Corrections and additions

Corrections

A wrong number, a misattributed vote, or a mischaracterized decision gets fixed and logged here.

1. Fraud updates and historical research carry separate datesNovember 6, 2026

   Shared review labels implied a full research review when selected records were updated. They now say latest update. The historical research scope remains October 11, with later source checks identified separately. The publication check now warns that archived political research has not been reviewed again. Governor returns were independently checked November 6 and remain unchanged.

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2. Council service disclosure avoids an unsupported exact handover dateNovember 5, 2026

   An earlier version of this update described December 31 as an exact council term end. The owner stated that he serves through the end of the year. The disclosure now uses that wording and makes no claim about the specific legal handover date.

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3. Nowthen meeting links use original documents after the city website moveNovember 5, 2026

   The new city website sometimes labels a generated list of attachments as the agenda and combines it with uploaded files in a packet download. The importer now selects the original uploads and preserves existing archived records when the bytes match. Verified generated copies were removed from the public document list and the OCR queue without deleting source files. Links to retired city document URLs now open the archived original instead.

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4. Ballot returns now link to official vote filesNovember 5, 2026

   The Elk River bond question previously showed 20,919 no votes from an incomplete district report. Secretary of State returns with all 34 precincts reporting show 20,925 no and 16,807 yes. Luverne returns confirm 673 yes and 1,470 no. The amendment result now uses official-source counts. All remain unofficial pending the appropriate canvass. Local results do not wait for the State Canvassing Board.

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5. Author disclosure gives the end of the council termNovember 5, 2026

   Dan Swenson was not reelected on November 3 and remains a Nowthen council member through December 31, 2026. The author page and section disclosures now give that term end.

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6. Sharmaine Meadows verdict was splitOctober 14, 2026

   The fraud cases page said a jury convicted Sharmaine Meadows on all three counts of health care fraud. The court docket shows she was tried on a five-count superseding indictment. The jury found her guilty on three counts and not guilty on two, on October 7, 2026.

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7. Fleet Funder labels as-paid interest and drops a truck price rangeOctober 13, 2026

   The plow truck graphic gave the borrowing total in today’s dollars and then said $159,471 “of that” was interest. The $159,471 is interest as paid, a different measure, so it now says so. The lead time section turned general bidder studies into a $8,982 to $35,927 range on this truck. Those studies do not measure what planning would save on this truck, so the range is gone.

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8. Fleet Funder says when saving wins and when borrowing doesOctober 13, 2026

   The plow truck example said borrowing costs about $39,000 more without saying how much that depends on the inputs. About $21,000 of it is bond fees. At the 2.96% the city’s 2025A bonds cost, the gap is about $19,000. Counting future dollars at the 4% bond rate instead of at inflation, borrowing costs about $16,000 less. The page now says so and shows each case in a table.

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9. State budget now uses the end of session figuresOctober 13, 2026

   The page used the February 2026 forecast and said FY2028-29 would end with a $377 million balance. After the 2026 session the state projects a $54.7 million shortfall for FY2028-29, counting estimated inflation. FY2026-27 revenue is now $67.7 billion, spending $71.1 billion, and the ending balance $3.1 billion.

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10. Spending growth since 2018 includes the 2018 debt levyOctober 13, 2026

    The spending chart showed no debt levy for 2018, so it said spending grew from about $1,363,000 in 2018. The city levied $146,056 for debt that year. Spending grew from about $1,509,000 to $2,948,000, not adjusted for inflation.

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11. Budget plan scorecard uses the September 8 preliminary levy and the certified 2019A levyOctober 13, 2026

    The scorecard still pointed to an August 17 work session. The council adopted a preliminary levy of $2,563,197 on September 8. The 2019A bond levy for 2026 is $70,601, not $69,543, which is what the fund collected. The State Auditor band is a share of operating revenue, not spending, and the city has published no pavement ratings since 2015.

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12. County levy increase is 9.4 percentOctober 13, 2026

    The county page said the levy rose 9.7 percent. That figure counted a new $500,000 public safety levy as growth. The county levy alone rose 9.4 percent, from $183,102,136 to $200,313,737.

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13. Thin overlay cost rangeOctober 13, 2026

    The road cost table gave $35,000 to $42,000 a lane-mile for a thin overlay. MnDOT gives $23,000 to $42,000, plus milling.

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14. Population estimate and savings wording in two signed articlesOctober 13, 2026

    The levy article credited the 4,813 population estimate to the state. It is the Metropolitan Council’s. The Part 2 article said the savings draw does not feed into the levy. That is true of the capital savings, but the general fund draw did hold the levy down.

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15. Meeting spending items labeled and reorderedOctober 13, 2026

    The list led with the largest unreviewed AI-extracted amounts, such as a $27,000,000 trail plan estimate. It now lists items by newest meeting and says the amounts are AI-extracted.

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16. Luverne analysis compared the wrong year and payments with the levyOctober 13, 2026

    Dan’s analysis compared 2024 total support of about $1.08 million, including a franchise fee no proposal ends, with the 2026 levy, and said the city could not close a gap that size with budget cuts. It now uses the 2025 transfers and EDA contribution, $341,675, about 9 percent of the 2026 levy, and the budget-cuts sentence was removed. It also now says Hutchinson’s and Worthington’s charters, like the amendment, require both bodies to agree on transfers.

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17. Luverne arguments page used an unverified 2025 payment figureOctober 13, 2026

    The page showed a chart and a 7.9% share for Luverne’s 2025 payments built on a budgeted franchise fee, while the rest of the guide says the 2025 total is not verified. The chart also counted Fairmont’s EDA payment, labeled Windom’s 2023 data as 2025, and called Jackson’s council-supervised utility a commission. The chart was removed and the peer comparison now uses one measure for every city.

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18. Luverne household illustration and franchise feeOctober 13, 2026

    The larger household illustration used 2024 total support with the payable 2026 tax base. It now uses the 2025 transfers and EDA contribution. A key fact implied the documented franchise rate produces $380,000. The city reports about $380,000, and the documented rate would produce about $332,000.

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19. Elk River referendum later-year tax wordingOctober 13, 2026

    The guide said the bond tax would rise after the first year unless the tax base grew. The district says new bond payments are timed to fill room left as old debt is paid off, so whether a bill rises depends on a schedule the district has not published. The guide now says so.

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20. Elk River board member Sarah Hamlin supports the referendumOctober 13, 2026

    The guide said Hamlin took no position. In her October 3 Star News voters guide answers she wrote, “Ultimately, I support the referendum.”

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21. Renewing the 2019 Elk River operating levyOctober 13, 2026

    The guide said keeping the levy after it expires would take a new vote. Under Minn. Stat. § 126C.17, subd. 9b, the school board may renew it once without a vote at the same inflation-adjusted amount. An increase would take a vote.

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22. Elk River district area, sources list, and rate splitOctober 13, 2026

    The 94 square miles is the district’s figure. The Census Bureau puts land area at about 163 square miles, and the guide now gives both. The sources page had left out its nine news reports. The school market value rate is now split as the county lists it, 0.168380% voter-approved and 0.086390% other.

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23. School funding amendment per-pupil baselineOctober 13, 2026

    The guide measured today’s payout as the supporters’ 2025 figure of about $68 per pupil. The state paid $74.93 in fiscal year 2026, so supporters’ $81 to $101 estimates are about 8% to 35% more, not 19% to 49%. Measured from ISD 728’s fiscal year 2026 payment, the district’s $96 assumption adds about $300,000, not $391,000.

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24. What the school funding amendment deletesOctober 13, 2026

    The guide now states that the amendment strikes “perpetual and inviolate forever,” the rule that losses be repaid from later earnings, and the maximum-return standard. It also no longer says tribal schools receive payments, and the home page now says the 4.5% rate is in the companion law.

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25. The 2023 Mack cost $344,679, not $142,665October 13, 2026

    The vehicles page showed $142,665.16 as the purchase price of the 2023 Mack plow truck. That figure was the cab-and-chassis quote. The completed truck cost $344,679 in 2024.

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26. Fleet Funder explanations matched to the current mathOctober 13, 2026

    Notes on the plow truck example still described an older version. They said the bars used the consultant’s $86,400 interest figure, that bond fees were left out of the as-paid figures, and that saving wins only when the fund keeps up with inflation. The example uses the truck’s price 20 years out with fees included, and saving costs less down to a fund rate of about 2 percent. The whole-fleet comparison is now labeled a full-cycle benchmark, not money the city can save by changing course in 2027.

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27. Budget page levy increase now uses the certified levyOctober 13, 2026

    The budget page measured the proposed 2027 levy increase from the budget book’s 2026 levy and showed $230,408. It now measures from the certified 2026 levy shown beside it, an increase of $230,410, the same basis the articles use.

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28. Cut calculator debt row relabeledOctober 13, 2026

    The cut calculator called the $439,177 debt levy fixed and said changing it would mean defaulting on bonds. It is the debt levy, held constant in this model, not the $488,413 the city pays on its bonds. Other ways of paying that debt are outside the calculator.

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29. School market-value levies described correctlyOctober 13, 2026

    The tax sources page said school levies on market value included debt levies. School bond levies are charged on tax capacity. The market-value part of a school bill is mainly the operating referendum.

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30. Luverne rate increase totalOctober 13, 2026

    The rates page said the committee’s “about 18% over three years” fits a 6 percent a year path. Three 6 percent increases compound to about 19.1 percent.

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31. Road borrowing and city debtOctober 13, 2026

    The roads page said a city with debt payments and few special assessments tends to borrow for roads. Debt payments cover every city bond, so they do not show how much a city borrowed for roads.

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32. Meeting pages said minutes were not postedOctober 13, 2026

    Meeting pages said minutes were “not posted” when this archive simply did not have them yet. They now say the minutes are not in this archive as of a date. Draft minutes often appear first in a later meeting’s packet.

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33. One-time savings in the levy article counted a lifetime bond estimateOctober 13, 2026

    The levy article counted an $85,000 bond estimate as a one-time saving. That estimate adds up payments over the bond’s whole life, so it is now listed separately, and the one-time total is about $73,000, not $158,000. The article also said much of the 2026 levy increase came from restoring debt payments. Most of the debt increase was $136,355, the first levy for the 2025A bond. Restoring the 2019A bond payments added about $45,000.

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34. Which Sterling the new plow truck replaces, and when it was orderedOctober 13, 2026

    The October 12 correction below said the 2000 Sterling is slated for replacement. That was wrong. On June 18, 2026 the council ordered the new truck, 3 to 2, to replace the 2007 Sterling and agreed to auction the 2000 Sterling. The fleet pages had dated the order July 14, 2026, which is when those minutes were approved.

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35. Tax bill pieces and homes per mile in Part 2October 13, 2026

    Part 2 said the county is the largest piece of the tax bill by far. The county and the school district are the two largest pieces, and in Elk River schools the school share is larger. The homes-per-mile figure compared all road costs with only the operating share of a home’s city tax. Measured the same way on both sides it is about 41 homes a mile, not 52, and the claim that this density is impossible was removed.

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36. Road rebuild cost multipleOctober 13, 2026

    The road pages said a reclamation or reconstruction costs roughly 15 to 150 times as much. The page’s own cost table supports roughly 5 to 60 times the cost of a thin overlay.

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37. Ledger and budget item totals counted the same money more than onceOctober 13, 2026

    The 2025 ledger counted every estimate, quote, bid, and contract for the same job, so approved bids and contracts read $4.84 million instead of about $1.18 million. Each job now counts once at its furthest stage. The bond figure added the authorization, the award, and overlapping parts of the same sale to reach $3.82 million. It now shows the $1.25 million actually sold. The budget items page added estimates, budgets, assessments, and revenue into one total, so that total was removed.

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38. School funding amendment payout increaseOctober 13, 2026

    The guide said a rise from $68 to $81 per pupil was roughly 40 percent more. It is about 19 percent. The guide now shows supporters’ full estimate of $81 to $101.

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39. Elk River referendum cost is a first-year figureOctober 13, 2026

    The guide now says its $419 estimate is the first-year cost and that later bond payments are expected to be larger. The calculator also said the farm first-tier limit for taxes payable 2027 was not confirmed. It is $3,840,000.

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40. State budget balances and reservesOctober 13, 2026

    The surplus answer gave only the positive balances. It now also says spending exceeds revenue each biennium, by about $3.4 billion in FY2028-29 counting inflation. A chart note applied the FY2026-27 reserve amount to FY2024-25, when reserves were about $3.5 billion.

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41. Charged defendants, a commissioner’s tenure, and primary vote countsOctober 13, 2026

    Four source notes stated allegations against charged defendants as fact. They now attribute each claim to the charging documents and say the person is presumed innocent. The Heather Mueller entry now gives her April 2021 to January 2023 tenure, which covered the payment-stop reversal, the lawsuit, and the raids, and dates the legislative auditor’s review to June 2024. Vote counts for Qualls and Klobuchar were each off by a few votes, and all primary figures now come from the Secretary of State.

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42. Fleet Funder plow truck comparison now counts today’s dollarsOctober 13, 2026

    The page led with $204,371 as the extra cost of borrowing for the plow truck. That figure added up dollars paid in different years as if they were worth the same. The page now compares both plans in today’s dollars, adjusted for 3 percent inflation. Borrowing costs about $54,000 more, or about $75,000 more with bond fees. Later the same day the comparison was updated to have the equipment fund earn 3 percent, what the city’s funds actually earned in 2025, with bonds still at 4 percent, and to count bond fees as part of borrowing. Saving now costs about $359,000 and borrowing about $399,000 in today’s dollars, so borrowing costs about $39,000 more. The fleet overview’s yearly saving figure uses the same 3 percent, and the plow truck graphic and its table now count in today’s dollars too.

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43. Dates and details corrected in the levy articleOctober 12, 2026

    The step pay plan took effect June 1, 2026, not July 1. The 2000 Sterling, not the 2007, is the truck slated for replacement in 2027, and the truck that arrived in 2024 was a Mack. Transfers into the equipment fund did not stop entirely in 2023. There were none in 2023 and $6,000 in 2024.

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44. Gravel share of Nowthen roads overstated in Part 1October 12, 2026

    The article said nearly half of city roads are gravel. City staff put it at about 25 of 61 miles, about 40 percent.

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45. Four statements corrected in Part 2October 12, 2026

    The total value of Nowthen property, about $803.9 million, is a payable 2024 figure, not 2026. The county is the biggest piece of the bill in St. Francis and Anoka-Hennepin, but in Elk River the school district levies are bigger. The 1 percent farmland class rate applies to non-homestead land, and homesteaded farmland pays 0.5 percent on its first tier. The average home value comes from the Department of Revenue, not the county.

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46. Plow truck article misdated the emissions change and deliveryOctober 12, 2026

    The new federal emissions standard takes effect January 1, 2027. July 1, 2026 was when build slots under the current standard were expected to close. The new truck is expected in the third quarter of 2027, with the chassis in early 2027. The 2023 Mack was delivered in 2024, not 2023.

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47. Luverne analysis rounding and seat descriptionOctober 12, 2026

    The example now rounds to the nearest $1,000 so its figures subtract correctly. Residents save about $424,000, pay about $639,000 more, and are out about $215,000, where the article had said at least $210,000. The closing paragraph called the proposed commission seats permanently appointed. The council appoints them for three-year terms.

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48. Ham Lake and Nowthen tax comparison was labeled a whole billOctober 12, 2026

    The city comparison on the property tax page called its totals a whole bill. It used payable 2025 tax-capacity rates and a blended school rate and left out school voter-approved levies charged on market value. It is now labeled as tax-capacity levies only, with a note that both cities’ actual bills are higher.

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49. Average Nowthen tax bill left out school referendum levies and one school districtOctober 11, 2026

    The full-bill figures for the average Nowthen home ($3,819 in St. Francis schools and $3,955 in Elk River schools) used tax-capacity rates only. They left out the school districts’ voter-approved levies on market value and Nowthen’s third school district, Anoka-Hennepin. Corrected from Anoka County’s Pay 2026 final rates, the estimates are $4,108 (St. Francis), $4,292 (Anoka-Hennepin), and $5,179 (Elk River). The city’s share is about 28, 26, and 22 percent, not 28 to 30 percent.

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50. Nowthen budget page showed Anoka County budget linesOctober 11, 2026

    The budget page queried budget lines without limiting them to Nowthen, so Anoka County lines appeared as an unnamed $424 million fund. Every Nowthen budget view now reads only Nowthen’s lines.

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Minnesota fraud section

The fraud section keeps its own ledger, with corrections kept separate from routine updates. The most recent substantive changes are below.

1. Update dates no longer imply a full research reviewCorrection, November 6, 2026

   The error was that shared review labels and exports inherited the latest update date, suggesting that all historical research had been checked again. The fix is that the site separates the latest update from the preserved October 11 research scope and each figure’s source-check date. The claim-check search date no longer advances with unrelated updates. The political research remains an October 11 archive. Election returns were independently checked November 6. The publication check now explicitly warns that the archived political research was not re-reviewed. Its archived-research policy checks election returns separately, rather than treating the old research as newly reviewed.

2. New court entries narrowed to the records that can be checkedCorrection, November 5, 2026

   The error was that the section presented a news-reported Said restitution figure as a financial order without a checked judgment and described the civil nutrition suits as though their reimbursement totals were the sums sought. The fix is that the section removes that restitution row and identifies the civil figures as alleged reimbursement claims, with treble damages and penalties requested. The new charging entries now use the Justice Department’s own alleged amounts without competing news totals. Company associations that lacked a checked charging-document pin were removed. Habiba Mohamed and Emily Ravits are classified with autism-service cases. The Yusuf entry now cites the actual appellate opinion and states its remand for reinstatement of verdicts. The source notes distinguish money gathered for the juror bribe from the amount delivered.

3. FBI wanted status confirmed and older custody dates preservedCorrection, November 5, 2026

   The error was that a section-wide review date implied current custody checks when individual court records had not been reconfirmed. The fix is that the page labels the entries as last documented status and preserves the earlier confirmation dates for Eidleh, Ereg and Hashi. Nur’s active FBI wanted poster and reward were read directly on November 5. The current review could not read the court docket mirrors, so it makes no new claim about those defendants’ present custody or court scheduling.

4. DHS letter now links to the state’s own copyBetter source, November 5, 2026

   The October 2 letter to CMS was located and read on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website. Its state-hosted copy replaces the outside publication’s copy. The $550 million figure remains attributed to the department. A funding deferral is not a finding of fraud.

5. Sharmaine Meadows was found guilty on three of five counts and not guilty on twoCorrection, October 14, 2026

   The error was that Sharmaine Meadows was described as convicted on all three counts of health care fraud. That followed the Justice Department’s release, which says she was convicted of three counts but does not say how many she faced at trial. The fix is that the court docket shows a superseding indictment filed September 2, 2026 with five counts, to which she pleaded not guilty on September 11. The jury found her guilty on Counts Two, Four, and Five and not guilty on Counts One and Three on October 7, 2026, per the court’s minute entry. The verdict record, the timeline entry, and the Housing Stabilization program page now say so and cite the docket, and the case now shows its docket number, 0:26-cr-00090. The court ordered a presentence report, and no sentencing date had been set as of October 14, 2026.

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