Minnesota briefs: Rural crimes are going unsolved, report says

Crimes in cities throughout rural Minnesota are going unsolved, according to a report based on data from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Prepared by the Little Falls Police Department and based on bureau data for 2020, the report shows that many city police departments in rural Minnesota are clearing — through arrest or charges — fewer than half the crimes reported to them. (Find the report at bit.ly/3kwIvrz on page 57.)

Examining more than two dozen cities, the data show that many have clearance rates in the range of 30 to 50%. Among the lowest are Wyoming, Litchfield, Sartell and Waseca, with clearance rates below 30%.

Big Lake police cleared 80% of reported crimes, while the Montevideo and East Grand Forks departments cleared more than 70%. Baxter, Alexandria and Crookston cleared more than 60% of their cases.

john reinan

The National Rural Health Resource Center in Duluth has received a $10 million grant from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to expand telehealth and shore up workforce shortages in the Mississippi Delta region.

The money will help the center expand its Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program, which "provides technical assistance to rural health care organizations to improve patient outcomes, retain healthcare providers, and ensure long-term financial stability," according to a news release.

Brooks Johnson

Acknowledging the nation's history of removing Indigenous children from their families and placing them in boarding schools and adoptive homes, Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson has proclaimed Sept. 30 as "Truth and Reconciliation Day" in the city.

"Our country was made up of people from every nation on Earth, who are declared equal not only in freedom but also in justice," reads the proclamation signed by the mayor.

"Reconciliation efforts such as the recognition of Indigenous People's Day in the city of Moorhead have led to renewed hope for Indigenous people to feel a sense of cohesive belonging in communities through acknowledgment of events in the past."