Free Speech Advocates Rally At California Capitol Against 'Stop Nick Shirley Act'
Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,
Tensions flared at the California state Capitol in…
PoliticsFox NewsYahooaktuality-sk+4Times of Indiabalkan-webnewsbeastzerohedge8d ago7 sources
A 35-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in an alleged ISIS-inspired plot to bomb the New York State Capitol. Federal authorities detailed her plans, which included using a food delivery bag to conceal explosives.
Federal authorities have charged a woman in connection with an ISIS-inspired terror plot to detonate an explosive device at the New York State Capitol.
A Black man was shot and killed by police in Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, near the State Capitol. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.
Illinois has officially recognized the Italian Beef sandwich as its state sandwich, with the proclamation referencing the popular TV show "The Bear." A cast member from the show, Corey Hendrix, attended the ceremony at the state capitol.
The Connecticut state capitol.
Faina Gurevich/Shutterstock
Every US state has a capitol that houses its state legislature.
Many state capitols are domed buildings similar to the US Capitol, but…
Millions of anti-Trump 'No Kings' and 'No Dictators' protests continue across the US and Europe, with an estimated eight million people participating in 3,300 events across 50 US states. A specific incident involved a bomb threat at the Hawaii State Capitol during a 'No Dictators' protest, which led to an evacuation but no explosives were found.
A woman has been charged in the United States for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired plot to detonate an explosive device at the New York State Capitol building. Authorities foiled the attack, which also reportedly targeted the White House.
Connecticut has prohibited a Nativity display in its state Capitol, citing its religious nature, prompting the First Liberty Institute to threaten a lawsuit, arguing the ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination.
A rally advocating for voting rights was held outside the Alabama state Capitol, drawing attention to ongoing debates and efforts surrounding electoral access.
Idaho lawmakers debated for hours on bills aimed at tackling a surge in rats menacing Boise-area homes and threatening agriculture and public health. The bills ultimately failed to pass, with some blaming new residents from 'blue states' for the problem.
Pro-gun activists distributed free 30-round AR-15 magazines outside the Virginia State Capitol, directly challenging a pending ban on high-capacity magazines before its July effective date.
Democrats and Republicans in state legislatures across the United States are finding common ground on the need to regulate artificial intelligence and data centers.
Court documents reveal that Jessica Bowie's alleged ISIS radicalization unfolded online before she scouted the New York State Capitol five times and bought bomb-making materials, with FBI informants eventually thwarting her plot.
A woman has been charged by US authorities in connection with an ISIS-inspired terror plot to detonate an explosive device at the New York State Capitol building.
This article provides a descriptive overview of the architectural features and historical significance of state capitols across the United States. It highlights elements such as golden domes, historic statues, and nods to state flags.
An NPR investigation reveals how a Republican state lawmaker in New Hampshire allegedly attempted to allow Holocaust deniers to influence history lessons, highlighting the rise of antisemitic conspiracy theories in a state capitol.
Arizona lawmakers are currently debating a bill to establish a permanent memorial to Charlie Kirk at the state capitol. This follows a recent veto by Governor Hobbs of a proposal to name a highway after Kirk.
The battle to lower costs has reached the State Capitol, where concerns have emerged about the fate of a 2019 climate law and its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Amid Minnesota Fraud Scandal, Legitimate Autism Centers Face Closure
Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A Minnesota autism center for adults and children, which has been operating for more than 20 years, is facing closure in the wake of the massive fraud scandal in the state that dates back more than a decade and involves more than $9 billion of U.S. taxpayer money.
The Holland Center in Minnetonka, Minn., on Feb. 11, 2026. Larson told a House subcommittee hearing on Jan. 21 that her center and numerous others in Minnesota are facing collapse after becoming collateral damage from the massive fraud scandal. Adam Hester for The Epoch Times
The Holland Center is one of many legitimate centers in the state, which collectively serve thousands of disabled people. Founder, owner, and CEO Jennifer Larson built the Holland Center for her autistic, non-speaking son, who is now 25 years old.
She said she has recently been forced to put hundreds of thousands of her own dollars into keeping the center afloat because the state didn’t pay a single claim for nearly two months.
Because of the payment delays, Larson said autism centers like hers are being forced to reduce hours, cut staff, and close in some instances. Families are scrambling for help, disabled children and adults are regressing, and parents are leaving jobs to care for their disabled loved ones.
Larson told The Epoch Times her facility can’t continue much longer.
“The feds say it’s the state. The state says it’s the feds,” Larson said.
“The kids are going to be the collateral damage.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services paused child care and family assistance funds to Minnesota in early January due to the alleged rampant fraud. The state is appealing.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services told The Epoch Times via email that the federal government’s threat of withholding funds is “not impacting the current payment situation.”
However, Larson’s center accumulated nearly two months of unpaid claims from Dec. 5 to Jan. 29, totaling more than $600,000.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a press conference at the state Capitol building in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 3, 2026. Beginning in late December 2025, the state began using a new pre-payment review vendor called Optum, which uses artificial intelligence in its claims and reimbursement processes. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
‘Everything Was Flagged’
Beginning in late December 2025, the state began using a new pre-payment review vendor called Optum, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) “at every step” of its claims and reimbursement processes. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had announced the contract with the new system in late October 2025.
“They implemented it because of the fraud. Obviously, the state wasn’t catching the fraud in the 300 or 400 centers that popped up in the last three years,” Larson said. She blames the Minnesota government for turning a blind eye to the “crime ring” involving fraud at Somali-run autism centers to an immense scale.
Neither Walz nor his office could be reached for comment during multiple attempts via emails and phone calls.
Now, she said, Optum is causing the delay of claims with few or unclear explanations in the review process.
“The state has failed and lost millions and millions of dollars in the system, so, clearly, the state wasn’t going to be able to tell Optum what to look for because they didn’t know what they were doing,” Larson told The Epoch Times after she recently testified in Congress.
“All of us, for the first round, nobody got anything. Everything was flagged.”
Larson told a House subcommittee hearing on Jan. 21 that her center and numerous others in Minnesota are facing collapse after becoming collateral damage from the massive fraud scandal.
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) asked Larson: “Ms. Larson, none of this would have happened if the fraud did not occur, is that accurate?”
“Yes,” she responded. “What happened in Minnesota had nothing to do with the ethical, longstanding autism providers.”
Larson said in her testimony that the state government’s “clumsy response” to fraud failed to distinguish between criminals and caregivers.
She said abrupt disruption or loss of service can destroy weeks or years of progress for disabled children and adults, causing lifelong consequences.
Payment Process
The Minnesota Department of Human Services told The Epoch Times that it sent the first batch of more than 100,000 claims to Optum for review in late December 2025.
The department said every two weeks, Optum receives batches of claims from the state. The system analyzes and flags any that need further review. Unflagged claims are paid after the initial analysis, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said.
The agency will continue sending payments for unflagged claims on regular two-week cycles. A provider will receive an update every two weeks on a flagged or suspended claim, accompanied by reason codes, the department said.
“If a claim is flagged, we may need additional information and documents from the provider before payments are made, which may cause further delay,” the Minnesota Department of Human Services said. Claims in Optum are listed as suspended until the state reaches a payment decision.
The department did not provide detailed answers on why the Holland Center or other similar, longstanding facilities might have their claims flagged.
Jennifer Larson, founder and CEO of the Holland Center, and her son Caden Larson in Minnetonka, Minn., on Feb. 11, 2026. Larson built the center for her autistic, non-speaking son, who is now 25 years old. Adam Hester for The Epoch Times
The agency said it did not wish to disclose what kind of identifiers cause it to suspect someone is billing for services they did not provide, but officials generally look for “patterns of concern—claims that fall outside expected norms,” some of which could be blamed on administrative errors or poor documentation rather than intentional fraud.
“Optum helps the state of Minnesota identify potential fraud, waste, and abuse by conducting pre‑payment reviews,” the company said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “Optum has no authority to approve, deny, delay, or suspend claims, and payment decisions are made exclusively by [the Minnesota Department of Human Services] and the Office of Inspector General.”
Most claims should be paid within 30 days, and legitimate claims that may have been flagged within 90 days, as required by the federal government, according to the agency.
Financial Hit
Meanwhile, with a payroll of $250,000 every two weeks, Larson has been forced to ask many of her employees to take unpaid leave.
After nearly two months of unpaid claims, her center was partially paid on Jan. 29, bringing the owed amount down to about $300,000, Larson said. She said there’s been little to no word from state or health officials on why her claims were flagged in the first place.
Larson doesn’t expect to get another payment for two weeks, putting her in a several-hundred-thousand-dollar deficit she doesn’t think will ever rebalance.
She’s spent so much of her own money to keep the center’s lights on, Larson said, that she’s been forced to cut back on other bills to make ends meet. Fortunately, Larson said her landlords have been understanding of the situation.
New Centers
Years ago, when Larson witnessed new autism treatment centers popping up around her area and the state, she was initially relieved because, to her, it meant more help was coming for disabled children and adults.
“There’s a need, and there’s a high prevalence of autism in the Somali community in Minnesota,” Larson said. “And I know that and I service a lot of the kids, but we can’t take them all. We’ve always had a waiting list.”
A 2023 study by the University of Minnesota showed autism rates in 4-year-olds to be much higher among Somali children compared to other races and ethnicities. The report found 1 in 18 Somali children had autism, compared to 1 in 64 for white children, 1 in 31 for Hispanic children, and 1 in 30 for non-Somali black children.
But when hundreds of autism centers popped up, it was a red flag for Larson.
“No one wants to talk about it because everyone’s scared of saying anything wrong,” Larson said. “That’s why we’re here. It’s because everyone’s too afraid to say something.”
Independent journalist Nick Shirley, who brought national attention to the alleged Minnesota fraud at day care centers with his viral video posted Dec. 26, 2025, attended the congressional hearing with Larson.
“What we saw in Minnesota is how complicit the government has been in enabling this fraud to happen. Quality ‘Learing’ Center had over 90 violations, yet they continued to give that daycare $1.9 million,” Shirley said in his testimony.
Meanwhile, the closure of Holland Center would dismantle a lifetime of work for Larson that all started with the birth of her son.
Read the rest here...
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/19/2026 - 20:55