By JACK DURA, Associated Press

Automakers Hyundai and Kia must offer free repairs to millions of models under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota’s attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren’t equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.

Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with a key piece of technology called an engine immobilizer and pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.

The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.

Thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because beginning in 2021, videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022. Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.

Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.

“This crisis that we’re talking about today started in a boardroom, traveled through the Internet and ended up in tragic results when somebody stole those cars,” Ellison said at a news conference.

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He was joined by Twin Cities officials, a woman whose mother was killed when a stolen Kia crashed into her parents’ vehicle and a man whose car was stolen nine times — as recently as Monday night, and including seven times after a previous software fix.

Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle’s ignition cylinder and starting the car.

Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies’ notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.

In a statement, Kia said the agreement is the latest step it has taken to help its customers and prevent thefts.

“Kia is eager to continue working with law enforcement officers and officials at federal, state, and local levels to combat criminal car theft, and the role social media has played in encouraging it, and we remain fully committed to upholding vehicle security,” the company said.

The Associated Press emailed Hyundai for comment.

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

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By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Joe Ely, the influential Texas-born singer-songwriter whose blend of honky-tonk, rock and roadhouse blues made him a favorite among other musicians and led to collaborations with Bruce Springsteen and the Clash, has died. He was 78.

Ely died in Taos, New Mexico, of complications from Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumonia, with his wife and daughter by his side, according to a post on his Facebook account Monday night and later confirmed by his representatives.

Ely was considered a key figure in the progressive country music movement as a founder of the influential country-rock band The Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and later as a solo artist.

FILE – Joe Ely performs during the “Tsunami Relief — Austin to South Asia” concert at the Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Kelly West, file)

“Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

“But his true measure came through in the dynamic intensity of his powerhouse live performances, where he could stand his ground aside fellow zealots Bruce Springsteen who recorded duets with Ely, and the (Rolling) Stones and the Clash, who took Ely on tour as an opening act,” Young said.

After signing with MCA, Ely released his first solo album in 1977. He would release more than 20 albums over his career, including “Love and Freedom” earlier this year.

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Born in Amarillo, Texas, Ely stayed connected to his Texas roots through decades of recording and performing that lacked a mainstream breakthrough but made him a favorite of other artists.

“Every time I start a new album I head up to West Texas and drive around, you know, drive on those old cotton roads and in the wide-open spaces, and every once in a while I’ll come across a place where I’ve spent some time,” Ely told Texas Monthly in 2011.

It was a soundcheck for a show in London that led to the collaboration with British punk band the Clash. Ely would later open for the Clash at several shows and sang backup vocals for their hit song “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

Potter’s Pasties has quietly opened a second brick-and-mortar spot in St. Paul. The outfit is now serving out of the former coffee and doughnut space within the Beer Dabbler Depot liquor store on West Seventh Street.

The pasty and pie company, which makes meat and vegetable hand pies and dessert pies, has long been serving the Saintly City with its food truck, but now you can get one any day of the week. Even better news: they have expanded their lineup to include half-sized pasties, gluten-free pasties and pies, and even vegan pasties.

You can also grab take-and-bake pasties to throw in your freezer, which is a great move to have in your back pocket next time the weather gets dicey and you can’t make it to the store.

Beer Dabbler Depot will also work with Potter’s to host and collaborate on themed tastings and dinners inspired by food and drink traditions across the United Kingdom, which is where owner Alec Duncan is from. Pasties are a big thing in the U.K., but also in certain pockets of the United States, like Upper Michigan, where miners took them to work with them for an easy-to-eat lunch.

In the spring, Potter’s intends to introduce an ice cream program, modeled after its original Como Avenue location in Minneapolis.

“We’re excited to expand into St. Paul and bring even more of our British-inspired comfort food to the community,” founder and owner Alec Duncan said in a news release. “This space allows us to grow our menu, create unique food and drink experiences, and continue sharing the traditions we love.”

Potter’s Pasties: 1545 W. Seventh St., St. Paul; 763-447-8338; potterspasties.com

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An Anoka County jury has found guilty the last of three defendants in last year’s fatal shootings of a woman, her son and husband after he and two accomplices posed as UPS delivery drivers and went into the family’s Coon Rapids home looking for money.

Omari Malik Shumpert (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

Omari Malik Shumpert, 20, of Minneapolis, was convicted Friday in Anoka County District Court of three counts of aiding and abetting first-degree murder in the Jan. 26, 2024, killings of Shannon Patricia Jungwirth, 42, her son Jorge Alexander Reyes-Jungwirth, 20, and her husband, Mario Alberto Trejo Estrada, 39.

Shumpert fatally shot Estrada after he fought back, prosecutors said.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 9, a day after his older brother Demetrius Trenton Shumpert will go before a judge for sentencing.

Jurors previously convicted Demetrius Shumpert, 33, of Minneapolis, and Alonzo Pierre Mingo, who prosecutors said orchestrated the robbery plan and pulled the trigger in the killings of Jungwirth and Reyes-Jungwirth.

Mingo, 39, of Fridley, was sentenced to life in prison in September.

Mingo, a former UPS seasonal employee, wore his old uniform while carrying a box to convince Jungwirth that he was delivering a package, prosecutors said.

Several surveillance cameras were mounted throughout the house in the 200 block of 94th Avenue Northwest. Video showed Demetrius Shumpert and Mingo forcing Jungwirth to open credenza drawers while demanding money.

All three victims were shot in the head, and two of the killings were on video. Two small children, both under the age of 5, were also in the home at the time of the killings but not injured.

Court records said Estrada was suspected of drug trafficking and that law enforcement was on his trail in the days leading up to the killings. Afterward, investigators searched a Golden Valley storage unit that Estrada had rented under a false name and seized three bags of white powder, seven bags of psilocybin mushrooms, three bags of marijuana and a bag of meth, according to a search warrant affidavit.

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