A correction in progress: links provided by Don Allen indicate Prince may have attended North High for as long as one year, although Prince graduated elsewhere. This post has been amended to reflect that, with further verification requested.
The Johnny Northside blog broke the story about Don Allen and his $15,000 contract with the Minneapolis Public Schools more than two weeks before the Star Tribune wrote about the topic. One of the intrepid reporters for the Twin Cities Daily Planet, Sheila Regan, has taken it upon herself to dig even deeper into the murky world of no-bid contracts at the MPS. Sheila has been threatened by Don Allen in relation to her investigation and reporting on him and his contract.
Instead of being cowed into submission, Regan redoubled her efforts to get to the bottom of the story, and has filed a request with the MPS for information related to Don Allen's contract. To be fair, she also requested information in regards to Al Flowers, as Allen has made frequent allegations that Flowers has received funding from MPS as well. Her account of MPS's response can be found here. It's telling that she was initially told such a request would cost her thousands of dollars, even though Minnesota statute 13.03 2010 states:
"(a) Upon request to a responsible authority or designee, a person shall be permitted to inspect and copy public government data at reasonable times and places, and, upon request, shall be informed of the data's meaning. If a person requests access for the purpose of inspection, the responsible authority may not assess a charge or require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect data." (emphasis added)
Through the spot.us site, Regan is requesting funding that will support this story. Readers can fund through direct contributions or by simply creating an account and taking a survey. Five minutes of your time can help support local investigative journalism and hold our public school system accountable.
