After finding that an unlicensed company was selling “unauthorized and deceptive health coverage” to Minnesotans, the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Enforcement Division has settled with the company, requiring it to leave the state’s insurance market.

The settlement agreement with Strategic Limited Partners LP requires the company to “cease all insurance-related operations in Minnesota” by the end of the year and pay all outstanding claims to its consumers in the state.

The Commerce Department, in a Tuesday news release, said the company sold unauthorized health plans to more than 1,700 Minnesotans, some of whom believed they had been speaking with a MNsure representative.

“Later, consumers discovered that health care providers wouldn’t accept the coverage, and the company often denied or failed to pay claims, leaving consumers with unexpected and sometimes significant medical bills,” the news release states.

In addition to exiting Minnesota’s health insurance market and paying claims, the settlement requires Strategic Limited Partners LP to pay a $290,000 penalty. However, $250,000 of that fine is stayed unless the company violates the settlement, the department said.

Those who purchased coverage through Strategic Limited Partners LP can contact the Commerce Department if they believe they are owed money. Consumers can also verify if a company is licensed to sell insurance through the Commerce Department’s online License Lookup tool.

“This is a cautionary tale,” said Jacqueline Olson, the department’s assistant commissioner of enforcement. “As open enrollment begins, Minnesotans should be extremely careful when selecting health coverage. If it sounds too good to be true, or if the company isn’t licensed in Minnesota, that’s a red flag.”

Open enrollment through Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace, MNsure.org, begins Nov. 1.

A man has been sentenced to six years in prison for shooting and wounding three people in St. Paul — his girlfriend, her cousin and a 64-year-old man out for a walk with his dog — before climbing onto a roof to get away from officers.

Jaleel Jackson-Bey, 36, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in Ramsey County District Court to two counts of second-degree assault in connection with the 2023 incident in the area of Cliff and Superior streets, off West Seventh Street.

Jaleel Jackson-Bey (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Officers were called to the area about 9:15 p.m. June 21, 2023, on reports of gunfire and found three people shot. A 25-year-old woman, Jackson-Bey’s girlfriend, was wounded in her leg, knee and wrist. A 22-year-old man, who the girlfriend said is her cousin, was shot through his foot. A man who lives in the area had substantial bleeding from his leg and a dog leash was being used as a tourniquet.

The man said he was walking his dog when he noticed several people come out of a home and yell “in what appeared to be a domestic argument,” the charges said. He kept walking, heard “two firecracker sounds” and then realized he’d been shot in the leg.

Jackson-Bey’s girlfriend’s sister said Jackson-Bey was visiting them. She saw her sister and Jackson-Bey arguing outside and then Jackson-Bey fired rounds at her sister and the rest of the family. She said he continued to fire even as the family ran into the home for safety.

Jackson-Bey had run from the scene and was later found a half-mile away on top of the Salvation Army’s roof. Police used “less lethal munitions” to take him into custody about 2:30 a.m. A gun was in his pocket, with a single live round in the magazine.

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The city of Woodbury is launching a new speaker series in partnership with the South Washington Watershed District this week, connecting community members to climate scientists.

Beginning Thursday at Eagle Valley Golf Course in Woodbury, climate scientists will present discussions “through the lens of facts and numbers, people and community, and how to create practical change,” according to the city’s Facebook post. The event is free and open to the public.

“Hear from top professionals in the field of climate sciences about local issues impacting water quality and the environment,” the post stated.

The two presenters featured on Thursday include Jen Kader, administrator of the Clean Water Council at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and Kenneth Blumenfeld, senior climatologist at the Minnesota State Climate Office.

Community members are encouraged to come curious and bring questions surrounding climate-related topics as a “snack and chat” mingling opportunity will take place before the presentations begin. A public Q&A and networking opportunities will follow the presentation.

The community discussion will be held 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at Eagle Valley Golf Course, 2600 Double Eagle Lane in Woodbury.

Free tickets can be reserved at eventbrite.com using the search term “Woodbury Green Talks.”

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Timberwolves coach Chris Finch responded with a joke when asked about Minnesota’s excellent ball movement in its exhibition opener against Denver earlier this month.

“This is passing and cutting season,” Finch quipped.

The evidence of that mounts with each season. A year ago, Minnesota’s offense was majestic in the preseason slate, with a high volume of ball and body movement and players passing up good shots to generate great ones for others.

It’s the purest form of offensive basketball — one that’s easier to play when stats don’t count.

Finch warned a year ago that it all could come to a crashing halt when the ball tipped for real. He was proven prophetic as Minnesota inched out of the gates with a bogged down offense in its season opener in Los Angeles.

The story heading into the 2022 exhibition slate was the high level of buy-in from D’Angelo Russell coming off a productive offseason. He was dealt ahead of the trade deadline.

Josh Minott was last year’s camp darling. He finished the year with 276 minutes played, 12th-most on the team. Donte DiVincenzo played brilliant basketball in the exhibition slate in 2024, then struggled mightily over the first third of the season.

All that is to say, little in the preseason can be believed or taken seriously.

That’s not to suggest fans shouldn’t consume or enjoy their first taste of the season.

Just don’t use any breadcrumbs from preseason basketball as hard evidence to draw meaningful conclusions. It’s rarely predictive of what’s to come.

The Dallas Mavericks were blitzed twice by the Wolves in Abu Dhabi, then lost to Real Madrid to open the 2023 preseason. Dallas went on to win the Western Conference.

The Nuggets looked entirely lost during their 2024 exhibition slate, then came as close as anyone to knocking off Oklahoma City in the 2025 playoffs.

Rob Dillingham lit up a Chinese Basketball Association team Monday at Target Center, six days after looking unplayable in a loss to Indiana.

There isn’t much reason to put stock into either performance. The Timberwolves have seen Dillingham play in NBA regular-season games. They watch him compete in camp every day. That’s all far more valuable data than what can be gained in preseason or Summer League competition.

Meanwhile, Mike Conley has played 14 minutes total this preseason, as Minnesota preserves its veteran floor general for when the games start to count.

The Wolves use training camp to attempt to establish habits they can carry throughout the ensuing eight months of basketball. But exactly which ones take hold won’t be clear until Minnesota plays Portland in the regular season opener a week from today, and beyond.

That’s when the real data will be collected. When the real storylines will unfold. When the impact players will determine the trajectory and outcome of the Timberwolves’ season.

Everything until then is entirely subject to change.

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