Courtney (C.J.) Sinner's Avatar

Courtney (C.J.) Sinner

@cjsinner.bsky.social

director, grfx/dataviz @startribune.com • my team does mostly data-driven charts, maps & diagrams, but also reports and writes, collaborating across our newsroom to craft distinctive visual journalism.

1,678 Followers  |  126 Following  |  66 Posts  |  Joined: 08.11.2024  |  1.8467

Latest posts by cjsinner.bsky.social on Bluesky

I've no idea!

03.02.2026 18:39 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Today I learned the governing body for bobsled and skeleton is the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Foundation.

Bobsleigh!

03.02.2026 18:30 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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‘No humanity’: Detainees describe conditions inside Whipple Federal Building Immigration sweep brings overcrowded rooms and overflowing toilets. Lawyers say they can’t visit their clients. The Department of Homeland Security says “all detainees receive full due process.”

They were given no bedding or pillows. Meals consisted of one sandwich a day. The sink faucet did not work, but the single toilet did. Holding facilities were so crowded that immigrants in one cell had to take turns lying down because there was no space.

www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...

31.01.2026 16:23 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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The Minnesota Star Tribune sues City of Minneapolis over police complaint records - Editor and Publisher The Minnesota Star Tribune has filed a second lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis alleging violations of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA), this time related to the city’s failur...

Star Tribune has filed a 2nd lawsuit against Minneapolis alleging violations of the MN Government Data Practices Act, this time related to the city’s failure to respond to a lawful request for public information identifying individuals who filed misconduct complaints against MPD Chief Brian O’Hara.

30.01.2026 23:16 — 👍 22    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Congrats, Carla!

30.01.2026 23:43 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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How exhausted Minneapolis journalists are covering a prolonged federal crackdown - Poynter Local journalists in Minneapolis describe exhaustion, safety risks and disinformation as they cover a prolonged ICE crackdown.

“We’ve had political assassinations. We had a multi-fatality school shooting, and now the largest immigration crackdown in American history has all happened in Minneapolis in the last eight months,” said Liz Sawyer, a reporter at The Minnesota Star Tribune.

30.01.2026 17:42 — 👍 11    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0

Friendly reminder that our live coverage is outside the paywall.

28.01.2026 20:16 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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How immigration detainees move around Minnesota and the nation ICE detained hundreds of thousands of people last year, shuttling them between jails and detention centers around the country, limiting access to legal support.

“Just getting a client to sign a document becomes almost impossible. ... Suddenly, they’re in Texas and there’s no way to contact them.”

In 2025, more than 2,700 immigrants passed through Minnesota detention facilities. They were transferred nearly 8,000 times.

www.startribune.com/how-immigrat...

28.01.2026 20:13 — 👍 4    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Federal agents pinned a man to the ground in south Minneapolis and sprayed him with chemical irritants directly in the face.

Minnesota Star Tribune photographer Rich Tsong-Taatarii did not witness the man put his hands on agents.

22.01.2026 01:19 — 👍 485    🔁 341    💬 22    📌 49
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Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

22.01.2026 23:19 — 👍 14719    🔁 7044    💬 397    📌 534
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We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government ...

And these were the ones ProPublica could find. www.propublica.org/article/vide...

13.01.2026 15:40 — 👍 336    🔁 171    💬 4    📌 6
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Joe Thompson, U.S. Attorney who uncovered massive fraud in Minnesota, resigns from office Thompson has been at the center of the national debate around fraud in Minnesota and has claimed that billions have been stolen from tax payers.

Joe Thompson, the leading federal prosecutor and public voice on uncovering rampant fraud around Minnesota, has resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. No reason was given.

www.startribune.com/joe-thompson...

13.01.2026 16:45 — 👍 9    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 1
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St. Paul’s largest encampment has grown, but problems have been relatively few Unlike Minneapolis, St. Paul provides dumpsters and toilets, and city officials say that helps.

A major homeless encampment in St. Paul has remained relatively clean and calm, with dumpsters to keep trash in check, portable toilets for residents and frequent visits from outreach workers.

30.12.2025 17:37 — 👍 115    🔁 32    💬 6    📌 20
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Inside the organized resistance to ICE in Minnesota As the federal government broadened immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities, a network of neighborhood activists ramped up pushback by keeping tabs on ICE agents and lending aid to families in hidi...

The movement is also hiding immigrant families without permanent resident status from discovery, ferrying kids to-from school, delivering meals to families. They stand guard outside mosques, collect cars abandoned after sudden arrests, locate people in immigration jail and help get them attorneys.

30.12.2025 17:53 — 👍 19    🔁 7    💬 2    📌 1
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Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation. Our journalists reach out to people they’re writing about to ensure fairness. But in this environment, they’ve found their efforts to do so are more likely to be vilified than appreciated.

This is a tired strategy: accuse journalists seeking response and more information of "stalking" and "harassment"... rather than engage even to simply offer a "no comment." People in power, especially taxpayer-funded ones, should have to answer questions: www.propublica.org/article/prop...

30.12.2025 17:54 — 👍 331    🔁 108    💬 9    📌 4
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Minnesota's 2025 in data, graphics and visual storytelling Our best visual journalism this year highlighted climate, education, sports, politics and, of course, the State Fair.

The @startribune.com's visual teams crafted custom experiences on everything from mayoral races and vaccines to smells at the State Fair and where Uptown really is.

Take a peek and discover one or two things you might've missed from us this year.

www.startribune.com/minnesotas-2...

30.12.2025 21:22 — 👍 10    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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Trump Administration Live Updates: ICE to Crack Down on Somalis in Minnesota

NY Times reports about 100 federal officers and agents from around the country have been sent to the Twin Cities for ICE operations "targeting hundreds of undocumented Somali immigrants" in the area

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...

02.12.2025 17:39 — 👍 11    🔁 19    💬 2    📌 6

I was on vacation enjoying northern fall colors when this published, but I thought the tree species mini maps on this were so cute and interesting!

08.10.2025 14:25 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Minneapolis crime is falling in 2025, even amid high-profile violence Most crimes are down in Minnesota’s largest city, continuing a pattern following a pandemic-era spike. That doesn’t alleviate concerns among wary residents after mass shootings.

Despite seven mass shootings this year — four since August, including at Annunciation Church, and three others on or near a troubled stretch of Lake Street — Minneapolis remains on track to see a fall in all categories of major crime this year.

www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...

08.10.2025 14:04 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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Q: Do you think it would've been fitting to lower the flags to half staff when Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota House Speaker, was gunned down by an assassin?

TRUMP: I'm not familiar. The who?

15.09.2025 21:35 — 👍 11928    🔁 4215    💬 1325    📌 1080

I used to love RSS (RIP Google Reader) but it does suck for people like me who traffic in visuals.

08.09.2025 19:00 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0
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Minnesota Star Tribune to sell Minneapolis printing plant, lay off 125 workers The state’s largest media company will continue printing 7 days a week, but will outsource printing to Iowa.

Minnesota Star Tribune to sell Minneapolis printing plant, lay off 125 workers

www.startribune.com/minnesota-st...

08.09.2025 17:51 — 👍 17    🔁 8    💬 3    📌 17
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Smells of the Minnesota State Fair create a festival for the nose From pleasant to powerful, a cornucopia of scents wafts over the fairgrounds in late August.

ICYMI, this fun catalog of the Fair smells is a delightful art map visual look at one of the senses we don't often talk about! It's usually all about sights, sounds, tastes. What about smells?

Smells of the Minnesota State Fair create a festival for the nose www.startribune.com/smells-of-th...

02.09.2025 14:11 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Minnesota’s only private prison could reopen as ICE detention facility No contract has been signed for the Appleton, Minn., facility, but the private company that owns it is “exploring opportunities” with ICE for which it could be a “viable solution.”

Minnesota’s only privately owned prison, which has sat vacant for 15 years, may get new life as a detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

22.08.2025 20:34 — 👍 6    🔁 9    💬 2    📌 3
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I generally stick (heh) with the classics but then discovered I have THREE ice creams on my receipt.

22.08.2025 19:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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2025 Minnesota State Fair attendance tracker Check in throughout the run of the 2025 fair to see whether we're close to breaking records

You on the Fair's first day: "It's so crowded, we'll definitely break a record."

Our tracker with new data just now: "Sorry, you're about 1,700 shy of last year's record"

www.startribune.com/2025-minneso...

22.08.2025 19:34 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Why did the Minnesota DFL revoke Omar Fateh’s endorsement for Minneapolis mayor? The state party revoked the local endorsement following a July convention that saw dozens of challenges, delays and miscounted votes.

A lot of people asking: What happened? How was the convention flawed? Was Mayor Frey behind the revoked endorsement? Answering some of these questions:

22.08.2025 19:08 — 👍 0    🔁 1    💬 2    📌 1
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How far can you stretch $100 at the Minnesota State Fair? Use our tool to create and share your perfect fair itinerary on a budget.

We have a lot of fun Fair stuff to offer and more to come, but this is one of my favorites. It's *genuinely useful* in addition to being fun.

How far can you stretch $100 at the Minnesota State Fair?
www.startribune.com/how-far-can-...

22.08.2025 19:19 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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I'm going to publish the entirety of an exchange I just had with the press office of the DOJ. I want you to see how they are talking about truth.

14.08.2025 14:52 — 👍 4129    🔁 1680    💬 161    📌 258
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Juneau Floods As Mendenhall Glacier Melts The Mendenhall River in Alaska was at “major flood” stage as of Wednesday morning, with additional water expected from an overflowing glacial lake.

Residents of Juneau, Alaska, have been urged to evacuate after an overflowing glacial lake sent water surging down the Mendenhall River, threatening homes and roads. Forecasters said river levels could break a record between 8 a.m. and noon local time on Wednesday.

13.08.2025 15:30 — 👍 82    🔁 41    💬 10    📌 14

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