Hawala connection severed for Minnesota Somalis

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Somali people in Minnesota who send money to east Africa are concerned that the method they use to transfer funds will soon shut down. If Franklin Bank in the Twin Cities follows through on a plan to stop working with Somali wire transfer services called “hawalas”, Minnesota Somalis will have to find another way to offer financial support to family and friends in a country that is experiencing a crushing famine.The Franklin Bank is the only local bank that is currently willing to make these transactions, but bank officials recently said they are uneasy with the bank’s level of vulnerability, and have decided to stop offering the service on December 14th.Hashi Shafi is the director of the Somali Action Alliance. He’s been talking with officials of the Franklin Bank and people in the Somali community, trying to find a solution to this problem. He talked with KFAI’s Dale Connelly about the importance of having a bank involved when sending money to a country that has had no functioning government for the past 20 years. [Audio below]Hawala Connection Severed Continue Reading

Occupy occupies house

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A group of Occupy Minnesota protesters took up new positions at a Minneapolis home last night. This move signals a change in tactics for at least part of the group that has been demonstrating in the plaza between the Hennepin County Government Center and Minneapolis City Hall since early October.

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Ranked choice voting in Saint Paul

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November 8th marks Election Day this year, and while much of the media attentionis already focused more thana year ahead on the presidential race for 2012, the 2011 voting willbring something new in at least one Twin Cities location. Eric Blom filed this report. [Audio below] Continue Reading

Seven arrested as OccupyMN ends second week

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Police arrested seven OccupyMN protestors who occupied an intersection in downtown Minneapolis on October 20. The protestors were part of a larger demonstration to call for a moratorium on home foreclosures.OccupyMN is a demonstration against inequality that has been occupying Hennepin County Government Plaza in downtown Minneapolis. It has seen one other arrest in the two weeks since it started.Chanting “Take it to the banks!” and “Stop foreclosure now” a group of about 100 protestors crossed Third Avenue to U.S. Bank Plaza and erected four tents made of clear plastic and a wooden frame. After about half an hour, they moved around the building and into the intersection of Sixth Street and Second Avenue where they again set up the tents.Police quickly pulled three tents away, but protestors set up another small tent. Speaking into a megaphone, one protestor said, “It’s very interesting that we haven’t been arrested. Continue Reading