of our waters. The state last sued 3M for natural resource damages in 2010 and reached an $850 million settlement in 2018. Now, Minnesota is seeking "up to $30,000 per violation per day" and a court order requiring 3M to "protect Minnesota waters" from further harm related to ongoing discharges of chemicals into the Mississippi River. [Pioneer Press] | | "Cop City" purchase blocked: The Minneapolis City Council rejected the $6 million purchase of a plot of land in south Minneapolis for a police and first responder training facility. Proponents of the purchase hoped to buy the land now while the city had the opportunity to do so, and to find the budget to actually build the $48 million facility later. Opponents won out, citing cost concerns and arguing that disciplining officers would be a more effective way of improving policing than building new training grounds. [Star Tribune] |
| Documents didn't matter: In an analysis of over 1,100 habeas corpus petitions that were filed during Operation Metro Surge, 273 cases were identified where individuals were detained – and sometimes deported – by federal immigration officials despite having valid permits to work in the state of Minnesota. That number is "almost certainly an undercount," as many immigrants were removed from Minnesota before they had a chance to file a petition, and others may have had valid work permits that weren't mentioned in their court documents. [Minnesota Reformer] |
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| | | The show that set Broadway back 1,000 years... returns! The musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has everything that makes a great knight at the theater, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery, and of course, the Lady of the Lake. At the Ordway in Saint Paul, June 10 - 14. Get your tickets today. |
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| | Wednesday, May 27 | | | Thursday, May 28 | | | |
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| Test your Twin Cities knowledge with this week's quiz. I embarrassingly rocked a 60% on this one – see if you can beat me! |
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