Central Minnesota residents rally as detention facility nears opening. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility is expected to open soon in Appleton, Minnesota. Today at 2:30 PM News Reporting APPLETON, Minn. - There are lots of signs of activity at the soon-to-open Appleton Detention Facility. Buses and vans are lined up inside the fenced grounds. The parking lot is filled with the vehicles of the facility's new workers. Keep Watching Logan Giese talks about Park Christian's section semifinals win Signs of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility's pending opening are also visible every Thursday evening along the busy roadway of Highways 119/59 by Appleton City Hall. "Kids in school, not prison," read the sign that Brian Wojtalewicz stood by. "Compassion not fascism," read the sign held by Beth Brown. The two were among six people who gathered Thursday, Oct. 29, for the last scheduled rally by the Prairie Alliance for Human Dignity this season, although future rallies and prayer vigils will likely be held, according to the organizers. Ever since news broke a few months ago about the plans to reopen the former private prison as a detention facility, anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen citizens have gathered at this location in front of City Hall on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Members of the Prairie Alliance also separately hosted two different prayer vigils with speakers. The number of participants topped 100 at each. The goals are straightforward: They want to make people aware of the fact that Minnesota is now home to a 1,600-bed federal detention center for people detained by immigration agents. They hope this awareness will help lead to its closing in two years, explained Misty Butler, who was among those participating on Oct. 29. Butler said she participates as a community member who is concerned about Immigration Customs and Enforcement opening a detention center in the area where she lives. The Immigrant Defense Network convenes the Prairie Alliance for Human Dignity with a coalition of more than a dozen partners, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, Indivisible Kandiyohi and Twin Cities, CURE, Unidos, Fe y Justicia, and the North Star Alliance. The involvement by the local participants has a lot to do with the ICE surge last winter. In Montevideo, Minnesota, an informal network of people aided the immigrant community, Butler said. Many in the immigrant community were afraid to leave their homes. Volunteers helped them by delivering groceries and providing other help, she explained. That informal group came back together when The Washington Post revealed that there were plans to reopen the Appleton prison as a detention center, she said. Local residents and former prison workers remember the facility for its operations as a prison, Butler said. "Conditions may not be like that," she said of its reopening as a detention facility. She pointed to accounts of operations at other detention facilities where detainees have described a range of problems. Volunteers intend to do what they can to monitor conditions. Butler said they are also looking at whether they can assist detainees when they are released at the site. She said many accounts describe detainees being released at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling without transportation or assistance. Originally built in 1992, the Appleton prison closed in February 2020. At its peak, it had employed 365 people, according to West Central Tribune archives. Longtime owner CoreCivic in August announced the plans to reopen the facility, and soon after, reported its sale to the federal government for $495.6 million. CoreCivic has a five-year contract to manage it as a detention center for $75 million a year when its fully utilized. At a community meeting hosted by local legislators Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, and Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, it was reported that the facility will provide over 500 jobs. Many are expected to be filled by former prison employees. ICE IN MINNESOTA: As passing motorists honked and waved, Wojtalewicz was asked what his fellow residents in Appleton think about the reopening. "I wish I could tell you," he said, explaining that his law practice mostly keeps him office-bound. Without question, he said there is a lot of excitement about the jobs the reopening is creating. He has practiced law for over four decades, and said he has represented many of those who have voiced opinions on the opening from both ends of the political spectrum. Many of the motorists passing by the rally participants made known their feelings. There were plenty of taps on the horn, waves, thumbs-up and raised middle fingers, as well as a pickup truck with a pro-ICE sign prominently displayed. Overall, Wojtalewicz said the waves and thumbs-up greatly outnumber the raised middle fingers. News Reporting Tom Cherveny is a regional and outdoors reporter for the West Central Tribune. He has been a reporter with the West Central Tribune since 1993. More stories for you. Loading Audio Player By Instaread, Please Wait... Conversation

Hundreds gather in downtown State College for No Kings: Bank the Vote event. A participant in the No Kings: Bank the Vote event places their mail ballot in the drop box at the State College Municipal Building on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. Photo by Alex Holmes | Onward State October 17, 2026 - 10:58 pm Local advocacy group Keystone Indivisible held the No Kings: Bank the Vote event in downtown State College Saturday afternoon, as part of the nationwide No Kings Day of Action. While this isn't the first "No Kings" event in State College, the day focused on encouraging early voting and participation in the upcoming midterms, not partisan action. Keystone Indivisible encouraged participants not to bring campaign signs and advertised the gathering to all political affiliations. At 1 p.m., the event kicked off in the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on South Fraser Street with a drum circle as participants arrived. Signs encouraging civic action read "Please vote," "Every vote counts," and "Vote for our future." "No Kings: Bank the Vote is a celebration of community," one speaker said. "A celebration of the power we have when we exercise our right to vote." The location in MLK Plaza, she continued, nods to the civil rights movement that paved the way for peaceful demonstrations like this one. Speakers included Dotty Delafield of Keystone Indivisible and Robert Zeigler of Central Pennsylvania United. "The power is in each one of you individually," Zeigler said to the crowd. Tabling around the plaza also offered free apple cider, donuts, and red, white and blue pom poms and drumming sticks for people to take while marching The local Justice Singers group took to the stage to lead chants about democracy and call-and-response songs like "Everybody's got a right to vote." The speakers spoke out against the current administration and called for a change in power with the upcoming midterms, which can only happen through voting. Since the start of the Keystone Indivisible meetings, people from both the Democratic and Republican parties have joined, according to the organization. The main focus, the group says, isn't on partisan division; it's issues like the cost of living, the Epstein Files, and the war in Iran that they care about. "Fascism is non-partisan," Maren Larson, a member of the steering committee, said. The group emphasized that it was not a protest or a traditional march, but an opportunity for the community to come together around a shared concern for democracy. "It was billed at national as something just a little bit different to be about voting rights and banking votes," Larson said. "A commitment to our constitution takes all of us." Around 1:45 p.m., Delafield announced the plans to march to the State College Municipal Building on Allen Street. State College residents who wanted to deliver their mail ballots were encouraged to bring them to the drop box. Those from out of town or who prefer to vote in person were encouraged to march alongside the group. The parade marched to College Avenue, over to Allen Street, and down to the municipal building before looping back to the plaza. "Value the freedom that we have and the right to vote and how important it is to have your voice be heard," Connie Kossan, a member of Keystone Indivisible, said. "So many people say I'm not going to bother to vote; I won't make a difference, but every single vote makes a difference. This is our opportunity to tell our government what we want."