No surge for the red?

I am curious why red state governors Ron Desantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas are not actively inviting an ICE surge into their own states. Both Florida and Texas have 10 times the number of immigrants as Minnesota. Both states have internment camps that detainees could be bused to rather than flown to on commercial airliners. Both have a larger number of residents who might actually support the fascist and unconstitutional practices of masked ICE agents.

The answer to my question is obvious. Desantis and Abbott know all too well the political and economic damage an ICE surge would do to their states. It is far easier for them to promote the false narrative that ICE activity in blue states like Minnesota is making those states and indeed our nation safer. Their hypocrisy is shameful.

Rick Gavin, Eagan

That aroma

I passed by you on the sidewalk today, and didn’t say anything. I sat near you at the coffee shop today. There you were at the mall, close by. When flying to Las Vegas this weekend, I passed by you as I searched for my seat. Your aura, fragrance and aroma, unmistakable. I asked Google to describe:

The smell of marijuana, particularly when it is considered “awful” or overwhelming, is often described as a pungent, skunky, and thick aroma that can trigger feelings of nausea or anxiety. It is notoriously difficult to hide and is frequently described as a mixture of burning rubber, rotting fruit, skunk spray, and damp, stagnant water.

The vast majority of us keep our heads down, hold our breath and pass you by.  I want to take this moment to tell the truth, not to bring you down from your buzz, nor to make you even more paranoid, a side affect of the drug. You stink.

Jerry Wynn, St. Paul

 

You know that voice

Just came home from a post-operative check-in with an eye doctor and was surprised to have been greeted by a cheerful employee leading me to a self-check-in kiosk. It was not too difficult to use the screen, though I did stumble a bit. After all, I am somewhat tech-literate. It struck me as an impersonal interaction, putting a machine between befuddled customer and a wonderful human being. I’ve always enjoyed cajoling, teasing, laughing with the sign-in personnel, and this seemed unnecessarily mechanized.

We all know that what we need right now in these troubled times is caring, personal contact between each other. If efficiency is the kiosk’s purpose, well, consider that it required a person to help me get through the sign-in process anyway, and rather than talking about the weather or whatever, she needed to help an old duffer get through the technology. Maybe others have experienced the dreaded AI voice when calling to make a medical appointment or get some personal help for a medical condition. You know that voice, the one that can’t understand the word “YES!”  This makes me worry about what’s ahead.

Bob Goepel, Little Canada

 

Pawns in a larger war

The feds’ refusal to share information with the state about the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti will prevent a full accounting of what happened. The federal agents who pulled the trigger multiple times should be brought to justice. But even with full cooperation, investigations of those killings would be insufficient.

Triggers don’t get pulled in a vacuum. The agents who killed Good and Pretti are pawns in a larger war to pit Americans against each other.

These agents were put here by a reckless, lawless president for bogus reasons — do these masked ruffians look like they’re rooting out fraud? He armed them with simmering resentment of people with brown skin through dehumanizing and demeaning rhetoric. He empowered them with disdain for the rule of law. They were further egged on by J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller, declaring that federal agents had immunity.

Congressional Republican lemmings, blindly following a self-serving and malicious authoritarian, funded this chaos through the incongruously named One Big Beautiful Bill. Minnesota’s highest ranking lemming, Tom Emmer, has learned to lie and misdirect as proudly as the big boss. Like a good little lemming, he declared that ICE violence is the fault of local leaders.

Words have consequences. Contempt as policy has consequences. Trump and all of his enablers are responsible for Minnesotans’ suffering — including the deaths of Good and Pretti — and should be held accountable.

Rich Cowles, Eagan

 

Parallels

It is hard not to see the parallels between the ending of Baum’s The Wizard of Oz and the current chaotic scenes that play out daily at the White House. Harry Truman is credited for having placed a sign on the Resolute Desk that read, The Buck Stops Here. Unfortunately, as with many of the current resident’s past ventures, the result is bankruptcy, only this time it is of the moral kind. Minor flaws can be overlooked or overcome, but Donald Trump’s flaws are of the deeper and more tragic variety. When Dorothy exposed the Wizard of Oz and his false majesty, she reproached him and called him “a very bad man,” to which he replied, “No my dear, I’m a very good man – just a bad wizard.” And while it is certainly possible for someone to be a good man but a bad president, Trump shows us time and again by his reckless words and his feckless deeds that it is well nigh impossible for a very bad man to be a good president.

John W. Wheeler, Maplewood

Not a verdict on his potential

The Minnesota Vikings are right to pursue an experienced quarterback to serve as QB1 next season. Sam Darnold was never going to remain in Minnesota, and the mistake was not moving on — it was failing to start Daniel Jones as QB1 last season while allowing J.J. McCarthy to develop as QB2. Instead, McCarthy was rushed into a role he was not positioned to succeed in, effectively being asked to lead an offense that was not structurally prepared to support a rookie quarterback.

Evaluating Vikings quarterback play has been difficult dating back to the end of the 2024–25 season, when Darnold was sacked 11 times in his final two games, including nine in the playoff loss to the Rams. That breakdown did not end with that season. In 2025–26, Minnesota’s offensive line ranked approximately 25th to 28th out of 32 NFL teams in pass protection. That level of protection made it harder to evaluate quarterback play based on quarterback performance alone, as even elite passers see their performance and statistics suffer against an unrelenting, unimpeded pass rush.

That reality mattered for every quarterback, but it was especially true for McCarthy, who was effectively navigating his true rookie season. Even so, his final four starts showed progress: a 4–0 record, 64.3% completion rate, 703 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions, and a cumulative passer rating near 95.

Two things can be true at once: the Vikings are right to seek a veteran QB1, and McCarthy should still be viewed as a possible NFL-level quarterback. Rushing his development was a team decision — not a verdict on his potential.

Dennis M Dunnigan, White Bear Lake

 

By SOPHIE AUSTIN

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — More than a dozen states sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health.

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The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put children’s lives at risk when it announced last month that it would stop recommending all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Under the new guidance, which was met with criticism from medical experts, protections against those diseases are recommended only for certain groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.”

The new vaccine recommendations ignore long-standing medical guidance and will make states have to spend more to protect against outbreaks, the states, including Arizona and California, said.

“The health and safety of children across the country is not a political issue,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, at a news conference. “It is not a culture war talking point.”

The CDC and Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit escalates an ongoing battle between Democratic-led states and Republican President Donald Trump’s administration over the federal government’s changes to public health policy under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of workers at federal public health agencies, cut funding for scientific research and altered government guidance on fluoride and other topics.

Kennedy last year ousted every member of a vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with his own picks, which Tuesday’s complaint alleges was unlawful.

FILE – California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters outside the Supreme Court, on Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The lawsuit comes months after the Democratic governors of California, Washington state and Oregon launched an alliance to establish their own vaccine recommendations. The governors said the Trump administration was risking people’s health by politicizing the CDC.

States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren, though the CDC’s requirements typically influence state regulations.

It should be obvious by now that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing for time. His negotiators are dragging out peace talks, making enough conciliatory noises to fend off renewed U.S. pressure while Russian missiles and drones pound Ukraine. If the White House wants to broker a lasting settlement, it’s going to have to make continued war more costly for him.

With Russian forces registering little progress on the front lines, the Kremlin has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Earlier this month, on the eve of negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Russia launched 450 drones and 71 missiles at Ukraine’s energy grid in -20C (-4F) temperatures. Days later, Russia struck again, targeting the high-voltage transmission lines that form the grid’s backbone.

Each strike compounds previous damage. Ukraine’s largest private power producer, DTEK, says roughly 80% of its thermal generating capacity was destroyed or damaged. Those fuel-fired plants, which accounted for roughly two-thirds of Ukraine’s thermal capacity before the war, provide both electricity and district heating. Ukrainians now face not only blackouts but also freezing homes, stalled elevators in tall buildings and disrupted water supplies. Kyiv residents get only a few hours of electricity a day. The city’s mayor says nearly 600,000 people have fled the capital.

The Kremlin’s aim is twofold: to freeze Ukrainian civilians into submission, and to convince the world that Russia’s victory is inevitable and aid to Ukraine merely delays that outcome at needless expense. In fact, after nearly four years of fighting, Russia controls only a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and has made paltry territorial gains since early in the war — at enormous cost. An estimated 1.2 million Russian soldiers have been killed, wounded or are missing. Roughly 40% of federal spending now goes to defense and security, draining Russia’s economy and hollowing out its workforce.

Additional pressure on Putin would have an impact, which is one reason his negotiators are working so assiduously to avert it. Europe has sent emergency generators and relocated an entire thermal power plant from Lithuania to Ukraine. But what’s really needed are additional air-defense systems to protect substations and power plants, as well as more transformers and grid-hardening equipment.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Europe need to focus on further strangling Russia’s income from oil exports. A bipartisan sanctions bill in the U.S. Senate, targeting buyers such as India and China, would help. So would a proposed new European Union sanctions package, which includes a ban on EU-linked companies providing insurance, repairs, financing and other shipping services to any tanker carrying Russian oil.

After World War II, nations agreed that wars should have limits. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian commanders over strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. While Russia rejects the court’s jurisdiction, attacks on objects indispensable to civilian survival are prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and customary international law. The idea that they can bring peace closer is risible. It’s time the U.S. said so.

— The Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board

 

A residential housing project in Bayside, Queens, is winning the support of housing-skeptical Councilmember Vickie Paladino due the threat of a new voter-approved appeals process that could override her objections.

“I’m going to vote yes and maintain some kind of leverage on the project moving forward,” City Councilmember Vickie Paladino told City Limits of the project. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)

One person’s dream is another’s nightmare.

In Bayside, Queens, a proposal to build 248 apartments—a mix of market rate and affordable homes, plus long term care units for the elderly—is upending the politics of housing development. 

The project is heralded by pro-housing groups, despite strong opposition from Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino, whose district it’s planned for.

Yet the housing-averse Paladino voted to advance the proposal at 217-14 24th Ave.—which she does not support—under threat of an override from the city’s new affordable housing appeals board, which voters created by passing a ballot measure in November 2025.

Paladino said that the new appeals board, which can override a Council decision that rejects new affordable housing, pushed her to accept a version of the project to maintain negotiating power.

“I’m really not happy about any of this, but this is what the props were designed for—to force our hand on unpopular projects,” said Paladino in a statement to City Limits before Tuesday’s Council meeting. “I’m going to vote yes and maintain some kind of leverage on the project moving forward.”

The plan, approved by the City Council later that afternoon, could signal how new land use procedures in New York City are upending traditional housing politics. Before voters passed three housing-related ballot measures last year, lawmakers would often exercise “member deference”—where the rest of the Council would back whatever decision a local member made about a land use change in their district.

Most Council members were opposed to the ballot measures, which they said would hurt their ability to negotiate benefits for their districts in land use deals.

But affordable housing groups, as well as the Charter Revision Commission that crafted the proposals, said member deference has led to less housing being built, and fewer housing projects ever getting proposed in districts with Council members who do not want new development. 

The ballot measures passed as the city faces its biggest housing shortage in several decades, fueling both rising rents and increased homelessness. 

“These were intended to stop Council members from blocking all new housing out of hand. We’re now seeing that change,” said Annemarie Gray, executive director of the yes-in-my-backyard (YIMBY) group Open New York. “No neighborhood is too rich for affordable housing and here is a Council member who otherwise is saying they would have voted no, who now has to contend with a new landscape.”

The appeals board convenes the mayor, City Council speaker, and borough president, who can advance an affordable housing project that the Council rejects if it has support of two out of three board members. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards expressed support for the project in his own review.

“One of our number one priorities is to build as much affordable housing in every single neighborhood as possible. We made that clear to Councilmember Paladino,” said Council Speaker Julie Menin in a press conference Tuesday.

“It is always better when we can get Council members to be supportive of the project because if it goes to the appeals board that member’s views are really not necessarily going to be incorporated. That particular project made a lot of sense to do,” said Menin.

Under the regime of the appeals board, it appears just the threat of an override might be enough to get reluctant Council members to the negotiating table.

“I think it does change the dynamics around new development, and we’re going to have to feel it out as we go along. I think the goal now is to work towards ensuring new developments are as sensitive as possible to the neighborhood, and if you say yes to the more reasonable projects you’ll have more credibility to say no when something genuinely bad comes around,” said Paladino in a statement to City Limits.

A rendering of the eight-story development planned for 217-14 24th Ave. in Queens. (Credit: BMBT LLC via Department of City Planning)

The eight-story building by Barrone Management and Apex Development will bring 183 units, 55 which will be affordable housing available to households making between $71,000 and $132,000, depending on the number of bedrooms. An additional 65 units will be long term care units for seniors.

A required racial equity report for the project suggested it will further the city’s fair housing goals in a neighborhood that is wealthier and whiter than the city as a whole, and has few existing affordable housing options. Paladino’s Northeast Queens district produced just 51 units of affordable housing from 2014 to 2023, according to data from the New York Housing Conference, ranking eighth of the city’s 59 Council districts.

Paladino said she received many more calls about developments in her district since the ballot measures passed.

“The biggest challenge is going to be helping constituents understand exactly what has changed here,” Paladino said in a statement. “There’s going to be developments happening that would’ve maybe been a hard no from me in the past.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called for more housing production and the creation of 200,000 affordable homes in the next 10 years. “I’m encouraged to see this project advancing, and we’ll have more to share soon about how we plan to use every tool available to deliver deeply affordable housing—faster, at scale, and in every corner of our city,” the mayor said in a statement to City Limits.

More change could be coming as developers and neighborhoods wrestle with the rollout of the new land use procedures voters approved in the fall: last week, a project in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx became the first to utilize an “expedited” land use review process

Next fall, another “fast track” land use review will go live in the 12 community districts that built the least affordable housing.

“This is just the beginning of us really seeing how many new projects are going to get built in a landscape where the balance of power is different,” said Gray.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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