Two St. Paul City Council members are lending their political platforms to a conflict in rural California involving water restrictions, cannabis growers, a deadly police-involved shooting and the Hmong community. Minnesota and California are home to the largest Hmong populations in the country.
Council members Dai Thao and Nelsie Yang, who are both Hmong, have called for a federal investigation into the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
The county, which sits about 30 miles south of the Oregon border, approved an ordinance in May purportedly aimed at curtailing illegal marijuana growing operations. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has used social media to ask marijuana growers and other community members to consider the effects of heavy water usage on area wells at a time of record heat and possible drought.
The ordinance prohibits water trucks from carrying more than 100 gallons of water on certain county roads without a permit. An increasingly vocal number of residents have pointed out that the rules mostly apply in the rural, unincorporated communities of Butte Valley and Big Springs, areas with large Hmong populations.
Hmong community members say the new rules unfairly target everyday water usage within their homes and have held public rallies to get their point across, with the latest rally drawing an estimated 300 people on Saturday.
Advocate Zurg Xiong entered the 11th day of a hunger strike Friday outside the Siskiyou County courthouse, according…
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Two St. Paul City Council members are lending their political platforms to a conflict in rural California involving water restrictions, cannabis growers, a deadly police-involved shooting and the Hmong community. Minnesota and California are home to the largest Hmong populations in the country.
Council members Dai Thao and Nelsie Yang, who are both Hmong, have called for a federal investigation into the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.
The county, which sits about 30 miles south of the Oregon border, approved an ordinance in May purportedly aimed at curtailing illegal marijuana growing operations. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has used social media to ask marijuana growers and other community members to consider the effects of heavy water usage on area wells at a time of record heat and possible drought.
The ordinance prohibits water trucks from carrying more than 100 gallons of water on certain county roads without a permit. An increasingly vocal number of residents have pointed out that the rules mostly apply in the rural, unincorporated communities of Butte Valley and Big Springs, areas with large Hmong populations.
Hmong community members say the new rules unfairly target everyday water usage within their homes and have held public rallies to get their point across, with the latest rally drawing an estimated 300 people on Saturday.
Advocate Zurg Xiong entered the 11th day of a hunger strike Friday outside the Siskiyou County courthouse, according…
