What was it like in the Twin Cities in the 90s? AXIOS: https://fluence-media.co/4o8Nq1a
The Minneapolis Fed’s new Beige Book notes the region’s economic activity “increased modestly” but cites some headwinds. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ug45RW
We need rain. The new Drought Monitor out this morning, reflecting data as of Tuesday, shows 75% of the state abnormally dry or worse, up from 61% a week earlier. The areas of drought and severe drought also increased. MAP: https://fluence-media.co/3PP2Kzy
Today's Sports Take: Tributes for a local sports legend, standouts on and off the field, and how sports is the 'best of us.' Coming this afternoon.
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Here are the two MNSiders from the weekend, with insight from the conventions:
SAT: https://fluence-media.co/49se3rS
SUN: https://fluence-media.co/4u5nHIc
Want to manage your subscription to TheDailyAgenda.com? HERE: https://fluence-media.co/managesubscription
Follow the 2026 Minnesota election’s up close with the Fluence ElectionTracker. FluenceElectionTracker.com
Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3PWuKoM
Sunday Take recapped the GOP state convention with candidates Kendall Qualls, Adam Schwarze and Mike Lindell in Duluth. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/432x94b
Blois
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Follow the 2026 Minnesota elections up close with the Fluence Election Tracker.
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THURSDAY HEADLINES
NEXT WEEK: Via KQDS-TV, VERBATIM: “The demolition of a pedestrian bridge in Duluth is set to temporarily close a portion of I-35. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT), the pedestrian bridge over I-35 just south of Mesaba Ave will be demolished and replaced starting the week of June 8.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4dYaPPz
JOBS: Via WDIO-TV, VERBATIM: “Mesabi Metallics is launching a major hiring initiative for operator positions as it prepares to open Minnesota’s first new mine and pellet plant in nearly 50 years. For now, they plan on adding about 200 operational jobs, for the concentrator, pellet plant, and mining.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43jBwrE
RED LAKE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Darrin Smedsmo has his airplane back. The Roseau pilot towed his aircraft off the Red Lake Nation lands on Wednesday, more than seven months after the tribe seized the single-engine plane following an emergency landing on a reservation highway. The Red Lake Nation’s prosecution office has dropped all charges against him.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3S3ZWTw
CHURCH PROTEST: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “The St. Paul City Attorney’s Office has declined to bring state criminal charges against demonstrators who disrupted a January 18th service at Cities Church, during the height of Operation Metro Surge . . . While there are still federal charges pending, there will not be any state charges, according to St. Paul’s City Attorney Irene Kao.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4e5zY9I
BEARS: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “When you think of black bears in Minnesota, the North Woods come to mind. However, in recent weeks, the furry mammals have been spotted in residential communities across the state.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4e5yPiq
BROADBAND: Comcast is rewriting the broadband playbook in the Twin Cities. From neighborhood networks to next-gen tech, we’re delivering community-first internet connectivity with no contracts, no surprises. The new Xfinity package means unlimited data, blazing-fast, reliable speeds and a 5-year price guarantee, plus free mobile for a year. It’s not the old Comcast — it’s a bold new era of connection. Let’s power the future, together. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/Comcast2025-1 (SPONSORED: Comcast)
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
HOUSING: The Minneapolis Fed is tracking housing data in St. Paul and also talked with owners and developers of multifamily housing. VERBATIM: “Our interviews happened both before and after the most recent amendments to Saint Paul’s rent-stabilization ordinance were adopted and before the election of Saint Paul’s current mayor. When we spoke with them, some of our interviewees were brutally honest in their assessments of the city’s housing environment. One noted, ‘Saint Paul now has a reputation as a place that does not want more housing.’ Another lamented that there is ‘no magical switch to save Saint Paul from itself.’ However, we also heard a yearning from developers for the city to figure out how to incent development by addressing efficiency and certainty through process improvements and financial assistance that make housing construction more feasible.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vlnotY
MORE: From the dashboard:
DASHBOARD: https://fluence-media.co/4em9vpv
GRAND AVE: Via SMSC, VERBATIM: “The Grand Victoria, a 90-unit mixed-used apartment community featuring more than 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space along Saint Paul’s Grand Avenue, has a new investor — the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC). Expected to open in early 2028, The Grand Victoria (857-841 Grand Avenue) aims to revitalize a prominent neighborhood site currently occupied by the Victoria Crossing East Mall and what was once home to Billy’s on Grand. The SMSC is a lead investor in the project.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uhkQMr
GROCERIES: Via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “The conventional story about rural Minnesota and its grocery stores goes something like this: young people leave, towns shrink, stores close, the slide continues. It is a story with enough truth in it to feel accurate and enough missing to be misleading. [Detroit Lakes co-op co-manager Ryan Pesch] has heard it so many times he can recite it.” PESCH: “Maybe somebody that’s not familiar with rural Minnesota,” he said, “I think you just get the impression like it’s just a desolate wasteland, people are hooked on opioids, everybody else is unemployed. And I just don’t think that’s true.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RMKdIE
CLEAN | RELIABLE | AFFORDABLE: Via Xcel Energy, VERBATIM: “We’re powering the Upper Midwest with clean, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy. For more than 50 years, our Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, located near Red Wing, MN, has been a workhorse of reliable, carbon-free energy. With two pressurized water reactors producing about 1,100 megawatts, Prairie Island generates enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes across the Upper Midwest. Unlike sources that depend on weather, nuclear energy delivers 24/7 reliability—providing the power we need today while protecting the environment for tomorrow.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4oCHdK9 (SPONSORED: Xcel Energy)
THE CITIES
ST PAUL: Via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “St. Paul Public Schools has officially opened a what the district calls a sandbox classroom, but it’s not for little kids. Instead, it’s part of the district’s new program that trains high school seniors to operate heavy equipment on the path to high-paying jobs in construction . . . The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, which represents members across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, approached the district more than a year ago about adding a career and technical education program.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uQl6mL
MINNEAPOLIS: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Local, state and federal law enforcement leaders launching Operation Safe Summer in Minneapolis Wednesday. Minneapolis Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson says the annual crackdown on those known to commit violent crime has been an effective tool in getting guns and drugs off the streets during the warmer months when things are more active . . . Operation Safe Summer is a collaborative effort between MPD, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, state law enforcement agencies, and the ATF and FBI on the federal level.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4vok3KA
OCS: MinnPost looks back on the tumultuous history of Minneapolis’ Office of Community Safety. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4orX92V
ART HEIST: Via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “For six decades, Leon Hushcha has been making art that comes from the heart. The 80-year-old immigrated to the United States in 1949 from Ukraine. Since then he’s been selling his art all over the country. But on Tuesday, he entered his studio in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis to find dozens of his original paintings and prints were gone. All told, Hushcha says the art was worth $80,000.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4uWBxOy
2026 SESSION
LOCAL TAXES: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “The Senate committee’s version of the tax bill approved 37 local tax proposals, including Audubon’s. Other proposals included taxes to upgrade parks in Vergas, build a new judicial center in Waseca County and replace a Public Works facility in Robbinsdale. The Minnesota House Taxes Committee also heard proposals, and co-chair Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, supported them . . . But when it was time to finally pass a tax bill at the end of session, the House’s version hadn’t made it out of the committee. After the closed-door negotiations between the Senate and House settled, the omnibus tax bill passed without any approved sales taxes.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4vziael
FOSTER YOUTH: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “For the second year, Minnesota lawmakers have failed to pass legislation that would have enshrined dozens of rights for the state’s foster youth, disappointing supporters who have fought for its passage. The Minnesota Foster Youth Bill of Rights, first introduced in April 2025, sought to codify roughly 60 protections for the state’s estimated 5,500 foster youth. The health, safety and basic needs entitlements included the right to privacy while talking to doctors and to be provided luggage instead of garbage bags when moving between homes.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49HRS0V
GRAND OLD DAY: Flint Hills Resources is thrilled to be this year’s sponsor of the Grand Old Day parade. Flint Hills employees, families and friends will be showing their Saint Paul pride as they hand out giveaways alongside one of the Pine Bend refinery’s fire trucks. New this year, Flint Hills Resources engineers will demonstrate how science is really fun (and tasty) at the Future Innovators Zone. Kids can learn how to make their very own ice cream at home. Be sure to stop by on June 7! LEARN MORE: Grand Old Day (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery)
COMMERCE
OSSEO: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “The city of Osseo is a few steps closer to having its own municipal cannabis store. It now has a name — Osseo Press Room Dispensary — and demolition is underway at the site, located at the former Osseo Press and News building. Still, there is work to be done. Inside, there’s enough space for two businesses. The dispensary will take up about half of the building; the other half will be rented to a tenant with an outdoor patio space.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v0E8a3
ALEXANDRIA: Via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “A visit to Ida Graves Distillery has always been about more than what’s in the glass. This summer, the Alexandria destination is expanding that philosophy through a new partnership with the Alexandria Art Guild that transforms the distillery into an immersive gathering place for art, conversation, and community.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xaoAlt
TORO: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Toro Co. (TTC) on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $145.4 million. The Bloomington, Minnesota-based company said it had profit of $1.50 per share . . . The results surpassed Wall Street expectations . . . The landscaping, maintenance and irrigation equipment maker posted revenue of $1.42 billion in the period.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vzpJ4J
MORE: From the company’s news release announcing the results, QUOTE: “The company is raising its full-year net sales and adjusted EPS guidance and now expects total company net sales growth in the range of 4.0% to 6.5%, up from the previous range of 3.0% to 6.5%, and adjusted EPS in the range of $4.50 to $4.62, up from the previous range of $4.40 to $4.60.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4o5AgBU
AI: Via Eden Prairie-based C.H. Robinson, VERBATIM: “As the global leader in Lean AI supply chains, C.H. Robinson has built the first AI technology designed to both operate a shipper’s global supply chain and also continuously assess and improve its performance. Now serving the company’s 4PL Managed Solutions customers, a new Lean AI Engineer works in concert with the Lean AI Planner introduced last year to create one connected system that uniquely enhances a supply chain as it runs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4adze0Z
GLOBAL TRADE BOLSTERS AG ECONOMIES: Via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Each year, Minnesota’s exports of corn, ethanol, corn-fed meat, and dried distillers grains (DDGS) alone support over 11,500 jobs and add billions to the state’s economy. They also help ensure that consumers around the world have access to affordable protein and dairy products. In May, during World Trade Month, Minnesota Corn celebrates that important role trade plays in all our lives—in the U.S. and abroad. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4dqEqB1 (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
WHAT’S NEXT?
THIS WEEK: Prince would have been 68 on June 7. There are celebrations of his life and music all this week: SEE: https://fluence-media.co/49IXuIi
NEXT WEEK: The AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention begins Sunday in Minneapolis. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/49En2pQ
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
CAMP RIPLEY: Via Lakeland PBS, VERBATIM: “People in communities near the Camp Ripley Training Center will be hearing some loud noise and seeing smoke trails throughout the next few weeks. National Guard soldiers are working to meet training requirements and certifications with large caliber weapon systems.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/43jAw6S
BDAYS: lobbyist Kris Amundson, fmr. Sen. Kathy Saltzman, fmr. reporter Brian Lambert, PR and sports legend Dave Mona
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