The member-owners of the three St. Paul-based Mississippi Market Co-ops and Stillwater-based River Market Community Co-op have decided to merge.

The new entity, known as Rivers Cooperative Markets, will launch in January.

The three locations in St. Paul will continue to operate as Mississippi Market, and the Stillwater location will continue operations as River Market, according to a statement the organizations posted on social media.

Eighty-nine percent of the 1,187 Mississippi Market member-owners and 81 percent of the 489 River Market member-owners who voted approved the merger.

“This is an exciting moment for our co-op community and the future of sustainable cooperation,” said Catherine Downey, CEO of Mississippi Market Co-op and incoming CEO of Rivers Cooperative Markets.

Mississippi Market on Selby and Dale in St. Paul. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)

Downey said the co-ops are grateful to their member-owners for their engagement and their “commitment to our collective power to shape and strengthen the future.”

“Together, we aim to expand access to healthy food, deepen our support for local producers and build a more resilient, sustainable, community-owned food system,” Downey said.

Member voting took place Sept. 12-Oct. 8 as part of each co-op’s annual election.

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The man under investigation for posing as a teen to attend White Bear Lake Area High School was assaulted in St. Paul recently, according to a police report.

Police are investigating whether the assault was related to the allegations against the 22-year-old, said Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokeswoman. He sustained minor injuries, she said.

The man allegedly received nude photos from one girl, and several parents reported possible sexual assaults, according to a recent search warrant affidavit filed by White Bear Lake police. The man has not been charged.

St. Paul police on Thursday received the report of the assault against the man, whose city of residence is listed as Lino Lakes.

It was initially reported to Cottage Grove police, who did some investigation and sent the case to St. Paul when they determined it happened on Maryland Avenue near Ruth Street in St. Paul, Arcand said.

The assault by multiple people happened between Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, according to the report. The man apparently knew the people involved, Arcand said.

“Investigators are currently working to determine the circumstances of this incident and identify those involved,” Arcand said. No one was under arrest as of Friday afternoon.

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A former Minnesota state trooper has admitted in federal court to repeatedly sexually assaulting a toddler girl while recording the abuse and then sharing the videos with someone he met through the Telegram app.

Jeremy Francis Plonski (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Jeremy Francis Plonski, 30, of Shakopee, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to one count each of producing and distributing child pornography with his cellphone in April 2023. Two other counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Plonski admitted to creating and sharing 23 videos over seven months in 2023. In some, he wore his State Patrol trooper uniform and firearm.

Under the plea agreement, Plonski faces between 23 and 28 years in prison. He remains jailed ahead of sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

Plonski also faces a Scott County charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the same victim.

“In light of (Plonski’s) plea to the federal charges, we will review our case and decide how to proceed,” Debra Lund, felony and juvenile divisions head for the Scott County Attorney’s Office, said Friday.

Plonski, who became a trooper in 2022, has been fired, according to the State Patrol.

“No badge, no title and no position will ever place anyone above the law,” State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic said in a statement. “Protecting the vulnerable is our duty. Anyone who violates that duty has no place in this organization or in our profession.”

Telegram relationship

According to May state and federal charges, FBI special agents in Houston on April 30 began a forensic analysis in an investigation into child sexual abuse materials. Federal law enforcement identified Plonski as the suspect and found several videos of him sexually assaulting the toddler.

Plonski and the victim’s face are “fully visible in the video,” the state complaint said, adding the file name suggested that it was made in 2023.

Plonski was arrested April 30 and said in an interview with law enforcement that he began a relationship with someone he met on Telegram around 2022.

“The two engaged in a dominant/submissive relationship where (Plonski) was submissive,” the complaint read. “Eventually that user instructed (Plonski) to send videos of (Plonski) performing sexual acts on (the toddler).”

Plonski admitted to law enforcement that he sent the person “four or five” videos of him sexually assaulting the toddler. He said that after recording and sending the videos, he “ceased all sexual contact with (the) victim and has not touched her since,” the complaint said.

FBI and BCA special agents executed a search warrant on his home and seized USB drives, cellphones, sex toys, laptops, a U.S. Army uniform that bore his name and a Minnesota State Patrol uniform, among other items.

Other cases

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After Plonski’s arrest, two other Minnesota federal law enforcement officers were arrested and charged within three days for alleged sex crimes.

A special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, Timothy Ryan Gregg, 52, of Eagan, was charged June 3 with producing child sexual abuse material of a 17-year-old girl after authorities say images and videos of the two engaged in sexual activity were found on her cellphone on May 29. His case is pending.

Anthony John Crowley, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer from Minnetonka, was charged June 6 with uploading child pornography to the Kik app in 2022. Crowley, 52, pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to one count of possessing child pornography and remains ahead of sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump announced Friday that eight children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war have been reunited with their families following ongoing talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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The first lady in August wrote to Putin and had her husband hand-deliver the letter when he held a summit with the Russian president in Alaska. The letter called for peace in Ukraine.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has resulted in Russia taking Ukrainian children out of their country so they can be raised as Russian. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lobbied various world leaders for help reuniting children he says were taken by Russia after the invasion began.

Speaking at the White House, the first lady said that after Putin responded in writing to her letter, they established an “open channel of communication” regarding the welfare of those children.

Her announcement came as President Donald Trump’s own efforts to broker an end to Putin’s war in Ukraine have stalled, and he repeatedly has expressed frustration over the setback along with what he describes as his disappointment with Russia’s leader.

Melania Trump said the issue of the children is important to her.

“For the past three months, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls, all in good faith,” she said. “We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war.”

One of her representatives has been working directly with Putin’s team to “ensure the safe reunification of children with their families.” She did not identify the representative.

First lady Melania Trump arrives to speak in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

“In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours,” she said. “Each child has lived in turmoil because of the war in Ukraine.”

The Associated Press documented the grabbing of Ukrainian children in 2022, after which the International Criminal Court said it had issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Three of the eight children were separated from their parents and “displaced” to Russia because of front-line fighting, Melania Trump said. The other five were separated from family members across borders because of the conflict, including a girl who has gone from Ukraine to Russia, she said.

Melania Trump said she also raised concerns about children who were minors “at the time they were displaced by the war” but have since reached adulthood and currently live in Russia.

She said that their safe return requires “coordinated assistance” and that Russia has agreed to “rejoin individuals who have turned 18 within a short period of time.”

Reunification efforts continue, she added, and plans were underway for more children to rejoin their families in the “immediate future.”

“I hope peace will come soon,” the first lady said. “It will begin with our children.”

This story has been corrected to show first lady Melania Trump said there were eight children, not eight Ukrainian children, reunited with their families.