By Madison McVan | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
The wildfire near Two Harbors is fully contained, authorities said this morning. A 48-year-old Portage Township man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting at a fire suppression airplane.
Gov. Tim Walz announced this morning he has selected Justice Theodora Gaïtas as the new chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Prior to becoming a judge, Gaïtas spent most of her legal career as a public defender. The current chief justice, Natalie Hudson, turns 70 early next year, which is the mandatory retirement age for justices on the state Supreme Court. (FYI: If we had mandatory retirement age for federal judges, four U.S. Supreme Court justices would be out.)
Judge Reynaldo Aligada will take Gaïtas’s former position as associate justice. Aligada is a Ramsey County district court judge and a former federal defender.
Walz signed a number of bills last night, among them a ban on prediction markets, increased penalties for impersonating a law enforcement officer, and funding for rental and mortgage assistance.
Primary elections in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania are today. I’ll be paying attention to the elections to replace Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor. Follow along at News from the States, which aggregates reporting from all of our sister news outlets in state capitals across the country.
To the rest of the news:
Federal immigration officers on the scene where an officer shot a man Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in north Minneapolis. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
By Alyssa Chen
Minnesota prosecutors charged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian J. Castro, 52, on Monday with assault in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in north Minneapolis.
The ICE agent, who was identified for the first time publicly on Monday, faces four counts of second-degree assault as well as one count of falsely reporting a crime.
The arrest warrant filed by prosecutors, which is based on an investigation by the BCA and cites surveillance camera footage, aligns with the victims’ accounts that Castro fired at the front door of the house. It includes a description of holes from the bullet’s trajectory through the front door, a foyer wall, a closet and the wall of a child’s bedroom.
By Michelle Griffith
Michelle rounds up the most important moments from the 2026 legislative session, from the major bills passed to the political messaging from both parties and the influence of this year’s midterms.
And she notes what the Legislature didn’t do: “Lawmakers failed to act on issues that have rocked Minnesota communities in the past few months: gun violence, and relief to those impacted by the winter’s federal immigration enforcement surge,” Michelle writes.
By Alyssa Chen
Minnesota gained 18,283 housing units from July 2024 to July 2025, according to recent Census estimates. That 0.7% increase, which mostly comes from housing construction but also includes small losses from demolition and natural disaster, is a sharp drop from the growth of around 30,000 units in 2022.
Minnesota lags behind nationwide housing growth, which was 1% from 2024 to 2025, and ranks 35th among all states during that time.
By Rachel Téllez
Dr. Rachel Téllez, a pediatrician, writes that corporate consolidation in the healthcare industry — exemplified by the recent news of Sanford Health acquiring North Memorial — is raising costs and worsening access to important care.
Continuing down this path isn’t inevitable; Téllez endorses some legislative solutions at the state and federal levels.
IN OTHER NEWS
OH BY THE WAY
I was too nervous to watch the Artemis II mission as it was happening, but now that the astronauts are home safe and sound, I’m making my way through the BBC’s Artemis II podcast, “13 Minutes.” Highly recommend it if you, like me, are late to the party. (Or, if you’re an Artemis II fan who is bummed the mission is over.)
And, a song for your Tuesday.
Have a great day!
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