Adam Thielen was supposed to sail off into the sunset in Minnesota after getting his highly anticipated homecoming last summer when the Vikings acquired him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

That never happened.

After struggling to carve out a niche for himself with the Vikings this season, Thielen requested his release last month with hopes of playing a bigger role somewhere else. He was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers less than 24 hours later.

“This is tremendously difficult for me to write and certainly not how any of us imagined this to go,” Thielen wrote on social media at the time. “This organization means the world to us from the top down and this locker room is filled with true professionals.”

Now the 35-year-old receiver is ready to hang up the cleats for good.

After taking some time to reflect after the Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs, Thielen took to social media on Wednesday afternoon to announce his retirement from the NFL. His post on Instagram included various pictures of him with his wife Caitlin, his sons Asher and Hudson, and his daughter Cora.

“What a ride it has been!” wrote Thielen, who finished his career with 704 receptions for 8,497 yards, and 64 touchdowns, playing for the Vikings, the Panthers, and the Steelers. “Have been blessed with so many great relationships and mentors over the years that I am forever grateful for!”

The underdog story has been told countless times since the Detroit Lakes native burst onto the scene more than a decade ago.

Originally signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State Mankato, Thielen bided his time on the practice squad, took advantage of his opportunities on special teams, and went on to establish himself as a household name.

If Stefon Diggs was Batman for the Vikings throughout the mid 2010s, Thielen was every bit his Robin in that span. Together, Diggs and Thielen formed a dynamic duo at the position, making life miserable on opposing teams that often struggled to take both of them away at the same time.

The steady production from Thielen wasn’t enough to keep him around long term. He was eventually cut by the Vikings in a move designed to free up some salary cap space. He signed with the Panthers shortly after his release and continued to be productive.

The rumors of a reunion with the Vikings popped up last summer and quickly became a reality after some tough negotiations. Though the homecoming came to a rather unceremonious end, Thielen will forever be celebrated for everything he did on and off the field during his time with the Vikings.

It’s only a matter of time before Thielen gets inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see his No. 19 jersey hanging in the rafters at some point.

The only receivers in franchise history with more receptions than Thielen (542) are Cris Carter, Randy Moss, and Justin Jefferson. The only receivers in franchise history with more yards than Thielen (6,751) are Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Justin Jefferson, and Anthony Carter.

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Two more men have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the fatal shootings of a woman, her son and husband in Coon Rapids nearly two years ago.

Brothers Demetrius Shumpert and Omari Shumpert, along with Alonzo Mingo, posed as UPS drivers and went into the family’s home with guns looking for money, leading to the killings of Shannon Jungwirth, 42, her son Jorge Reyes-Jungwirth, 20, and her husband, Mario Trejo Estrada, 39.

Alonzo Pierre Mingo, Demetrius Trenton Shumpert and Omari Malik Shumpert (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

Mingo fatally shot Jungwirth and Reyes-Jungwirth, while Omari Shumpert killed Trejo Estrada after he fought back, prosecutors said.

All three victims were shot in the head, and the killings were caught by video cameras inside the home in the 200 block of 94th Avenue Northwest. Two small children, both under the age of 5, were also in the home at the time of the killings but not injured.

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Demetrius Shumpert, 33, and Omari Shumpert, 20, both of Minneapolis, were sentenced last week in Anoka County District Court after juries convicted them last year of aiding and abetting first-degree murder and other charges in the Jan. 26, 2024, killings.

Jurors in August found Mingo, 39, of Fridley, guilty of the same charges and he was sentenced to life in prison in September.

Court records say that Trejo Estrada was suspected of drug trafficking and that law enforcement was on his trail in the days leading up to the killings.

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI

Reproductive rights advocates say they have dropped a legal challenge against the Trump administration for withholding millions of dollars of federal funding for family planning, contraception and other services after officials agreed to restore the money.

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Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after federal officials alerted 16 organizations, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, that the department was pausing $27.5 million to investigate whether they’re complying with the law.

At the time, HHS didn’t specify which laws or executive orders the groups were suspected of violating. However, in a Dec. 19 letter to the organizations, HHS officials cited “federal civil rights laws” and that the groups had taken actions to show they were in compliance.

The letter reminded the organizations of their “ongoing obligation to comply with all terms of the award, including by not engaging in any unlawful diversity, equity or inclusion-related discrimination in violation of such laws.”

The ACLU then filed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit on Jan. 13.

“We should never have had to sue to protect essential health care like cancer screenings, STI tests, and birth control,” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia. “Restoring funding is a victory, but the larger fight to protect everyone’s reproductive freedom continues.”

An email seeking comment to HHS was sent on Wednesday.

Since taking office, Trump has issued executive orders targeting programs that consider race in any way, some of which have been put on hold by judges.

Republicans have long railed against the hundreds millions of dollars that flow every year under the Title X program to Planned Parenthood and its clinics, which offer abortions but also birth control, cancer and disease screenings, among other things. The program provides services mainly to low-income women, many of them from minority communities. Federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from paying for most abortions.

According to the ACLU, when HHS withheld 22 federal Title X grants last spring, 865 family planning service sites were unable to provide services to an estimated 842,000 patients across nearly two dozen states.

Brigitte Amiri, deputy director of the Reproductive Freedom Project at the ACLU, said in a statement that while funding has been restored, “we know that the Trump administration will continue to attack reproductive freedom, and the ACLU will be ready to use every lever we have to fight those attacks and defend the Title X program.”

By David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Reps. Doris Matsui and Mike Thompson want to impeach Homeland Secretary Kristin Noem. So do dozens of other Democrats.

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They said Wednesday they’re backing an impeachment resolution in the House led by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill. It appears highly unlikely it will go anywhere in the Republican-run chamber.

The Democrats’ anger has been building all year, as immigration enforcement agents have used what critics say are strong-arm tactics to find undocumented immigrants. Impeachment backers are particularly outraged by the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Gold by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Minneapolis during an anti-ICE protest January 7.

“Secretary Noem, you have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences,” Kelly told a Capitol news conference Wednesday.

Many Republicans and Trump administration officials have said ICE personnel were acting in self-defense in Minneapolis.

“Our ICE officers are enforcing federal law as the Congress wrote it. The Democrats here don’t like that law, they object to its enforcement, and they are actively encouraging citizens to obstruct its enforcement,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, chairman of the House immigration subcommittee.

Nonetheless, Matsui, Thompson and an estimated 70 other House members want to try to oust Noem.

“She’s spearheading a lawless and incompetent campaign of cruelty in our cities, blatantly violating the Constitution and allowing the senseless killing of our neighbors,” Matsui, D-Sacramento, posted on the social media platform X.com.

“She has been a complete and destructive failure as DHS secretary. Our nation demands that our justice system is carried out transparently and in accordance with the Constitution,” she said in a separate post.

Added Thompson, D-St. Helena, “Like so many Americans, I am sickened by ICE’s killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Enough is enough.

“It’s clear that Secretary Noem isn’t just a poor leader — she’s violating the law,” he said.

The Department of Homeland Security pushed back hard.

“How silly during a serious time. As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district,” the department said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee.

Could Noem be impeached?

The impeachment drive appears to have little momentum. Even if the House impeached Noem, which would take a majority vote, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to remove her from office. The House has a 218 to 213 Republican majority, and 53 of the Senate’s 100 members are Republican.

Party leaders have indicated they’d rather keep the focus on affordability.

“We haven’t had a caucus-wide conversation on that issue,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, when asked earlier this week about Noem’s actions.

“Clearly, we’re going to have to explore what accountability looks like as it relates to an out-of-control administration that continues to break the law, violate norms and jam reckless, right-wing extremism down the throats of the American people,” he said.

Rep. McClintock’s view

Republicans have generally supported the ICE action. “What I saw was an ICE vehicle attempting to leave an area that was in a near-riot condition, a civilian vehicle then suddenly moved in front of it to block its departure,” McClintock said. He described what he saw in a lengthy X post.

He watched as “an ICE officer approached that vehicle and issue a lawful order to the driver to get out of the car. Instead of complying with that order, the driver backed up, pointed the car in the direction of another officer, and then shifted into drive…”

Kelly said her effort has been long in the making. At a Wednesday news conference, she said the department has acted improperly as it searches for undocumented immigrants.

“Secretary Kristi Noem is an incompetent leader, a disgrace to our democracy, and I am impeaching her for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing,” Kelly said.

She has proposed three articles of impeachment:

—Obstruction of Congress: The measure says Noem “willfully obstructed Congressional oversight and withheld Congressionally appropriated funds in violation of her constitutional oath and federal law.”

—Violation of public trust: Noem “compromised public safety, violated due process of American citizens, and directed unconstitutional actions.”

—Self-dealing: Noem “abused her office for personal benefit and steered federal dollars to associates. “

©2026 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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