The U.S. Supreme Court is set to weigh a pivotal case that could determine whether a Catholic school in Oklahoma can become the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school.
The justices heard arguments on Wednesday regarding whether St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, established in 2023 by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, can receive public funding despite its religious affiliation. At issue is whether the First Amendment’s principle of separating church and state prohibits charter schools with religious missions from receiving public money. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by the end of June.
The case highlights the ongoing debate between protecting religious freedom and upholding the constitutional separation of church and state. Supporters of the school argue that Oklahoma already provides charter school funding to qualified institutions, and denying access to religious schools amounts to unconstitutional religious discrimination. Critics warn, however, of serious legal and constitutional consequences.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond contends that charter schools are essentially public institutions due to six defining characteristics: they are free, open to all, state-funded, regulated by the government, nondiscriminatory, and secular—guidelines similar to those followed by 45 other states and the federal government. According to Drummond, these features classify charter schools as public entities subject to constitutional constraints, including the prohibition on state-sponsored religion.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that using taxpayer money to support a religious charter school violates both the state and U.S. Constitutions. The court cautioned that permitting St. Isidore to operate as a publicly funded religious school could have far-reaching implications across the country. A ruling in favor of St. Isidore, the court noted, could undermine federal charter school regulations and create confusion for millions of students nationwide.
Last year, Oklahoma’s top court ruled that allowing public funds to go to religious charter schools would violate both state and federal constitutional provisions. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that “according to our state law, charter schools are defined as public schools. That alone settles the issue.” Laser also raised additional concerns about the religious nature of the proposed school: “this school is backed by the Catholic diocese and plans to follow Catholic doctrine, including moral codes that, implicitly or explicitly, could lead to discrimination against LGBTQ students and families.”
Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi has been released on bail following a federal judge’s order on Wednesday. The move comes weeks after Mahdawi, 34, was taken into custody by armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security during a naturalization appointment in Vermont. Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered Mahdawi’s release on bail as his habeas corpus case proceeds through the court. The government had asked for a seven-day delay to the release order, which Crawford denied.
Mahdawi, a lawful U.S. permanent resident originally from a refugee camp in the West Bank, had been detained since April 14. He was held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vermont, under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Court documents reveal that Mahdawi spent his early years in al-Fara, a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, where much of his family still resides. At the age of 15, he was shot in the leg by an Israeli soldier. He immigrated to the United States over ten years ago and began studying at Columbia in 2021.
Mahdawi was an active organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year and has a green card. In a DHS-issued notice requiring Mahdawi to appear, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the detention, claiming Mahdawi’s presence and actions in the U.S. posed a significant threat to U.S. foreign policy and could negatively impact diplomatic interests.
After his release, Mahdawi stood outside the Burlington, Vermont courthouse and addressed reporters, saying, “I want to say this loudly and clearly to President Trump and his administration: I am not afraid. What we are witnessing echoes what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned about: that injustice in one place endangers justice everywhere .. Yes you might think I am free, but my freedom is interlinked with the freedom of many other students.”
Outside the courthouse, Mahdawi’s legal team argued that the Trump administration of using retaliatory tactics against his right to express political views, as he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus in the early months of the Israel-Hamas war. Luna Droubi, a partner at Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, said: “The government’s actions are baseless, unsupported, and violate constitutional principlesThis is far from over—we will keep pushing until Mohsen’s freedom is fully secured.”
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Mahdaw urged an end to the war in Gaza and criticized U.S. military aid to Israel: “We have a duty to defend human dignity. The eyes of the world, not just Palestine, are on America. What happens here will shape the future for everyone.”
Editorial credit: Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com
Deadline confirmed that John Lithgow, 79, will return as Arthur Miller, aka the Trinity Killer, in the Dexter sequel series Dexter: Resurrection at Showtime. The outlet also reported that Jimmy Smits will reprise his character, Miami Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado.
Showtime revealed that the first two episodes of sequel series Dexter: Resurrection will drop on Paramount+ with Showtime two days before premiering on the cable network. The two-episode premiere will be available on streaming and on demand starting July 11, and will air at 8 p.m. EDT July 13 on Showtime.
Dexter: Resurrection stars Michael C. Hall as he reprises his role as serial killer Dexter Morgan alongside David Zayas as Angel Batista, Jack Alcott as Harrison Morgan, James Remar as Harry Morgan, and David Magidoff as Teddy Reed.
Peter Dinklage will play the season’s main villain, Leon Prater, a billionaire venture capitalist, with Uma Thurman as Charley, a former Special Ops officer who serves as his right-hand woman. Krysten Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Stonestreet, David Dastmalchian, and Steve Schirripa will guest star. Other newcomers to the franchise include Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Kadia Saraf, Dominic Fumusaand, and Emilia Suárez.
“Dexter” ran for eight seasons between 2006-2013, and was revived in 2021 with “Dexter: New Blood.” Hall returned to narrate as Dexter’s inner voice in the prequel series “Dexter: Original Sin,” which debuted in December. Original “Dexter” showrunner Clyde Phillips returns to helm the series, which is currently in production in New York. Dexter: Resurrection is expected to premiere this summer on Paramount+ with Showtime.
Editorial credit: Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro / Shutterstock.com
Variety reports that actor Tom Everett Scott has joined the cast of Prime Video‘s ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series Elle, executive produced by the film franchise’s star Reese Witherspoon.
From creator Laura Kittrell, the series will follow Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) through her high school years. Scott will play Wyatt, Elle’s father, opposite June Diane Raphael as Elle’s mom, Eva. (in the original film, Wyatt was played by James Read, who alongside his wife tried to dissuade Elle from attending Harvard).
The official logline for Elle details her “life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first ‘Legally Blonde’ film.” The series was originally greenlit at Amazon back in May 2024.
The first “Legally Blonde” film grossed over $140 million worldwide following its release in 2001; with the sequel “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde” released in 2003.
Here we go!! We have hit the month of May, and things will get crazy for the next month. There are still proms going on, graduations, and graduation receptions, you have sporting events, and so much more. This is always a crazy and challenging time of year for student-athletes. It is also a fun time because the weather is nicer, and playing (and broadcasting) spring sports is a lot more enjoyable when it is nice out. Good luck to all teams, and hopefully the weather will cooperate!
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The Minnesota State High School League elected to move to district football scheduling several years ago because Eden Prairie had a hard time finding opponents. Okay, that is part of the reason, but other teams started having problems finding games too. I know when I played back in the 93 and 94 seasons, Crookston had to play Wayzata, Holdingford, Lac qui Parle Valley, and others out of the area. So district scheduling makes sense if the MSHSL doesn’t seem to care about section play……which is weird when you have to win your section to go to state. But, I digress.
So here is the purpose of the District Football schedule – The Mid-Northwest Football District has been created by the MSHSL to provide a separate, competitive structure for the sport of Football only. Schools within the District will be divided into sub-districts as determined by the member schools and the District Committee.
Purpose: The purpose of the District Football structure is: a) to aid member schools in developing a full, regular season schedule with other schools within the District. b) to aid in the creation of equitable competition in football between schools of similar size and in the same general geographical area. c) to promote fair play and sportsmanship
The unofficial football schedules have been finalized, and there will be some pretty big changes this fall as far as schedules go. One big change for Crookston High School will be that they are dropping down to play a Class A schedule for two years, as the numbers are going to be low, and they are coming off a no-win season, and it would more than likely be the same thing with the same type of schedule in the fall. So Crookston was allowed to drop down to play the Class A schedule and will play a lot of area teams in the hope of being a little more competitive and wait a few years until the numbers increase (which they have great numbers in 3rd through 8th grade). From my understanding, the schedules won’t be approved until June, but I have seen some coaches and ADs posting their schedules, so I figured I could post it, too.
Crookston will be in the Valley Plains West District with Ada-Borup-West, Red Lake, Mahnomen/Waubun, Polk County West, and Red Lake County. The unofficial schedule is listed below.
at Nevis Mahnomen/Waubun at Polk County West Cass Lake-Bena Ada-Borup-West at Red Lake County Bagley at Red Lake
Hopefully, in a couple of years, Crookston will be able to build up the numbers and the talent level and be in the Red District with East Grand Forks, Park Rapids, Thief River Falls, Warroad, Roseau, and Pelican Rapids, or they just go Section 8AA teams play each other again. This isn’t ideal for Crookston, but it is the best move to build the program, and not getting killed by Barnesville by 70 points (when they took it easy on the Pirates by playing the backups the entire second half) will be nice for a couple of years. It did no good for Barnesville either. I read through everything and didn’t see a do not share message so I am sharing it. If I am not supposed to, my apologies!
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We have some stats and standings for the Northwest Diamond Baseball Conference and the Pine To Prairie Conference. They are below.
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The NFL draft was held last weekend and while Ada-Borup’s Mason Miller (NDSU) didn’t get drafted, he signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agend. Miller was a three-year starter and first team All-American in 2024 for the NDSU Bison.
Do you want to make the NFL? There are four conferences that had the most drafted and it should come as no surprise. The list of the top seven conferences are below. SEC – 79 Big 10 – 71 ACC – 42 Big 12 – 31 FBS Schools – 7 (2 from NDSU) American Athletic – 6 Mountain West – 6
Individuals drafted from each school- 14 Ohio State 13 Georgia 12 Texas 10 Oregon 8 Ole Miss 7 Alabama, Florida, LSU, Miami, Michigan 6 Maryland, Notre Dame 5 Iowa, Penn State, South Carolina, UCLA, Virginia Tech 4 Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Tennessee 3 Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Kansas State, Louisville, Minnesota, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Southern California, Texas A&M 2 Arkansas, Boise State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech, Tulane, UCF, Wisconsin 1 Alabama A&M, Arizona State, Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Colorado State, East Carolina, Illinois, Marshall, Memphis, Michigan State, Montana, Montana State, Navy, NC State, Nevada, North Carolina, Purdue, Sacramento State, Stanford, Toledo, UConn, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, William & Mary
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The Minnesota vs UND Men’s Hockey rivaly continues in 2025 as the Fighting Hawks will host the Gophers October 17-18 at the Ralph.
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Lukas Justesen (Sr., Detroit Lakes) has been named to the NSIC All-Second Team, released earlier today by the conference office. Justesen became the first Golden Eagle since 2022 to be named to an all-conference team, when Connor Humble was named to the first team.
Justesen helped lead UMC to eight top-10 finishes this season, including a third-place finish at The Mule in early September, which was their highest finish in a field of over 15 in over 15 years. The Golden Eagles finished in fifth place at the NSIC Championships.
He finished with seven top-20 finishes, including a pair in the top-10, both of which came within the final three tournaments of the season.
At the NSIC Championships, Justesen had a solid three day tourney finishing seventh place.
Justesen also became the first Golden Eagle since Humble in 2022 to take home NSIC Men’s Golfer of the Week and just the fourth Golden Eagle golfer to win weekly honors since 2011.
Concordia-St. Paul swept all the awards; Thomas Gutzmer was named Golfer of the Year, Josh Esterly was named Newcomer of the Year and Peter Maki was named the Coach of the Year.
First Team
Year
School
Hometown
Will Allen
SR
AU
Harrisburg, SD
Logan Schoepp
Jr.
BSU
Bismarck, ND
Thomas Gutzmer
Grad
CSP
Jordan, MN
Josh Esterley
R- Fr
CSP
Chaska, MN
Peyton Coahran
JR
WSU
Spicer
Luke Maas
Soph
WSU
Watertown
Second Team
Yr.
School
Hometown
Tommy Marker
Sr
CSP
Shakopee, MN
Gavin Argent
Sr
U Mary
Minot, ND
Lukas Justesen
Sr
UMC
Detroit Lakes, MN
Mason Weeks
Sr.
USF
Spirit Lake, Iowa
Logan Chouinard
Soph
WSU
Elk River
Tyler Gandrud
FR
WSU
Anoka
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The Crookston High School Summer Strength and Conditioning program “Powered by Sanford Sports” will be June 2 through August 8. There will be no sessions June 30-July 4 due to the MSHSL blackout week.
“Dad, I am hungry.” “Hi Hungry, I’m Dad.” “Dad, I’m serious.” “I thought you were Hungry?” “Are you kidding me?” “Nope, I’m Dad.”
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Three guys are drinking in a bar when a drunk comes in, staggers up to them, and points at the guy in the middle, shouting, “Your mom’s the best lay in town!” Everyone expects a fight, but the guy ignores him, and the drunk wanders off and bellies up to the bar at the far end. Ten minutes later, the drunk comes back, points at the same guy, and says, “I just screwed your mom, and it was sweet!” Again the guy refuses to take the bait, and the drunk goes back to the far end of the bar. Ten minutes later, he comes back and announces, “Your mom liked it!” Finally the guy interrupts. “Go home, Dad,… you’re drunk!”
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A very shy guy goes into a bar and sees a beautiful woman sitting at the bar.
After an hour of gathering up his courage he finally goes over to her and asks, tentatively, “Um, would you mind if I chatted with you for a while?”
To which she responds by yelling, at the top of her lungs, “No, I won’t sleep with you tonight!”
Everyone in the bar is now staring at them.
Naturally, the guy is hopelessly and completely embarrassed and he slinks back to his table.
After a few minutes, the woman walks over to him and apologizes. She smiles at him and says, “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. You see, I’m a graduate student in psychology and I’m studying how people respond to embarrassing situations.”
To which he responds, at the top of his lungs, “What do you mean $200 for a blowjob?”
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A husband and wife were at a party chatting with some friends when the subject of marriage counseling came up. “Oh, we’ll never need that. My wife and I have a great relationship,” the husband explained. “She was a communications major in college and I majored in theater arts. She communicates well and I act like I’m listening.”
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A British man was killed by a shark while on his honeymoon in Australia. Reports say he didn’t suffer too long… As he was only married 3 days!
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere? ****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a freshman playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a freshman playing football at Minot State.
Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.
Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.
Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach. Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach. Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California. Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com.
