Mischke interviews James Barrat, author of "The Intelligence Explosion: When AI Beats Humans at Everything." Then Tommy radically shifts gears and does a deep dive into the world of ex wives, before wrapping up the show with a lesson on phone usage and the sad pathetic maudlin end of news anchor Walter Cronkite.

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KSTP chief political reporter Tom Hauser in as Deputy Mayor today.

Nicole Mitchell trial: Attorneys to present closing arguments Friday

Closing arguments start Friday morning in the burglary trial of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, who sat for hours of testimony Thursday.

Friday morning’s session began with Mitchell’s defence team calling character witnesses to the stand, with closing arguments expected to follow.

Nicole Mitchell is charged with first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools in connection with an alleged break-in at her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home last year. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

The Fulda Free Press is no more

FULDA, Minn. — The end arrived this week for three local newspapers in rural southwest Minnesota.

The Fulda Free Press and Murray County News, the Nobles County Review and the Murray County ADdvantage issued their final editions this week, ending more than 140 years of coverage in the region.

“Farewell!” said a statement in the Thursday edition of Fulda Free Press and Murray County News.

The statement from Johnson Publishing cited the high costs of printing and postage, lower numbers of subscribers and advertisers and increased demands for digital over print production.

The health concerns of Jerry Johnson, who ran the newspaper for more than half a century, were also said to be a factor. In 1972, Jerry Johnson, along with his wife, Louise, bought the Fulda Free Press. The paper traces its heritage to 1880, when it was first published under the name “The Farmer.”

“The end of an era has come for small town newspapers covering our area,” the statement said.

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Mike Welch tournament director for the 3M Open taking place next week. Get your tickets here

Feds execute search warrants connected to ‘massive scheme to defraud’ a Minnesota housing program

Alpha News was on location as a search warrant was being served at several locations related to a “massive scheme to defraud” Medicaid and Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program.

According to the search warrant, the fraud investigation involves HSS providers who billed for various services intended to provide stable housing for Minnesotans.

The search warrant states, “The Program has proved to be extremely vulnerable to fraud.”

The vulnerability stems from limited requirements for service providers and the vast services they can provide for Medicaid reimbursement.

“Since Minnesota became the first state to offer Medicaid coverage for Housing Stabilization Services, dozens of new companies have been created and enrolled in the program. These companies, and the individuals who run them, have taken advantage of the housing crisis and the drug addiction crisis in Minnesota to prey on individuals who need help getting back on their feet as they recover from drug addiction,” the warrant says.

“These companies and individuals do so by contacting Medicaid-eligible people in halfway houses and residential drug treatment facilities and offering to help them find stable housing. After registering these people to receive housing stabilization services, the companies fraudulently claim to provide dozens of Program service hours to their new ‘clients.’ In reality, client after client has reported that they received little or no actual services or assistance from these companies. But the companies engaged in this scheme have received millions of dollars in Medicaid funds for housing stabilization services they did not actually provide,” it continues.

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