
YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Minnesota commits a greater proportion of sex offenders to treatment lock-ups after prison than any other state. No one has been released, costs are mounting, and questions are increasing. Updated Mar. 23, 2011
Inside the Minnesota Sex Offender Program
Mike Meyer, 38, in his 13th year of treatment.
Mike Meyer remains locked up after completing all required treatment for sex offenders. An official rejected a recommendation for transfer as "premature."
Dennis Linehan
James Poole was committed in 1999.
The professionals in sex offender civil commitment cases follow established laws and criteria. But the law is broad, the science is fallible and many are uncomfortably aware that no one is being freed.
A Lethal Dose: The war on synthetic drugs
They carry names like Bliss and TranQuility, but don't be fooled: Synthetic drugs can be deadly. From a small town in Oklahoma to suburban Minnesota, these products have generated unusual violence and physical suffering. Efforts to control these substances remains a losing battlle.
State regulators have failed to protect some of Minnesota's most vulnerable citizens from being victimized by their care givers. Even known criminals have obtained state permission to work in nursing homes and other care settings.
Home builders are routinely allowed to break the rules on shoreline development. Polluters are allowed to keep polluting. And clean-up efforts are falling short. While public officials are trying to save Minnesota's iconic lakes, their efforts are undercut by a lack of federal mandates.
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