Tiza

If you didn’t like this early census statistic from U.S. Rep. Colin Peterson — that 25 percent of his constituents think the American military destroyed the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 — well, he’s sorry. Without indicating a precise proportion this time, Peterson amended his claim: “[T]here are people in the Seventh District who freely [...]

A court ruled Tuesday that the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-MN) can sue Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), Islamic Relief and state education commissioner Alice Seagren for constitutional violations after allegedly using taxpayer money to illegally promote religion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed suit Wednesday against Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy and the Minnesota Department of Education alleging a violation of the separation between church and state. TIZA was at the center of a media storm last year after the Star Tribune’s Katherine Kersten wrote an inflammatory commentary alleging religious instruction at the taxpayer-funded school. ACLU-MN investigated the allegations and in court documents filed in U.S. District Court said the Muslim organizations from which TIZA leases its space are illegally benefiting from the leasing arrangement.

A round-up of media, new and old: YouTube partners with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to give a $10,000 reporting prize, while the Star Tribune’s Teamsters again vote down contract concessions. Also: Outrage over a newspaper liveblogging a funeral and key context as the Strib’s Katherine Kersten again targets a Muslim school.

When Minnesota Rep. Mindy Greiling, a Roseville DFLer who chairs the House K-12 Finance Division, recently went to Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), the majority-Muslim elementary school in Inver Grove Heights made infamous by a March Star Tribune column, what she discovered was entirely different from what writer Katherine Kersten had reported. In fact, what [...]