Derek Mead

Minneapolis gun permits surged after January ICE killings: Exclusive Data obtained by SAN shows a surge of Minnesotans applying for gun permits in the wake of January's ICE raids and two high‑profile deaths.

Minneapolis gun permit applications surged following ICE action: san.com/cc/minneapol...

Police overtime, riot agent cleanups: The price tag of having DHS operations in a city The Department of Homeland Security’s operations has left cities with a $6 million bill as the federal agency faces its own economic toll.

From hiring hazmat crews to clean up after tear gas to lost economic activity, the bill for cities after DHS actions and related protests is immense san.com/cc/police-ov...

Patel defends Olympic locker room celebration after criticism FBI Director Kash Patel is facing criticism after appearing in the USA men’s hockey team locker room following their win over Canada.

The real controversy: Coors Light? I expect FBI directors to at least be drinking scotch san.com/cc/patel-def...

Millions of homeowners could see property taxes drop, if not disappear Several states are exploring ways to abolish local property taxes, with some officials worried about the revenue hole doing so would create.

There's a concerted effort to drastically reduce or eliminate property taxes across 8 states. Virtually no one likes property taxes (as compared to other tax options), but they do pay for a lot... san.com/cc/millions-...

Is it just me, or has Google Docs' grammar suggestions (which historically have been good!) really started stinking lately?

Government Loses Hard Drives It Was Supposed to Put ICE Detention Center Footage On A Kafkaesque saga in which the government has failed to produce critical video footage has reached new levels of absurdity.

Court battle over surveillance footage at the Broadview ICE detention center reaches new levels of kafkaesque absurdity: The DOJ claimed it *couldn't afford* hard drives to put video footage on. Plaintiffs bought THE US GOVERNMENT hard drives. ICE "lost" them.

www.404media.co/government-l...

Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so, the public opinion polling agency confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. The company said starting thi…

Even worse than limiting access to information is eliminating the existence of information entirely, a trend that only seems to be accelerating in the US thehill.com/homenews/med...

Why did Bad Bunny climb a utility pole? A deep dive into Puerto Rico’s power grid When Bad Bunny climbed a utility pole during the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, he reminded us that Puerto Rico’s power grid isn’t fixed.

Bad Bunny's choreographed reminder of Puerto Rico's broken electric grid is truly a masterstroke of starting conversations without asking people why they aren't ALREADY having a conversation (looking at you attention grifters out there) san.com/cc/why-did-b...

FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking some...

this is pretty wild. good argument for lockdown mode if your threat model is one where you might have your phone seized by the Feds: www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...

Is the era of the all-powerful real estate agent over? The spring home selling season is about to open, bringing with it a steeplechase of complications for buyers. But it also brings a massive power shift. “I don’t know how much buyers are aware of the n...

Home buyers now have a bit of leverage? That's new! san.com/cc/is-the-er...

jason pleas respond tolatest, thx

Jeffrey Epstein wanted to hire ‘top hacker.’ What was he looking for? Emails released by the DOJ from the inbox of Jeffrey Epstein show the sex offender’s interest in hiring hackers.

NEW: Epstein was told in a 2014 email to hire Hector "Sabu" Monsegur, the LulzSec hacker turned FBI informant.

Here's what Monsegur said when I asked him whether he'd ever been contacted by Epstein or his associates.

san.com/cc/jeffrey-e...

Is Minneapolis under surveillance during ICE surge? We went there to find out Minneapolis residents are wondering whether Flock license plate data is being used by ICE to track migrants and protesters.

Is ICE conducting blanket surveillance at protests? Following his research in Portland, @mikaelthalen.bsky.social went to Minneapolis to test: san.com/cc/minneapol...

ICE will not conduct security, enforcement activity at Olympics: USOPC The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says it is not working with ICE for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics despite earlier reports.

ICE will not be doing security at the Olympics, the USOPC confirmed to SAN: san.com/cc/ice-will-...

Very crucial exclusive reporting here outlining how Kansas City is responding to ICE's apparent plan to covert local warehouse space into a "mega" detention center: san.com/cc/how-a-qui...

Read @mikaelthalen.bsky.social's first reporter looking for signals of crowd surveillance in Minneapolis: san.com/cc/minneapol...

Brooke Rollins' '$3 meal' comment was ridiculed, but she's right. Here's the math Trump's agriculture secretary is facing internet ridicule for saying a meal "can cost around $3." She's not wrong, though.

That whole $3 meal thing is really not nearly as deranged as the national media made it sound. Perhaps a symptom of where media is concentrated... san.com/cc/brooke-ro...

Why more doctors are billing their patients like it's the 1920s Cash-based clinics, or direct primary care, are becoming more popular as health care spending skyrockets and quality of care declines.

More and more doctors are moving to cash payment, bypassing insurance entirely. Here's why: san.com/cc/why-more-...

Four Oglala detainees located, three still in ICE custody - ICT The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars

"The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars" ictnews.org/news/north-c...

Can a state prosecute a federal agent? Answer divides state, federal officials In the wake of controversial shootings by federal immigration agents, legal and political battles have erupted over who has jurisdiction.

When pundits say "norms are being broken", what they're really talking about is the precarious nature of common law san.com/cc/can-a-sta...

I asked NORAD what they've learned from 70 years of tracking Santa. "He's a very special aviator," they said. san.com/cc/after-70-...

The military's new AI says 'hypothetical' boat strike scenario 'unambiguously illegal’ An AI chatbot unveiled by the Pentagon appears to have described airstrikes against suspected drug smugglers at sea as “illegal.”

The Pentagon's new AI (powered by Google!) told multiple users this week that the double-tap boat strike scenario is definitely illegal san.com/cc/the-milit...

I miss Ernie!

Panel recommends CDC end routine hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices changed its recommendations for vaccinating infants against hepatitis B.

This is a seismic shift in US vaccine guidance, and potentially for policy to come san.com/cc/panel-rec...

Trump called her work ‘genius’. Now this artist documents his deportation push Courtroom sketch artist Isabelle Brourman is the only person documenting the daily drama unfolding in New York City's immigration courtrooms.

Renowned artist Isabel Brourman—who Trump once called a genius—has taken on a new project: documenting immigration court: san.com/cc/trump-cal...

HOPE Hacking Conference Banned From University Venue Over Apparent ‘Anti-Police Agenda’ "The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing," the conference said.

The legendary HOPE hacking conference has been banned from its venue at St. John's University over what the university seems to be calling an "anti-police agenda." Part of a broader crackdown on security research / hacking / open source: www.404media.co/hope-hacking...

Former federal health workers concerned about where RFK gets his information Former federal health workers shared their concerns with SAN over where HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gets his information.

Former federal health workers in a wide variety of leadership roles say that RFK Jr. rarely attends briefings on health concerns from the various agencies under HHS. This is increasing risk we won't be prepared for the next health disaster: san.com/cc/former-fe...

SAN won best site redesign for the Editor & Publisher annual awards. Well-deserved, as our product team is really dang good www.eppyawards.com

Facing $50K in adoption fees, this Texas couple baked up a sweet side hustle Unable to conceive, a couple channeled their heartbreak into hope by selling baked goods at pop-up markets to fund a $50,000 adoption journey.

Adoption is unbelievably expensive in the US, and prospective parents are taking on additional jobs just to pay the fees san.com/cc/facing-50...

ICE is sending a chill through the construction industry The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse.

The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse. n.pr/4qLBoeQ