Deb Pastner News Today

Police found Heather Mayer dead in her boyfriend’s basement. The circumstances of her death remain a mystery. But as her mother began digging for the truth, more women came forward with allegations of assault in the Twin Cities bondage community.

In Minnesota, as in much of the country, alternative approaches to handling youth crimes have been slow to gain public support. But Colorado has overcome these obstacles through a series of hard-won legislative victories and a commitment to measuring outcomes.

Extended youth probation was once heralded as an innovative alternative to prison for adolescents who commit violent crimes. Instead, an alarming number end up incarcerated for minor probation offenses.

From a funeral home to a restaurant, in the government and at home with a newborn, the pandemic upended how we live, how we grieve, and how we look into the future.

As youth detention centers close, Minnesota runs out of places to rehabilitate kids who commit serious crimes.

More than a dozen Star Tribune reporters and photographers set out on a recent Saturday to document a city in transition.

Each day, Minnesota judges and prosecutors make life-altering decisions about children who break the law. Most kids end up entangled in the county court system, but some youth are offered an alternative, known as diversion. A child’s future can hinge on the path that is chosen.

Rather than helping develop care plans that would allow disabled Minnesotans to live in their homes, counties continue to steer thousands into facilities that promote dependency and isolation.

Follow the StarTribune for the news, photos and videos from the Twin Cities and beyond.

Nieman Lab’s home, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, on Tuesday announced the 84th class of Nieman Fellows. These 22 journalists will spend the coming year at Harvard. (More information, including how to apply for next year, is here.) You may recognize some names from (among many other places) Nieman Lab stories. We wrote about Jorge Caraballo Cordovez‘s work at Radio Ambulante here. Pranav Dixit‘s reporting on misinformation in India has regularly appeared in our fake news column. An...