St. Paul officials sent a cease-and-desist letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent them from using municipal parking lots to stage immigration enforcement operations.

The letter demands that DHS “immediately halt further use of city parking lots for federal operations without the City expressly authorizing such use,” according to a statement issued by St. Paul officials Friday. Park and Rec Center parking lots were recently used in immigration enforcement operations, city officials say.

“DHS and other federal law enforcement agencies have previously and recently used city parking lots to stage vehicles and personnel without the city’s consent nor any authorizing agreement, permit, or statutory basis,” according to city officials. “This unauthorized occupation of municipal property is unconstitutional and constitutes an unlawful diversion of parkland and use of park parking lots under the city’s Charter and Legislative Code. These actions also interfere with the public’s right to access and use these facilities for their intended purposes.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said these properties are intended to be used by residents.

“Our parks and libraries are among the most valued and essential services in our city, and they exist solely to serve our residents and families,” Carter said in a statement. “When federal law enforcement repurposes them for federal operations without our authorization, it eliminates public access, erodes public trust, and undermines local control by unlawfully occupying city property.”

St. Paul officials said the city is prepared to use legal avenues available, such as “seeking immediate injunctive relief.”

“City-owned park property is legally reserved for park purposes, and its unauthorized use by federal enforcement agencies violates City law,” said City Attorney Lyndsey Olson, in a statement. “This unlawful activity must stop immediately. We will take appropriate action to protect Saint Paul’s public spaces.”

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A copy of the letter can be found at stpaul.gov.

Last month there was a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation at a business off of University Avenue which resulted in several individuals being detained. Another operation occurred at a residence on the city’s East Side in which a Honduran immigrant was taken into custody.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

Elon Musk, already the world’s richest man, scored another huge windfall Friday when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a decision that deprived him of a $55 billion pay package that Tesla doled out in 2018 as an incentive for its CEO to steer the automaker to new heights.

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Besides padding Musk’s current fortune of $679 billion, the restoration of the 2018 pay package vindicates his long-held belief that the Delaware legal system had overstepped its bounds in January 2024 when Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick rescinded the compensation in a case brought by a disgruntled Tesla shareholder.

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.

McCormick’s ruling so incensed Musk that it spurred him to spurn Delaware and reincorporate Tesla in Texas. That decision also caused Tesla’s board to scramble for ways to keep its CEO happy, including a successful effort to persuade the company’s shareholders to reaffirm the pay package, which was valued at $44.9 billion at the time of the second vote 18 months ago.

With Musk still signaling discontent, Tesla upped the ante again this year by crafting another pay package that could pay him $1 trillion if he can lead the automaker down a road during the next decade that lifts the company’s market value from its current $1.6 trillion to $8.5 trillion. Shareholders approved that pay package last month, to Musk’s delight.

That may sound like a difficult task, but it also appeared like a long shot for Musk to hit all the targets to qualify for the payout that was dangled in the 2018 package. At that time, Tesla was still struggling to expand its production of electric vehicles and burning through cash.

At the time the 2018 pay package was drawn up, Tesla’s market value was hovering in the $50 billion to $75 billion range. But then the company’s manufacturing problems eased, enabling it to start meeting hot demand for its vehicles, which in turn pumped up its sales and stock price to a level that qualified Musk for the big payout that had been promised him.

But based on evidence that included Musk’s testimony during a 2022 trial, McCormick ruled the pay package had been crafted by a board that was too cozy and beholden to the hard-charging Musk.

In its 49-page ruling, the Delaware Supreme Court cited a variety of errors in McCormick’s 2024 decision and declared the 2018 pay package should be restored. It also awarded Tesla $1 in nominal damages.

By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California man caught a plump canary rockfish he says weighed in at 10.25 pounds, likely setting state and world records.

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Mendocino County fisherman Brendan Walsh, 26, said he caught the fish Tuesday off the coast of Albion, about 150 miles north of San Francisco.

Walsh was headed back with his father Will Walsh after catching a few yellowtail on a cold and rainy day when he decided to make one last stop at a deeper spot. That’s where the younger Walsh landed the canary rockfish.

“It was a fluke,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Canary rockfish can grow up to 2.5 feet in length and weigh 10 lbs., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Walsh says the ones he usually catches are small and scrawny, clocking in around 3 lbs.

Walsh said the fish he caught this week was 2.25 feet long.

This photo, provided by Deirdre Lamb, shows a 10.25 lbs. canary rockfish caught by Mendocino County fisherman Brendan Walsh, of the coast of Albion, about 150 miles north of San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Deidre Lamb via AP)

He submitted the catch to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which tracks angling and diving records. The current state record-holding fish weighed in at 9 lbs. and was caught last November, also in Mendocino County.

The department has a form and instructions for submitting a possible record catch, including the names and phone numbers of witnesses. Applicants are asked to contact the department for the nearest environmental scientist who can identify the catch.

Walsh said they weighed the fish at an authorized fish market nearby and a state fish and wildlife scientist who works in the area came over to sign off on the paperwork.

Walsh has also submitted his catch to the International Game Fish Association in Florida, where the world record holding 10-pound canary rockfish was caught in 1986. He says larger fish may have been caught but never submitted for record consideration.

The game fish association did not respond Friday to a request for comment.

After spending Tuesday making sure they had taken the right measurements to document the catch, Walsh’s mother, Deirdre Lamb, fried the rockfish with garlic and butter to eat on Wednesday.

The rockfish was delicious, he said.

Travelers who wish to enter Canada through remote areas of northern Minnesota will soon be required to report to designated telephone reporting sites.

The Canada Border Services Agency announced Friday that it is ending its Remote Area Border Crossing permit program as of Sept. 14, 2026.

The permits, issued on an annual basis, allowed preapproved U.S. and Canadian residents to cross the border without stopping at a customs checkpoint while traversing backwoods areas such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park.

The permits program has been in limbo for several years. First, it was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all nonessential travel was halted between the two countries. And then Canadian officials initiated a pause on applications in September 2024 while initiating a formal review of the program.

The agency said in a statement Friday that it “operates in a constantly evolving environment and regularly evaluates programs and operations to ensure a strong and efficient border.”

Active permits, which were set to expire Dec. 31, will be automatically extended to Sept. 14 in order “to ensure a smooth transition.” After that, travelers hoping to cross remote lakes and rivers to fish, camp, hike, snowmobile or partake in other activities will be required to visit a port of entry or a new telephone reporting site.

“It is a measure that will also more closely align with how travelers report to U.S. Customs and Border Protection when entering the U.S. in remote areas,” Canadian border officials said in the statement.

Impacted areas include the Lake Superior shore, waterways through to and including Lake of the Woods, and the Northwest Angle. The Sault Ste. Marie upper lock system and Cockburn Island, on the Michigan-Ontario border, are also impacted.

The uncertain future of the program has been a concern for small businesses, such as northern Minnesota outfitters, which rely on RABC permits to take clients across the border, as well as cabin owners who frequently cross in remote locations.

U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Hermantown, in January took Canadian officials to task for what he called “inconsistent and contradictory information which has only confused the public.”

Some of the current staffed border crossings in Northern Minnesota area at Roseau, Warroad, Baudette, International Falls and Grand Portage in Minnesota.

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The Border Services Agency said new telephone sites will be added to serve the areas currently covered by remote permits. It remains unclear how many sites will be established, and where.

Those decisions will be made “in the coming months in consultation with Indigenous communities, local businesses and law enforcement partners,” the agency said.