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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 1
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October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026
Vol. 53 No. 41 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Building Equity
(l-r) Chris Coleman, CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity; James Hereford, CEO of Fairview; and Lucas Giambelluca, president of Bank of America Minnesota.
Chris Coleman:
Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity development built to repair exclusion Heights development advances Black homeownership Editor
By Al McFarlane Two years ago, there was nothing here, according to Chris Coleman, the former St. Paul mayor who now leads Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. “That started from an empty field,” Coleman said in an interview recorded Oct. 1 at The Heights. “And two years ago there was nothing here. And today we have 74 houses that are either completed or under construction.” The Heights is a 112acre redevelopment of the former Hillcrest Golf Course on St. Paul’s Greater East Side. Habitat’s media advisory says the goal is 1,000 homes and 1,000 jobs for the city, including near-
ly 150 homeownership opportunities from Habitat. Habitat’s website puts its share at 147 homes, “making it our largest development to date.” The interview took place during Habitat’s 25th Annual CEO Build, which Habitat’s advisory said would bring leaders from nearly 20 Minnesota companies to the site. The advisory named Jeanne Crain, retired CEO of Bremer Bank, and James Hereford, CEO of Fairview, as co-chairs.
How big it is
Asked whether this is Habitat’s biggest project in the Twin Cities, or perhaps in the country, Coleman did not claim a national record. “Well, it’s got to be close to that,” he said. He pointed to a 33unit development Habitat built in Hugo, which he said took “over five or six years.” Habitat’s website says the 2024 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project launched construction at
The Heights. The numbers are changing as families move in. As of Oct. 1, Coleman said, “almost over two dozen families” had moved in, with “another 10 or so” holding purchase agreements. Catherine Penkert, Habitat’s chief of staff, who led a model-home tour Oct. 1, gave the count as 27 families in and 10 more under contract. “No, 27. And 10 more under contract.” Coleman said a second project of similar size is planned. “We’re going to do a similar sized project two blocks to the north of this site.”
Why Habitat built it this way
Coleman said Habitat starts from a plain fact: Black families were kept out of homeownership by design, and repairing that takes design too. He said Habitat’s phrase is that “we have to be
as intentional about solving the problem as we were in creating it in the first place.” He described how the exclusion worked. Families denied the chance to buy houses, he said, “because of redlining and restricted covenants weren’t able to build equity in their home.” Their children, he said, were then unable to borrow against family wealth the way he did. Coleman said his father grew up in Frogtown, came out of the service after World War II and bought a house in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, “probably 900 square foot house.” As the family grew, he said, they were able to “take the equity that they had in that house” and buy a bigger one. “I was able to borrow money from the First National Bank of Mom,” he said. Coleman said families locked out of homeowner-
ship did not get the same opportunity to build and transfer equity, and he connected that history to what happened to Rondo. Rondo, the St. Paul neighborhood cut apart by Interstate 94, was central to Coleman’s discussion of housing exclusion. Rondo was not just a Black community, he said; “it was a multiracial community.” Coleman said he wished the freeway’s placement could be blamed simply on “some bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.” who did not understand what would happen to the community. “But unfortunately, it was people in our state that said that that’s an undesirable neighborhood,” he said. He said the freeway was a way to get rid of the people who lived there, and that it “tore the heart and soul out of” Rondo. Coleman also compared Rondo with the treatment of a wealthier Minneapolis
neighborhood, saying a tunnel was built there rather than simply removing houses. “There’s a reason why that tunnel was there. It was because that was a wealthy neighborhood,” Coleman said. He said Rondo did not receive the same protection.
Who the program is for
Habitat’s answer includes its Advancing Black Homeownership Program, which serves applicants who identify as Foundational Black Americans, a term Habitat’s website describes as descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States. Coleman described foundational Black households as those that trace their history to chattel slavery. He said Habitat has built cohorts to address “specific issues like financial trauma in the African American community.” Coleman said the re-
HABITAT
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Page 2 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 3
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Bill English
Vol. 53 No. 41 • The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Anika Robbins
Black political power demands more The soul we carry with us than a vote, English and Robbins say The Conversation with Al McFarlane examines party accountability, economic power and the organizing required to turn Black votes into lasting political influence As Minnesota moves toward the 2026 midterm election, Bill English and Anika Robbins say the question facing Black voters extends beyond whether they will cast ballots. The conversation, on the Oct. 6 broadcast of The Conversation with Al McFarlane, turned on how Black communities convert voting strength into political accountability, economic opportunity and durable power. English, a longtime community organizer and former corporate executive, told listeners that democracy itself is at stake in the election. Now in his 92nd year, by his own count, he recalled Benjamin Franklin’s closing remark at the Consti-
tutional Convention, which he rendered as: “Now you have a democracy if you can keep it.” For English, protecting democracy requires participation — but participation alone does not excuse political parties from accountability. He recalled working with Bill Davis to establish the DFL African American Political Caucus and nominating Josie Johnson for lieutenant governor at a state convention. Johnson read a statement on the lack of racial balance in the party and then withdrew her name, he said, in a protest meant to expose what he called the party’s hypocrisy toward Black members. Party rules require gender balance, he
noted, but the request for racial balance drew laughter. English said Black voters have consistently supported Democrats — about 95 percent of them, he said — while receiving too little political and economic return. That argument extended to economics. English said African Americans in Minnesota “spend six billion dollars in this economy and pay over six hundred million dollars a year in taxes,” while continuing to experience deep disparities. He said he was referring to African Americans who identify as ADOS, not Black people across the diaspora. Insight News has not independently verified the
figures.
English also connected present disparities to history. He said that while Minnesota was not directly engaged in the slave trade, many of its wealthy founders helped finance it through New York banks, and that “some of the most famous names in this town” were associated with it. He argued that Minnesotans also live on “stolen labor” because cotton built the American economy. Insight News has not independently verified English’s claims. Robbins, founder and chair of Black Votes Matter
POLITICAL POWER 10
Federal authorities charge Richfield man in alleged Mall of America attack plot Federal authorities charged an 18-year-old Richfield man Oct. 7 after the FBI alleged he was preparing to carry out a mass-casualty shooting at the Mall of America in support of ISIS. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was charged by federal complaint with knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition in order to commit a federal crime of terrorism. The Department of Justice said the FBI arrested Mohamud Oct. 6 and that he made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright on Oct. 7.
Credit: Wikipedia
According to the Justice Department, the criminal complaint alleges that beginning around December 2024, Mohamud exchanged hundreds
of messages with a confidential source about traveling to Somalia to join a designated foreign terrorist organization. Federal authorities allege that,
if he could not travel overseas, he considered carrying out an attack in Minnesota. Prosecutors allege Mohamud later focused on the Mall of America. According to the Justice Department, he sent messages in July about carrying out a mass-casualty shooting there, claimed the mall was Jewish-owned, wrote that he wanted to kill 30 to 60 people and identified Oct. 24 as the date of his planned attack. Authorities also allege he sent a link to a Hmong Arts Celebra-
RICHFIELD 10
Minneapolis City Council calls for end to Flock camera contracts as surveillance debate grows The Minneapolis City Council on Oct. 1 adopted, by a 9–4 vote, a resolution urging the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the University of Minnesota to end their contracts with Flock Safety, the company whose automated license plate readers have become a focus of growing debate over public safety, privacy and government surveillance. The resolution does not itself terminate either agen-
cy’s contract, and the city does not own or operate Flock cameras. Instead, it asks the sheriff’s office and the university to end their use of cameras that photograph passing vehicles and make license plate information available for law enforcement searches. The vote followed approval by the council’s Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee in late September. Council Member Robin Wonsley is among the
resolution’s authors. In a Sept. 25 newsletter to constituents, she wrote that “Residents have been clear that Flock cameras and other Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) have no place in our city,” and that the cameras are “owned and operated by big tech companies that don’t protect resident data and civil rights.” The Minneapolis debate comes as a federal court in Oklahoma has questioned the
Columnist
constitutionality of a particular warrantless Flock database search. In an Oct. 1 ruling in United States v. Kyle, U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill of the Northern District of Oklahoma found that a sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching historical vehicle-location information without a warrant.
CAMERAS 10
Books, Arts & Culture
Acclaimed conductor Roderick Cox returns to Twin Cities to inspire next generation of classical musicians
PAGE 8
By Haley Taylor Schlitz, Esq. Tokyo had begun to rearrange my senses. I had grown accustomed to train announcements I could not understand, enormous stations whose choreography everyone seemed to know but me, and searching for English in a sea of Japanese characters. I had learned to trust Google Maps more than my own sense of direction, to watch more carefully, listen differently and accept that sometimes I would not know what was happening until everyone around me did. The city had its own rhythm: train chimes, crosswalk melodies, convenience stores glowing deep into the night, the quiet of crowded subway cars, the crush of Shibuya and the smell of foods I was still learning to name. I had come to enjoy the feeling of being elsewhere. Then, near the end of my time in Japan, I opened a door in Tokyo and heard gospel music. Before I saw the menu, I smelled chicken and waffles. There were more
Black people gathered in that room than I had seen in one place since arriving in Japan. People talked and laughed. The menu offered drinks called “The Cookout” and “Hold My Calls.” The Japanese staff seemed to understand not only the food but the humor around it. The owner welcomed us warmly. Something in me unclenched. It felt like America, but that was not precise enough. It felt like Black America. It felt like the South. It felt like home. I had found Soul Food House. Then I bit into a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and briefly forgot that I was more than 6,000 miles away. The biscuit was soft and buttery, the bacon crisp, the eggs warm and the cheese stretching when I pulled it apart. It reminded me of my mother's and auntie’s cooking. For a Black girl raised in the South, I do not know a higher compliment. There was hot chicken and waffles, spicy enough to make my nose run but balanced by a soft, sweet waffle. There were grits, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, cornbread and mint lemonade. I had eaten extraordinary food throughout Japan, but this meal was doing something different.
SOUL 10
Minneapolis woman charged in July Reign Nightclub shooting The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has charged 21-year-old Veronica Marie Brown with one count of participating in a drive-by shooting and one count of second-degree assault following a July 19 shooting outside Reign Nightclub. According to prosecutors, the incident was a retaliatory attack stemming from a previous assault. Additional charges may be filed as medical records are reviewed and investigators evaluate counts for individual victims. "This was an act of extreme violence that in-
jured numerous people and my thoughts are with everyone affected as they continue their recovery," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. "We believe this was a retaliatory attack for a previous assault, and we are prepared to prosecute Ms. Brown to protect the community." The joint investigation was conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Brown is currently in custody, with her next court appearance scheduled for Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m.
Technology
AI behaves more like a brain than a database – cognitive science’s role in its origin story helps explain why
PAGE 11
Page 4 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
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Commentary Haiti TPS: have we lost sense of humanity? By Wade Henderson, Esq. There are moments when a nation must decide, not simply what it has the legal power to do, but what its sense of humanity requires it to do. The treatment of more than 300,000 Haitians living and working in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) presents such a moment. The Senate should pass S.4814, legislation that would extend TPS for Haitians for three years. The Senate’s Republican members hold a critical key to whether Congress will act before the midterm elections. There are several reasons that the Haitian TPS question is a genuine crisis. First and foremost, Haiti is dangerously unsafe, and the justification for TPS could hardly be clearer. Haiti continues to experience extraordinary violence and instability. United Nations
and human-rights organizations report killings, kidnappings, sexual violence, displacement and widespread abuses by armed gangs. Millions of Haitians face acute humanitarian needs.[1] Most tellingly, the U.S. Department of State warns Americans: “Do Not Travel” to Haiti, citing kidnapping, crime, terrorism, civil unrest and limited health care.[2] That warning raises an unavoidable question: If Haiti is too dangerous for Americans to travel there, how can it be considered safe to compel more than 300,000 Haitians to return? Congress created TPS precisely for circumstances in which armed conflict or extraordinary conditions make safe return impossible or inappropriate.[3] The documented conditions in Haiti meet that humanitarian standard many times over. Let’s also clear up another misimpression. The
Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA.
Supreme Court in its June 25, 2026 decision in Mullen v. Doe did not order TPS to end and it did not order Haitians to be deported.
Rather, the Court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had the primary responsibility to decide when to grant TPS and that
its decisions were not, in most instances, judicially reviewable. [4] The decision therefore permitted the Administration’s termination of Haitian TPS to proceed, but the humanitarian question of whether it should proceed remains with the political branches. In other words, Congress retains its legislative authority to act. S.4814 is Congress exercising that authority. For Haitians living under the threat of deportation, this is not an abstract legal dispute. The human cost is becoming painfully real. Consider Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian college student with a promising future, who lived in Springfield, Ohio. After losing
his immigration protection, he was placed on an ICE ankle monitor. His family has described the profound psychological distress he experienced. Bel subsequently died after stopping his car and walking into traffic on a crowded Ohio highway. His family believes it was suicide Authorities are investigating, and it would be irresponsible to claim that immigration policy alone caused his death. But his tragic story illustrates the human consequences of creating fear and uncertainty for people who have lived, studied and worked lawfully in this country and have no immediate expectation of returning home safely.[5] There also is another compelling reason for Congress to act: Haitian TPS holders are caring for Americans. Approximately 21,000 Haitian TPS holders work as caregivers and nursing assistants, serving an estimated 77,000 patients nationwide.[6] They care for seniors in nursing homes, assist people with disabilities and provide home care that allows vulnerable Americans to remain in their communities. When experienced Haitian caregivers lose their legal ability to work, families must scramble to find replacements, nursing facilities face staffing shortages, and vulnerable people can lose caregivers they have trusted for years. At a time when America already faces a serious
HAITI 10
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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 5
How Habitat’s Heights homes work, and who they are reaching Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity plans to build 147 homes at The Heights, the redevelopment of the former Hillcrest Golf Course on St. Paul’s East Side. The organization calls it its largest development to date. Here is how the homes are designed, what buyers pay and who Habitat says it is reaching.
Where it stands
As of Oct. 1, Chris Coleman, Habitat’s president and CEO, said 74 homes were finished or under construction. “And today we have 74 houses that are either completed or under construction. We have almost over two dozen families that have already moved in. We have another 10 or so that have purchased agreements with us.” Catherine Penkert, Habitat’s chief of staff, who led a model-home tour Oct. 1, gave a more specific count of families already living there. “No, 27. And 10 more under contract.” Coleman said a second project of similar size is planned. “We’re going to do a similar sized project two blocks to the north of this site.”
What the homes are
Habitat is building townhomes, twin homes and single-family houses.
Penkert described “townhome, twin home, single family home, ranging from three to five bedroom options.” “All electric appliances, so again, very clean, healthy,” Penkert said during the model-home tour. She also described solar shingles incorporated into the roofs and said a company donated the product as part of the Carter Work Project. “This development has some of the most cutting-edge sustainability technology of any housing development in Minnesota,” Penkert said. She said the development is “one of the first places in Minnesota that this technology is in use.” In another home on the tour, a Habitat staff member said storage beneath the stairs functions as a storm shelter.
What a buyer pays
Habitat distinguishes between a home’s list price, its fair market value and what a Habitat buyer ultimately pays. “There’s the list price, there’s fair market value, and then there’s what the buyer pays. And what the buyer pays is dependent on their income,” Penkert said. The central affordability rule is the mortgage cap. “But when buyers
Chris Coleman
buy with us, their mortgage is set at no more than 30% of their current income,” Penkert said. Habitat serves “families that make 60 to 80 percent of area median income primarily,” Penkert said, with some units available to buyers at up to 100%. As of Oct. 1, a Habitat staff member said the homes were actively for sale and listed on the multiple listing service.
Who is being reached
Coleman said Habitat set out to be deliberate about Black homeownership. “And our phrase at Habitat is we have to be as intentional about solving the problem as we were in creating it in the first place,” he said. He described Habitat’s work to advance Black homeownership and said it has
built cohorts addressing “specific issues like financial trauma in the African American community.” Coleman described foundational Black households as those that trace their history to chattel slavery. He said the share of Habitat’s homeowners who identify as foundational Black households rose from 8% to over 30% in a couple of years. “It goes to show that intentionality matters,” he said. At The Heights, Penkert gave a separate set of early numbers as of Oct. 1. Asked about a goal, Penkert answered: “We don’t have a target per se.” She continued: “I know that I think it’s about 85% of the buyers, the first 27, are Black, Indigenous people of color. And then about 20%
Retired Bremer Bank CEO Jeanne Crain and Bob Butterbrodt, SVP Wells Fargo
Habitat From Cover sults show up in who becomes a homeowner. The share of Habitat’s homeowners who identify as foundational Black households rose from 8% to over 30% in a couple of years, he said. “It goes to show that intentionality matters.” That 8% to over 30%
figure applies across Habitat’s homeowners. A separate early figure applies only to buyers at The Heights. As of Oct. 1, Penkert gave early numbers for the first 27 buyers there. Asked about the goal, she said, “We don’t have a target per se.” Penkert continued: “I know that I think it’s about 85% of the buyers, the first 27, are Black, Indigenous people of color. And then about 20% foundational Black. And that’s
self-identified.” She said the organization is “really focused on working on foundational Black Americans to achieve homeownership.” The figures measure different things and should not be added together or compared directly. Penkert said Habitat’s focus grew from examining its own data. “When we disaggregated the data, the percentage
Catherine Penkert
foundational Black. And that’s self-identified.” She said the organization is “really focused on working on foundational Black Americans to achieve homeownership.” The two sets of figures measure different things. Coleman’s 8% to over 30% figure applies across Habitat’s homeowners. Penkert’s approximately 20% figure applies to the first 27 buyers at The Heights. Penkert said Habitat’s focus grew out of examining its own data. “When we disaggregated the data, the percentage of foundational Black families successfully made it through the program was low,” Penkert said. She also described the organization’s use of the foundational Black American desig-
nation as intentional: “To disaggregate our data and be able to understand very precisely who we’re serving.”
Beyond The Heights
A Habitat staff member said the organization typically has “50 to 75 under construction at any time” across its service area. “We have a couple of North Minneapolis projects right now,” the staff member said. Habitat says it has partnered with 2,100 families and that its foreclosure rate has remained below 1% for the past decade. Habitat announced The Heights as the launch site of its Pope Leo Village campaign, which it described as an interfaith, multi-city affordable housing initiative inspired by Pope Leo XIV.
Dave Huml, Tennant Co of foundational Black families successfully made it through the program was low,” Penkert said.
What buyers pay
What a Habitat buyer pays depends on income. “But when buyers buy with us, their mortgage is set at no more than 30% of their current income,” Penkert said. Habitat serves “families that make 60 to 80 percent of area median income primarily,” Penkert said, with some
homes open to buyers at up to 100%. Habitat describes itself as the region’s largest affordable homeownership builder. It says it has partnered with 2,100 families and that its foreclosure rate has remained below 1% for the past decade.
A larger moment
Habitat announced The Heights as the launch site of its Pope Leo Village campaign, an interfaith, multi-city affordable
housing initiative inspired by Pope Leo XIV. Coleman said the stakes reach past one development. “If we don’t do something and don’t continue to build on this level, we’re never going to create an equitable Twin Cities that we all have,” he said. As homeownership slips further out of reach for many families, he said, “this is about making sure everybody has an opportunity.”
Page 6 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
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INSIGHT NEWS STATE SENATE DISTRICT 34 • HOUSE 34A • 34B
John Hoffman
Karen Attia
Jason Heaser
PUBLIC SERVICE FREE OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE Sen. John Hoffman, a DFLer, is seeking reelection in Senate District 34. His campaign homepage is a letter to constituents that looks back on a hard year for his community and his family and commits him to rejecting political violence, confronting fraud and abuse, and strengthening support for families, seniors and vulnerable neighbors. The site also notes a 2023-24 ranking by the Center for Effective Lawmaking naming him Minnesota's most effective DFL senator. "I remain committed to rejecting political violence, confronting fraud and abuse wherever it exists, and strengthening the systems that support Minnesota's families, seniors, and most vulnerable neighbors."
ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT Karen Attia, a Republican, has worked as a critical care nurse for more than 30 years and has owned two small businesses. She is running for State Senate in District 34, which covers Rogers, Dayton, Champlin, Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids. Her campaign site lists accountability in government first among her issues, ahead of affordability, education and jobs, and describes her as a caregiver and problem solver rather than a career politician. “Fraud and waste at the taxpayer’s expense must be investigated, prosecuted, and stopped — and officials who enable it must be held accountable.”
PUBLIC SAFETY Jason Heaser, a DFLer, is running for House District 34A. In his campaign’s answer to Insight News, he describes himself as a prosecutor who has worked with law enforcement and victims, and says he would bring that experience to the Capitol so that families feel safe at home, at school and online. “As a prosecutor, I’ve worked with law enforcement and victims to keep people safe. I’ll bring that experience to the Capitol because families deserve to feel safe at home, at school, and online.”
The Insight News Voters Guide: the schedule
Danny Nadeau
Xp Lee
COST OF LIVING Danny Nadeau, a Republican, is running for House District 34A. His campaign homepage puts people ahead of political ideology and points to kids in school or childcare, the high cost of living and the tax burden on families as the places to start. His site also lists issues, endorsements and a “suburbs survey.”.
CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY Xp Lee, a DFLer, is running for House District 34B. His campaign site is built around the words “communicate, collaborate, change” and sets out a vision of Minnesota communities working together, powered by clean energy, with urgent climate action to protect the state’s lakes, forests and way of life. The site lists no separate issues page, so this block draws on that vision statement. “Innovation and equitable opportunities will lift every neighborhood, while urgent climate actions protect our lakes, forests, and way of life.”
“It’s never been more important to put the needs of people ahead of political ideologies.”
Sept. 14
Statewide · Congress
Sept. 21
SD59 · 60 · 61 · 62
Sept. 28
SD63 · 64 · 65 · 43
Oct. 5
SD66 · 67 · 44
Oct. 12
SD34 · 38 · 46 (this week)
Oct. 19
SD36 · 39 · 40
Oct. 26
SD37 · 42 · 45
Nov. 2
SD49 · 50 · 51
Nov. 3
Election Day
STATE SENATE DISTRICT 38 • HOUSE 38A • 38B
Which district are you in? Enter your address at mnvotes.gov to see your Senate and House districts, your polling place and a sample ballot.
Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley
Samantha Vang
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY Huldah Hiltsley, the DFL incumbent, represents House District 38A, which covers Osseo and southwest Brooklyn Park. Her platform page opens with a safe and thriving community and lists community and public safety first, followed by housing, early childhood care and education, small business and environmental justice. She calls for community policing, independent oversight and training for officers. “I am committed to championing community-based public safety by prioritizing trust, transparency, and strong collaboration between law enforcement and our neighborhoods within this district.”
TAX RELIEF Samantha Vang, a DFLer, is the incumbent in House District 38B. Elected in 2018 as one of the first Hmong American women in the Minnesota House, she has co-founded the legislature’s first Asian Pacific caucus and has chaired the People of Color and Indigenous caucus. Her campaign site names tax relief first among her priorities. “Her priorities center on providing tax relief for everyday Minnesotans, addressing the mental health workforce shortage, improving public safety, tackling climate change and spurring economic development.”
Early voting is open now at the Minneapolis Early Vote Center and Ramsey County Elections. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 7
VOTERS GUIDE STATE SENATE DISTRICT 46 · HOUSE 46A · 46B
The Roster rail STATE SENATE 34: John Hoffman (DFL) · Karen Attia (R) 38: Susan Pha (DFL) · Brad Olson (R) 46: Ron Latz (DFL) · Kayla Wright (R)
STATE HOUSE 34A: Jason Heaser (DFL) · Danny Nadeau (R) 34B: Xp Lee (DFL) · Ruth Bittner (R) 36A: Jim DeMay (DFL) · Sebastian Stoss (R) 36B: Brion Curran (DFL) · Patty Bradway (R) 37A: Darci Smith (DFL) · Tom McKee (R)
Ron Latz
Kayla Wright
Larry Kraft
37B: Kristin Bahner (DFL) · Luke Doerer (R)
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY Sen. Ron Latz, a DFLer, is the incumbent in Senate District 46. His campaign site describes him as DFL-endorsed and the only labor-endorsed candidate in the race. It leads with his work as the chief architect of the Senate’s accountability package on federal immigration enforcement, then covers gun violence prevention, criminal justice, affordability and housing. “Ron believes immigrant communities make Minnesota stronger, and he’ll keep standing up to the Trump administration’s campaign of retaliation against our state.”
EDUCATION Kayla Wright, a Republican, is running for State Senate District 46 and says she is a lifelong resident of St. Louis Park and Edina. Her campaign site lists three priorities in order: education, public safety and protecting tax dollars. On education she calls for funding classrooms over bureaucracy, an audit of where school money goes and a focus on reading, writing and math. “I will work across the aisle to cut waste and ensure our schools prioritize core academic skills: reading, writing, and math.”
CLIMATE Larry Kraft, a DFLer, is the incumbent in House District 46A, which covers St. Louis Park. His campaign homepage says climate change must be among the state’s highest priorities and a lens for all legislation. He cites a background in hightech leadership, nonprofit work and the St. Louis Park City Council. “But climate change is also an incredible opportunity – to create good jobs, reduce pollution and improve public health, and address social inequalities.”
Charlie Kistler (R)
38A: Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley (DFL) · 38B: Samantha Vang (DFL) · Robert Marvin (R) 39A: Aaron Klemz (DFL) · Andy Macko (R) 39B: Amada Marquez Simula (DFL) · KT Jacobs (R) 40A: Aisha Elmquist (DFL) · Luis Withrow (R) 40B: David Gottfried (DFL) · Allen Shen (R) 42A: Ned Carroll (DFL) · Kathy Burkett (R) 42B: Ginny Klevorn (DFL) — unopposed 43A: Kyrstin Schuette (DFL) · Todd Hesemann (R) 43B: Jess Lewis (DFL) — unopposed
Coming up
44A: Peter M Fischer (DFL) · Justin Middaugh
Next week, Oct. 19: Senate Districts 36, 39 and 40.
44B: Leon M. Lillie (DFL) · TJ Hawthorne
(R) (IND) 45A: Tracey Breazeale (DFL) · Andrew Myers
Oct. 26: Senate Districts 37, 42 and 45.
(R) 45B: Patty Acomb (DFL) · Thomas Bergerson (R)
Nov. 2: Senate Districts 49, 50 and 51.
46A: Larry Kraft (DFL) · Karl Olson (R) 46B: Cheryl Youakim (DFL) · Kim Rich (R) 49A: Alex Falconer (DFL) · Jeff Houdek (R)
Cheryl Youakim
Kim Rich
EDUCATION FUNDING Rep. Cheryl Youakim, a DFLer, is the incumbent in House District 46B, which covers Hopkins, Edina and part of St. Louis Park. Her campaign site describes her as chair of the House Education Finance Committee and credits her with helping secure a $5.4 billion additional investment in public education. “I’m running for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representative to make sure that government is working for regular people.”
PUBLIC SAFETY Kim Rich, a Republican, is running for House District 46B, which covers northwest Edina, Hopkins and southern St. Louis Park. Her campaign’s issues page lists public safety first, then education and responsible spending. She says she wants to support law enforcement and ensure education funding goes to teachers and students rather than bureaucrats. “I am committed to supporting law enforcement and closing the revolving door for repeat criminals.”
Every edition’s blocks, and the full
49B: Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL) · Wendy
roster, are at insightnews.com.
Cregg (R) 50A: Julie Greene (DFL) · Chris Wedum (R) 50B: Steve Elkins (DFL) — unopposed 51A: Michael Howard (DFL) · Frank Pafko (R) 51B: Nathan Coulter (DFL) · Jim Lund (R) 59A: Fue Lee (DFL) — unopposed 59B: Esther Agbaje (DFL) · Kenneth Smoron (R) 60A: Sydney Jordan (DFL) · John Holmberg (R) 60B: Mohamud Noor (DFL) — unopposed
How to read a block
Vote early or on Nov. 3
61A: Katie Jones (DFL) — unopposed
Each block has two parts. The summary is written by Insight News and covers the candidate’s firstlisted priority issue, taken from the candidate’s own campaign site.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting is open now at the Minneapolis Early Vote Center and through Ramsey County Elections.
62A: Aisha Gomez (DFL) — unopposed
To find your polling place, your districts and a sample ballot, enter your address at mnvotes.gov.
63A: Samantha Sencer-Mura (DFL) · Kyle
Read about the candidates in your districts here, then bring this page with you.
63B: Emma Greenman (DFL) · Nicholas
The italic sentence is the candidate’s own words, quoted exactly as published, with the web address and the date we captured it. Insight News does not edit, shorten or rewrite a candidate’s sentence.
61B: Jamie Long (DFL) — unopposed 62B: Anquam Mahamoud (DFL) · Bob Sullentrop (R) Bragg (R) Peters (R) 64A: Meg Luger-Nikolai (DFL) — unopposed 64B: Dave Pinto (DFL) — unopposed 65A: Samakab Hussein (DFL) — unopposed 65B: Sebastian Ellefson (DFL) — unopposed 66A: Leigh Finke (DFL) · Mark Born (R)
Which district are you in? Enter your address at mnvotes.gov to see your Senate and House districts, your polling place and a sample ballot. Early voting is open now at the Minneapolis Early Vote Center and Ramsey County Elections. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Not every candidate is profiled Insight asks each campaign for a statement in its own words. Candidates whose campaigns had not supplied a usable statement by our deadline appear in the roster only. Their names remain on the ballot, and we will add their words online if they send them.
66B: Athena Hollins (DFL) · Mary O’Neal (R) 67A: Liz Lee (DFL) · Jennifer McPherson (R) 67B: Jay Xiong (DFL) — unopposed
Page 8 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
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Books, Arts & Culture Acclaimed conductor Roderick Cox returns to Twin Cities to inspire next generation of classical musicians Acclaimed international conductor and Music Director of the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Roderick Cox is returning to the Twin Cities to connect with young musicians. Founded in 2019 by Cox alongside Dr. Yvonne Cheek, Anton Vincent, and Maurice Holloman, the Roderick Cox Music Initiative (RCMI) empowers young orchestral musicians of color to become classical music leaders. RCMI provides scholarships for advanced training,
private instruction, mentorship, high-quality instruments, and performance opportunities. Since its inception, RCMI has awarded over $120,000 across 2020 through 2026, supporting 11 RCMI Fellows. Beginning in the 2025–2026 academic year, stewardship of the initiative transitioned to Walker|West Music Academy. Fellows participate in local, regional, and national summer study programs, including the Sphinx Performance Academy, Apple Hill Center for
Chamber Music, Stringwood Chamber Music Festival, Credo Music Festival, and Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival across locations such as Philadelphia (Curtis Institute), New York City (Juilliard), Ohio (Cleveland Institute of Music), Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Scholarship recipients from partner institutions include:
• Walker|West Music Academy: Thomas Bates, Keziah Fierst,
Mukuhi Njoroge, Kamau Rodriguez-Pegg, Yinedi Hashel, Wacheke Njoroge, Rahel Hashel, Ream Hashel, Rachel Hashel, Asla Hashel, and Asia/ Ariam Hashel. • MacPhail Center for Music: Shataurea Daniel, Ian de la Cruz, Alexandra Tatum, Oliver Tatum, Tobias Davis, Omari Franklin, Marley Christian, Francisca Jabana, Dontevion Wilson, and J'Kwon Anderson. In conjunction with Cox's visit, donor Nancy Jacobs committed $250,000 to support
Credit:Edinburgh international culture summit
Conductor Roderick Cox RCMI over the next ten years to expand access and artistic development. Cox, a Macon, Georgia native whose career trajectory is profiled in filmmaker Diane Moore's seven-year documentary Conducting Life, previously served as Assistant Conductor and Associate Con-
ductor of the Minnesota Orchestra. He was awarded the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award and is currently based in Berlin. A public event featuring Cox will take place at Walker|West Music Academy, located at 650 Marshall Ave., Saint Paul, MN, on October 19, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 9
Insight 2 Health
A $2.1 trillion wellness industry never built a daily practice for Black children. So this Atlanta family did. As Black parents strive to raise resilient, confident, brilliant children within systems that too often underestimate them, an Atlanta-based company launches an app that delivers a five-minute daily wellness practice, backed by forty years of research, to help build the identity, confidence, and self-worth their children carry into every room. ATLANTA — October 6, 2026 — Every morning, Black children walk into classrooms and spaces that weren’t designed with them in mind. They carry a quiet, daily weight most adults never see. There is no shortage of national conversation about the challenges they face; there has been far less discussion about what actually helps. Yet the research has pointed to answers for decades: a grounded sense of who they are, the steadying power of breath, and the pride that comes from knowing their history and their own worth. What was missing was a way to deliver those answers to Black children, consistently and easily, every single day. Until now. Bright Crowns, the first daily wellness practice built specifically for Black children, launched and is available now on the Apple App Store. The morning practice takes just five minutes and fits easily into a busy day. “As much as we’d like to, we can’t always lighten the load our children carry each day,” said co-founder and CEO Tia Harley. “But we can help make them strong enough to
carry it — with their heads held high.” Here is what the Bright Crowns wellness practice delivers. Each morning, a child opens the app and hears a voice that sounds like home. The breath comes first, to help them settle and notice what they’re feeling. Then an affirmation that names who they are and the people they come from. Then the story of someone from Black history whose life is proof of the strength being built in them that day. A new figure every day, all year long, not just in February. Not a history lesson, but evidence of what they already carry inside. They start each day steady, certain, and ready for whatever it holds. The arc is deliberate: Breathe. Belong. Become. That five-minute morning session is called Crown Time, and Bright Crowns doesn’t stop there. Its practices carry a child through the whole day. Crown Ready steadies a child before a hard test or a game. Crown Reset meets a big feeling the moment it rises. Crown Together is a weekend reflection a parent reads aloud. And Bedtime Crown carries them into sleep with folktales from the African diaspora. Instead of points or badges, children earn crowns drawn from real African kingdoms — an inheritance, not a reward. A badge says good job; a crown says this was always yours. “Bright Crowns isn’t about making a child feel better for five minutes,” said Tia Harley. “It’s about giving them
tools that compound: steadiness, identity, and resilience they carry long after the session ends, into the classroom, under pressure, and into rooms where they may be the only one.” Built on joy. Backed by forty years of science. Husband-and-wife team David and Tia Harley built Bright Crowns out of love for their own children. Then they discovered that every piece of what they had built had already been supported by research. A landmark study in the journal Science found that a brief, culturally grounded practice measurably narrowed the racial achievement gap for Black students, without any change to the school itself. Research has since identified ethnic-racial identity as a key protective factor for Black youth mental health in the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, and a meta-analy-
sis of 76 mindfulness programs for young people found significant improvements in stress, attention, emotional regulation, and academic engagement. Psychologists have a name for what these build together: hardiness, the inner architecture that lets a person meet difficulty without breaking. It has been studied since 1979, when psychologist Suzanne Kobasa first identified it, and the research is clear that it is teachable, built through brief, consistent daily practice. “The research showed that while the school didn’t change,” Tia Harley said, “what those children carried into it did.” A category built, not borrowed. Wellness has grown into one of the largest industries in the world, worth roughly $2.1 trillion in the U.S. alone, with apps for sleep, focus, breathing, and meditation. Yet when the Harleys went looking for a daily
wellness practice built for their own Black children, they found none. What existed was generic: polished and useful, but spoken in voices and settings that never felt like home, and asking a Black child to set part of themselves aside just to belong there. “A Black child’s identity isn’t separate from their wellness. It’s part of it,” said Tia Harley. Bright Crowns wasn’t adapted for Black children after the fact. It was built with them in mind from the very beginning, the first of its kind, and one this community has long deserved. David Harley, an award-winning creative director, began building a morning wellness routine at their family’s kitchen table, and he and Tia joined forces to grow it into what Bright Crowns is today. The two brought professional rigor to a labor of love: David, with two decades leading
multicultural campaigns for major brands, and Tia, who led business development and partnerships at Google. They built Bright Crowns to a standard they’d trust with their own children. Then they used it with their two kids every morning for more than a year before it reached anyone else. “We built it for our children first,” Tia Harley said. “We watched them change: quicker to recover from tough moments, more willing to try hard things, holding their heads a little higher. Then we realized every Black family we knew needed the same thing.” The launch arrives as Black families across the country are thinking hard about how to prepare and educate their children in schools and spaces that weren’t always designed with them in mind. Bright Crowns speaks to the part that travels with a child into any classroom: the certainty of who they are. Availability. Bright Crowns is available now on the Apple App Store with a free 7-day trial. Families who join by December 31, 2026 lock in the Founding Family rate of $69.99 for the first year; one subscription includes every child in the home. Learn more and download at hellobrightcrowns.com. “Our children are already brilliant,” said co-founder and chief product officer David Harley. “We don’t teach them to survive. We teach them they were born to thrive. Their crowns are already on — we just help them remember.”
Flu season is near – here’s a guide to available vaccines By Annette Regan Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles The number of people sick with flu is starting to increase across the United States, with health authorities warning that in some western regions of the country, the 2026-27 flu season may be off to an early start. Health authorities often advise people to get their flu vaccine by the end of October – but as an epidemiologist focusing on vaccines and infectious diseases, I see the uptick in activity as a sign that there’s no time like the present. Several vaccine options are available, including the new mRNA influenza vaccine, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August 2026.
Seasonal patterns
It’s too early to say for sure that this year’s flu season will be an early one across the entire U.S. or to predict if it will be particularly severe. As of Sept. 26, the latest date for which data is available, seasonal influenza activity remains low nationally, and wastewater surveillance still shows very low to low activity in most states. However, the number of patients with respiratory infections who were testing positive began increasing near the end of September, suggesting that influenza viruses are beginning to circulate more widely. In the U.S., influenza typically starts to circulate during the fall and often peaks sometime between December and February. Factors such as which flu viruses are spreading, how closely those viruses resemble the ones targeted by the vaccine, and how much immunity exists in the community can all influence the timing, severity and overall impact of a flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified the 2025-2026 flu season as moderately severe,
Image created with AI
with over 32 million cases, 390,000 hospitalizations and up to 81,000 deaths. Flu cases increased in November and quickly peaked in December. Health authorities partly attributed the moderately severe season to low flu vaccination rates and poor match to last season’s vaccine.
Available flu vaccines
Vaccination provides the best protection against influenza. Several safe and effective vaccines are available this season. The CDC has released interim guidelines for this year’s flu season, recommending flu vaccines for most adults and children age 6 months and older. The American Academy of Pediatricians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America also recommend flu vaccines for children and adults this year. Enhanced vaccines – including higher dose and lab-grown vaccines as well as vaccines containing ingredients that help the body produce a stronger immune response – are available for adults age 65 years and up and are designed to provide stronger immune responses. All are administered as injections. Additional options include FluMist, a nasal spray vaccine approved for people age 2 through 49 – which may be preferable to those who want
to avoid a shot. Flucelvax is a flu vaccine made using mammalian cells rather than eggs that is approved for people 6 months and older. However, people with an egg allergy can receive any flu vaccine – even ones produced in eggs. One new option this year is mFLUSIVA, the first mRNA-based influenza vaccine, approved by the FDA for adults age 50 and older. Because mFLUSIVA is so new, many vaccination sites may not yet offer it. People interested in receiving this vaccine should check with their local pharmacy, healthcare provider or Moderna’s online vaccine locator for availability. Talk with your doctor or healthcare provider if you have any questions about what vaccines are best for you and your family.
September and can be given at the same clinic visit with the flu vaccine. Because it takes about two weeks for protection to develop after vaccination, getting vaccinated before flu activity becomes widespread provides the best chance of being protected when exposure risk increases. This year, all three components of the influenza vaccines were updated to better match the viruses expected to circulate during the 2026-27 flu season. While influenza vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, vaccination con-
sistently reduces the risk and severity of influenza illness. If the flu viruses don’t change much over the course of the season, this year’s vaccines should provide protection that is similar to or better than what we’ve seen in recent years. Disclosure statement Annette Regan receives research and related funding from the National Institutes of Health, Pfizer Inc, Moderna, Sanofi, and Merck Sharp & Dohme paid to her institution. She consults for the Pan American Health Organization and is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
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Special protection
Vaccination is especially important for those 65 years and older, young children, pregnant people, people with chronic medical conditions and those with weakened immune systems. These groups are at greater risk of serious complications from influenza. Many people who are at higher risk of severe flu are also at higher risk of severe COVID-19, and the virus causing COVID-19 continues to circulate. Updated COVID-19 vaccines became available in
Utagawa Kunisada, Actor Sawamura Tanosuke III in the role of the heroine Tsunade (detail), 1861, 12th lunar month. Gift of Gordon Brodfuehrer in honor of Dr. Andreas Marks, 2023.104.2
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Page 10 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
Soul From 3 me.
It was remembering
Soul Food House describes its mission in six words: “Feed the stomach. Feed the spirit. Feed the soul.” Sitting there, I began to understand those words differently. Black food has never fed only one kind of hunger. Our tables carry people as much as plates: the relative who brings the dish everyone expects, the grandmother who measures with her hands, the person who fixes you another plate before you have decided whether you want one. Sunday afternoons, funerals, cookouts, holidays, church gatherings and family reunions. Feeding somebody can be another way of saying: You are here. There is room for you. Eat. There is something spiritual in that. Food can hold memory without asking memory to explain itself. A recipe can become an archive that lives outside a library. Some history is written. Some is sung. Some is prayed. And some is seasoned. That thought stayed with me when I heard another
Haiti From 4 shortage of direct-care workers, deporting thousands of experienced Haitian caregivers is not merely inhumane, it’s self-defeating and contrary to our nation’s own healthcare needs.[7] The mass deportation of Haitians also presents a troubling humanitarian double standard that Congress should confront. The Trump Administration has made a special effort to admit White South African Afrikaners as refugees, citing racial persecution and violence — a dubious claim at best. At the same time, it is stripping protection from Haitians whose country is experiencing cata-
Cameras From 3 “This is a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance,” Hill wrote. She ordered evidence obtained after the search suppressed. The decision addresses the circumstances of that search. It does not ban Flock cameras nationwide or establish binding precedent for courts
Political Power From 3 Minnesota, approached political power from the standpoint of organizing and capacity. She said the organization is “celebrating eleven years of service to Twin Cities and the greater Minnesota communities around the state.” Its work, Robbins said, is designed to increase turnout among African Americans and the broader Black diaspora while helping voters understand not only who appears on their ballots but what those offices control. Robbins said that while many candidates “fixate on fraud,” the organization is trying to center the conversation on issues people encounter in
Richfield From 3 tion at the mall and a selfie-style video of himself pledging allegiance to ISIS. The Justice Department said an undercover FBI employee arranged to sell Mohamud an AK-47-style rifle that investigators had rendered inert, four 30-round magazines and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition on Oct. 6. According to federal authorities,
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phrase used to describe the food at Soul Food House: “Good Trouble Food.” When I asked them to expand on that, the answer was that the dishes were more than food on a plate. They were cultural bridges resting on strong historical foundations, and an invitation to think more expansively about where good trouble can happen and what empowerment can look like. I loved that because good trouble is not only something Black people get into. Good trouble is something Black people make. We make it in courtrooms and voting booths, but also in kitchens, music, language, businesses and stories. We make it in the ways we create joy in places where history did not necessarily intend for us to flourish. The words are inseparable from John Lewis and his call for “good trouble, necessary trouble” in pursuit of justice. But in Tokyo, sitting over chicken and waffles, I began wondering whether good trouble can also be the freedom to create something on your own terms. There is good trouble in refusing to allow Blackness to be defined only by what Black people have survived. There is good trouble in joy, ownership and carrying something rooted in Black history across an
ocean without stripping away its Blackness to make it easier for others to consume. Soul Food House does not hide where its food comes from. Its Blackness is part of the invitation. Even the restaurant's story reflects that exchange. David and LaTonya Whitaker use manga, a distinctly Japanese storytelling form, to tell the story of how they came to Japan and eventually built a Black American soul food restaurant in Tokyo. A Black story told through Japanese art about Black food being cooked in Japan. Nobody has to disappear. A bridge, if it is built well, remembers both shores. That thought felt especially meaningful because of where I had traveled from. Minneapolis Saint Paul, where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. His name crossed this same ocean. Thousands marched in Tokyo as demonstrations spread around the world demanding that people recognize the value of Black life. The world needed to see what happened to George Floyd. Black suffering should not be hidden simply because it is painful to witness. But sitting in Soul Food House, I found myself
thinking about everything else we deserve to send into the world. Our pain travels easily. What about our fullness? Our laughter, faith, businesses, imagination, inside jokes, mothers' recipes, joy and ordinary Black life deserve passports too. There was something deeply moving about encountering Black America in Tokyo without tragedy serving as the introduction. Nobody had to watch us be murdered before entering this story. They could simply walk through the door and sit down. I watched Japanese customers do exactly that and wondered what they understood about what they were eating. Did they know what soul food meant? Had they eaten grits before? Did they understand why a drink called “The Cookout” could make a Black American smile? Then I caught myself. I had spent my time in Japan doing the same thing. I entered restaurants and ordered food whose history I did not fully understand. Japanese culture had been reaching me for years before I arrived. Pokémon was part of my childhood. Anime and manga became part of my cultural vocabulary. Japan had been sending pieces of itself across the Pacific to me.
Now I was sitting in Tokyo watching Black America make the trip in the other direction. Maybe that is one of culture's great possibilities. We can enter one another's worlds through something we love before we understand everything behind it. A meal can be a doorway. A song can be a doorway. A story can be a doorway. But a doorway should lead somewhere. Enjoying another people's culture should make us curious about the people who created it. Soul Food House does not conceal its roots to make the food available to everyone else. It offers them. Here is our food. Here is our story. Come sit with us. When I asked the owners which dish best represented the restaurant, I was told shrimp and grits. I never got to eat them because they had already sold out. Yet the dish seemed to contain the whole journey: fresh seafood from Japan meeting a food tradition deeply rooted in the Black American South. Neither culture had to vanish for the other to be present. Before I left, I took a photograph with the owner. Looking at it now, I see more than a traveler documenting a good meal. I see a Black woman who lives in Minnesota standing beside a Black
entrepreneur in Tokyo, inside a restaurant filled with gospel music, laughter and food our ancestors could have recognized in spirit even if they could never have imagined this particular room. I came to Japan expecting to encounter another culture. On one of my final nights, my own culture met me there. Somewhere between the gospel music, a biscuit that tasted like my family's kitchen and the shrimp and grits I never got to order, I understood something differently about home. Black people know something about carrying home. History required us to. Across oceans we did not choose, state lines, migrations, neighborhoods and generations, we carried songs, recipes, faith, memory and one another. Maybe that is why finding soul food in Tokyo moved me more deeply than I expected. Home was never only the place we left behind. Sometimes home is what survives the journey, what we create when we arrive, and what we eventually set down on a table and offer to somebody else. Feed the stomach. Feed the spirit. Feed the soul. That may be the soul we carry with us.
strophic violence, death and insecurity. The State Department currently rates South Africa for travel recommendations at Level 2—“Exercise Increased Caution.” Haiti is at Level 4—“Do Not Travel.”[8] Every person facing genuine persecution deserves humanitarian consideration and protection, but humanitarian standards should be applied consistently. If America can recognize humanitarian danger facing White South Africans, surely it can recognize the documented and extraordinary danger confronting Black Haitians. The disparity deserves congressional scrutiny— not because one group should receive less protection, but because humanitarian protection should not depend upon race or political convenience.
Finally, the Haitian TPS question should not be reduced to a partisan argument. Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has criticized the Administration’s approach to Haitian immigrants and warned of the consequences of ending TPS. Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore has likewise expressed opposition to returning Haitians to dangerous conditions.[9] These governors understand that immigrants are not merely immigration cases. They are workers, taxpayers, caregivers, parents, students, neighbors and members of their communities. The House of Representatives has already taken action and passed a bill to restore Haitian TPS. The Senate’s Haitian TPS bill (S.4814) offers a mea-
sured response: three additional years of protection while Haiti confronts its extraordinary crisis. It is not amnesty! It does not grant citizenship or permanent residence. It does not repeal America’s immigration laws. It does, however, provide important and humane temporary protection while conditions make return to Haiti unsafe. Our history tells us what happens when government treats human beings with hostility and indifference, and regards humanitarian appeals as inconveniences to be overcome. America can and must do better. The Senate now has an opportunity to demonstrate that America’s humanitarian principles apply consistently— to Black immigrants as well as everyone else. Republican senators hold a critical key to
bipartisan action. Before the midterm elections, they should join Democrats in responding to this humanitarian imperative. Our nation’s sense of humanity demands it. Wade Henderson, Esq. is a civil and human rights attorney in Washington, DC. He serves as a Senior Advisor to the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
student steps into traffic, is killed after losing immigration status,” Sept. 1, 2026; ABC News, Sept. 1, 2026. Authorities continue to investigate Bel’s death. Reuters, “US families, healthcare providers under strain after Trump crackdown on Haitian immigrants,” Aug. 19, 2026. Id.; see also reporting by LeadingAge concerning the impact of ending Haitian TPS on senior and disability care. U.S. Department of State, Haiti Travel Advisory; South Africa Travel Advisory. Reporting on statements by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore concerning Haitian TPS.
across the country. The University of Minnesota Police Department says it uses the technology “for limited public safety purposes only,” crediting it with helping to recover stolen vehicles, find missing people and track violent-crime suspects. The department says its policy “prohibits the technology’s use for immigration enforcement.” In September, the university said it would remove a recently installed camera on the
West Bank, a step it said would “support community trust while maintaining robust safety coverage.” Council Vice President Jamal Osman has credited the university with removing a camera at Cedar and Riverside avenues after neighbors raised concerns. A Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told KSTP, “It remains important that our Criminal Intelligence Division retain access to the Flock network.” The office
also said the council does not set public safety policy for the county. Other Minnesota departments have pointed to oversight procedures intended to prevent misuse. Richfield police say the department keeps data for 30 days, gives each authorized officer an individual login with a second authentication step, records every search in a permanent audit log and has passed its last two state-required audits. Shakopee police say
they publish a public search audit and run an internal function that alerts administrators to “red flag” patterns in searches. Those safeguards are specific to the agencies describing them and do not establish that all Flock systems operate under identical policies. Communities across Minnesota have taken different approaches to the technology. St. Paul’s City Council adopted a resolution on Aug. 26 calling on the city and Ramsey Coun-
ty to end their Flock contracts. Plymouth’s City Council voted to discontinue its Flock cameras. In Duluth, the police department decided not to renew its contract, which ended Sept. 7. Other communities have considered or undertaken camera removals and suspensions. In Minneapolis, the immediate question now rests with the agencies named in the council resolution: whether they will maintain, change or end their Flock arrangements.
daily life: affordable housing, employment, access to capital, health care and economic policy. She said voters should weigh the consequences of decisions involving Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP and WIC. The conversation also took up the argument, raised by a viewer in the chat and acknowledged by Robbins as a recurring one, that Black voters should withhold their votes to force political parties to respond more directly to Black interests. Robbins did not dismiss the frustration behind that strategy. Instead, she questioned whether withholding votes without sufficient organization, financing and a long-term plan would produce the desired result. “If you withhold the vote, to what end?” she asked.
English, for his part, urged Black voters to use their leverage. “Let’s threaten them with the one thing that they can’t stand,” he said, and suggested that if candidates will not come before Black voters to make their case, “maybe we should consider writing our own name then for governor.” Political leverage, Robbins argued, depends on demonstrating organized power and building the capacity to sustain it. She pointed to changes in local representation as evidence that participation can matter, citing a more diverse Minneapolis City Council and a first woman of color serving as chair of the Hennepin County Board. But she also emphasized that political development takes time. Building power requires relationships, voter edu-
cation, leadership development and continued work between elections, she said. The discussion turned to the Hennepin County Attorney race. Robbins said during the broadcast that a candidate forum for the office had been announced, and she urged residents to pay attention to the contest because decisions by the county attorney can affect criminal prosecution, violence prevention, victims and restorative justice. English also urged listeners to take part in the race, saying he wants a county attorney who is “culturally competent” and attentive to public safety. Public safety produced another sharp exchange. Responding to narratives that place responsibility for violence primarily on Black youth, En-
glish argued that the availability of firearms, youth unemployment and what he described as failing schools must be part of the analysis. “We don’t own a single gun factory in the world,” he said. Robbins broadened the response, pointing to youth programs, regular meals, mental-health services, violence prevention, community-police partnerships and support for families. “The youth need programs,” she said. Together, English and Robbins offered different emphases on Black political power, and the two did not fully agree on tactics. English pressed institutions and political parties to answer for historical exclusion, economic disparities and what he described as insufficient returns on decades of Black
political loyalty. Robbins emphasized turnout, organization, coalition building and the patient construction of community capacity. Their common ground was participation with purpose. Voting, as the two guests described it, is neither the beginning nor the end of political power. It is one instrument in a larger strategy: know what is on the ballot, understand what public offices control, demand answers from candidates, organize between elections and build enough collective capacity to hold institutions accountable. For Black Minnesotans, the conversation suggested, the challenge of 2026 is not simply to vote. It is to make the vote carry power.
Mohamud paid about $600 in cash and was arrested shortly afterward. “As alleged in the criminal complaint, Mohamud took substantial steps to plot to murder innocent people in the name of ISIS,” U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota said. “Such threats are taken seriously, and I commend the committed public servants of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI, and my office, who work every day to stop them.” FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Chris-
topher Dotson described the communications attributed to Mohamud as “chilling” at an Oct. 7 news conference. “The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling,” Dotson said. “They document the idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community.” The Justice Department also released statements from FBI Director Kash Patel
and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. Patel said the FBI “arrested him and put a stop to his plans.” Eisenberg said Mohamud allegedly sought to emulate previous ISIS-inspired attacks in the United States, adding that the National Security Division “will continue to work closely with the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force to track down and prosecute ISIS-inspired terrorists in the United States.” The investigation involved the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force with the Bloom-
ington Police Department and assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation, according to the Justice Department. Trial Attorney Ryan White of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar are prosecuting the case. Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said, “Normally I’m not at a loss for words, but I’m horrified,” Courthouse News Service reported. No statement about the case from CAIR-Minneso-
ta, Somali elected officials or Somali community leaders was available as of Oct. 7. A defense attorney had not been publicly identified as of that date. The allegations concern one defendant, not any community. A criminal complaint contains allegations, not findings of guilt. Mohamud is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. This is a developing story. The information here is current as of Oct. 7.
Endnotes
1. United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), Human Rights Reports; Human Rights Watch, World Report 2026: Haiti. 2. U.S. Department of State, Haiti Travel Advisory, Level 4—“Do Not Travel.” 3. 8 U.S.C. §1254a(b)(1). 4. Mullin v. Doe, U.S. Supreme Court, June 25, 2026. 5. Washington Post, “College
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Insight News • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Page 11
Technology
AI behaves more like a brain than a database – cognitive science’s role in its origin story helps explain why By Michael Hout Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Psychology, New Mexico State University Arryn Robbins Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Richmond When people think about what ChatGPT or other large language models are doing behind the scenes, it’s common to reach for the language of computing. You might assume there is a database, or a logical series of steps being executed, in order to provide a response to your query. Picturing AI responses as akin to your computer pulling up a file is a sensible line of thinking. But it’s incorrect. Understanding the central influence of cognitive science in AI’s evolution helps explain why. AI’s history isn’t only a computer science story. Fundamental advances that gave rise to today’s AI were brought about by people whose goal was to understand the human mind, not help you with your homework or travel itinerary. This distinction is important, because it helps better explain how these systems “behave” the way they do. We are cognitive scientists who teach students about the interdisciplinary roots of our field, including its deep and often overlooked ties to computer science and AI. There’s a shared history that often gets lost in conversations about what AI is doing.
AI’s lineage is often overlooked
The term “artificial intelligence” was coined in 1956, at a Dartmouth College workshop. At the time, people thought that a machine could be made intelligent if you could write down the right set of rules for it to follow. Rather than build a machine that followed rules, however, psychologist Frank Rosenblatt built one in 1958 – the Perceptron – that learned from examples. Rosenblatt hadn’t been at the Dartmouth workshop, but he was thinking about how to make a machine intelligent in a fundamentally different, more human way. His key insight was to build an artificial neural network: a computer algorithm modeled loosely on the architecture of the brain. This approach built on the work of psychologists like Donald Hebb who were studying brains and behavior. Specifically, Hebb explored how neural connections strengthen when used, a fundamental insight that later seeded machine learning. Further advances came in the 1980s, as psychologists sought to explain how people perform complex cognitive tasks, such as recognizing words and forming memories. Cognitive and computer scientists together – David Rumelhart, Geoffrey Hinton and Ronald Williams – figured out how to train artificial neural networks with multiple layers, an idea that later became known as “deep learning.” These multilayered neural networks were capable of more complex tasks and generalizing what they “learned” to apply to new examples. In the following decades, computer scientists and engineers enabled computing capabilities to be scaled up, developing graphics chips, the transformer architecture and more. Without these systems, modern AI would still struggle to recognize letters and words, rather than be able to hold realistic conversations in natural language. The fundamental insights, however, came from the study of the mind: AI should learn from examples, and its
Image created with AI
architecture should be based on the human brain. These foundational ideas matter for reasons of practicality. Modern AI isn’t born from rules – it’s grown from examples. And things that are grown are not as predictable as systems based on rules.
Its origin helps explain its ‘behavior’
Human intuitions and mental models about how technology works govern how people use it. The idea of AI as software – deterministic, fact-retrieving – causes people to misinterpret the outputs they provide. AI “hallucinations” are common; chatbots often state falsehoods. Thinking of AI as a database makes this behavior appear confusing. How could a system look up an answer that doesn’t exist? But human memory doesn’t “look up” answers. It is reconstructive and imperfect, filling in gaps with plausible details. Thanks to pioneering work by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, researchers know that false memories are unfortunately common and can be implanted
with relative ease. A system that “looks something up” gives the same answer every time, but it is therefore limited in responding to a finite set of questions. Human minds don’t work that way, and neither does AI. The price to pay for being able to generalize to new questions and tasks is a system prone to confabulation. Thinking of AI as like a primitive brain also helps explain additional puzzling behaviors, such as getting different answers to the same question. Ask your young child what they want for dinner twice and you may get different requests. Framing matters when interacting with an AI system too, as these systems can be nudged into giving you answers you prefer. They operate in a probabilistic fashion, much like human memory, not in a deterministic fashion, like a calculator. None of this means that AI necessarily thinks like people do, if the systems think at all. Humans and AI commonly “perceive” things differently; computer vision can spot subtle abnormalities that human screeners might miss, but might
also misinterpret something, such as a defaced road sign.
Why those origins still matter
If modern AI is unpredictable, how can people come to understand it? The answer is by understanding where this technology came from. Recognizing that AI systems are more akin to brains than databases can help people build more accurate mental models of what AI can do and can lead to better ways of understanding how these systems work. Users overtrust the wrong things. With a significant proportion of ChatGPT users indicating that they use ChatGPT like a search engine, it seems that people are treating outputs as retrieved fact rather than fluent, confident guesses. This misunderstanding can cause users to skip the verification step they’d likely apply to a person and potentially make decisions, including financial ones, based on confabulation. Institutions grapple with differing mental models. Faculty remain split between banning AI tools outright and
building them into coursework, treating AI as producing answers to be checked or trusted like collaborators. Divisions are causing confusion and sowing rifts among (and within) educators and their students. Computer science is rediscovering cognitive science’s questions. Today’s sys-
B L A N CO & R E P OSA D O 75 0 M L 8 8 P R O O F | 4 4 % A BV 1 0 0 % P U R O D E AG AV E D O U B L E D I ST I L L E D 5 0 % S M O K E D A N D 5 0 % ST E A M E D D I S C OV E R M O R E AT F O R YO U M A S E S P I R I T U !
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tems are opaque even to their builders. One approach to understanding them, probing what goes in and what comes out, resembles behaviorism, a once-dominant field of psychology that studied only observable behavior. Researchers are now moving toward interpretability: opening up the models to see what’s happening inside – closer in spirit to neuroscience – and working on problems cognitive scientists have chewed on for decades. The exchange runs both ways. Just as computer science draws on cognitive science’s questions and methods, cognitive science draws on the accessibility of AI models themselves, using them to test and refine theories of the mind. Computer science and cognitive science split off from one project decades ago: understanding how intelligence works. The more these fields keep trading questions and tools, the better placed humanity will be. Disclosure statement The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Page 12 • October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026 • Insight News
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