Home Care In Burnsville, MN

ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that a charter school in Burnsville will enact reforms to improve board oversight and other accountability measures.

Ellison's investigation into Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, the founder and executive of Gateway STEM Academy, found that he "violated his fiduciary duties to Gateway by steering nearly $300,000 to companies owned or controlled by three of the school’s directors or officers, including a company that Farah co-owned."

Previous directors and officers also violated their fiduciary duties to Gateway by failing to sufficiently oversee Farah and failing to maintain policies and procedures that would have detected and prevented the conflicts of interests, according to investigators.

Farah was charged in federal court last year in the "Feeding Our Future" fraud scheme. He resigned and was replaced after the charges were made public.

Investigators also found that Gateway funds were paid to companies headed by Mahad Ibrahim ($173,602.65) and Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff ($117,255) while they served as Gateway board members in 2021 and 2022.

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Both Ibrahim and Shariff were also charged in the "Feeding Our Future" fraud scheme.

"Nonprofit charter schools must use their resources to further their educational mission, not to benefit insiders," Ellison said in a statement.

"The clear self-dealing by Gateway’s former executive director and some members of its board is extremely disappointing, as are the governance failures that allowed the misuse of funds to happen. I am encouraged that Gateway’s new leadership cooperated with our Office’s investigation, put controls in place to protect the school and its charitable mission going forward, and agreed to additional measures proposed by my office to help ensure a strong fresh start for the school."

Under the terms of an Assurance of Discontinuance filed in Dakota County, Gateway will be monitored as it performs an internal investigation into:

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A Burnsville charter school has agreed to take corrective action after a state investigation found that nearly $300,000 in school funds were steered to companies owned or controlled by three of its former leaders.

In a settlement announced Friday, state Attorney General Keith Ellison said previous directors or officers of Gateway STEM Academy failed to sufficiently oversee the activities of Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, who founded the school in 2017 and since has been replaced as its executive director.

The school also failed to put in place policies and procedures that would detect and prevent conflicts of interest, the Attorney General's Office said.

"Nonprofit charter schools must use their resources to further their educational mission, not to benefit insiders," Ellison said in a news release.

In a statement Monday, Gateway said it "has and will continue to fully cooperate with the attorney general's office, including taking immediate steps to update policies and ensure compliance with all laws and rules applicable to our school."

Gateway also denied any wrongdoing by its current board of directors.

According to the Attorney General's Office, a total of about $290,000 in Gateway funds were discovered to have been paid to companies headed by two people — Mahad Ibrahim and Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff — while they were serving as Gateway board members.

"The transactions were not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board," the settlement agreement states. The filing also notes that Farah, Ibrahim and Shariff are defendants in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case.

Ibrahim and Shariff no longer serve as Gateway board members.

Gateway has agreed to work with its authorizer, Pillsbury United Communities, to investigate how the misuse of funds occurred and possibly recover the money, and to train directors and officers on their duties under state and federal law.

Ellison said in the news release he was encouraged by the cooperative spirit of the school's new leaders and expressed hope in a "strong fresh start for the school."

Anthony Lonetree has been covering St. Paul Public Schools and general K-12 issues for the Star Tribune since 2012-13. He began work in the paper's St. Paul bureau in 1987 and was the City Hall reporter for five years before moving to various education, public safety and suburban beats.

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BURNSVILLE, Minn. — First responders rushed seven people from the same home in Burnsville to the hospital this week.

They all had carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Headaches, vomiting," said Jose Munoz, one of the victims. "We actually thought it was food poisoning at first."

Munoz's family, including a baby and a young child, felt the same way, and Munoz took those symptoms seriously.

"When we called the emergency line, they had us check around," he said. "We got a whiff of the actual gas leak downstairs."

Burnsville fire crews quickly found the culprit to be carbon monoxide from a malfunctioning furnace. Munoz and his six family members are feeling better after a trip to the ER.

"It's something that I really don't hope upon anybody," he said.

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Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas.

Fire officials say that's why it's so important to have working detectors in the house.

"We go on probably several calls a week, especially this time of year as people start to use their furnaces, close their windows," said Jayson Knutson, an inspector with the Burnsville Fire Department. "Fortunately, most of them we're getting called for is because their detector's going off in the home."

Munoz didn't have detectors, a problem he'll now be fixing.

"Definitely check them," he said. "Check them, replace them, do what you got to do, daily basis, maintenance on it. Replace them if they don't work. Family's doing good. Hope this story helps the next person down the road."

Detectors are recommended on every floor of the house and within 10 feet of sleeping areas.

Symptoms of poisoning can be fatigue, headaches, upset stomach or trouble breathing.

In high concentrations of carbon monoxide, it can take fewer than five minutes to get carbon monoxide poisoning. Under lower concentrations, it can take an hour to two hours to cause poisoning.

David Schuman

David joined the WCCO team in April 2020, previously working at CBS 58 in Milwaukee. Prior to that, he worked in Las Vegas. While there, David covered several stories in the national spotlight, including the October 1 mass shooting and political visits from President Barack Obama and candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

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BURNSVILLE, Minn. -- Plans for a petting zoo at a Twin Cities shopping mall are causing an uproar among some animal activists.

The Burnsville City Council approved the addition of Sustainable Safari to Burnsville Center Tuesday.

A planned unit development amendment for Sustainable Safari was approved by a unanimous vote. The center was not previously zoned for use as a zoo, so the amendment was required for Sustainable Safari to open.

Multiple residents spoke out against the zoo at Tuesday's meeting, citing concerns about Sustainable Safari's accreditation, as well as animal welfare.

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"A petting zoo, in a mall. It's preposterous," said resident Courtney White.

The zoo's owner, Bob Pilz, responded to those concerns during the meeting.

"I don't want the animals to be abused. I don't want them to be exposed to the wrong things. These animals, I've raised them. The reason they're good in the mall is because I've raised them," Pilz said. "We take care of these things. We have all the licensings that we have to follow in order to keep these things. So we do everything possible."

Pilz spoke later in the day with WCCO, saying he's not doing this to get rich, but to enrich the lives of the animals and the humans who meet them.

"The word 'mall' is what makes it difficult for a lot of people here, but it's really, it's four walls and a roof that allows us to get every aspect of humanity through here, meaning handicapped people, elderly. It's one level and it's year-round," Pilz said. "I want to assure people that we have full-time staff, full-time vet techs that are watching our animals every day. We inspect or do daily inspections on our animals to make sure that they're happy, non-stressed out and engaging."

Sustainable Safari President and CEO David Harvey told WCCO that at the Maplewood location, the zoo has a software system and veterinary team that checks each animal daily. Any animals showing signs of stress are taken out of the zoo and given time to roam at a large farm in the north metro.

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At a previous Planning Commission meeting, Pilz brought one of his animals, a baby kangaroo.

The council also responded, noting information and approvals it has received from agencies like the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture. Council member Cara Schulz also noted, "it is not the role of government to become involved in the private business if the businesses are following the ordinances and the rules."

"If you came to government for morality, you came to the wrong place," Schulz said, prompting an outburst from members of the public.

Council member Vince Workman, after noting Pilz's preparedness and the completeness of his application, echoed Schulz's comments.

"We're not here to make decisions based on our moral compass," Workman said. "It's fitting our codes and our ordinances and so that's where we're at."

Sustainable Safari has operated inside Maplewood Mall since 2019. The Burnsville location would be their second, and 7,000-square-feet bigger, allowing for more animals and even water features. The space will include a petting zoo, party room and educational center.

It will be located in the mall's former Old Navy space and comprise about 17,000 square feet, according to the city.

Harvey said they hope to open the space in early 2024.

Burnsville Center's new owners are no strangers to the troubled shopping center and the Twin Cities.

A group of business owners, including developers behind the $30 million project to build an Asian grocery store and food hall inside the empty Gordmans at the mall, have purchased the rest of the shopping center, minus the anchor tenants. Wyn Group, the new brokerage and investment firm real estate principal Marshall Nguyen formed, is also a co-owner as well as Afro Deli & Grill owner Abdirahman Kahin.

The deal closed last week, but the owners, including Chicago area-based Windfall Group, declined to share the sale price. The sale signals a new era for the south metro mall, which has struggled to retain tenants and foot traffic throughout its recent history. It is also a rare example of local investors taking part in owning and managing a metro-area mall as opposed to just a large, out-of-state real estate investment trust.

"We are local, and we are longtime holders," Nguyen said. "It is important for us to ensure the vitality of the interior mall."

Last year, Eddie Ni, chairman of Windfall Group, led the team that bought the former Gordmans — as well as the space Dick's Sporting Goods, Noodles & Co. and Kirkland's occupy — for about $10.6 million. The Pacifica of Burnsville project, which will also include a couple of standalone restaurants, should open early next year. Nguyen, who helped broker the Pacifica deal, said it was always the group's vision to acquire the entirety of the mall.

"That was our strategic play. ... We want to ensure whatever uses coming into the mall also complement our project," Nguyen said.

The team has been busy. In May, the group, including Ni and Nguyen, purchased the empty St. Paul Sears store near the State Capitol for $7 million and soon after sold the store to community organization Asian Media Access. Nguyen also brokered the deal that turned the former Gander Outdoors store in Eden Prairie into the Asia Mall retail destination.

The most recent sale for the remainder of Burnsville Center doesn't include the anchors of Sears, JCPenney and Macy's, but it does encompass the main thoroughfares and stores inside the mall as well as much of the surrounding parking lots, totaling about 28 acres.

"We will be working very closely with our local partners to attract tenants and revitalize the mall," said Judy Ni, Windfall's director of real estate, in an email. "This will include innovative marketing strategies, competitive leasing terms, renovations and adapting to changing consumer preferences to create a more appealing destination."

The group of owners purchased the mall from New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group, which city leaders had criticized for failing to maintain the languishing mall.

"I think generally speaking, we are very happy that Kohan sold to somebody who has the wherewithal and the desire to invest in it," said Burnsville City Council Member Dan Kealey. "We are a lot better off."

The mall's condition has deteriorated through the years, leaving the carpet dirty and the pylon signs that greet shoppers rusted. The first priority for the new mall owners should be to improve the condition of the mall so tenants and shoppers will want to visit, Kealey said.

The Burnsville Center group plans to start bathroom renovations and is currently fielding bids to replace some of the flooring on the second level, Nguyen said. They are also turning to automation to help keep the mall clean, including purchasing robots that can mop the mall's tiles.

"That's our priority, to change the perception," Nguyen said.

What attracted the owners to the mall in the first place was the location close to Interstate 35W and the population of potential shoppers in the south metro. While Nguyen didn't provide details for further redevelopment at the mall, he said the mall's new owners are open to a variety of uses such as residential development.

For Kahin, recently named the National Small Business Person of the Year, the mall represented a chance to give more business owners of color the opportunity to open their shops in a suburban regional mall. He has also visited other malls around the world, including in Dubai, and said he thinks Burnsville Center could incorporate more high-end elements like better finishes and entertainment venues.

"We are going to do everything to make this place work," Kahin said.

Burnsville Center was anything but bustling Thursday afternoon. There were only a handful of open businesses in the food court, but that didn't dampen the spirit of Armando Gaona and his wife, Danica, who said they knew a good deal when they saw one when they decided to open Gaona's Kitchen in the mall this week.

Much of the kitchen equipment came with the space, including the fryer, freezer, fridges and flat top.

"We know everything is coming back to life," said Armando Gaona, about the mall. "We just saw a good opportunity."

Another new name in the mall will be Sustainable Safari, which is opening a second location nearly twice the size of its space at the Maplewood Mall in early 2024.

"I grew up at the mall," said David Harvey, president and chief executive of Sustainable Safari. "I'm very excited to bring some traffic back there."

Sustainable Safari, which allows visitors to interact with animals like capybaras and snakes, will have a party room, learning space and a walkabout area incorporated into the kangaroo exhibit. The location of the mall was also a big selling point, he said.

For older tenants, news of new owners is a sign of hope. Michael Soriano of Wonders Ice Cream said Burnsville Center's previous owners didn't do much to try to increase foot traffic, and he would like the new owners to host events.

The rolled ice cream shop had to close during the pandemic before reopening earlier this year. Traffic and sales have been slow.

"It's a struggle," Soriano said.

Burnsville Center has long had an issue with empty storefronts, which the pandemic only worsened when many malls and stores had to close temporarily as shoppers stayed home. In spring 2020, Burnsville Center's income dropped by about a third because of store closures and rent reductions. The mall's former owner, Tennessee real estate investment trust CBL Properties, missed its mortgage payments and later that year put the mall up for auction as part of foreclosure proceedings.

The Kohan group purchased the mall in late 2020 at auction for about $17 million with its leader, Mike Kohan, vowing to "do the right thing for the community." But outside of the Pacifica project, Burnsville Center failed to make any significant progress.

Nguyen estimated the mall is about 50% empty, and said he views it as an opportunity.

"There's a lot of vacancies, which is great because it is going to help us curate our idea and bring in a lot of traffic," Nguyen said.