At a community meeting in St. Paul earlier this month, when civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong took the mic, she noted that most people know her from her advocacy work in Minneapolis.

“What most people don’t know is that I actually got started in police accountability and civil rights right here in St. Paul,” she said.

Levy Armstrong, who calls herself a social justice activist and has often been in the news through the years, has been in the spotlight since a protest at a St. Paul church.

Federal authorities arrested her, St. Paul School Board Member Chauntyll Allen and social media personality William Scott Kelly on Thursday after a Jan. 18 protest inside a church in St. Paul, and they are federally charged. People protesting at Cities Church on Summit Avenue, near Snelling Avenue, said the acting field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota serves as a pastor at the church.

Protests inside houses of worship are unusual; they more commonly happen outside.

An affidavit from a Homeland Security Investigations special agent about the actions at Cities Church alleges Allen, Levy Armstrong and Kelly “engaged in conduct that … disrupted the religious service and intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners, including young children.”

This is a brief look at the lives of Allen, Levy Armstrong and Kelly.

Chauntyll Allen

Like Levy Armstrong, Allen has long been at the front line of protests and community organizing.

At the meeting earlier this month when Levy Armstrong spoke, Allen was coordinating as people stood to tell city council members about the impacts of federal immigration enforcement and St. Paul police response to an ICE operation at the end of November.

When a teacher asked, “How are we going to protect our children?” Allen said they’re asking people “to show up at the high schools, because we’re planning to surround the schools and protect our children to make sure that they can get in safe and get out safe.” She said she was also taking part.

First elected to the St. Paul school board in 2019 and again in 2023, Allen’s term goes through 2028.

She describes herself as an “educator and youth activist” and says she’s the founder of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.

Rep. Elliott Engen, R-Lino Lakes, said to Fox News Digital that Allen should be “convicted, prosecuted, taken off the school board, never allowed within 500 yards of a school again. That’d be what sane societies do.”

Allen, 51, was born and raised in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood and graduated from St. Paul’s Central High School. She said last year she was in the process of getting a degree form Metropolitan State University through its individualized studies program, with a focus in African American Studies and psychology.

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She worked for St. Paul Public Schools as a teaching and educational assistant, Community Education program coordinator, Discovery Club teacher and basketball coach for middle and high school.

Last year, Allen ran for St. Paul City Council to represent Ward 4. Molly Coleman was elected.

Allen founded Love First Community Engagement in 2020. She said it includes mentoring high school girls, most of whom have been impacted by the juvenile justice system. Her wife is listed as the executive director on the website.

Allen’s LinkedIn says she’s “Open to work” and lists her experience as the Wayfinder Foundation’s director of criminal justice policy and activism; she was listed in that role in a filing for the nonprofit in 2023. Levy Armstrong was listed as the foundation’s executive director in filings for the nonprofit from 2019 to 2024.

Nekima Levy Armstrong

Nekima Levy Armstrong holds up her fist after speaking at an anti-ICE rally for Martin Luther King Jr., Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in St. Paul. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Levy Armstrong posted on Facebook on Martin Luther King Day Jr. Day, the day after the church protest, a quote from King (changing “he” to “she”): “The ultimate measure of a [wo]man is not where she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where she stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

She appeared on CNN on Friday, after she was released from federal custody, and was asked about the allegations in the federal affidavit.

“Anyone who saw the video (from the church) saw that we were very peaceful,” Levy Armstrong said. “And the description that they gave with regard to churchgoers, that to me sounds like what ICE is actually doing in our community, terrorizing adults and children, making them fearful, disrupting their lives. That’s what ICE is doing. That’s not what we did.”

The Center to Advance Security in America filed a complaint against Levy Armstrong with the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility and wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Protesting is not about disrupting places of worship and traumatizing Christian families. Federal law makes it clear that this type of outrageous conduct is severe and punishable.”

Levy Armstrong, 49, was born in Mississippi and has said the roots of her activism go back to her childhood of living amid the poverty of south-central Los Angeles, where she decided to become a lawyer.

Her future became clearer in 1991 after a friend, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, was shot and killed by a grocer who witnesses said accused the girl of trying to shoplift a bottle of orange juice. It happened shortly after the videotaped police beating of Rodney King, and it upset Levy Armstrong that the shopkeeper got only probation in the killing.

Before Levy Armstrong was president of the Minneapolis NAACP and ran for Minneapolis mayor in 2017, she was an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law from 2003 to 2016. She was director of the law school’s Community Justice Project.

When Jamar Clark was fatally shot by Minneapolis officers in 2015, she became a frequent presence outside a Minneapolis police station when protesters began an “occupation” to protest Clark’s death. When the crowd suddenly decided to block a nearby freeway, she joined them — and got arrested — just days after charges were dismissed against her and other organizers of a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mall of America.

Levy Armstrong is the founder of the Racial Justice Network and Dope Roots; the website says she founded it to “provide customers with alternative ways to consume low-dose, hemp-derived edible THC products.”

William Kelly

Kelly, who regularly posts on social media about his travels around the country to protest ICE and others, arrived in Minnesota in early January. He goes by “DaWokeFarmer” on social media.

William Kelly (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Kelly, who has described himself as a “combat infantry veteran,” has been traveling as part of what he describes as a “1st Amendment Road Trip.” Since December, he has traveled to Alabama, Louisiana, California, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina, according to his social media.

A GoFundMe created by Kelly in November has raised more than $90,000 for expenses for “nationwide travel to defend free speech, funding travel, events and outreach costs.”

On his social media, which includes more than 80,000 followers on TikTok as of Friday, Kelly can be seen protesting against the Trump administration, ICE agents and the deployment of the National Guard to Washington D.C. and taking part in a walk for peace.

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In one Dec. 28 post, Kelly documents protesting outside a church in New Orleans which he claimed faces a lawsuit related to the sexual abuse of children.

Kelly, who said in a video post on Jan. 19 that he had received hundreds of death threats, arrived to Minnesota around Jan. 8, according to his social media.

On Tuesday, Kelly said in a posted video that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem planned to make arrests for “our little protest.”

“And it wasn’t even a protest. Let’s call it what it was. We went into the house of God and preached the words of God,” Kelly said in the video. “But you know, a lot of us are scared. Hell, my wife is terrified for me right now. They’re trying to tie all these protests I’ve done together and label me as some sort of domestic terrorist. Who knows what they’re going to do?”

The University of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services and M Physicians — the U of M medical school faculty organization — have reached a three-way, 10-year mediated agreement that keeps alive the recently-endangered M Health Fairview partnership and a decades-long collaboration over research and patient care.

The agreement, which contains key changes from a prior arrangement hashed out last November between Fairview and M Physicians alone, is expected to be finalized by a vote of the U’s Board of Regents on Friday.

Notably, the new agreement includes a commitment from Fairview to put $1 billion in the next 10 years into its medical facilities on the U of M campus, including the U’s Medical Center on the East Bank campus in Minneapolis.

The M Health Fairview brand, which was set to expire at the end of this year, was officially launched at the beginning of 2019, though the complex partnership between Fairview and the U of M dates back to 1997.

U-Fairview agreement was coming to an end

The prospect of ending what had been a 30-year partnership between the U of M, its medical faculty and Fairview had alarmed university officials, who saw themselves shut out of negotiations last year between Fairview and M Physicians as the 2019 agreement barreled toward its scheduled close.

The M Health Fairview brand provides medical services for 1.2 million people annually and trains 70% of Minnesota doctors, while serving as a “hub of scientific innovation and economic growth for Minnesota,” reads a joint statement issued Monday by the three institutions.

The previous impasse drew the attention of the state Attorney General’s Office, which is the primary regulator of Minnesota charities and healthcare transactions.

Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office was intimately involved in helping broker peace between the organizations and convened a strategic facilitation process last March and April, naming Lois Quam as chief facilitator until a mutually-agreed upon mediation team could be put in place.

The team, which met from Dec. 5 until Jan. 26, included Quam, retired judge Thomas Fraser and Dr. William McGuire as co-consultants.

With this year’s deadline looming, the new three-way arrangement was reached after seven weeks of “intensive mediation,” according to the joint statement.

“I know all Minnesotans join me in thanking everyone that contributed to getting us to this point,” said Ellison, quoted in the joint statement. “It is a significant and positive development for all of us and the state we love.”

Key elements of agreement

Among the mediated changes in the latest agreement:

• Payments made by Fairview to the university will now flow directly to the university’s medical school. In the preliminary agreement between Fairview and M Physicians, those payments would have gone instead to the physicians organization.

• The agreement ensures that the university and medical school continue to be in charge of managing medical education and research, while Fairview will continue to operate the University of Minnesota Medical Center and its other hospitals.

• Medical school leadership will continue to hold seats on the M Physicians board.

• A new leadership council will be set up with the goal of improving improving collaboration between the university, Fairview and M Physicians.

• The agreement also includes a commitment to launch a new program designed to help residents of Greater Minnesota access specialized care, backed by an initial commitment of $10 million from Fairview.

Expansion to be considered

As part of Fairview’s investment into its U of M-based facilities, the U and Fairview will “explore expansion of physical capacity at the academic medical centers and other approaches to enhance care through state-of-the-art facilities.”

Fairview also will assume operations for the Clinics and Surgery Center, based on Fulton Street on the East Bank campus in Minneapolis, after negotiating a new lease with the university “to foster integration, delivery and management of services for patients, physicians, associated care providers, and related staff.”

With the goal of preserving patient care, Fairview will forgive the operating debt the Clinics and Surgery Center owes to Fairview and assume all annual operating losses. That debt had been held by the M Physicians group.

Fairview will provide $50 million in annual funding for the medical school, with the “potential for additional funding based on system performance,” reads the joint announcement.

Fairview also assumes additional financial responsibility for clinic services, bringing its 10-year commitment to the medical school to approximately $600 million before additional performance-based funding.

The new leadership council will consist of two members each from university leadership and the Fairview board of directors to “discuss strategic matters and mutual needs and ensure an effective collaboration,” reads the joint statement.

Complex negotiations

Negotiations intended to keep alive the M Health Fairview partnership were complex, according to those involved, in part because of the breadth of the three institutions. The Fairview system spans 1,500 physicians and 500 advanced practice providers affiliated with M Physicians, along with 1,100 physicians and 400 advanced practice providers affiliated with Fairview and other providers operating in Fairview clinics.

The three-way agreement has already been signed by U of M President Rebecca Cunningham, Fairview President and Chief Executive Officer James Hereford, and M Physicians interim CEO Greg Beilman.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents, the M Physicians Board, and the Fairview Board of Directors are expected to vote on the binding agreement by Feb. 1. The agreement would then take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, with some features implemented this year.

There’s still more negotiations head. The latest agreement provides a framework for three distinct arrangements, including an academic affiliation agreement between the U of M and Fairview, a master agreement between M Physicians and the U of M, and an amendment to the Fairview/M Physicians “stability agreement” that was agreed upon last November.

The parties have agreed to continue working with the existing mediation team on the three “definitive agreements.”

U president, Fairview CEO respond

Cunningham, the U of M president, was quoted in the joint statement saying the new agreement “is an important milestone that brings clarity to the relationship between the University, M Physicians, and Fairview Health Services for the next 10 years. We are pleased to be able to continue this long-term partnership, which has played a vital role in caring for Minnesotans, training much of the state’s healthcare workforce and advancing lifesaving medical research.”

James Hereford, president and CEO of Fairview Health Services, said that healthcare delivery in Minnesota and across the country “is in crisis, and meeting the needs of patients in this environment requires constant innovation, improvement and a willingness to change how we provide care-

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delivery services to meet the needs of our patients.”

“This mediation process,” Hereford continued, “created the space for all parties to focus on what matters most: continuity of care, a strong academic partnership, and a sustainable future for healthcare in our state.”

By SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — The deadly and widespread winter storm paralyzing much of the American East with ice, snow and cold is also taking a multi-billion dollar bite out of the U.S. economy, experts figure.

But how much? Economists and meteorologists are trying to get a handle on the disruption costs of winter weather disasters, which aren’t as easy to calculate as buildings destroyed by hurricanes, floods and fires.

“Events like this storm highlight just how interconnected our economy is with weather conditions. When major transportation hubs shut down or power grids fail, the cascading effects ripple through supply chains and business operations across multiple sectors simultaneously,” said Jacob Fooks, a research economist for Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University.

Fooks said researchers don’t have consensus, but most estimates suggest severe weather events collectively can cut gross domestic product by 0.5% to 2% annually — which he called “very substantial.”

With U.S. GDP at about $30 trillion annually, that would be from $150 billion to $600 billion.

One private company puts a big price tag on the storm

Most economists, meteorologists and disaster experts said it’s too early to put a legitimate cost estimate on the weekend storm and upcoming week of subfreezing temperatures. But the private company AccuWeather announced that its preliminary estimate for the storm that grounded 11,400 flights is between $105 billion and $115 billion — an amount six other experts scoffed at as far too high and insufficiently detailed.

“A lot of it comes from the disruptions that occur to commerce, the cost of power outages,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter told The Associated Press at the annual American Meteorological Society convention in a chilly Houston. “Some businesses are going to be shut down for days or a week or more.”

It’s why AccuWeather is calling this “the storm that shut it all down,” Porter said. By Monday, it had killed at least 25 people.

Add to that ice toppling electrical lines leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, tree losses, damage to cars, and all those canceled flights, Porter said. He noted it will take time to reboot air travel and restore power.

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Other experts say that’s too high

Climate economist Adam Smith, who used to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s billion-dollar weather disaster list, said this storm will easily cost multiple billions of dollars, making it the country’s first billion-dollar weather disaster of 2026.

But Smith, now a senior climate impact scientist at Climate Central, said it’s nowhere near as costly as AccuWeather suggests. He said the private company has been an outlier among experts in climate impacts and economics. He pointed to the private company’s initial estimate of $250 billion in damage from last year’s Los Angeles wildfires. Several climate, risk and insurance groups all waited to do extensive analysis and all said the real amount was around $60 billion.

AccuWeather did not immediately respond to a follow-up message seeking comment.

So far, the most expensive winter storm on record in the U.S. is 2021’s Texas ice storm, which cost about $26 billion, Smith and Fooks said. The 2016 Northeast blizzard cost about $3 billion, Fooks said.

Smith said this weekend’s storm could approach the cost of the 2021 Texas storm because it is so widespread.

Some storm costs are hard to quantify

There’s a big difference in the type of losses that are talked about with winter storms and other weather disasters.

Hurricanes, fires and floods cause damage to buildings, infrastructure and physical things that insurers will pay out for. In snow and ice storms, much of it is lost opportunity, which is more amorphous and harder to quantify, said Smith, Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini, former NOAA chief scientist Ryan Maue and former National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini.

“When we talk about the billion dollar damage, we talk about hurricane damage, we’re basically talking about insurable losses,” Maue said. “People generally aren’t renumerated for bad weather.’’

Uccellini noted it can be tricky to figure out costs of those lost opportunities, in part, because research has found there can be economic winners in winter storms — for example, the hardware store that sells more shovels and salt, and the grocery store that sells more food.

Fooks, of Colorado State, said it still seems that losses far outstrip those gains. He cited things like disruption of supply chains and business operations, response costs for emergency managers and departments of transportation, and so on.

Porter and others say regardless of how costs are calculated, they are adding up.

As the climate warms, costly weather disasters are happening “at an increasing frequency and impact around the world,” Porter said. “This is just the latest example.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Some pro athletes can be insulated from what is happening outside the arena, especially in the midst of a condensed season like the 2025-26 NHL campaign, when teams are playing essentially every other night.

But members of the Minnesota Wild live and raise their families in the Twin Cities, and the on-going unrest related to a federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul is impossible not to notice.

“It’s sad, you know,” defenseman and Minnesota native Brock Faber said after the team’s morning practice at TRIA Rink. “Being from Minnesota, you hate to see things like this. Definitely, definitely sad for a lot of people.”

Following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents Saturday two miles from Target Center, the Minnesota Timberwolves postponed their home game by 24 hours. In St. Paul, meanwhile, the Wild played their Saturday night home game, the scheduled conclusion of the annual Hockey Day Minnesota celebration.

On Sunday, Wild ownership signed on to a letter from Minnesota business leaders urging a de-escalation of the tensions, which have been running high since federal authorities sent a surge of agents into Minnesota. As a result, several large-scale protests have been staged throughout Minnesota, the largest yet a march Friday in downtown Minneapolis.

“It’s been pretty devastating,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “Having all girls, all my girls born here, Minnesota’s home. So, to see what’s going on in the Twin Cities, it’s tough to see. Right now, we’re just thinking about everyone involved and just trying to give our support as a team and this, through this organization.”

With Wild home games on Tuesday versus Chicago and Thursday versus Calgary, Foligno said he hopes sports can provide a an enjoyable distraction from the often-disturbing scenes playing out elsewhere in the Twin Cities. So far, three Minneapolis residents have been shot by Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two of them killed — Pretti on Saturday, Renee Macklin Good on Jan. 7.

“It’s the entertainment business. We’re trying to bring people together through everything and all different types of situations,” Foligno said. “Sports are looked at that way. So, yeah, with us playing, and that’s when we step on the ice, that’s something that we’re trying to do is have these people get away from what they’re going through.”

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