Good News ~ 3/08/26 - 3/14/26
Good News from Minnesota
3/14/26
Good News from Minnesota
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Owl’s Eye - a St Paul Art Crawl artist - is turning part of their studio into a Mutual Aid
Artist Wall featuring Minnesota artists. Artists who donate their art will help raise funds for mutual aid efforts and the Wilson Foundation, which recently matched Minneapolis $1M in rent relief. The St Paul Art Crawl is an annual event where local artists open their lofts to customers. Owl’s Eye has a special place in my heart as owls are my spirit animal and my nickname is Owly.
On Friday March 20 from 2:30-4:00pm Park Ave Church in Minneapolis is sponsoring a food give-away for mutual aid. These kinds of efforts just keep happening everywhere in ways they didn’t before.
James 80yo & Mary 76yo of Laurie Booksellers, who feature rare and collectible books, weren’t ready to close up shop after 50 years of business and 5 location. They have moved once again, after rent increased. This is an example of Minnesotans doing what they love for longevity and making it work no matter what. This is why we are and will make it through this.
The MN Senate voted to move $40M in emergency rent assistance to families across the state. The UofM estimates the surge generated between $27-$51M in excess rent debt across the state, so this figure addresses most of that estimate.
MN Angry Man, is working directly with his brother to help replace the Alex Pretti and Renee Good posters that were covered up by Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) posters. Evidently, an agency in NY hired a guy locally to put of the MIA posters up. When the agency in NY learned from the brother that this happened, they pledged to rectify the situation and put the Pretti/Good posters back up, and put up more of them.
Last night at the Whipple Building, protestors continue to respond to ICE with ridicule by getting a DJ and hosting a chaotic dance party with a last gravestone to represent the remains of Operation Metro Surge. This kind of community death ritual is its own kind of power.
On Feb 14th a church in the twin cities had 1200 volunteers delivering food to 2400 families across MN, distributing a total of 84,000 lbs of food! Since the second week of December, this one church has
1,278,270 lbs of food distributed
36,522 families served
151,075 individuals cared for (62,767 children, 85,174 adults, 5,291 seniors)
I’m noticing a shift in the stories. They are moving away from “this is happening now” to “these are the deeper stories of what happened in MN”. This is a necessary part of the healing. Telling the stories. This is how grief works. I’ve read several of these accounts, and they are overwhelming (I’ll post one separately). Many of them are coming from non-Minnesota journalists who came into town in bits and spurts. I believe the Minnesota stories will take a bit longer to come out (as my book will take a few months at least) as we want to tell the stories with more care as a process of healing rather than a journalistic business venture.
I urge you, as you consume these stories, look for the goodness in them. Many of them are filled with the atrocities, and other writers aren’t as skilled at balancing the good with the bad as Sean Snow and I work hard to do. You have to put on your critical eye and find the helpers. Always find the helpers. They’re hidden in the subtext of those articles.
And be patient. The deeper Minnesota stories from those of us living through this will come out. We just need deeper time to heal and process. Those will be well worth the wait.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
3/13/26
Good News from Minnesota
Friday, March 13, 2026
Today, I’d like to bring you examples of good news and fierce love from around the country and the world. This kind of love doesn’t exist only in Minnesota, it is everywhere.
On a neighborhood street in South Burlington VT, ICE came for a man, and the neighbors showed up. Dozens gathered on the front lawn in singing resistance, demanding a judicial warrant. As ICE escalated, the crowd grew to hundreds, forming a human shield, prepared with gas masks, rain ponchos, and umbrellas. The situation escalated, and sadly, eventually became a flash bomb situation. However, the love of these people, putting themselves at risk of assault, tear-gassing, and arrest for one neighbor. It’s fucking phenomenal!
Congressman Eric Swalwell of California’s 14th district reported that ICE deported a 6yo deaf child without allowing him to take his hearing devices. This week, Swalwell’s staff flew to Columbia to return those devices to the child. This is fierce love.
An aunt in Alabama is asking people everywhere to keep her nephew and his fellow service members in their prayers. Loretta Pierson, a proud 20yr US Navy Veteran herself is spearheading a prayer campaign in honor of her nephew Scooter, and asking the country to hold all soldiers in prayer.
A Nashville TN door dash customer, Brittany Smith, noticed on her Ring camera that her door-dasher was an unsteady elderly man. She shared the video asking to find the man, whose name is Richard. His wife had lost her job and he was door-dashing to make ends meet. She started a GoFundMe with a $20K goal, and raised more than $300K so he could retire completely.
The Welsh Parliament, known as Senedd, passed the Senedd Cymru Act in 2024, which includes a way to recall elected officials for lying and intentionally misleading the public.
Minnesota is experiencing heavier than normal winds today. So I leave with you another beautiful image of our north shore from Nathan Klok Photography.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh
3/12/26
Good News from Minnesota
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Minnesota Activists got creative at the Whipple Federal Building again (remember Operation Dildo?). They made ICE agents late to work by creating a traffic jam with a caravan of vehicles escorting punk rock band playing on a trailer of a truck. If we have to fight the hard fight, we might as well have fun doing so.
Ramsey County (the county that houses St. Paul) announced a two-month property tax extension for residents affected by the ICE surge. That’s practical, local help with real bills, right when people need it.
Minneapolis kept rent help moving. The city’s $1 million rental-assistance response for families impacted by the enforcement fallout is still part of the conversation this week, with Mayor Frey publicly pointing to rental aid as the immediate way to help people stay housed. This is somewhat controversial because Frey vetoed a bill on Wednesday that would have frozen evictions for 60 days, in favor of this program instead.
The Wilson Foundation pledged to match the latest $1 million in emergency rental assistance, doubling that particular pool of relief for families affected by Operation Metro Surge.
St. Paul just got a giant multicultural yes. The newly reimagined International Festival of Minnesota is coming to RiverCentre April 10–11 with 67 nations participating and more than 5,000 students already registered. That feels like Minnesota choosing community on purpose. Given that our annual Hmong Festival canceled last month, this is good news that our multicultural festivals are returning!
A record shop in St. Louis Park keeps filling the truck. SolSta Records said in its March 10 newsletter that its food drive has already filled the truck several times over and will keep going for the “foreseeable future.” This is a tiny business doing a big heart job.
A St. Paul salon turned into a mutual-aid drop site. Tease Salon is hosting a donation drive for mutual aid. Another example of a business doing well stepping up to support those who need help..
A Minnetonka brewery is collecting books. Unmapped Brewing is running a book drive through March 14, which means people are literally handing stories to each other this week.
A Northeast Minneapolis brewery made Tuesday into food-drive day. Indeed Brewing is hosting a food drive in its taproom every Tuesday. Beer and community care living in the same room feels very on brand for this state.
A Minneapolis bookstore is gathering donations for local families. Inkwell Booksellers is accepting donations for families at a local school, which is exactly the kind of quiet, specific, neighbor-shaped goodness that deserves to be noticed.
We are continuing the tedious work of fixing the mess that was left to us, and everyone is doing their bit-by-bit piece. I stepped up yesterday and delivered a week’s worth of groceries and a month’s worth of rent to a family still in hiding. Today, I donated a shipment of baby supplies to Kelly Wilson for the families she continues to support. That money came in part from your paid subscriptions. So Thank YOU!
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
3/11/26
Good News from Minnesota
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Nathan Klock Photography posted a beautiful display of Mother Nature blessing Minnesota with color and light over the Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors MN.
Kaposia Library in South St. Paul is adding a seed library, offering garden seeds cultivated by University of Minnesota Volunteer Master Gardeners. New initiatives like this one are ways we are making ourselves more self-reliant and preventing future food scarcity.
Modern Times Cafe has changed its name to Post Modern Times Cafe. Located in the Powderhorn neighborhood, very near Renee Good’s Memorial site, this cafe went 100% donation based during the height of Operation Metro Surge. It is now taking steps to become a full non-profit and continue as a donation based business long-term.
Mike Moyski and Jackie Flavin, whose 10yo daughter Harper Moyski died last August in the Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting have invited and hosted 22 lawmakers in their living room: 13 Republicans and 9 Democrats to share their story and discuss legislation to end gun violence in Minnesota. This is the neighborly way of working together, inviting people into your home to discuss touchy subjects with dignity and grace.
Officially, 31 of 54 attorneys have left the US Attorneys office since January 2025. Many of them left for ethical reasons, upset that they were being taken of high-priority work to work on immigration cases, and some of them left when they were ordered to investigate the victims rather than the perpetrators. Minnesotans are willing to quit their jobs and change their lives in order to stand by their core values.
Through March 31, 2026 Pizza Lucé Uptown will donate 20% of customer bills to support grassroots community protection and constitutional rights education NOW, if customers mention Unidos/Monarca to their server. This is an increased effort from what I previously reported, extending their donations through the whole month.
The Eggroll Queen, a beloved St. Paul foodtruck recently put out a call for volunteers to support serving hot meals to unsheltered neighbors through “pay-it-forward” meals for 200-300 people. They got so many responses they had to turn volunteers away.
I’ll be delivering a week’s worth of cash, groceries and baby supplies to a family in Minneapolis today. I’m told that of all the resistance efforts this is the most joyful thing to do right now. I’ll post a separate note about my experience later today or tomorrow.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
3/10/26
Good News from Minnesota
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
What can you do?
This is a listing of grassroots things you can do, starting today, to both support the Minnesota resistance and build your own community.
Start a small group network. I’m talking 10-15 people. I did this by putting out a call on Substack for MN women in the resistance, called a meeting of these people I had never met, and now they are my best friends and my best resources. It is amazing how 10-15 people can keep each other informed.
Call and write your congresspeople. I’m not just talking about getting them to vote in certain ways to help protect your vote in the future. I would suggest you look at legislative actions that have been taken and put into place by Minnesota (and Chicago, Portland, and Los Angeles) and implore your politicians to get ahead of the game and start writing bills. For example, one of the main issues we faced was detainees not having access to lawyers while detained. We are now trying to get legislation passed after the fact. If something clear were in place before, this might have been an easier battle.
Follow the legal actions. Get yourself informed and start following the legal trail that Minnesota is leading. We have filed dozens, if not hundreds of legal cases against these actions. Pay attention to what is happening here because these cases will set precedent. These are the cases you can reference when you call your politicians. A simple AI search will get you started down a rabbit hole of legal education that will give you hope.
Follow local independent journalists. They may look like “influencers” on social media, but these are the solo people out walking the streets and telling the stories. Their news is boots on the ground and they are usually the ones reporting on how to stay connected. They are the glue between all the small group support networks. Some of them will be city council members. Others will be teachers. They are the ones posting 3-5 videos a day. Get to know them, they are the truth in reporting.
Start “Neighboring”. Bring sourdough or hotdish to your neighbors. Ask them to help with your yardwork. Give them your extra produce from your veggie garden. Invite them over for dinner. Offer to walk their dogs. Get to know the people who live directly next to you and on your street or in your building. If things get bad, you will be the first line of support for each other.
Get Trained. As a legal observer, in singing resistance, or other volunteer venture. This is the best way to get plugged into a community.
Start Mutual Aid NOW. There are people at risk in your community now. We are only as strong as our weakest link. And if people in your community are not supported and safe, no one is. Get involved in volunteer endeavors to support your community’s unhoused, food scarcity, and children in need. If you exercise these volunteer muscles now, they will be strong and alive when chaos comes.
Pick a Lane. When tragedy happens, it is easy to feel guilty and want to do everything all at once to help. It’s best both for your own health and capacity, and for the community as a whole, if you find what fits your own strengths and passions and stick with that action. If you try to patrol the schools, fundraise AND deliver mutual aid, attend protests, and all the things, you will likely burn-out. Take the time now, before something happens, to figure out what your lane is. Mine is writing and coordinating small group care-giver support networks. I focus my efforts on writing the good news and managing a small group network of 15 care-givers, a space for them to help each other. What’s your skill? Find it and stick with it. It’s better to do one thing well than a zillion things not well.
Learn Nervous System Regulation Techniques. I cannot emphasize this enough. We found that the ICE interactions where our people stayed calm, regulated, respectful, and distanced - even in the face of assault - had far better outcomes. When protesters responded with anger and rage, violence was far more likely to erupt. But when protestors and legal observers engaged with calm, more often than not, ICE left the scene without taking anyone. And, we have found that those who have the skills to stay calm are also able to stay hopeful in the face of trauma. The positive attitude and calm demeanor changes everything. (btw - this is what I do for a living - if you want a resource).
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
3/9/26
Good News from Minnesota
Monday, March 9, 2026
This Fierce Love Community raised over $1500 for a family Kelly Wilson is supporting to pay rent and not have to worry about eviction for another month.
Hundreds attended the Minnesota Women’s Day March at Powderhorn Park yesterday.
Pizza Luce, a popular local restaurant, has invited customers to add small “tip” donations to their bills in the amounts of $1 $3 or $5, raising $9,283 in the first week. Proceeds go to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota to provide legal services to immigrants seeking citizenship. In the first week. Other restaurants and small businesses, such as The Purple Door Ice Cream Shop are offering similar fundraisers through the month of March,
Lara Magdzinski of Minneapolis suburb Eden Prairie has organized a “Joyful DAy Project” where volunteers assembled gift baskets of toys, books, and household supplies for families impacted by Operation Metro Surge.
Community volunteers working through the Keiko’s Food Trap Project Bodega in North Minneapolis sorted fresh produce from a walk-in refrigerator and delivered groceries directly to households avoiding travel because of ICE raids.
Informal networks of doctors, nurses, and volunteers have formed to drive patients to appointments, deliver medication, and coordinate care privately so families could avoid ICE surveillance around hospitals.
Community members connected to Edison High school launched a fundraising effort specifically to help immigrant families connected to Edison High School pay rent after the enforcement surge disrupted work.
Danielle Downs Spradlin of western suburb Minnetonka has coordinated collection of prenatal vitamins, postpartum care supplies, and mental-health resources for immigrant mothers afraid to attend medical appointments.
Every day life didn’t go on pause because ICE came through town. We kept doing all the things…and we turned up the volume on how we do what we do. Pretty much every business that is doing well right now is sponsoring some effort to support those that are struggling. Every family that is secure is supporting one that is not. And, the longer I keep reporting about this stuff, the more people are stepping into the role of helper.
When this all started in December, I felt frozen, helpless. And now I’m writing daily, hosting resistance gatherings in my home, supporting fundraising efforts, participating in singing resistance events, and this week I will start delivering food to immigrant homes.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
3/8/26
Good News from Minnesota
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Today’s good news is brought to you by Sean Snow (because I was too busy celebrating a baby shower for my spirit daughter yesterday to do my usual good news diggin’).
Thanks Sean for your consistent 6am reports.
This happy little Fierce Love Community raised $1500+ for Kelly Wilson of the Do’Gooders in Minnesota to pay rent and provide diapers to families and mamas.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ordered the federal government to return all personal property taken from released detainees within 30 days, with a hard April 6 deadline. That includes IDs, work permits, and bank cards. Tunheim warned that failure to comply would bring contempt charges and daily civil fines against the responsible officials.
The owner of Lito’s Burritos told CBS that his restaurant made it through in part because people kept showing up, even after the first wave of attention faded.
Extreme Noise Records, after 26 years in the neighborhood, announced it is moving rather than closing.
Federal courts delivered three separate legal rulings against ICE within hours of each other on Friday, across three different jurisdictions and three different aspects of enforcement practice. The administration has been losing these cases steadily for weeks. On Friday it lost three of them before dinner.
Recovery Bike Shop sponsors weekly community walks in the neighborhood at 5:30pm every Thursday. When a neighborhood is “bustling” people feel and are safer, so the bike shop promotes events to create a “bustling” community.
Last week, 75 folks gathered fo the anti-Ice Songs of Resistance protest at the Douglass County jail in Superior. Singers marched to the back of the Government Center to sing to the detainees being held there. (these smaller scale singing resistance events happen daily in multiple locations)
Here’s how the Minneapolis Block Party came to be. In early February, the band DropKick Murphy approached the Black Forest Restaurant about using its parking lot for a free show in early March. With a four week lead time, the event was coordinated with permits, police, local businesses, and local artists. Kathy Griffin made a surprise appearance. Thousands attended and money was raised as people celebrated outside in the slush and sleet in Minnesota. This is how we roll.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
