Minnesota Feeding Our Future boss told accomplices to stop 'flaunting' their wealth as FBI raid neared.

Feeding Our Future boss Aimee Bock called an all-hands meeting and told her accomplices to stop “flaunting” their wealth as a federal investigation zeroed in on their alleged fraud, FBI Special Agent Jared Kary told a jury Thursday.

Kary took the stand for a second day as he explained how he helped uncover Bock’s alleged facilitation of a scheme to defraud the federal government of $250 million in child nutrition funds.

On trial with Bock is Salim Said, who co-owned Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis and ASA Limited, which operated a food site out of a deli in St. Paul.

Bock’s organization acted as a sponsor for food distribution sites across the state and allegedly accepted kickbacks in exchange. The participants are accused of asking for millions of dollars in reimbursements from the government for meals they never served meals that were supposed to go to children during the pandemic. In Minnesota, the federal nutrition programs are administered by the state Department of Education.

https://alphanews.org/feeding-our-future-boss-told-accomplices-to-stop-flaunting-their-wealth-as-fbi-raid-neared-agent-says/

Minnesota School district threatened with lawsuit for suspending teacher over deportation meme.

The Upper Midwest Law Center says the district targeted the teacher for her political views and violated her First Amendment rights.

“Ms. Zahn was targeted for her political views, and the school district clearly violated her First Amendment rights. Educators should not be punished for expressing their protected political beliefs when it has no impact on their teaching, and when it does not cause harm or significant educational disruption,” said James Dickey, senior trial counsel for UMLC. “We hope the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District acknowledges their misstep and issues an immediate apology to Ms. Zahn. If not, we will pursue legal action.”

In a letter sent to the district, UMLC says that Zahn’s punishment violates her First Amendment rights, demanding a full reversal of the disciplinary measures, including the removal of all related records from her personnel file, reimbursement for lost wages, and a formal public apology.

Zahn’s social media post, shared in a private Facebook group called “Prior Lake Lighthearted Conservative Group,” featured a meme stating: “A family that is deported together stays together.” UMLC argues that the school’s response to Zahn’s post constitutes unlawful retaliation against her political speech.

https://alphanews.org/school-district-threatened-with-lawsuit-for-suspending-teacher-over-deportation-meme/

Augsburg University in Minneapolis faces federal civil rights complaint over 'no whites allowed' faculty lunches.

Augsburg University is facing a federal civil rights complaint after allegedly hosting racially segregated faculty and staff lunches that bar white employees from attending.

The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), alleges that the university’s “Faculty and Staff of Color BYO Lunch Gatherings” violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans racial discrimination by federally funded institutions.

According to the complaint, Augsburg has been openly promoting and hosting these exclusively “staff of color” gatherings, with upcoming events scheduled for Feb. 14, March 7, and April 11, 2025. Similar lunches took place on multiple dates in 2024 and early 2025.

An internal source at Augsburg, who is not a person of color, confirmed that 189 faculty and staff members were invited to a recent gathering—all exclusively people of color, according to the complaint. White employees were not invited, the complaint says.

https://alphanews.org/augsburg-university-faces-federal-civil-rights-complaint-over-no-whites-allowed-faculty-lunches/

Planned Parenthood scrubs Instagram account as fears of DOGE cuts loom.

On Friday, Planned Parenthood posted another story, an animated gif with the words "I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me," and later there were just three posts on its Instagram page, all about condom use.

As speculation swirled about the mysterious disappearance of the posts, many pro-life advocates started to call for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This also comes just days after a conservative watchdog nonprofit founded by former President Mike Pence, urged the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal spending on Planned Parenthood.

"For the sake of the American people and generations yet unborn, the time has come for the United States to finally defund the largest abortion provider in America," Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom, wrote in a letter to Elon Musk.

Planned Parenthood health centers received nearly $22 billion in HHS grants and $53 billion from public health programs from 2019 to 2021, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/planned-parenthood-appears-to-scrub-instagram-as-fears-of-doge-cuts-loom/ar-AA1z6REs

DOGE has recovered $1.9 billion in taxpayer funds ‘misplaced’ by Biden admin.

The massive trove belonged to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and was discovered a day after HUD Secretary Scott Turner launched a DOGE task force at his agency.

“$1.9 billion of HUD money was just recovered after being misplaced during the Biden administration due to a broken process.

“It is astounding how much taxpayer money can be saved with even a small amount of effort,” Musk wrote on X, sharing the solicitation contracts related to the money found by DOGE.

The contracts were earmarked for Carrington Mortgage Services and Selene Finance in August 2019 and would’ve paid out $751,221,224.87 and $836,689.235.84 to each company, respectively.

Turner, a former NFL-cornerback-turned-Dallas housing developer, was confirmed by the Senate to lead HUD last week.

“We will be very detailed and deliberate about every dollar spent in serving tribal, rural and urban communities across America,” he said Thursday.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/doge-says-it-recovered-1-9-billion-in-taxpayer-funds-misplaced-by-biden-admin/ar-AA1z5ZO9

NY test scores plummet, kids flee — yet empty schools stay open, wasting billions.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/ny-test-scores-plummet-kids-flee-yet-empty-schools-stay-open-wasting-billions/ar-AA1z5nkQ

Special counsel Jack Smith discloses ‘gift’ of $140,000 in free legal services.

Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two criminal cases against President Donald Trump, received $140,000 in pro bono legal services from a prominent Washington law firm before he resigned last month.

It’s not clear precisely why Smith sought outside legal advice, but Trump repeatedly railed against Smith and his team, vowing to fire them and sometimes appearing to call for them to be criminally prosecuted.

“They ought to throw Deranged Jack Smith and his Thug Prosecutors in jail,” Trump wrote in a social media post in 2023, shortly after Smith filed a new indictment in the case charging Trump with illegally retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and conspiring to obstruct the investigation into their handling.

Earlier this month, in her first day on the job, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive decrying the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under the Biden administration and setting up a “working group” to investigate the phenomenon.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/special-counsel-jack-smith-discloses-gift-of-140-000-in-free-legal-services/ar-AA1z5dAs