Home About

About

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell. We’re in the halls of government tracking what elected officials are up to — and monitoring the powerful forces trying to influence them. But we’re also on the streets, at the bars and parks, on farms and in warehouses, telling you stories of the people being affected by the actions of government and big business. And we’re free. No ads. No paywall. The Minnesota Reformer and its articles, graphics, and commentary are also free to republish. In fact, we welcome and encourage it. Please adhere to the following guidelines, and let us know if you republish our stories:

  • You must give Minnesota Reformer credit, including publication and author.
  • If you publish online, you must include the links from the story, and a link to minnesotareformer.com.
  • While making changes to account for in-house style is perfectly fine, more substantial changes should be noted as additional and conducted by your publication.
  • You can publish our photos and graphics with the stories with which they originally appeared. For any other uses, you must seek permission from us at [email protected]
  • If you share the story on social media, please mention @mnreformer on Twitter and @theminnesotareformer on Facebook.
  • Don’t sell the story.
  • Don’t sell ads against the story. Feel free, however, to publish it on a page with ads you’ve already sold.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit network of state government news sites supported by grants and a coalition of donors.

Minnesota Reformer retains editorial independence.

STAFF

J. Patrick Coolican

Editor-in-Chief
All posts by J. Patrick Coolican

J. Patrick Coolican is Editor-in-Chief of Minnesota Reformer. Previously, he was a Capitol reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for five years, after a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan and time at the Las Vegas Sun, Seattle Times and a few other stops along the way. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and toddler son.

Rilyn Eischens

Data Reporter
All posts by Rilyn Eischens

Rilyn Eischens is a data reporter with the Reformer. Rilyn is a Minnesota native and has worked in newsrooms in the Twin Cities, Iowa, Texas and most recently Virginia, where she covered education for The Staunton News Leader. She's an alumna of the Dow Jones News Fund data journalism program and the Minnesota Daily. When Rilyn isn't in the newsroom, she likes to read, add to her plant collection and try new recipes.

Ricardo Lopez

Senior Political Reporter
All posts by Ricardo Lopez

Ricardo Lopez is the senior political reporter for the Reformer. Ricardo is not new to Minnesota politics, previously reporting on the Dayton administration and statehouse for The Star Tribune from 2014 to 2017, and the Republican National Convention in 2016. Previously, he was a staff writer at The Los Angeles Times covering the California economy. He's a Las Vegas native who has adopted Minnesota as his home state. In his spare time, he likes to run, cook and volunteer with Save-a-Bull, a Minneapolis dog rescue group. 

Max Nesterak

Reporter
All posts by Max Nesterak

Max Nesterak is a reporter for the Reformer focusing on urban policy, economics and labor. Most recently he was associate producer for MPR’s Morning Edition after a stint at National Public Radio. He also co-founded the behavioralscientist.org and was a Fulbright Scholar to Berlin, Germany.

© Minnesota Reformer
Adjust Font Size