Minnesotans can feel confident in election system, audit says

As President Donald Trump continues to raise doubts about election integrity, a recent audit of Minnesota’s voter registration system gave the state high marks, according to MPR News. In a review of 2024 records by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, voter identity verification was completed correctly 99% of the time when done through automated procedures. Rates were lower when done manually.

The audit found that the state could improve its work updating voter records, “including for formerly incarcerated people who have voting rights restored,” the story said. 

In a response to the audit, Secretary of State Steve Simon wrote, “Minnesota is proud of its accurate, fair, secure, accessible and trusted election system.”

With a win Wednesday night against the Connecticut Sun – the 380th of her career – the Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve became the WNBA’s all-time winningest head coach, reports USA Today. “You never dream that it’s going to happen,” Reeve said afterward. “What I feel is overwhelming. A sense of being blessed. For all the people that let me be me, who believed in what we were doing and [helped us find] a way to win.”

The AP reports that former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with felony obstruction in December after thwarting the arrest of a Mexican defendant by ICE agents, will not face jail time. Instead, Dugan was fined $5,000. The judge who oversaw Dugan’s case described it as “a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.”

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Hennepin County, alleging the county has not done enough to minimize pollution from the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), a giant garbage incinerator near Target Field in Minneapolis. Specifically, the suit says Hennepin “isn’t complying with a law requiring clear plans to manage ash produced by burning roughly 365,000 tons of trash each year,” according to reporting by the Sahan Journal.

In a June response to MCEA’s concerns, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said the plan does address state law and that the ash, which county documents describe as non-hazardous, is screened for metals, which are recycled. 

Baristas at the Starbucks at 50th and France, in Edina, voted Tuesday to unionize, making the location the 17th in Minnesota to become part of Starbucks Workers United and one of more than 700 nationwide, according to the Star Tribune. In 2022, a Starbucks on Snelling Ave. in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood became the first of the coffee chain’s Minnesota locations to unionize. It has since closed.

Bring Me The News reports that a popular social media personality came to the defense of Somali kindergartners in Minnesota who were called out by President Trump on Monday for wearing hijabs at their spring graduation ceremony. Ms. Rachel, whose legal name is Rachel Accurso, shared a message with her 5.1 million Instagram followers following Trump’s viral post.

“I saw some of you wore a hijab to your graduation,” Accurso wrote. “I am glad you wore something meaningful and special to you and your family. I think hijabs are beautiful.”

She continued, “When you’re older, I hope you look back on your kindergarten graduation and think about how proud your family, friends, teachers, and community were of you.” 

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