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Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer .

“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.

In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.

“We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.

Alex Pretti’s family struggles for information about what happened

The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

“I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”

Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

Alex Pretti had protested before

Pretti’s ex-wife, who spoke to the AP but later said she didn’t want her name used, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

She said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

Pretti had ‘a great heart’

Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet and warmhearted.

“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”

If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.

His neighbors knew he had guns — he’d occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

“I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.

Pretti was also passionate about the outdoors

A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi, Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a year ago.

His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.

Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

“He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

Man killed by Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was an ICU nurse who grew up in Green Bay is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A bill moving through the Wisconsin Legislature would offer low-interest loans to small dairy farmers to boost efficiency as the state’s dairy industry rapidly consolidates into larger industrial operations.

But ahead of the state’s legislative session, which resumed in early January, major farm and dairy industry representatives pushed for changes that would allow large industrial farms to access the loans, according to lobbying communications and draft legislation obtained by Investigate Midwest through open records requests.

The state has lost nearly 18,000 dairy farms over the past two decades and, as of 2022, has roughly 6,000 operating dairy farms, with small-scale farms dwindling rapidly. 

Wisconsin dairy farms with fewer than 500 cattle have decreased 67% since 2002. Almost every county in the state has lost at least half of its small farms in that same time, according to an Investigate Midwest USDA data analysis.

Senate Bill 323, introduced in July 2025, would set aside $20 million to create an innovation program for dairy farmers in the state to fund the purchase of new equipment or expand animal health practices to produce more milk. Farmers would apply through the state’s agriculture department.

Bill authors said farmers could also use the funds to develop manure management plans, create products from manure and improve animal health and outputs to produce higher-quality products, such as buttermilk. Medium and small dairy farmers can access up to $500,000 administered by the state’s agricultural department. 

The bill was passed by the Senate 18 to 15 on Jan. 21 and can now be heard by the state Assembly.

Dispute over dairy herd sizes

State Sen. Rob Stafsholt, a New Richmond Republican who authored the bill, said economic sustainability has been an issue brought to him by farm operators throughout his rural, northwestern district.

“Some of the technology that can make farmers as efficient as possible and would help the smaller guys to compete with the bigger guys is often financially out of reach for our small and medium farms,” he said. 

The Wisconsin dairy industry is worth nearly $53 billion, and its farms have become increasingly larger in recent years, while the overall number of farms continues to decrease. This trend has created legal clashes between rural towns and dairy farms across the state.

Bigger farms increase profitability by working with consolidated dairy processing companies. Small operations also work with large-scale processors but often rely on boutique dairy product sales, such as those from small-scale creameries or co-ops.

Cost is a major factor in the decline of small farms. The cost of operating a dairy farm in the U.S. has nearly doubled in the last decade, while the price farmers receive for their milk has fallen 15% in the same time frame, according to an analysis of USDA data.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau and the Dairy Business Association, lobbying and advocacy groups for the state’s dairy and agriculture sector, both asked bill authors to remove the bill’s limit on the number of animal units a farm could have to apply for funding.

In Wisconsin, animal units are a metric primarily used to determine whether a farm meets the threshold for being considered a concentrated animal feeding operation, otherwise known as a CAFO. A single animal unit does not equate to a single animal. For example, a dairy cow is the equivalent of 1.4 animal units, while it would take roughly 30 chickens to equal a single animal unit.

Farms with 1,000 or more animal units have to apply for additional permits through the state’s Department of Natural Resources to manage waste. As farms get larger, increased waste can lead to runoff and pollution problems for nearby communities and waterways. Livestock runoff has been linked to cancers, infant deaths and miscarriages. 

The current bill language sets an applicant’s limit at roughly 999 animal units, or roughly 700 dairy cattle.

In a letter to the bill authors, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau requested that the cap be removed, allowing the size of the farm to be part of the determination when applying for funding, rather than disallowing a larger farm from applying altogether. 

“By aligning the program’s design with its intent, the bill can more effectively support on-farm innovation and ensure that Wisconsin farmers of all sizes have the opportunity to modernize, improve herd health, and maintain our state’s leadership in agricultural innovation,” the letter stated. 

The Dairy Business Association, a trade group headquartered in Green Bay and operated by a board of executives with ties to CAFOs across the state, dairy processors and cheesemakers, told lawmakers in a letter that the state’s large farms provide stability to the milk supply and should be a part of the funding pool.

“A strong dairy economy depends on participation from farms of all sizes,” the letter states. “If this program’s eligibility criteria exclude large farms, the ripple effects will weaken — not strengthen — rural Wisconsin.”

Records show that Dairy Business Association lobbyists met with bill authors soon after the bill text was circulated in early June 2025 to discuss the herd size provision and other concerns with the legislation. The Dairy Business Association did not respond to requests for comment. 

The office of state Rep. Clint Moses, a Menomonie Republican who co-introduced a similar bill in the state’s Assembly, provided an early draft of a bill amendment to Dairy Business Association lobbyists ahead of the release of the amendment, according to an Aug. 5, 2025, email.

Despite meetings with lobbyists to express concerns about the bill’s language regarding herd size, the language has not changed to remove the animal unit cap. 

Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, said that if the legislation caps farm size, the funding will help more farmers. He said the Wisconsin Farmers Union supports maintaining the animal unit limit in the current legislation and will continue to watch the bill closely. 

“The dollars that are available there could be easily swallowed up by two or three of the biggest farms in the state, and then nobody else will be able to be a part of that process,” Von Ruden said.

Stafsholt, the senator who introduced the bill, said that the original purpose of the bill was to support small and medium-sized farms and that keeping a limit on animal units will stop large farms from taking larger pieces of the program’s budget. 

“Going forward, I have no intention of switching that number,” he said. 

Bill addresses dairy’s undocumented workforce

The bill also points to the realities of drafting legislation affecting the dairy industry and navigating the sector’s open secret: undocumented labor. 

Draft legislation shows bill authors intent on blocking farms that use undocumented labor from qualifying for the loan program. The current version of the bill would only allow farms that employ workers who are authorized to work in the state to apply for the program.

There are no definitive counts of the number of undocumented laborers working on Wisconsin dairy farms, but research estimates that nearly 70% of the state’s dairy industry relies on undocumented labor. 

“I don’t have an issue with (farms) doing what they are doing,” Stafsholt said. “It’s more about following the law. We want to make sure taxpayer dollars funding the dairy cattle innovation program are not necessarily being utilized by those who fail to follow the basic law.”

In September 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested dairy farm workers in Manitowoc County as part of a larger raid in the area. This comes as ICE raids have hit major agricultural industries and cities, detaining workers and increasing anxiety throughout the labor force. 

Lobbyists from both the Farm Bureau and the Dairy Business Association initially expressed concerns about the impact this limitation would have. 

In an August email from a member of Stafsholt’s staff to the senator, meeting notes show that Dairy Business Association representatives expressed concerns about the original requirement that farms employ only individuals legally authorized to work in Wisconsin, but that language remains in the current version. 

“After conversations with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection on how the bill provision will be facilitated and discussions with the bill authors, staff, and stakeholders, we are not prioritizing changing that provision,” Jason Mugnaini, a Wisconsin Farm Bureau lobbyist, told Investigate Midwest in December.

This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

CAFOs want in on proposal meant to help Wisconsin’s small dairy farms is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti was a 2006 graduate of Preble High School in Green Bay, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

The post The man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an ICU nurse, family says appeared first on WPR.

Masked federal agents on the scene near where a federal officer shot a Minnesotan for the third time in as many weeks. (Photo by Madison McVan/Minnesota Reformer)

This story has been updated.

A ​​federal agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, escalating tensions after another killing earlier in the month.

It was the third shooting by immigration officers in the city in three weeks – and the second to end in death. Democratic local and state officials immediately condemned Saturday’s shooting as protests ramped up, and Republican President Donald Trump threatened again to send military troops to Minnesota.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said federal agents killed a 37-year-old man whom officials believe is a U.S. citizen who lives in Minneapolis. Video of the shooting was captured by observers and posted to social media.

The man who was killed has been identified as Alex Jeffrey Pretti in a statement from Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, and by the Star Tribune and The Associated Press.

Pretti, who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was an ICU nurse who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration hospital, according to a Wisconsin Public Radio interview with his parents, who still live in Green Bay,

O’Hara said he had no information about what led up to the shooting but said the man, whom he did not name, was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry. O’Hara says police have not interacted with the deceased other than a few traffic tickets.

Protesters line streets

Hundreds of protesters gathered near where the shooting happened, despite subzero temperatures. Many wore gas masks and eye protection — common in the Twin Cities, where demonstrations started when immigration officers arrived in December.

Federal agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs to push back the crowds, which lined up at several intersections near the site of the shooting shouting, “Shame!” and “ICE out, f*ck ICE!”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey again urged the federal government to end its two-month immigration siege, which has brought 3,000 federal officers to Minnesota, or nearly five times the number of sworn Minneapolis police officers.

“How many times must local and national leaders plead with you, Donald Trump, to end this operation and recognize that this is not creating safety in our city?” Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Gov. Tim Walz said he’d spoken to the White House after the shooting, but he doesn’t have confidence federal officials will change their actions or leave the state. He said the Department of Homeland Security has rushed to judgement and is already slandering the man who was killed.

“Minnesotans: You know who you are, and you demonstrate it every single day,” Walz said. “And we damn sure know who these people are. The American public knows. This needs to be the event that says, ‘enough.’”

Law enforcement blocked off the streets and deployed tear gas to dissuade angry demonstrators from going near the site of the shooting, which was on Nicollet Avenue just south of 26th Street. Over 100 federal agents were on the scene after the shooting.

O’Hara urged demonstrators to go home. State Patrol and other state law enforcement were there also in an attempt to keep the peace.

Video captures shooting

In a graphic video now circulating on social media, six federal agents appear to wrestle the man to the ground in front of the New American Development Center. One of the agents hits the man three times with what appears to be a firearm. Bystanders are surrounding the group and filming on their cell phones.

Over 10 shots can be heard in the video, but it’s unclear if more than one agent fired a weapon.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post that officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against someone illegally in the U.S. “wanted for violent assault,” when another person approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm handgun.

Video shows an agent in a gray jacket approach the man as he’s being held on the ground by multiple other agents and then walk away with what appears to be a gun in his hand, before shots are fired.

“The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming,” Homeland Security said. “Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”

U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said in a press conference that the officer who shot the man is “highly trained” and served as a Border Patrol agent for eight years. Bovino said the agent has “extensive training as a Range Safety Officer,” to ensure people on a gun range are using it safely.

The parents of Alex Pretti, Michael and Susan Pretti, released a statement Saturday, castigating the Trump administration for slandering their son with “sickening lies” that they called “reprehensible and disgusting.”

They defended their son’s conduct, saying he was protecting a woman who had been pushed down by federal agents. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

Conflict between state and federal law enforcement

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which typically investigates law enforcement shootings, said in a social media post their agents arrived at the scene of Saturday’s killing at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department but were blocked from accessing the location by the Department of Homeland Security.

BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said that after BCA officials were blocked from the scene of the shooting, they obtained a signed judicial warrant to gain access. BCA officials returned to the scene, but DHS agents still denied access.

The BCA began a joint investigation into the ICE officer shooting of Renee Good earlier this month before being abruptly shut out of the investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, hindering local prosecutors from being able to consider if criminal charges are warranted against the officer.

Walz expressed disbelief that the federal agents were able to leave the scene with little to no investigation.

“You kill a man and then you just leave?” the governor said. “Is there a single case in American history where you just, like, walk away and say, ‘I guess that just happened and we’re not going to clean up our mess.’”

Walz said the federal agents involved in the shooting will be held accountable.

“Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word,” the governor said.

Trump posted a rambling response to the shooting on his social media platform referencing U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s bank account and saying “what you’re witnessing” is part of a cover up for Medicaid fraud.

“The Mayor and the Governor are inciting insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric,” Trump wrote, reviving a threat to invoke the Insurrection Act and send military troops into the streets of Minnesota. 

Accounts contradict Homeland Security

Homeland Security statements about the previous shootings have later been found to be false or misleading. After the Jan. 7 killing of Good, the department referred to her as a “domestic terrorist.”

A 911 call after a second shooting, of a Venezuelan man in north Minneapolis, suggests that the agent shot at the man as he was trying to escape into a house, which would contradict the Department of Homeland Security account that the federal immigration agent fired a shot defensively. In a sworn affidavit, an FBI agent confirmed that the agent shot the man when he had begun running toward the house, the Star Tribune reported.

As Reformer sibling publication Stateline recently reported, Homeland Security recently revised its account of a December shooting in Glen Burnie, Maryland, after local police contradicted its initial version. The agency first claimed both men injured in the incident were inside a van that ICE officers fired at in self-defense, but later said that one of the injured men had already been arrested and was in custody inside an ICE vehicle when he was hurt. The other man was shot twice and is facing two federal criminal charges.

In August, federal immigration agents fired at a family’s vehicle three times in San Bernardino, California. Homeland Security maintained the shooting was justified after at least two agents were struck by the vehicle, but available footage shows an agent breaking the driver-side window moments before gunfire erupted. Surveillance footage from the street does not show agents being struck by the vehicle.

The Saturday shooting comes one day after tens of thousands of people protested ICE in downtown Minneapolis in subzero temperatures.

The Minnesota National Guard has been on active duty for over a week, meaning that they are prepared to rapidly respond if they are deployed. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt on Saturday requested support from the National Guard to help them provide security at the federal Whipple Building — the site of ongoing protests. It’s unclear how many guard members will be stationed there.

Reformer Deputy Editor Max Nesterak and Reporter Alyssa Chen contributed to this report.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.

The post Emerald Bluffs Solar Project Approved by PSC appeared first on RENEW Wisconsin.

(The Center Square) – A bill that would incentivize nuclear energy by providing credits and allowing companies to charge customers for developing the nuclear energy in Wisconsin passed the Assembly with an 86-11 vote despite opposition from multiple groups.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers does not plan to sign a bill currently in the Senate that would prevent individuals who were identified as male at birth from competing on women’s athletic teams in the University of…

(The Center Square) – People in Wisconsin didn’t let higher prices or higher interest rates stop them from buying a home last year.

(The Center Square) - Wisconsin state Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, will not be running for another term in the Senate.

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In Walworth County, Wisconsin, a grassroots effort is reimagining what care can look like across generations. A local community group has launched the “Nursery to Nursing Home” campaign, a proposal to transform a vacant wing of the county’s nursing home into a combined child care center and living space for older adults, addressing caregiving shortages.

“Some of the issues we’ve seen as top concerns in Walworth County include a lack of child care, a lack of senior care and the loneliness that comes with living in a rural community with an aging population and harsh winters. Together, it all creates a perfect storm for feeling isolated,” said Maddie Sweetman, who lives in Walworth County. “(The intergenerational care center) would be a beautiful way to not only address the need for seats and beds, but also to bring these two vulnerable communities together.”

The Lakeland Health Care Center, a county-owned skilled nursing facility in Elkhorn, has had a vacant wing since 2019 when staff shortages forced the facility to downsize. Now, Groundswell Collective, a local community group with a track record of advocating for older residents, is leading an effort to turn that space into 12 apartments for older people and a child care center that serves 60 to 70 children. After nearly a year of community organizing around the proposal, the Walworth County Board approved funding for a feasibility study in November for the intergenerational care center, a major step in advancing the project.

“In Walworth County, all 2,240 licensed child care slots, spread across the 35 active centers listed on the DCF (Department of Children and Families) website, are already full. That leaves nearly 2,680 children without stable care,” said Abriana Krause, who lives and works in East Troy as a child care provider, at a board committee meeting. “At the same time, Wisconsin is projected to need 30,000 additional senior beds by 2030 .… We are facing two parallel crises, child care and senior care, and the vacant wing at Lakeland Health Care Center offers us a rare opportunity to address both at once.”

As part of the proposal, county employees would get priority for child care slots.

Sweetman, a mother of two who is a full-time student and employee at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, knows firsthand how valuable this benefit could be for parents. When Sweetman’s children were younger, her husband worked at Lakeland Health Care Center as a certified nursing assistant while he completed nursing school. Unable to afford child care, Sweetman stayed home with her young children.

“I wonder whether having a child care facility under the same roof would have given me more access to child care, allowing me to return to school work sooner, graduate sooner, and be working full time now,” Sweetman said. “I also think about how that might have changed our overall trajectory, and what it would have meant for me personally as I managed two kids under two on my own and all the mental health challenges that came with that.”

Now, Sweetman is part of Groundswell Collective and advocating for other families to have the opportunity she did not.

“That (child care opportunity) didn’t happen for us, but I think about how it could happen for people going forward and for our community, not just for those who have children but also for seniors and for people who may soon need assisted living,” Sweetman said.

Groundswell Collective has leaned heavily on research to make its case.

“We have looked into the evidence-based benefits of intergenerational care,” said Deb Gill-Dorgan, a retired speech language pathologist and member of Groundswell Collective. “We know that adults report less loneliness, better health, a renewed sense of purpose in life, and it improves children’s social skills and educational outcomes.”

Research shows that intergenerational care sites boost well-being for both children and older people, reducing isolation, improving cognitive and physical health for older people, and cultivating empathy and connection in young children. Studies also find that these programs create cost efficiencies, especially when facility expenses and other operational costs can be shared.

Jill Juris, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education at Appalachian State University, is seeing these benefits through her research with BRIDGE2Health, an intergenerational mentoring program. The program is a collaboration between the Cooperative Extensions in Ohio and Virginia that connects high school students with older adults and is generating qualitative and quantitative data demonstrating increases in social connections and life skills.

“These findings align with other research indicating intergenerational interaction improves empathy, peer relationships and academic performance in younger populations, while increasing the quality of life and sense of purpose for older adults,” Juris said. “By bridging the gap between ages, these programs truly make a difference, improving the all-around well-being of everyone involved.”

Sheri Steinig, director of strategic initiatives and communications at Generations United, said that intergenerational care fosters relationships that transcend age that can serve the community as a whole.

“There’s a breakdown of age stereotypes that we see at a very young age when babies and toddlers are around older people,” Steinig said. “There are these characteristics of care, compassion and empathy that ripple out into both the families and the communities.”

In intentionally creating spaces that bring older and younger people together, these benefits organically emerge in daily interactions.

“By eliminating or reducing barriers that we’ve unintentionally put up between connecting younger and older people, there’s just a wealth of benefits that we can see in terms of educational outcomes, well-being, physical and mental health,” Steinig said.

“Intergenerational spaces offer opportunities for meaningful interactions through repeated connections that foster lasting relationships,” Juris said. “Children and older adults seeing each other within a daily routine allows for magical moments of interaction to occur.”

Those benefits extend to the caregiving staff. Steinig said that daily interaction with both children and older adults can enhance the work environment and make intergenerational centers more rewarding for staff.

Gill-Dorgan said she hopes that prioritizing county employees for child care placements at the proposed intergenerational center will help retain nursing staff, who can experience high turnover while managing their own family caregiving responsibilities.

For many involved in Groundswell Collective, the intergenerational center proposal offers a path forward on common ground at a time of uncertainty.

“As gaps widen at the federal level, I feel like there’s this turn to local solutions and our local government, and how can we fill the gaps? I see this intergenerational facility as part of that effort,” Sweetman said.

Pastor Lily Brellenthin, a mother of three who leads a Lutheran church in Walworth that serves an older congregation, has found hope through her community work with Groundswell Collective.

“In a world that’s so divided, to have some people now linking arm and arm to come together in our little place of the world is so uplifting,” said Brellenthin. “I feel like it’s proving that we are stronger in community.”

“We hope this is just the beginning,” Gill-Dorgan said. “We hope something like this will be seen as being beneficial and a wonderful idea, and hopefully other people will get involved and build more such centers.”

This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations, and The Commonwealth Fund.

This article first appeared on The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

‘Nursery to nursing home’: Walworth County group envisions shared care across generations is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

The ordinance states that law enforcement agencies must have prior authorization to use parks or parkways as staging areas.

The post Milwaukee County officials consider ordinance to limit ICE from operating in county parks appeared first on WPR.

A paper company that’s been named responsible for PFAS contamination is launching a bottled water program for residents in the northern Wisconsin town of Stella.

The post Paper company named responsible for PFAS pollution offers bottled water to Stella appeared first on WPR.

Republicans insist much of the surplus is one-time money and the state can’t afford the relief. 

The post Gov. Evers: State budget surplus allows for both school funding, property tax relief appeared first on WPR.

John W. Miller takes over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation at a time of economic uncertainty.

The post New WEDC head shares vision for Wisconsin economic development, data centers appeared first on WPR.

Kory Adams is not even a year out from high school. But he’s now the owner of his own cattle ranch and pursuing his dream of a life on the farm in northern Wisconsin.

The post Pursuing a farming dream after high school appeared first on WPR.

President Trump has taken several controversial actions in his first year back in office. But the country — and Wisconsin — remain deeply polarized over whether he is doing a good job or not.

The post Wisconsinites’ approval of President Trump falling after first year back in office appeared first on WPR.

Tens of thousands of people march in downtown Minneapolis in subzero temperatures to protest the massive presence of ICE agents over the past several weeks Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched in downtown Minneapolis Friday in a negative 30 degree windchill to protest the federal government’s continuing surge of immigration enforcement — demanding civil rights and a withdrawal of the 3,000 officers sent here by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The demonstration took place on “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom,” a general strike supported by Minnesota unions, progressive faith leaders and community activists. Proponents encouraged all Minnesotans to stay home from work, school and refrain from shopping — disruptions of normal orders of business to protest the presence of federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

The massive protest began at The Commons Park at 2 p.m. in Minneapolis. The march ended with a rally at Target Center. 

Natasha Dockter, the first vice president of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators’ teachers chapter, handed out hand warmers to demonstrators at The Commons alongside other teachers.

“I’m out here today because what’s going on in our city is completely and totally unacceptable. It’s impacting the lives of our students and their families that we serve,” Dockter said.

Sergey Goro and Ben Daniel were visiting the Twin Cities from San Francisco and Seattle for the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, which was delayed due to the extreme cold. 

Goro said that he’d been to No Kings protests — demonstrations against the Trump administration’s authoritarian policies — in San Francisco, but that they weren’t as large as the Minneapolis protest. 

Daniel agreed: “We can really feel that everyone’s on board here — that this is ridiculous and it’s gotta stop.” 

Daniela Morales, 16, carrying a Mexican flag, said her parents are both Mexican immigrants and that she attended the protest on behalf of people who can’t speak out. 

“I’m really glad to see everybody come out and support each other and our neighbors and fight against the administration,” Morales said. 

Other protests led to arrests

A morning protest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport led to the arrests of roughly 100 clergy by MSP and Bloomington law enforcement Friday, according to a statement from protest organizers.

Demonstrators at the airport were standing or kneeling on the roadway outside Terminal 1’s departures area and led away by law enforcement.

Jeff Lea, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said in an email that the airport “worked in advance with event organizers to best accommodate their right to freedom of expression while also ensuring uninterrupted operations.”

“When the permitted activity went beyond the agreed-upon terms, MSP Airport Police began taking necessary action, including arrests, to protect public safety, airport security and access to Terminal 1,” Lea wrote. Lea confirmed there were around 100 arrests.

At least one demonstrator was also arrested at the nearby Whipple Federal Building, where federal agents deployed chemical irritants into a crowd of protestors, the Star Tribune reported. Around noon, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office announced that it had given three dispersal orders for protestors to unblock an access road at the building. The Whipple Building, now a base for federal immigration operations, has been an ongoing site of protests.

Life stood still Friday for many Minnesotans. Over 700 businesses closed Friday to support the “ICE Out” day, according to Bring Me The News, which is keeping a running list.

“It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in MN, accountability for federal agents who have caused loss of life and abuse to Minnesota residents and call for Congress to immediately intervene,” the demonstration’s website states.

Over a dozen churches across Minnesota announced prayer vigils to “mourn, pray and plant seeds of hope with one another,” according to ISAIAH, the nonprofit coalition of Minnesota faith and community groups.

Dozens of school districts across the state closed Friday because of the dangerously cold temperatures. Minneapolis Public Schools were already planned to be closed Friday for a teacher record-keeping day.

Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks during the annual March for Life rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23, 2026. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to expand a policy that blocks foreign aid dollars from going to organizations that discuss, refer or perform abortions to also include groups that address transgender health care or have policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, Vice President JD Vance said Friday.

“We’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children. And with these additions, the rule will now cover every non-military foreign assistance that America sends,” Vance announced at the March for Life anti-abortion rally on the National Mall.  

“All in all, we have expanded the Mexico City Policy about three times as big as it was before,” he added. “And we’re proud of it, because we believe in fighting for life.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from States Newsroom for more details on the policy expansion or when it would be implemented. 

Defending administration’s record

Vance said during the rally he needed to “address an elephant in the room” that President Donald Trump and others in the administration have not made enough progress on anti-abortion initiatives during the first year of unified Republican control of the federal government.  

“I want you to know that I hear you and that I understand,” he said. “There will inevitably be debates within this movement. We love each other. But we’re going to have open conversations about how best to use our political system to advance life, how prudential we must be in the cause of advancing human life. I think these are good, natural and honest debates.”

Vance mentioned that Trump nominated some of the Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. 

He also noted that Republicans in Congress included a provision in the “big, beautiful” law that blocks Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year for any type of health care. Federal law had already barred funding from going to abortions, with limited exceptions.

Vance argued that in addition to judicial rulings and federal laws, members of the anti-abortion movement must strive to change hearts and minds as well. 

“We’re not trying to argue to the Supreme Court anymore,” he said. “We’re trying to argue to our fellow citizens that we must build up that culture of life. And as you know, that effort is going to take a lot of time, it’s going to take a lot of energy and it’s going to take a little bit of money.”

Later in his speech, Vance sought to discourage people from concentrating on professional lives and instead called on them to focus more on getting married and having children. 

“You’re never going to find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen,” he said. “But you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life.”

Trump didn’t attend the rally in person but recorded a video message that was played just before Vance spoke, telling attendees he “was proud to be the first president in history to attend this march in person” six years ago. 

“In my first term I was honored to appoint judges and justices who believed in interpreting the Constitution as written. That was a big deal. And because of that, the pro-life movement won the greatest victory in its history,” Trump said. “Now the work to rebuild a culture that supports life continues in every state, every community and every part of our beautiful land.”

Calls for action on medication abortion

Trump and some in his administration have come under scrutiny lately for not moving faster to complete a safety review of mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion, which is approved for up to 10 weeks gestation. 

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and Lila Rose, founder of the anti-abortion group Live Action, both released statements in December calling on Trump to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary over the pace of that review.

Anti-abortion organizations want the administration to end the ability of doctors or other qualified health care providers to prescribe mifepristone and the second pharmaceutical used in medication abortion, misoprostol, via telehealth and have it shipped to patients. 

Several Republicans in Congress have joined their call, with Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., holding a hearing on mifepristone earlier this month. 

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected efforts from anti-abortion organizations to limit access to mifepristone in a June 2024 ruling, writing they never had standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place. 

Trump told House Republicans during a policy retreat at the Kennedy Center earlier this month they must be “flexible” about the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funding for abortion with limited exceptions, in order to broker a health care deal that can reach his desk. 

Dannenfelser rebuked Trump for the comment, writing in a statement that to “suggest Republicans should be ‘flexible’ is an abandonment of this decades-long commitment. If Republicans abandon Hyde, they are sure to lose this November.”

GOP leaders tout major law

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also spoke at the March for Life rally, touting the “big, beautiful” law as “the most pro-life and pro-family legislation that has been signed into law in decades.”

“For the first time since Roe v. Wade was reversed, we have the White House, the Senate and the House all working together to deliver meaningful and historic pro-life victories,” he said. 

The law included several policies that Johnson said will aid Americans in having children, including an expansion of the child tax credit and the adoption tax credit as well as the investment accounts for babies. 

Johnson said the provision that blocks Medicaid patients from going to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion health care services, depriving the organization of that income, was a massive policy victory for Republicans. 

“We stand here today with one united voice to affirm the federal government should not be subsidizing any industry that profits from the elimination of human life,” Johnson said. 

New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith, speaking just after Johnson while other GOP lawmakers stood on the stage, said eliminating access to mifepristone must be accomplished. 

“I’ve been here since Ronald Reagan’s first election, 1981,” Smith said. “And I can tell you, this leadership is the most pro-life, so committed. And behind me are just absolute heroes. Men and women who take up the fight every single day.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., didn’t attend the rally in person but submitted a video that touted the Planned Parenthood defunding provision. 

“Thanks to that landmark legislation, this year, some of the nation’s largest abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, are prohibited from receiving Medicaid funding,” Thune said. 

Other Republicans attending the rally included Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt, Arkansas Rep. French Hill, Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga and Tim Walberg, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Fischbach, Missouri Rep. Bob Onder, Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser, South Carolina Rep. William Timmons, Texas Reps. Michael Cloud and Dan Crenshaw, Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy, Virginia Rep. John McGuire and Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman.

Federal agents spray demonstrators at close range with irritants after the killing of Renee Good by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. Since July 2025, there have been at least 17 open-fire incidents involving federal immigration agents, according to data compiled by The Trace, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet investigating gun violence. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

As a growing number of encounters between civilians and Department of Homeland Security agents — including the widely scrutinized fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis — are scrutinized in court records and on social media, federal officials are returning to a familiar response: self-defense.

In more than a handful of recent encounters, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, has said its agents acted in self-defense during violent encounters, even as eyewitness testimony and video footage raised questions about whether those accounts fully matched what happened.

And in a ruling for a recent civil lawsuit, a U.S. district judge said federal immigration officials were not forthcoming about enforcement efforts, citing discrepancies between official DHS statements and video evidence.

“We’re now in a situation in which official sources in the Trump administration are really tying themselves quite strongly to a particular narrative, regardless of what the widely disseminated videos suggest,” said César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University.

The cases come amid an aggressive expansion of federal immigration enforcement and increasing scenes of violent and intimidating arrest tactics. President Donald Trump’s administration has sharply increased the hiring of immigration agents, broadened enforcement operations and accelerated deportations, as protests have spread across major cities.

The use of force, paired with conflicting official statements and evidence, has raised questions about whether federal immigration officials can be held accountable and highlighted the steep hurdles victims of excessive force might face in seeking legal recourse.

The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to multiple requests from Stateline for comment on discrepancies between official accounts and publicly available evidence.

Since last July, there have been at least 17 open-fire incidents involving federal immigration agents — including fatal shootings, shootings with injuries and cases in which shots were fired — according to data compiled by The Trace, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet investigating gun violence. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation also found 13 incidents since July in which immigration agents fired at or into civilian vehicles.

One of the most prominent examples unfolded in Minneapolis this month: Good’s fatal shooting by a masked ICE agent. The Department of Homeland Security initially said the agent, Jonathan Ross, fired in self-defense after Good, 37, allegedly tried to run over officers. Videos taken by bystanders show Good’s vehicle reversed, shifted and began to turn away from officers after one yelled and pulled on her car handle. Ross positioned himself near the hood of her car, and he began firing.

Minnesota officials later stated the footage did not support DHS’ description of an imminent threat, prompting renewed scrutiny of how the Trump administration is characterizing use-of-force encounters.

Similar discrepancies have surfaced in other cases. The Department of Homeland Security recently revised its account of a December shooting in Glen Burnie, Maryland, after local police contradicted its initial version. DHS first claimed both men injured in the incident were inside a van that ICE officers fired at in self-defense, but later said that one of the injured men had already been arrested and was in custody inside an ICE vehicle when he was hurt. The other man was shot twice and is facing two federal criminal charges.

In August, federal immigration agents fired at a family’s vehicle three times in San Bernardino, California. DHS maintained the shooting was justified after at least two agents were struck by the vehicle, but available footage shows an agent breaking the driver-side window moments before gunfire erupted. Surveillance footage from the street does not show agents being struck by the vehicle.

“I can’t think of another time in my lifetime — I’m 50 years old — where we’ve seen this sort of force in the streets in the United States,” said Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. Fleming has been an immigration and civil rights attorney for the past 20 years.

García Hernández, the law professor at Ohio State University, echoed Fleming’s point, saying that what also stands out is how often agents are deploying less‑lethal weapons in ways that would generally be prohibited — including firing rubber pellets and similar projectiles at people’s faces or heads.

In its use-of-force policy, DHS agents may use force only when no “reasonably effective, safe, and feasible” alternative exists and only at a level that is “objectively reasonable.” DHS policy emphasizes “respect for human life” and directs officers to be proficient in de-escalation tactics — using communication or other techniques to stabilize or reduce the intensity of a potentially violent situation without, or with reduced, physical force. The policy also states that deadly force should not be used solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect.

ICE, as an agency under DHS, is bound by this guidance, but the policy on shooting at moving vehicles differs from what many law enforcement agencies nationwide now consider best practices. While DHS prohibits officers from firing at the operator of a moving vehicle unless it is necessary to stop a serious threat, its rules do not explicitly instruct officers to get out of the way of moving vehicles when possible.

Use of force

A growing pattern of aggressive tactics and conflicting evidence has raised serious questions about how federal immigration agents use lethal and less-lethal force, and how DHS officials describe the incidents to the public.

In September, 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Franklin Park, a suburb near Chicago. DHS claimed that one agent was “seriously injured” after being dragged by González’s car as he tried to flee. But body-camera footage shows the agent telling a Franklin Park police officer that his injury was “nothing major.”

In a statement, DHS said the agent responded with lethal force because he was “fearing for his own life” — a narrative very similar to the department’s description of the fatal shooting of Good in Minneapolis.

In recent months, DHS officials have claimed that immigration agents have been repeatedly attacked with vehicles.

“We’ve seen vehicles weaponized over 100 times in the last several months against our law enforcement officers,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during an interview with CNN this month.

In court filings related to a civil lawsuit about Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, the department provided body-camera footage and other internal records to bolster their claims of self-defense.

But U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis found the evidence “difficult, if not impossible to believe.” In her lengthy opinion issued in late November, Ellis acknowledged that agents sometimes encountered aggressive drivers but also found that agents treated cars that were merely following them as potential threats.

In October, an ICE agent shot a community observer, Marimar Martinez, five times during a confrontation in Chicago. DHS claimed that she rammed the ICE vehicle with her car and boxed it in, but surveillance footage does not show the agents were trapped.

Martinez survived, but the Trump administration quickly labeled her a “domestic terrorist” — the same label used to describe Good. Martinez’s criminal charges were dropped in November after the federal Department of Justice abruptly moved to dismiss the case.

In Ellis’ ruling on the civil lawsuit, she wrote that federal officials “cannot simply create their own narrative of what happened, misrepresenting the evidence to justify their actions,” and that the violence used by federal agents “shocks the conscience,” a legal standard meaning a situation that seems grossly unjust to an observer.

Ellis also explicitly questioned the conduct and leadership of Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol during the Chicago immigration operation. Bovino, who has led the administration’s big-city campaign, was deposed under oath, and in her November ruling, Ellis described him as “not credible,” writing that he “appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing ‘cute’ responses … or outright lying.”

In a footnote, Ellis also noted an instance in which an agent asked ChatGPT to draft a use-of-force report from a single sentence and a few images — further undermining the credibility of official DHS accounts.

A narrow path to accountability

Holding federal immigration agents accountable for misconduct is difficult, even as video evidence and police or court records increasingly contradict official government accounts.

With more evidence surfacing and legal claims already underway, some experts say it’s likely that even more lawsuits will emerge this year.

“We should expect to see more examples, more instances in which cellphone video is used to bolster legal claims against DHS, ICE, Border Patrol and specific officers as well,” said García Hernández, of Ohio State University.

Federal officers are shielded by legal doctrines such as qualified immunity and U.S. Supreme Court rulings that restrict when people can sue federal officials for constitutional violations. In recent years, the courts have narrowed the circumstances under which individuals can bring claims for excessive force or wrongful death.

Suing individual federal immigration agents is nearly impossible.

People can, however, pursue claims against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act if a government employee causes financial or bodily harm. These cases, which can include claims for wrongful death, face significant hurdles: no punitive damages, no jury trials, state-specific caps on compensation and protections for discretionary government decisions.

Internal DHS investigations can lead to discipline or policy changes, but their findings may not be made public.

Several state lawmakers in California, Colorado, Georgia, New York and Oregon are pursuing measures that would allow residents to sue federal immigration agents for constitutional violations. Illinois has a similar law already in place, but this pathway remains largely untested, and experts say it faces significant legal and logistical hurdles.

Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at ahernandez@stateline.org.