Government

Lake Calhoun renaming heads to MN Supreme Court

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — In its ruling Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) January 2018 approval of Hennepin County’s request to rename Lake Calhoun as Bde Maka Ska.

Published

6 years ago

May 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By MSR News Online

In its ruling Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) January 2018 approval of Hennepin County’s request to rename Lake Calhoun as Bde Maka Ska.

Today the DNR has announced that it will appeal the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ decision. The DNR will submit its petition for review to the Minnesota Supreme Court by May 29.

According to Minnesota DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen, “DNR is very concerned with the implications of the Appeals Court’s ruling for our ability to work with county boards to reflect community standards in how the state’s waters are named. We have long worked with counties in eliminating offensive or derogatory names.

“We are also concerned with another aspect of the Appeals Court’s decision. Specifically, it opens the door for people to challenge a range of final agency decisions well after established appeals periods. This presents the potential for considerable disruption in the normal order of government decision making.”

DNR based its approval on the longstanding understanding of its authority under relevant state statute, the fact that Bde Maka Ska meets all state naming criteria and the fact that Hennepin County met all public process and other procedural requirements in asking DNR to approve the name change request.

—Information provided by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

City Council opposes relocation of concrete facility to Five Points West

Don't Miss

Jones Chosen as New Md. House Speaker

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

10 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.