Forest Lake Area Schools is accepting applications to fill the seat vacated by board member Luke Hagglund, who resigned last week, citing a move out of the district.

Hagglund’s term expires on Jan. 4, 2027. His replacement will serve on the board for the 2026 calendar year.

Applications are due by 4 p.m. Nov. 20. Depending on the number of applicants, the board will assemble two or three subcommittees, each to select one candidate to be interviewed by the board.

An additional finalist also will be offered an interview from the pool of people who ran for school board last year but did not win a seat, starting with Laura Ndirangu, who received nearly 11.8% of the vote in 2024, coming in fifth behind current board member Tessa Antonsen (12.2%). If Ndirangu declines, the board will offer interviews to Rob Rapheal (11.2% of the vote), Jim Smith (11.2%) and Daniel Tuott (10.6%), in that order.

The applicants selected to be interviewed will be identified by Dec. 1. During the regular board meeting on Dec. 4, board members will interview the selected candidates with the goal of appointing one to fill the vacancy.

Once a candidate is selected, there is a 30-day waiting period prior to final appointment to the school board made on Jan. 3. Orientation of the appointed school board member will be Dec. 5-Jan. 5; a ceremonial oath is planned for the Jan. 8 board meeting.

Minnesota statute mandates applicants meet the following requirements:

A legal citizen and eligible to vote;
At least 21 years old;
Resident of School District 831 for at least 30 days;
Does not currently occupy any elected public office;
Does not expect to make over $20,000 as an employee of the district in any fiscal year;
No record of criminal sexual misconduct for which registration is required.

Luke Hagglund resignation

The original plan for appointing Hagglund’s replacement caused a stir earlier this month.

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A board agenda item, published before the Oct. 23 meeting, stated that the board planned to immediately vote on a resolution appointing Forest Lake resident Scot Doboszenski to fill the remainder of Hagglund’s term. Hagglund told the Pioneer Press that he planned to vote on Doboszenski’s appointment himself.

An attorney for Education Minnesota, however, sent a letter to Board Chairman Curt Rebelein on Oct. 22 stating that the vote would be illegal because Hagglund’s resignation did not take effect until after the meeting.

The board decided against that plan and voted instead to hold a special meeting on Thursday to determine the process and timeline to fill the vacancy.

Applications can be found online at flaschools.org/our-district/school-board.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services ended its Medicaid-funded housing assistance program on Friday as federal prosecutions continue in what authorities have described as a “massive” fraud scheme that cost the state millions.

DHS received final approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to terminate the program on Oct. 24, nearly two months after filing the initial request.

Housing Stabilization Services, a first-of-its-kind program launched in 2020, used Medicaid dollars to help the elderly and people with disabilities at risk of homelessness find and pay for housing. People with mental illness and addiction problems also were eligible.

But some providers acquired names and other information from facilities like addiction treatment centers to file false and inflated claims to DHS, according to the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In September, federal prosecutors charged eight people for allegedly stealing around $10 million from the program. It’s just one of numerous fraud cases that have come to light in Minnesota in recent years. Then-acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson estimated in July that fraud in the state could top $1 billion.

Minnesota initially expected the program to cost about $2.6 million, but costs quickly ballooned. Housing stabilization cost the state $105.4 million last year. There are more than 1,800 providers claiming reimbursement for assistance to around 21,000 people.

Third-party audit

Minnesota is ending Housing Stabilization Services the same week it announced a new third-party audit of 14 Medicaid-funded state programs deemed high-risk for fraud. The added layer of scrutiny could lead to reimbursement delays lasting up to 90 days.

Programs affected by the audit include housing stabilization services and autism services for youth — two programs where federal prosecutors recently announced fraud charges against providers claiming reimbursements from the state.

DHS said it moved to end housing stabilization as the scope of fraud in the program became more apparent. The agency sent its letter requesting to end the program two weeks after the FBI raided the offices of providers suspected of fraud.

“It’s upsetting that we had to take this step to stop criminals from taking advantage of services intended to help people,” temporary Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said in a statement announcing the end of the program. “We know that Housing Stabilization Services truly filled an important gap for so many participants. We’re working closely with partners to help them connect people to other services wherever possible.”

Suspending the program

The agency said it intends to create a new version of the housing stabilization program with better safeguards against fraud. It’s coordinating with counties and tribal organizations to find people who might need help now that the program has been terminated.

During a 30-day comment period ahead of the program’s suspension, more than 200 people reached out to DHS, largely concerned that suddenly ending housing stabilization would affect the program’s vulnerable beneficiaries.

“DHS acknowledges the feedback provided by commentors; however, due to the pervasive fraud taking place throughout the program, the agency has proceeded with submitting the state plan amendment seeking federal termination of the program,” the agency said in a summary of public comments.

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Housing Stabilization Services is among several DHS-administered programs in Minnesota to fall under scrutiny for alleged fraud. Child care, substance abuse treatment and autism support programs have also seen allegations of abuse.

All that comes on top of the single largest known instance of fraud, where federal prosecutors say a scheme centered around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future defrauded the state government of $250 million in federal funds from a pandemic-era meal program. In that case, the money was administered by the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Minnesota is drowning in fraud,” Thompson said at a September news conference announcing charges tied to fraud in housing stabilization. “These programs have been abused over and over to the point where the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services.”

By ISABELLA VOLMERT, Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The man who opened fire in a Michigan church and set it ablaze was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the FBI confirmed Friday.

While friends close to the gunman in the deadly shooting have said he long harbored hatred against the church, the FBI had previously declined to specify the motivation behind the attack that left four people dead and the church burned to the ground, except to say it was “targeted” act of violence.

The gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, was killed by responding law enforcement.

FILE – Firefighters work at the scene of a fire and shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Mich., Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Lukas Katilius/The Flint Journal via AP, File)

“I am confirming this is a targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant’s anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community,” special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit field office Jennifer Runyan said in a prerecorded video message.

Sanford drove his pickup truck into the side of the Church of Jesus Christ of of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township, 60 miles northwest of Detroit, on Sunday, September 28, while congregants gathered for services. Authorities previously said he used gasoline as an accelerator to light the church on fire in the course of the shooting. The building was destroyed.

FILE – Little remained of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel the day after a former Marine opened fire and set the building ablaze in Grand Blanc Township, Mich., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave, File)

The four people who were killed have been identified through family and friends as Craig Hayden, William “Pat” Howard, John Bond and Thelma Armstrong.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is commonly known as the Mormon church. The church, based in Utah, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, leaders of the church preached a message of love and forgiveness while gathered to mourn its late president, who died a day before the Michigan attack.

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A spokesperson for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking further information on what led the agency to its conclusion of anti-religious beliefs.

Authorities have released little information about Sanford and the attack. People who knew him have said he began vocalizing anti-Mormon sentiments years ago after living in Utah for a period of time, where he dated and broke up with a girlfriend who was a member of the Mormon faith. Sanford had moved to Utah after leaving the Marines and told his friends he had become addicted to methamphetamines.

An attorney acting as a spokesperson for Sanford’s family did not immediately return a request for comment.

By ALI SWENSON and NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s request to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., sided with Democratic and civil rights groups that sued the Trump administration over his executive order to overhaul U.S. elections.

She ruled that the proof-of-citizenship directive is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers, dealing a blow to the administration and its allies who have argued that such a mandate is necessary to restore public confidence that only Americans are voting in U.S. elections.

“Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her opinion.

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She further emphasized that on matters related to setting qualifications for voting and regulating federal election procedures “the Constitution assigns no direct role to the President in either domain.”

Kollar-Kotelly echoed comments she made when she granted a preliminary injunction over the issue.

The ruling grants the plaintiffs a partial summary judgment that prohibits the proof-of-citizenship requirement from going into effect. It says the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which has been considering adding the requirement to the federal voter form, is permanently barred from taking action to do so.

A message seeking comment from the White House was not immediately returned.

The lawsuit brought by the DNC and various civil rights groups will continue to play out to allow the judge to consider other challenges to Trump’s order. That includes a requirement that all mailed ballots be received, rather than just postmarked, by Election Day.

Other lawsuits against Trump’s election executive order are ongoing.

In early April, 19 Democratic state attorneys general asked a separate federal court to reject Trump’s executive order. Washington and Oregon, where virtually all voting is done with mailed ballots, followed with their own lawsuit against the order.