St. Paul Public Schools board member Jim Vue will resign effective Feb. 17, he announced during the board’s annual meeting Tuesday.

Vue, whose term was to expire in December, has served on the board since 2020. He will continue in his current role, including attending any district board meetings, until Feb. 17.

He said he also will continue his work on the H.M.O.N.G. Project, a district needs assessment project for the Hmong community which the board is expected to conclude by vote at its regular meeting Feb. 17. Vue did not share the reasoning behind his resignation during the Tuesday meeting.

“I am proud of my service on the board and the bonds that I’ve built with St. Paul Public Schools’ community. Please reach out to me if there’s any questions that you may have for me on this matter,” Vue said.

The announcement comes following the board’s December vote to keep a district school focused on Hmong culture and language at its current East Side campuses. Some parents supported a temporary move of some students at Txuj Ci HMong Language and Culture to another location in order to ease overcrowding. The board instead approved a resolution to reexamine current campus spaces, angering some parents.

Vue, who was the sole vote approving the temporary move as recommended by a district workgroup, expressed frustration with the handling of the vote at the time.

“I want my board colleagues to know that the outcome of the Txuj Ci facilities vote is not a measure of the Txuj Ci facilities work group’s worth. It is not a measure of St. Paul Public Schools Hmong community’s work. It will be a measure of our work as a school board to this community, and our ability to represent what they need,” said Vue, who is currently the only Hmong board member, at the Dec. 18 meeting.

Vue won a special election in 2020 to fill the seat of board chairwoman Marny Xiong, who died of COVID-19 in 2020. The board had appointed Vue to occupy the seat until the special election, which saw Vue come out ahead among the six candidates.

He was then reelected in 2021 and previously served as board chair. District committees he has served on include the district’s Financial Advisory Committee, Txuj Ci Lower Work Group, African American Program Work Group and as an alternate on the Council of the Great City Schools.

Related Articles

St. Paul school board votes to keep Hmong language, culture school at current campuses

Jim Vue chosen to chair St. Paul school board

St. Paul school board elects Jim Vue to fill vacant seat

Newcomers dominate in Stillwater school board race, Jim Vue wins in St. Paul

As part of their annual meeting, the board also voted Tuesday to appoint board member Uriah Ward as board chair, replacing previous chair Halla Henderson, who will continue to serve as a board member.

Ward thanked Vue for his time on the board.

“You were the first chair that I knew (when) I came on and we got to see how how you ran things and learned a lot from you and I think that you’ve made your mark on this district and that’s something to be really proud of,” Ward said.

Former Michigan kicker Beckham Sunderland committed to the Gophers on Tuesday.

Sunderland was a kickoff specialist for the Wolverines last season, with 44 touchbacks in 71 attempts last season. He did not attempt a field goal. The Newport, Ky., native spend the 2024 season at Texas State, where he made one extra point try.

Sunderland started out as a soccer goalkeeper and was the first homegrown player signing for MLS club FC Cincinnati in 2020 and played for their youth sides, but not the first team.

With last year’s Gophers kicker, Brady Denaburg done, Sunderland will compete with redshirt freshman Daniel Jackson and others for kicking duties next season.

Sunderland is the 10th addition to the Gophers transfer portal class since Friday.

Related Articles

Which new Gophers transfers could make immediate impact next fall?

Pair of brothers transfer from Michigan State to Gophers

Gophers win recruiting battle over Iowa for Division II defensive back

Gophers add big Auburn receiver Perry Thompson through portal

Gophers add stout Marshall defensive tackle transfer Naquan Crowder

The NFL has seven coaching openings after John Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday night.

The league had three dismissals on Black Monday and one on Sunday night. Two coaches were fired during the season. Here’s the rundown:

Ravens, John Harbaugh

After 18 seasons as Baltimore’s coach, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti relieved Harbaugh of his duties after his team was one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams. Harbaugh went 193-124 including the postseason. He led the 2012 Ravens to a Super Bowl title and reached the AFC championship game on three other occasions.

Cardinals, Jonathan Gannon

Arizona came into the season with high hopes of contending in the NFC West but finished with just three wins for one of the worst records in franchise history. The 37-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday was the team’s ninth straight and 14th in 15 games. Gannon finished 15-36 in three seasons.

Raiders, Pete Carroll

Carroll, the NFL’s oldest coach at 74, did not come close to enjoying the success he did while winning one of two Super Bowls over 14 years with Seattle and two national titles in nine years at Southern California. The Raiders were 3-14 in Carroll’s only season and had a 10-game losing streak before they posted a 14-12 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.

Browns, Kevin Stefanski

Two straight wins to end the regular season couldn’t save Stefanski, who was 5-12 this season and 46-58 over six years. He led the Browns to the playoffs in 2020 and 2023 and was AP coach of the year both seasons. But he could never lock down a franchise quarterback, going through 13 starters, including seven the past two seasons.

Falcons, Raheem Morris

The Falcons were 8-9 two straight years under Morris and finished this season with four wins in a row and in a three-way tie for first in the NFC South. The streak came after the team had been eliminated from playoff contention. Morris had been the Falcons’ interim coach for the final 11 games in 2020 after Dan Quinn was fired and he returned last year after having been the Rams’ defensive coordinator.

Giants, Brian Daboll

Daboll was fired Nov. 10 after the Giants lost eight of their first 10 games. An upset of defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia was followed by four straight losses, including one to Denver in which the Giants blew an 18-point lead with six minutes to play. Daboll led the Giants to the playoffs in his first season but went 11-33 after that and finished 20-40-1.

Titans, Brian Callahan

Callahan was the first coach fired, on Oct. 14, after the Titans lost five of their first six games. Callahan was 4-19, including a 10-game losing streak. He handed off play-calling duties after a 0-3 start in a sign of things to come. Of the 241 NFL coaches who have coached at least 20 games or more since the 1970 merger, Callahan ranks 237th with a .174 winning percentage.

Eberflus out as Cowboys DC

The Dallas Cowboys fired first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on Tuesday after they allowed the most points and intercepted the fewest passes in franchise history.

It’s the second consecutive season in which Eberflus has been fired. He was let go midseason in 2024, his third year as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

Eberflus made it to the end of the season in his return to Dallas, where he had been an assistant from 2011-17 before going to Indianapolis as defensive coordinator. But the 55-year-old’s fate appeared sealed before Sunday’s finale, a 34-17 loss at the New York Giants that set a club record as the ninth game of allowing at least 30 points.

“Having known Matt Eberflus for decades now, we have tremendous respect and appreciation for him as a coach and a person,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “After reviewing and discussing the results of our defensive performance this season, though, it was clear that change is needed. This is the first step in that process, and we will continue that review as it applies to reaching our much higher expectations.”

The departure of Eberflus means the Cowboys will have their fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons, following Dan Quinn in 2023, Mike Zimmer last year and Eberflus. Dallas’ past five defensive coordinators have been former NFL head coaches.

The Cowboys (7-9-1) finished last in the NFL in scoring defense and passing defense and 30th overall, wasting one of quarterback Dak Prescott’s best seasons for the league’s No. 2 offense.

Dallas gave up 500 points for the first time in club history, allowing 511 for an average of 30.1. The only higher average was the 30.8 points per game given up by the franchise’s winless expansion team in 1960.

The defense’s six interceptions fell one short of the previous franchise low, and the 12 takeaways were the second fewest in club history. The Cowboys finished tied for 29th in the NFL with a minus-9 turnover margin.

Jones didn’t do Eberflus any favors by trading star pass rusher Micah Parsons a week before the season started.

One of the two first-round picks acquired from Green Bay in that deal led to a trade for standout defensive tackle Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets, a move that sparked a three-game winning streak under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Commanders move on from two coordinators

Coordinators Kliff Kingsbury and Joe Whitt Jr. are both gone from head coach Dan Quinn’s staff with the Washington Commanders after a 5-12 season, a team official with knowledge of the moves told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the staff changes had not yet been announced.

Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator, and Whitt, who had been in charge of the defense until being stripped of play-calling duties during the season, both arrived in Washington with Quinn before the 2024 season.

According to the person who described Tuesday’s decisions to the AP, Quinn and Kingsbury met in the morning to talk about the future of the team’s offense, which stars quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Quinn and Kingsbury then mutually agreed to part ways, the official said.

Whitt was dismissed, which was not surprising given his earlier demotion and just how bad Washington’s defense was this season. One data point: No team in the NFL allowed opponents to gain more yards.

Lions fire OC Morton

The Detroit Lions fired offensive coordinator John Morton on Tuesday.

The move was expected after the Lions missed the playoffs and coach Dan Campbell took over Morton’s play-calling duties midway through the season.

Campbell is now looking for his third offensive coordinator in three seasons. Former OC Ben Johnson left the Lions a little more than a year ago to lead the Chicago Bears and helped them win the NFC North.

The Lions (9-8) failed to make the postseason after winning that division the previous two seasons and earning top seeding in the NFC last year.

Morton has more than two decades of coaching experience with Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, the New York Jets, New Orleans and San Francisco. He was Denver’s passing game coordinator for two seasons before Campbell hired him to lead the Lions’ offense.

Campbell said Monday he hadn’t decided whether he will continue to call plays next season.

Related Articles

Ranking the five plays that cost the Vikings a shot at the playoffs

Mizutani: J.J. McCarthy isn’t the franchise quarterback the Vikings promised

PFF grades from the Vikings’ win over the Packers: J.J. McCarthy didn’t finish the game

Takeaways from the Vikings’ 16-3 win over the Packers

Here’s who the Vikings will play during the 2026 season

By MELISSA GOLDIN

As the Trump administration continues to investigate a series of alleged fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents, social media users are falsely citing a Craigslist ad as evidence of such deceit.

Related Articles

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, dies at 80

Trump store in suburban Philadelphia ‘kind of run its course’ and is set to close

How Delcy Rodríguez courted Donald Trump and rose to power in Venezuela

Trump’s former Russia adviser says Russia offered US free rein in Venezuela in exchange for Ukraine

FACT FOCUS: Trump sows confusion on number of childhood vaccinations

The ad, which is no longer live, said a day care center in Minneapolis’ Ventura Village neighborhood was hiring 20 child actors for three days to pose as attendees while it is vetted by the state. It noted the children would be paid $1,500 per day.

But the ad was a prank. It is not proof of fraud in Minnesota.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: A Craigslist ad seeking child actors to legitimize a Minnesota day care center is proof of alleged fraud perpetrated by Somali residents.

THE FACTS: This is false. The ad, which was posted Jan. 1 in Craigslist’s Hennepin County, Minnesota, section for general labor jobs, was bait for an online prank show, its cohost Joey LaFleur told The Associated Press.

“The show’s called Goofcon1 and it is a funny show,” LaFleur said. “We do pranks and stuff like that.”

He added the show received a “ton of responses” to the ad and said he and his two cohosts will be doing a live show Saturday where they will call people who expressed interest.

Screenshots of the ad were used in social media posts on multiple platforms, cited as proof of fraud at Minnesota day care centers. The posts gained tens of thousands of likes, shares and views.

“BREAKING – A Craigslist ad seeking child actors for a daycare in Minneapolis’ Hennepin County has been discovered, with the poster requesting 20 children to act as clients while the state observes them to determine whether it’s a legitimate daycare,” reads one X post sharing the ad.

A man in a TikTok video called the ad “100% serious.” The video was viewed approximately 14,300 times.

LaFleur said that in addition to being a prank show, Goofcon1 wants to protect against predators and call out conservatives who “don’t care about fact checking.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ended his bid for a third term Monday amid President Donald Trump’s relentless focus on the fraud investigations. Also Monday, the Trump administration said it’s planning to tighten rules for federal child care funds.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.