The Minnesota Department of Corrections said Monday they’ve identified 68 cases when they’ve transferred people from prison to federal custody and federal officials “falsely claim these same individuals were ‘arrested’ by waves of federal agents deployed into Minnesota communities.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a “Worst of the Worst” website where DOC said they identified people who were subject to routine custody transfers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“DHS is justifying an unprecedented federal deployment into Minnesota communities based on the demonstrably false narrative that Minnesota refuses to honor ICE detainers,” DOC said in its latest comments pushing back against DHS. “… What is troubling is DHS taking credit for ‘arrests’ which are, in reality, state-to-federal handoffs occurring at prison facilities after individuals complete their state terms of imprisonment, as has been the long-standing practice.”

The Corrections Department gave examples, including a case from Thursday. DOC said they transferred Jose Eliborio Ocampo-Leon from the Moose Lake prison to ICE custody.

The next day, DHS highlighted him in a press release with Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stating, “DHS law enforcement continues to remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the streets of Minnesota. Just yesterday they arrested pedophiles, sexual predators, and drug traffickers in Minnesota.”

County jails are a separate matter from the state’s prisons. State law says local law enforcement cannot hold people in custody in county jails solely based on civil immigration detainer requests from ICE, according to a legal opinion last year from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

County boards can enter into agreements with ICE, and seven of Minnesota’s 87 counties have agreements with ICE. They are Cass, Crow Wing, Freeborn, Itasca, Kandiyohi, Mille Lacs and Sherburne counties, according to ICE.

DHS said last Monday they arrested 3,000 “criminal illegal aliens” in the last six weeks.

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After a successful joint outing in 2023, Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind and Fire will kick off another tour together in St. Paul on June 24 at Grand Casino Arena.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. Citi cardholders have access to a presale that runs from 10 a.m. Tuesday through 10 p.m. Sunday.

The two acts drew a crowd of about 13,000 to the former Xcel Energy Center in August 2023.

An Alabama native, Richie considered becoming a priest but chose to pursue music instead. In 1968, he joined the Commodores as a singer and saxophonist. The band signed to Motown and scored a series of hits including “Easy,” “Brick House,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Lady (You Bring Me Up).”

In 1980, Richie wrote the No. 1 hit “Lady” for Kenny Rogers. The following year, he sang the theme song for the film “Endless Love” with Diana Ross, which became one of Motown’s biggest hits. Richie then went solo and released a string of successful singles including “Truly,” “All Night Long (All Night),” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me” and “Dancing on the Ceiling.”

In the late ’80s, Richie took a break from his career to care for his father, who died in 1990. In the time since, he has taken a more casual approach to music, occasionally releasing new music and touring sporadically. In 2018, he joined Katy Perry and Luke Bryan as a judge on “American Idol,” a gig he has continued annually including the currently airing 24th season.

Founded in Chicago in 1969 by the late Maurice White, Earth, Wind and Fire has earned 17 Grammy nominations, including a lifetime achievement award in 2016, and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

While the band’s time spent ruling the pop charts is now in the past, EWF did release a series of classic singles still heard on radio, including “Shining Star,” “September,” “Boogie Wonderland” and “After the Love Has Gone.”

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City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Bronx County Housing Court on Jan. 14, 2022. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will host a Zoom workshop Tuesday on navigating housing court cases. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Welcome to City Limits’ NYC Housing Calendar, where we round up the housing and land use-related events and hearings coming up this week, as well as affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Know of an event we should include in next week’s calendar? Email us.

Upcoming housing and land use-related events:

Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m.: The Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet. More here.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, Resiliency, & Dispositions will meet about the following: Prospect Park Farm Acquisition, Constellation Open Door – Article XI: Brooklyn CB 3, CB 5, CB 16, and CB 17, Seaside Park and Community Arts Center Special Permit, Beverly Square West Historic District, Ditmas Park West Historic District, and 395 Flatbush Avenue Ext. Redevelopment. More here.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m.: The State Senate’s Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development will meet regarding several bills related to the SCRIE and DRIE rent freeze programs, among others. More here.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11:30 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet. More here.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m.: The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will host on online workshop about what to expect in housing court. More here.

Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.: NYCHA will hold its monthly board meeting. More here.

Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 12 p.m.: The NYC Council’s Committee on Land Use will meet. More here.

Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m.: The New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust will hold an in-person meeting at NYCHA’s Nostrand Houses to update residents on the development’s renovation projects. More here.

Friday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m.: Resilient Red Hook presents “Brooklyn Marine Terminal: Past, Present, & What’s Next for Red Hook?” an exhibit and community networking event in collaboration with Pratt’s School of Architecture. More here.

Monday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.: The City Planning Commission will meet to vote on the following projects: 20 Berry Street, 1325 Ave of the Americas-Text Amendment/Cert, Flushing Creek CSO Disinfection Facilities, Arden Heights Woods Stream Restoration, and Skyline Playground Upgrades. More here.

NYC Affordable Housing Lotteries: The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are closing lotteries on the following subsidized buildings over the next week.

The Sophia Apartments, Manhattan, for households earning between $41,280 – $189,540 (last day to apply is 1/27)

585 Jackson Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $70,732 – $116,640 (last day to apply is 1/28)

The Orchard, Queens, for households earning between $104,983 – $261,170 (last day to apply is 1/28)

The Hana, Queens, for households earning between $106,320 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 1/29)

Crotona Belmont Senior Housing, Bronx, for households earning up to $87,480 (last day to apply is 1/30)

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org. Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post NYC Housing Calendar, Jan. 26-Feb. 2 appeared first on City Limits.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization said Monday that dozens of prisoners were released over the weekend, as the United States continues to pressure the acting government to free hundreds of dissidents jailed during the administration of ousted leader Nicolás Maduro.

Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, said in a post on X that 266 “political prisoners” had been freed since Jan. 8, when Venezuela’s acting government promised to release a “significant number” of prisoners in what it described as an effort to promote national reconciliation.

Maduro was captured by the United States in a raid on Jan. 3, and was replaced by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime ruling party insider, who is now the nation’s acting president.

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According to human rights groups, prisoners released this weekend included an opposition activist, a human rights lawyer and a journalism student who was imprisoned in March after he published complaints about his hometown’s sewage system, and was charged with “inciting hatred.”

However, at least 600 dissidents remain detained in Venezuela, according to Foro Penal, including several members of the Vente Venezuela party, led by opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado.

On Friday acting President Rodríguez said that her administration had freed more than 620 prisoners adding that she would ask the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to verify the release lists.

Human rights groups in Venezuela have accused the government of inflating the number of prisoners that have been freed.

Outside Venezuela’s prisons, relatives of detainees have held regular vigils to demand the release of those still behind bars.