Top Stories St. Paul

Unsealed court documents have unleashed a wave of press about an American ring allied with a terror group in Somalia. Minneapolis “is the center of it,” the local FBI head tells the AP. “Now we should all be on guard,” he tells the Wall Street Journal. The LA Times dubs Minneapolis “the de facto capital of the Somali diaspora in America” and its West Bank neighborhood “Little Mogadishu.” NPR wonders about ties between al-Qaida and the Somali fighters called al-Shabab that locals left to join. Or, asks the Pioneer Press, did they really know they were joining al-Shabab? In Rochester, the brother of one alleged recruiter being held in the Netherlands tells MPR he hopes extradition efforts fail: “Here, they do waterboarding.”

Elsewhere in Minnesota news this morning …

MINNEAPOLIS: Thissen chats! State Sen. Paul Thissen, a DFL gubernatorial candidate, holds a video chat at noon today. [Polinaut]

HOPKINS: Good turnout at DFL guv-race forum. Not the 11 candidates, but the capacity crowd of 700 who showed up to hear them, a year ahead of the election. [Pioneer Press]

DULUTH: Danger on the streets. Anti-abortion protesters alleged a threat by a woman with a knife Tuesday, and a car crashed into the Minnesota Teen Challenge building. [News Tribune; Northland's News Center]

KANDIYOHI COUNTY: Publicly funded taxi service to end. The final night of service is New Year’s Eve, with the last cab — inconveniently enough for rural revelers – at 9:30 p.m. [West Central Tribune]

AUSTIN: Stormy days in public safety. A police captain faces sentencing for swiping evidence, and the fire chief faces investigation for a hostile work environment. [Austin Daily Herald]

OWATONNA: Tensions persist at parent meeting. High school officials tried to quash rumors and quell fears about conflicts between white and Somali students. [Owatonna People's Press]