Hennepin County

Twin Cities has the cheapest and strongest heroin in the country, officials say [PHOTO]

Heroin is a bigger problem than ever in the Twin Cities, and especially in Hennepin County, law enforcement officials said at a news conference today.SEE ALSO: Moorhead police decry recent influx of Cali medical marijuanaAt the newser, a doctor said there were four heroin-related deaths reported in ... More >>

Same-sex couples might have to wait just a little longer to wed in Minnesota

Since Gov. Mark Dayton signed the gay marriage bill into law Tuesday, same-sex couples around the state have already begun planning their weddings, many hoping to wed the day the law goes into effect on Aug. 1. But those couples looking to be among the very first to legally marry in Minnesota mig ... More >>

Civil commitment overhaul moves to Senate floor

Two bills designed to reduce the amount of time mentally ill offenders spend in jail awaiting treatment passed a Senate committee last week, and will now head to the floor. One of the bills would mandate that the Department of Human Services transfer the offender out of jail within 48 hours of a j ... More >>

Hennepin County resorts to color psychology in fight against invasives

While some lakes are shutting down boat launches or instituting 24-hour watches to combat invasive aquatic species, Hennepin County has decided to take a different approach: behavioral psychology and peer pressure.One of the results from the county's $40,000 pilot project is the use of blue on new s ... More >>

Hennepin County street homelessness down 40 percent since 2010

​Street homelessness in Hennepin County is down considerably from two years ago, according to a city of Minneapolis report presented to the City Council today.A count this January found 204 homeless people living on Hennepin County streets. That's down from 341 in 2010, meaning street homelessness ... More >>

Hennepin County Judge Lloyd Zimmerman: Gun violence a possibility at local courts

​A Hennepin County judge is worried could be "carried out in a body bag" when hearing cases at Brookdale, so he's refusing to hear cases there anymore.It appears Judge Lloyd Zimmerman's strategy has paid dividends, at least for him. His act of civil disobedience resulted in him being reassigned to ... More >>

Occupy MN protester slammed by Hennepin County security [VIDEO]

​Last night, Occupy MN set up dozens of tents in the Hennepin County Government Plaza in preparation for the night's snow flurries, and in defiance of no-structures and no-sleeping rules put in place by the county. At about 4:15 a.m., Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies and plaza security officers ... More >>

Occupy MN and ACLU sue Hennepin County

​The ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of four members of the Occupy MN movement. The 92-page filing lists Hennepin County, the county commissioners, Sheriff Rich Stanek, and "unnamed" Hennepin County deputies and security officers as defendants. At the heart of the lawsuit is whether new restri ... More >>

Occupy MN will defy new Hennepin County protest restrictions

Protesters are again willing to risk arrest.​A countdown is on to this evening, when Hennepin County officials have set the deadline for disallowing sleeping, signs and portable toilets in Government Plaza, effectively ending the "occupation" part of the Occupy MN movement. But the protesters are ... More >>

Occupy MN protesters barred from sleeping in Government Plaza starting Monday

Occupy MN FacebookAn occupier gets in Sheriff Rich Stanek's face outside the commissioner's meeting Tuesday.​Hennepin County commissioners voted unanimously in favor of enacting yet another raft of stricter rules on Occupy MN protesters camping out in Government Plaza. According to the new restri ... More >>

Occupy MN: Hennepin County Sheriff investigating "riot equipment" kit [UPDATE]

Just add actual rioters!​Yesterday in the Hennepin County Government Plaza, where Occupy MN protesters have been gathering and sleeping for two and a half weeks, building security noticed an odd package amongst the occupiers' belongings and confiscated it. No bomb squad or drug sniffing dog were ... More >>

David Raisch-Day, teen from Cass Lake, ID'd in latest homicide

​David Raisch-Day, an 18-year-old from Cass Lake, has been identified as the man who took a bullet in the head in last Thursday night's homicide in south Minneapolis. Police say he was standing among a group of people outside a home on the 2700 block of Longfellow Avenue South when shots were ... More >>

Tropical Goth

Darrell Fisher ID'd as homicide victim on Humboldt Avenue

​Twenty-two-year-old Darrell Fisher has been identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as the man who died late Monday night in a shooting on Humboldt Avenue North. Police found him an adjacent alley. Another man was found shot but alive in a nearby home, but his injuries are describ ... More >>

American Lung Association: Ramsey County's air gets a "D"

Broken HaikuTime to clear the air.​Smell something bad? The American Lung Association is out with a new study today that shows Ramsey County fell from a "C" to a "D" grade when it comes to air quality -- the worst in the state. Based on EPA data on ozone and particle pollution from 2007-2009, ... More >>

Hennepin County: Not so healthy, but it could be worse

It looks pretty healthy, right?​Hennepin County is the most populous county in Minnesota. It encompasses a city that regularly breaks the Top 10 in all sorts of quality of life studies. But if you want the healthiest county, you're going to need to look west. According to a University of Wisc ... More >>

Hennepin County explains the smoking ban

Hennepin County's smoking ban: Does it go too far? Take the poll below.​We mentioned the other day that Hennepin County Commissioners have now passed a far-reaching ban on smoking in and on all country property. The new rule builds on previous policies that banned smoking in, and within 45 fee ... More >>

Hennepin County bans smoking everywhere, even its cars

Not as popular as it used to be.​Smokers aren't going to be welcome anywhere on Hennepin County property, including in county-owned vehicles, after commissioners approved a smoking ban by a 6-1 margin yesterday. The goal of the measure is to just clear the air uniformly for all county proper ... More >>

Slug's senior portrait unearthed by the Hennepin County Library

​Now here's a history project I can get behind: The Hennepin County Library has been slowly unearthing and digitizing its vast High School Yearbook Collection, which dates all the way back to the early 1900s, and posting some gems to its Tumblr page.

Modernist Cuisine: Check out the epic, $625 cookbook for free

Modernist Cuisine"The cookbook to end all cookbooks." -David Chang​Copies of what is surely the most epic cookbook of the contemporary world--the six-volume, 2,438-page, 39.5 pound, five-years-in-the-making Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking--are currently on their way to the ha ... More >>

Ryedelle Reginald Loving arrested in Gilbert Jordan's murder

​Ryedelle Reginald Loving, a 21-year-old from Northeast Minneapolis, has been booked into the Hennepin County jail on probable cause murder in the death of Gilbert Jordan, the city's 30th homicide victim of the year. Minneapolis police Sgt. William Palmer said Loving was arrested at about 4 a. ... More >>

Hennepin County Master Gardener Tour

Double homicide suspect kills himself in police chase

​Minneapolis police say that a man who crashed his car near a Lake Street convenience store earlier this morning was being chased by police because he was a suspect in two deadly shootings overnight. Not only that, but he shot himself to death during the chase, according to MPD spokesman Sgt ... More >>

Mark Savin double-dipped as a prominent attorney in the Twins deal

He represented Hennepin County when it was acquiring the land for Target Field, and he represented the developer who was working with the landowner to get the sweetest deal possible.

James Eric King is identified as 11th Minneapolis homicide victim of 2010

He was shot and killed at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Lake Street at the intersection of Clinton Avenue, a few blocks east of I-35W.

Hennepin County keeps up effort to burn more trash near Target Field

County and state officials met to figure out how best to proceed with environmental impact studies.

Two teenagers each held on $3M bond in Seward triple homicide

Police say Mahdi Hassan Ali was the gunman and Ahmed Shire Ali was his accomplice in a robbery attempt.

Champps-Minneapolis not paying its bills lawsuit says

Champps' Minneapolis location was sued last week for not paying for over $170,000 worth of goods and services.

In drinking, driving and dying, Hennepin County leads the state

The numbers, which cover 2006-2008, are being used by DPS as a way to figure out where to concentrate stepped-up DWI highway patrols over the holidays.

Hennepin County Medical Center gets a rooftop garden

Our man R.T. christened a new rooftop herb garden at the county hospital yesterday.

Two ambulances crash in one night, minutes apart

Two ambulances from Hennepin County Medical Center were involved in collisions with other vehicles within minutes of each other Saturday.

More probable Minn. flu cases, people shrug?

The Minnesota Department of Health announced three more probable cases of the H1N1 influenza today. Two cases are in Hennepin County and one is in Washington County.

U of M house party hosts at riot site won't be evicted after all

Perhaps the Dinkytown Rental owner realized this isn't exactly the best time to be evicting people who are quite happy to pay for overpriced and shitty Dinkytown housing.

Correction: Records are destroyed, but not burned

Sledding in Minnesota: Do it, but don't die

Same-sex domestic violence is real--and deadly

Judge's Order Questions DWI Convictions

The New Twins Park: A Big Roadblock at Home Plate

3Q New Minneapolis Foundation President-to-be Sandy Vargas

Stealing Home

The Twins ballpark deal hits a snag on one minor detail: Property acquisition

Twins Stadium: Verbatim testimony from the House

Twins Stadium, Chapter 83462398

Strike four: Another municipality opposes stadium

Smoking ban update: Bar owners go on the attack

The Interloper

Hines Interests joins in the stadium game. What does that mean for Twinsville?

City council half-pregnant on ballpark

You Know You Want It

The Strib's sometimes-contrarian editorial board joins the pro-stadium chorus

Passing the Buck on Sex Offenders

Nowhere Man

Eight months ago, a man jumped from a Mall of America parking ramp. Medical examiners still don't know who he was.