2024 was a big year for Minnesota news, with Alpha News breaking many crucial stories, especially as the state entered into the national spotlight with Gov. Tim Walz being selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.
Here are our 20 most-viewed stories from the past year along with snippets of text from each story:
1. Man who says he accompanied Walz on trip to China calls VP candidate ‘Maoist to the core’
A man who says he joined Tim Walz on a trip to communist China is speaking out about his experience of traveling to the country with the future vice-presidential candidate.
“It was almost a daily revelation of how much he adores the communist regime,” the former student told Alpha News.
The retired Nebraska National Guard soldier, who worked with Walz for three years, recounted the disappearance in an interview as a congressional investigation into Walz’s China ties continues.
3. Couple flees Minneapolis as crime turns neighborhood they once loved into ‘third-world country’
“Ever since the riots and the pandemic, it’s just gone downhill like there’s no tomorrow,” said Jeff Mammenga, who has slashed $100,000 off the asking price of his home in the more than six months it’s been on the market.
4. EXCLUSIVE: Mother says daughter was attacked at school because ‘she wasn’t Muslim’
A Minnesota mom is demanding answers after she says her nine-year-old daughter was jumped on the school playground by a group of girls who she was told targeted her daughter because “she wasn’t Muslim.”
5. ‘There’s a concerted effort to make people afraid of crime,’ Moriarty claims
“White supremacy is ingrained everywhere,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “White supremacy is what we all live in. It’s the water.”
6. Insurance company sues Minneapolis for ‘negligence’ during George Floyd riots
“The City’s negligence was a direct cause of the plaintiffs’ damages. The city is liable to the plaintiffs for their damages,” the lawsuit argues.
7. EXCLUSIVE: Gov. Walz’s conduct at press event following Burnsville shooting called ‘disgusting’
Sources said staffers with Walz’s office were told that the governor should stay away from the press conference.
The sound of a gameshow-like spinning wheel was almost as constant as the smell of fried foods on a stick along a stretch of Underwood Street on a mostly sunny Wednesday afternoon. A line of about five dozen people snaked its way down the boulevard stretching southward to Ye Old Mill at Carnes Avenue.
“You landed on Covid snitch line!” a volunteer from behind the “NEVER WALZ” booth shouted to a throng of onlookers who either cheered, jeered or were indifferent.
9. EXCLUSIVE: Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin speaks out ahead of attacker’s trial
“It’s really a day-by-day, hour-by-hour process to survive nowadays,” Chauvin told Alpha News from a federal prison in Texas.
10. ‘They beat us down’: Sheriff slams Minnesota’s DFL leadership following Burnsville shooting
Sheriff Knudson said he was speaking out because he knows “so many law enforcement officers in Minnesota feel this way, but they can’t say it.”
11. U of M student dies after being struck by vehicle, alleged driver facing multiple charges
The approximately 20-year-old female victim was transported to the hospital by EMS with a head injury and “multiple deformed extremities.”
12. Science replaced by ‘ideology,’ says longtime teacher leaving Minnesota
Carl Williams said he has observed a “push away from scientific knowledge and more towards ideological knowledge” in Minnesota’s schools.
13. Metro Transit reminds riders to not defecate on trains or sexually assault passengers
Metro Transit, which provides public transportation for the Twin Cities metro area, announced last week that it is installing new signs at light rail and bus transit stations which outline acceptable behaviors from riders.
“Transit property is not a public restroom,” the new rules read.
14. Burnsville suspect was denied gun rights in 2020, reportedly wanted for sex crime
The suspect in Sunday’s Burnsville tragedy has been identified by several sources who spoke to Alpha News.
Shannon Cortez Gooden, 38, opened fire on multiple first responders after they were called to respond to a domestic abuse incident at a Burnsville home, the sources said. The subsequent gunfight left two Burnsville police officers and a fire medic dead. Gooden died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, although several officers returned fire during the incident.
The City of Burnsville identified the fallen police officers as Paul Elmstrand, 27, and Matthew Ruge, 27. Additionally, the city identified the firefighter/paramedic as Adam Finseth, 40.
15. Reporter resigns after Minnesota newspaper refuses COVID vax injury story
Mike Lohre said the woman he interviewed is “definitely fighting for her life” after suffering what his story described as “brutal vaccine reactions.”
A Republican challenger to Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional district is calling out the three-term progressive Democrat for her stance on the military conflict that has intensified in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in recent days.
17. EXCLUSIVE: After being stabbed 22 times, Derek Chauvin suffers setbacks, double standards
In November 2023, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was copying documents in a law library at a federal prison in Tucson when he was stabbed 22 times. Chauvin is slowly recovering from the attack but continues to suffer a series of peculiar setbacks and double standards.
18. Trump flips four Minnesota counties, including win in Walz’s home county
Trump’s gains in Greater Minnesota included flips in Winona, Nicollet, Carlton, and Blue Earth counties.
19. Hotels paid by Hennepin County to house migrants at locations across Twin Cities
Hundreds of migrants are staying at “shelter sites” across the Twin Cities metro. Having been sheltered in Minnesota for months, these migrants are largely families who are staying at various Minneapolis area hotels.
Alpha News traveled to multiple shelter sites and talked with migrants and hotel staff on the ground.
20. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty drops charges against Trooper Londregan
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Sunday night that she is dropping the criminal charges her office filed against Minnesota Trooper Ryan Londregan in the death of Ricky Cobb II.
“It’s about g—damn time,” Londregan’s attorney, Chris Madel, told Alpha News Sunday night.
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
