Mille Lacs Health System at risk of closing after delayed Medicare payments

A rural Minnesota hospital system could be forced to close within weeks as millions of dollars in Medicare payments have been delayed. The Mille Lacs Health System is at risk of closing its hospital and rural health clinics that serve multiple counties. That’s because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has withheld about $2.5 million dollars in Medicare payments since January.A new lawsuit is challenging the Trump Administration’s move to fast-track deportations of Somalis. The Advocates for Human Rights — a Minneapolis nonprofit — is suing the Justice Department over its effort to speed up deportations of non-citizens from Somalia. The government had already targeted many for removal, but the plaintiffs allege that the administration is fast-tracking court hearings for Somalis after President Donald Trump called them "garbage."

Today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

A Minneapolis student is one of five Americans receiving a national award Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society named Victor Greenawalt this year’s Young Hero Honoree. The 11-year-old was injured and hospitalized after he shielded a classmate with his body during the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in August.A man who served as an election judge in northern Minnesota faces sentencing in May after pleading guilty to allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots.Minnesota lawmakers in a House committee hearing Tuesday were split on legislation that would ban AI practices that pay out lower wages to gig workers. Supporters of the bill argue it's needed to make sure workers and consumers are treated fairly. But Jonathan Cotter of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce says the bill oversteps into workplaces.

A bill to create a new fraud-fighting office in state government has finally made it through a House committee. It's an important step for the Office of Inspector General bill that has been stalled for weeks. And a Minnesota House committee is considering a proposal to include kickbacks to the state definition of fraud.Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

While the White House has deployed immigration agents to help with security at some airports, it appears the Twin Cities airport is not a part of that plan. Security wait times at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have generally remained short while other airports have seen hourslong waits in recent weeks. That's as TSA workers go without pay amid a funding impasse.Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison yesterday joined his counterparts from 19 other Democratic-led states plus the District of Columbia in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The states are challenging Trump Administration threats to cut funding.Safety concerns along a highway in the southern Twin Cities metro area are prompting transportation officials to hold a series of meetings. MnDOT says it’s studying a 12-mile stretch of State Highway 3 — also known as Robert Trail — through Inver Grove Heights, Eagan and Rosemount. The goal is to identify safety improvements for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. MnDOT says it’s looking at intersection and roadway designs to reduce the number of crashes and improve traffic flow in a growing part of the metro area.

Authorities continue to investigate after four people were found dead following a house fire in White Bear Lake over the weekend. Friends and colleagues identified the victims as longtime Minnesota hockey journalist Jessi Pierce and her three young children. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.And in other news, federal prosecutors last week dropped charges against a woman they mistakenly identified as being part of a January church protest in St. Paul. Now lawyers representing other defendants are demanding the government immediately turn over evidence they suspect could clear others.

Legal advocates were back in federal court in Minneapolis today, asking a judge to order better access to lawyers for people detained at the Whipple federal building.And State Senator John Hoffman recently authored two bills that increase criminal penalties for people who impersonate a police officer and also require any former law enforcement vehicle sold to be stripped of all law enforcement insignias.Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese.

Leaders at St. Paul's Academia Cesar Chavez charter school say they're profoundly concerned about recent reports that Chavez sexually assaulted women and girls. And Democratic secretaries of state are urging Congress to block an elections bill they say could prevent millions of eligible voters from casting a ballot.Those stories and more in today’s evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.