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![Deena Winter](https://minnesotareformer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/deena-300x300.jpeg)
Deena Winter has covered local and state government in four states over the past three decades, with stints at the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota, as a correspondent for the Denver Post, city hall reporter in Lincoln, Nebraska, and regional editor for Southwest News in the western Minneapolis suburbs.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
After George Floyd’s killing, policing defined Tim Walz’s tenure
By: Deena Winter - August 15, 2024
For several years, public safety had Gov. Tim Walz stuck in a political vice grip, and events had a way of acting as a tightening turn. Like many Democrats before Floyd’s murder sparked a national racial reckoning, Walz was if anything pro-police. But after Floyd’s killing rocked the world, Walz was vocal about wanting to see the four police officers that were involved charged and convicted; nine police groups told him to back off and let the justice system do its work.
What Minnesota primary voters are saying at the polls
By: Christopher Ingraham, Max Nesterak and Deena Winter - August 13, 2024
Minnesotans are energized by the fall election after Vice President Kamala Harris selected Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, but Tuesday’s primary election is turning out to be a relatively sleepy affair. Republicans need to settle on a U.S. Senate candidate and vote in what could be a couple of close U.S. House […]
Here’s what Tim Walz has done as governor of Minnesota
By: Max Nesterak, J. Patrick Coolican and Deena Winter - August 7, 2024
Democrats have swiftly fallen for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s Midwest dad persona, sharing videos of him working on a car, going on a rollercoaster with daughter Hope at the State Fair, signing a bill renaming a street in Prince’s honor in purple ink. But he’s also got a long record as governor. Walz’s first term […]
Activists feel hoodwinked as police groups dictate model policy for school cops
By: Deena Winter - August 1, 2024
Activists opposed to allowing school police to hold students facedown on the ground say their concerns are being ignored by regulators drafting a model policy that will govern how police can restrain students in Minnesota schools.
Minneapolis Police Department hasn’t published all disciplinary records as required
By: Deena Winter - July 31, 2024
The Minneapolis Police Department released a batch of nine disciplinary decisions as part of a November public records request, including a suspension of an officer for taking a vehicle home without authorization and driving it thousands of miles.
How the Trump campaign is distorting what happened to Jaleel Stallings to attack Kamala Harris
By: Deena Winter - July 24, 2024
On Tuesday, the Trump campaign accused Vice President Kamala Harris of encouraging people in 2020 to bail out of jail a St. Paul man who tried to kill Minneapolis cops five days after George Floyd’s police murder.
Shakopee man pleads guilty to bribing juror in Feeding Our Future trial
By: Deena Winter - July 23, 2024
One of the five people charged with bribing a juror with $120,000 in the massive Feeding Our Future pandemic fraud case pleaded guilty on Tuesday.
Minneapolis City Council considers another $1.4 million in workers’ comp settlements with cops
By: Deena Winter - July 23, 2024
The Minneapolis City Council is poised to approve another $1.4 million in workers’ compensation settlements with 10 former police officers.
Some Feeding Our Future defendants had ties to autism centers
By: Deena Winter - July 18, 2024
Five of the 70 defendants in the massive federal Feeding Our Future fraud case had ties to Medicaid-funded autism centers, at least two of which continue to operate today, state records show. The FBI is investigating possible Medicaid fraud in Minnesota’s autism program,
DFL House candidate touts experience as administrator of treatment center that filed for bankruptcy
By: Deena Winter - July 16, 2024
A Democrat running for the state House, Anquam Mahamoud, touts her job as chief operating officer of Twin Cities Health Services, even though it recently filed for bankruptcy.
Minnesota proposes water pollution permit for 3M plant that makes forever chemicals
By: Deena Winter - July 11, 2024
The 3M Cottage Grove chemical plant that contaminated 200 square miles of east metro drinking water has been operating on a water pollution permit that expired more than 20 years ago.
Minnesota human services department investigating 15 autism providers
By: Deena Winter - July 10, 2024
The state of Minnesota is investigating 15 autism providers and has already completed other investigations, withheld payments due to credible fraud allegations and forwarded cases to law enforcement “when appropriate,” according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.