Good News 4/12/26 - 4/18/26
Good News
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Today’s good news looks like giant butterflies, blindfolded dancers, anti-war conscience, a tribal college securing its future, and a crowd of weirdos carrying the Constitution through St. Paul. When the world gets darker, people start making stranger, braver, more beautiful things.
The StarTribune published a piece this week explaining the giant US Constitution that has appeared at several MN rallies. The article says more than 150 people carried the 210-foot-long replica of the U.S. Constitution through the crowd at No Kings 3, along with 50 large and 100 small handmade monarch butterfly puppets. People signed the Constitution at Western Sculpture Park before it was carried to the Capitol.
Volunteers gathered beforehand to handcraft about 100 monarchs to travel with the giant Constitution.
Red Lake Nation College received a record $7M donation from Mackenzie Scott. The college now has campuses in both Red Lake and downtown Minneapolis, and Bring Me The News notes that its Minneapolis site became the first tribal college campus in the Twin Cities when it opened two years ago. So this gift is not only about one institution in the north; it is also about Indigenous higher education taking root in the metro. The donation is unrestricted, giving the college control of choosing how to use the money. Scott pledged in 2019 to donate most of her wealth following her divorce from Jeff Bezos. She has pledged more than $26B across 2700 organizations. Red Lake will use the money to create a new “permanent endowment fund that will empower the college to guarantee its long-term financial sustainability in perpetuity.”
As part of National F*ck Ice day yesterday, protestors participated in a “Bye Bye Bondi Dildo Dance Party” at the Whipple Federal Building. People arrived in costume and smacked a DJT piñata. While I don’t approve of the negative language and the poking fun at others, I support the sentiment that Joy is Resistance.
The Centre on Conscience and War (CCW) has reported that the number of US military personnel seeking advice about becoming conscientious objectors has increased 1000% stating that their fears are not about dying in war, but about killing people in a war they don’t believe in.
Twelve young dancers where leotards printed with quotes from the Epstein files danced blindfolded toa children’s choir rendition of Madonna’s “Live to Tell” in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival opens this week with more than 200 films across six theaters in the Twin Cities and Rochester. Axios says the lineup includes Minnesota-made work and opens with Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story. In a season when so much has felt reduced to slogans and panic, Minnesota is still gathering in dark rooms to watch stories together.
Open Eye Theatre’s Puppet Lab Festival is back in Minneapolis with two weeks of brave, quirky, visually dazzling new puppet work. Star Tribune highlighted the festival this week, including puppet artist Destiny Davison’s Dolly Who’s for Dinner. This feels especially right beside your giant-Constitution item: Minnesota is meeting this moment with oversized art, handmade creatures, and public imagination.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
Good News from Minnesota: Soft Superheroes Edition
Monday, April 13, 2026
Yesterday our weather hit almost 80 degrees, which is a big quiet celebration here in the land of snow and ice. Windows opened, screendoors opened, and the world felt open and happy again in ways we haven’t felt for months.
Minnesota has its own Batman, and his version of heroism is surprisingly tender. The Star Tribune profiled NoMark, the anonymous Minneapolis vigilante who patrols in costume and keeps his identity hidden. He has escorted drunk people home, mediated “Judge Judy-grade disputes,” broken up fights outside bars, and chased off a vandal, all while using a GoPro and a police scanner app.
Marshall MN is doing a small-town childcare supply drive starting today. A local campaign called We Care 4 Daycare is collecting diapers, wipes, rash ointment, paper towels, disinfectant, and disposable plates and cups for area daycares. Donations can be dropped off at the Marshall YMCA and Holy Redeemer School from April 13 through May 1, and the supplies will be distributed to local daycares on May 9.
Anoka County quietly extended shelter funding. County officials approved extending a Shelter Funding Grant with the Minnesota Department of Human Services through June 30, 2026, continuing housing support for people experiencing homelessness.
Red Wing is gathering tonight for sweetgrass basket making. Red Wing Arts and the Honoring Dakota Project are hosting a Community Crafting Circle: Sweetgrass Basket Making tonight from 5 to 7 p.m.
Burnsville has a bottle-cap collage class for people 55 and older this afternoon. The Creative Arts Series for 55+ at The Rivers Retirement Community is offering a free Hyacinth Bottle Cap Collage session today.
Central Minnesota quietly sent more than $139,000 into local arts organizations. The Central Minnesota Arts Board awarded 15 Community Arts Support Grants totaling $139,332 to arts organizations across the region. It is one more example of Minnesota putting money not only into emergency response, but into culture, imagination, and places where people gather.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
Good News from Minnesota
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
We are angels, living amongst angels!
Last night, I attended the Chicks in Charge event sponsored by Politics Chicks. Over the course of the evening, I witnessed several moments of humans being angels. Here’s just a snippet of my evening.
Judy has osteoporosis, bunions, and uses a walker. She stumbled stepping off a curb and fell to the pavement cutting her chin. All three vehicles passing stopped to her aid, six people in total. A man she didn’t know called 911. A woman she didn’t know collected her belongings. My husband retrieved napkins from our car for her wound. I sat with her and calmed her until EMTs arrived. She was terrified they would force her to go to the hospital because she can’t afford the bill.
An hour later I watched several elected officials and people running for office pledge to a crowd of Minnesotans that they are fighting for universal health care.
Frances was discharged from the hospital just hours before the event. She was determined to attend because events like this matter. When one of the speakers mentioned Liam Conejo Ramos, she pulled out a blue bunny hat like Liam’s and wore it with a smile.
Zaynab Mohamed, a MN State Senator for District 63 (the district that burned after George Floyd’s death and the district heavily affected by ICE), told a story about a Somali woman who emailed her. This woman’s husband had died during the height of Operation Metro Surge, while she was pregnant, and then she found out she has breast cancer, and she was not yet a citizen. Zaynab called her own mother, who told her to bring the woman groceries. So she did. One of the highest elected officials in the state, brought a woman groceries because she could.
Kelly Wilson, the founder of Do’Gooders LLC, raised $75K to support immigrant families during the surge. She was discharged from the hospital the day before the event, and she showed up to speak and receive the full proceeds of the event as donation.
Christy, one of the Politics Chicks, suffered a life-changing car accident, coordinated the event from her couch in her living room.
Minnesota is proof, anyone can be an angel. Angels stop what they are doing to help. Angels show up with bunny hats of solidarity after they’ve endured their own trauma. Angels bring groceries to strangers because they can.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
Good News in Minnesota
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
My friend Kelly Wilson says “we need the micro joys to get us through the macro grief.”
Today was “one of those days” where I got momentarily stuck the macro grief. I had to just let myself feel it for a while. And then I opened Sean Snow’s post for the day. to remind me why I do this list every day…to focus on the micro joys. There are so many more micro-joys than there are big-bad-news items.
Ramsey County is widening its investigation into what happened to ChongLy “Scott” Thao. County Attorney John Choi says multiple agencies are now looking at ICE’s January arrest of the 56-year-old St. Paul U.S. citizen as possible kidnapping and false imprisonment after agents broke down his door without a warrant, dragged him outside in freezing weather, and realized too late they had the wrong man. The good news is that Minnesota keeps refusing to let federal violence hide inside confusion.
Andrea Pedro-Francisco’s case is being tracked publicly now. The 23-year-old Burnsville woman still needs surgery for a growing ovarian cyst while detained in Texas, and Rep. Angie Craig’s office says it is tracking 20 similar medical cases involving people in immigration detention. The good news is that these stories are being named, watched, and documented instead of disappearing into silence.
Tim Walz is publicly fighting for Minnesota’s withheld Medicaid money. More than $240 million in reimbursements is being frozen even though Minnesota’s improper payment rate is 2.1%, well below the national average. The good news is that the state is not shrugging and absorbing it quietly; it is forcing the mismatch into public view while defending HCMC and the people who rely on it.
The economic losses are getting named in real numbers now. Minneapolis and St. Paul now estimate business losses above $300 million, and districts like Fridley and Columbia Heights say attendance drops have already cost them more than $1 million each. I’m calling this good news because the damage is no longer abstract. Once harm has numbers, communities can organize around it more clearly.
Neighbors covered utility debt for about 200 households. Sahan Journal reported that community groups, the Citizens Utility Board, and the Energy CENTS Coalition raised more than $70,000 to help families who fell behind on power bills during the surge, and Xcel worked with them to apply $250 to $500 credits to customer accounts. That is one of the clearest examples of Minnesota refusing to let people freeze in the dark.
Melissa Hortman’s legacy is now attached to shared solar. Walz signed a bill renaming Minnesota’s Community Solar Garden Program in her honor. The program lets renters and homeowners who can’t install panels themselves subscribe to a shared solar array and receive bill credits. That feels like a very Minnesota memorial: practical, collective, future-facing.
People are even turning crossword puzzles into mutual aid. Midis for Minnesota is putting together a pack of 13 crossword puzzles to raise money for mutual-aid groups helping families affected by ICE activity. Donate, send proof, get the puzzle pack later this month. I love this so much: even your crossword can become a tiny act of Fierce Love.
Boneshaker Books is hosting Compassionate Overdose Response Training tonight. It’s happening at 708 W. 26th St. in Minneapolis at 6:30 p.m. and is exactly the kind of quiet local good I trust: practical skills, community safety, ordinary people learning how to help one another stay alive.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
Good News
Thursday, April 16, 2026
10,000 Moms are going LIVE to shut down Dilly detention center in TX. This is the detention center where Liam Ramos was sent. On April 16th, today, 10,000 moms will be going LIVE at the same time to tell the truth about the conditions at Dilley and demand its shutdown. On April 18th, Moms will be showing up at Dilley in protest.
A Republican led effort to impeach Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison failed when the MN House Rules and Legislative Administrative Committee deadlocked in an 8-8 vote along party lines.
The Rebel Loon Archive is planning two pop-up art exhibitions of art and protest signs that came out as a result of the surge. One will be in May and one in June. They will be participating in the St. Paul Art Crawl this weekend at the Owl’s Eye Art Collective.
TIME named Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey in its list of 100 most influential people in the world for “trying to knit together a city where businesses and daily life were hollowed out by fear.”
Wes Burdine, the proprietor of Black Hart of Saint Paul, is the inaugural recipient of the FB St. Pauli Peace Prize in recognition for his support for the immigrant community during the surge.
Kare 11 reports a tow truck driver hiked deep into the woods to rescue a strander Uber Eats driver who followed a wayward GPS map onto an obscure private road.
A new mural is going up on Nicollet Ave in south Minneapolis Wittier neighborhood, depicting Alex Pretti filming an ICE agent with his phone shortly before being killed. The site of the mural is four blocks from his memorial site.
Governor Walz signed a bill renaming Minnesota’s community solar program after Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was a true champion of solar. Hortman and her husband were killed last summer.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
Good News!
Friday, April 17, 2026
Aliya Rahman, the disabled woman with autism who was forcibly removed from her car by ICE on January 13 has filed a federal claim against ICE. She made it clear to against she had a disability and was on her way to a doctor’s appointment. She was released without charges, but suffered torn tendons and cartilage in both shoulders, a concussion, and PTSD. Her legal team promises that if her claim is denied or ignored they will take the case to federal court.
MN State Senator John Hoffman and his wife have filed a civil suit against the man accused of shooting them in their home in June of 2025. This week, Hoffman spoke up to his colleagues in legislative committee demanding them to stop dehumanizing individuals by calling them “illegals”.
A federal judge has one again halted construction on the White House ballroom, ruling the administration cannot move forward without the approval of Congress.
Director of ICE, Todd Lyons, has resigned from his position with DHS and will be entering a private sector job. His last day is May 31.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed two felony assault charges against ICE officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. for allegedly pointing a gun at two motorists on Highway 55 in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge. A nationwide warrant has been issued. Star Tribune called it the first criminal charge brought against an ICE agent for actions during the surge, and possibly the first of its kind in the country.
Minnesota’s protections for trans student athletes held up in federal court. A federal appeals court denied a challenge to Minnesota’s inclusive school sports policy, which means the state’s protections remain in place while the broader legal fight continues. In a season when so many rights feel fragile, one more guardrail held.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
April 17, 2026 - bonus note
Don’t Let Them Win
Yesterday, my friend Kelly Wilson posted a video of herself in a very dark place. It was tearful and rageful and raw and real. And then she texted me privately and told me she was afraid she wouldn’t get out of it.
I told her I was wrapping her up in my arms and holding her until she let go — except I wasn’t letting go. I was holding her and holding her and holding her until I could see her aura return to its brightness and her energy tanks fill back up. I told her that at some point she would start hugging me back — not out of obligation, but out of fierce love. And that’s when I’d know her fuel source was back up to a manageable level.
Kelly did the right thing, she reached out to community and told us her pain, and she received my embrace when I offered it. She came out of the hole because she asked for help.
That’s how fierce love works.
Kelly is not alone.
Yesterday, so many people I love went to that same dark place. And I want to say this gently, it’s okay to not be okay. But it is not okay to not be okay and believe that it’s forever and stay there alone— because that belief is what pulls us deeper into the hole. The darkness lies to us. It tells us it’s permanent. It isn’t.
What we’re navigating in this country right now is a narcissistic energy. It wants control. It is addicted to power. And when we spiral into victimhood and stay in the ugliness and lament it on loop, and rehearse the worst-case scenarios until they calcify into our nervous systems — we are handing over exactly what that energy feeds on. This happens to all of us sometimes. We need to have these not-okay moments. But they need to be just moments. We need to lean on community to help each other OUT.
Here’s what I know about narcissists: the opposite of love is not hate. They thrive on hate just as much as love. To them, it’s all charge. It’s all attention. It’s all proof that they matter.
The opposite of love is indifference. What kills narcissistic energy is not a fight — they love the fight. What kills it is neglect. Treat it like a plant you forgot to water.
Don’t let them see they’ve gotten to you. Go on with your life. Do better despite them. Thrive despite them.
Look at the Ukrainians. Living under unimaginable pressure, and still — still — they feed each other, love each other, show up for each other. That is not weakness. That is the most radical form of resistance there is.
The louder the noise gets, the more we need to turn away from it and turn toward each other. Especially when the things happening are things completely out of our control. Let the people who do have power do what they do, love them, empower them to fight the good fight the right way. Because when we fall into the spiral and stay there, we are also turning our backs on the extraordinary magick of being alive. There is beauty everywhere. Right now. Even today.
So when you are hurting, tell people, and ask for help!
When you see your people hurting, call them. Leave the voicemail. Show up. Hold them and hold them and hold them, and don’t let go until you see the light come back into their eyes.
Gush it. Spill it everywhere. Tap into the eternal, inexhaustible source of all that is good.
No matter what they do, we turn to each other and we love more.
That is how we win.
I love you all fiercely.
Thanks for giving a shit!
TeriLeigh💜
Good News
Saturday, April 18, 2026
I know this week was rough. Especially in terms of the Boundary Waters and a certain person who shall not be named, but gets less than .0002% of his followers to like his posts…seriously this guy is a nothing-burger here. I figure good news doesn’t count in a boycott cuz we all need it.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors, founded by community organizers in South Minneapolis, has now scaled to 1,800+ volunteers and 550 vetted carers, handling over 70 daily requests for rides, groceries, and rent support across the metro. One co-founder shared they were able to immediately transfer $500 for emergency help and coordinate grocery support for 20 families through the network.
Oasis Lactation Services is collecting postpartum supplies for families staying home
Owner Danielle Downs Spradlin and her team are gathering C-section wound care kits, prenatal vitamins, and hygiene supplies for new and expecting parents who are sheltering in place.. Through the Joyful Day Project, Lara Magdzinski and her kids are assembling “Joyful Day” gift baskets for children affected by recent disruptions—turning their own home into a small distribution hub.
Immanuel Lutheran Church partnered with Cristo Obrero Lutheran Church are pooling funds to directly support members facing housing instability, quietly redistributing money within their shared community.
Audrey Rose Vintage and Moth Oddities are running supply networks out of their stores. Owner Jessie Witte and others in the vintage community are using their shops to collect donations, coordinate deliveries, and even run alert systems to protect and support neighbors.
Queenie & Pearl is using its orange bus for deliveries. The shop repurposed its vehicle to transport supplies directly to people who can’t safely leave home—turning a retail asset into a mobile mutual aid system.
Sharing and Caring Hands, founded by Mary Jo Copeland, serves 700–800 people per day, powered largely by community volunteers showing up to cook, serve, and distribute essentials.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Latine-led organization, started with one request for rides—and grew into a system now distributing over $236,000 in rent support to 150+ families.
Thanks for giving a shit.
I love you all fiercely.
TeriLeigh💜
