Twin Cities resident Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats says he has an auto-immune disease that currently prevents him from playing guitar. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4hPawFS
The winter weather advisory for western Wisconsin has been expanded to include the Twin Cities. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hUgl4H
Minnesota is the 8th best state for lasting love. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/3CQgR4R
Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3X1X2i1
Sunday Take at 9AM on WCCO will have the latest on the US Senate race and the Minneapolis Mayors Race.
A conversation with Minneapolis candidate for Mayor DeWayne Davis on last weekend’s Sunday Take. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4179dfz
Blois
tips/feedback bloisolson@gmail.com
SMITH: Senator Tina Smith talked this morning about her decision to not run for re-election on WCCO-Radio’s The Morning News – the announcement set up what Fluence’s Blois Olson called a “political traffic jam,” including an announcement from Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan that she’ll run. QUOTE: “I know that Peggy has been thinking about the possibility of running for the Senate for a long time. She has told me in the past that it has always been her dream . . . It is not my job to pick my successor. That is gonna be up to the voters of Minnesota and it’s gonna be up to these candidates, whomever they end up being, to make the case to Minnesota voters.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4gGkg3Z
ICYMI… morning take had extensive coverage of analysis of Smith’s announcement and who is considering running. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3EBxqlL
RECALL: Via Minnesota GOP news release, VERBATIM: “Minnesota grassroots activists, with support from the MN GOP, officially filed recall petitions against Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and State Representatives Brion Curran, Kristen Bahner, Lucy Rehm, Julie Greene, Matt Norris, Brad Tabke, Dan Wolgamott and Steve Elkins. This marks the first wave of what will be the largest recall effort in Minnesota history. Signature collection is already underway in over 40 additional districts, and soon, recall petitions are expected to be filed against all 66 DFL House members. The people of Minnesota are standing up and demanding accountability, responsibility, and leadership.”
DELTA: From Bill Lukitsch via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Delta Air Lines is sharing the love with its workers through $1.4 billion in profit-share bonuses, amounting to approximately $122 million in extra paychecks to its Minnesota-based employees. Valentine’s Day profit-sharing is a tradition for the Atlanta-based airline dating back to 2007. This year, the average employee will receive a check Friday that represents about 10% of eligible annual earnings, about five weeks' pay, per the company, which is the dominant carrier at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3X3z9q9
(DISCLOSURE: Delta is a Fluence client)
CONSERVATION OFFICERS: From Dan Wolfe via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “A northern Minnesota lawmaker wants to put local sheriffs in charge of the state’s conservation officers. State Senator Steve Green of Fosston introduced the bill last week . . . Green tells Northern News Now the bill came about after consulting with a sheriff in his district. The senator says the DNR lacks control of its officers, and he claims CO’s often intimidate people and overstep on search and seizure.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gGaJde
HOAS: From Madison McVan via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “A Republican and a Democrat together pitched recommendations to rein in homeowners’ associations at the House housing committee Wednesday. A working group convened by the Legislature spent much of the past year discussing how the state could empower homeowners in the face of rising complaints against unrestrained homeowners’ associations and property management companies. The group produced more than 150 ideas for reforms; 41 recommendations made it into the final report to the Legislature. Lawmakers will be drafting bills based on the recommendations in the coming weeks.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41g3xQM
MEDIA: From Louis Krauss via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Randy Furst stood behind a baseball catapult in the now-gone Metrodome, determined to find out if the Minnesota Twins had an unfair advantage in recent World Series wins. It was 2002, and the stadium’s former superintendent tipped off Furst that he would turn the air conditioning fans on behind the plate at key times in an effort to make the home team’s hits go farther. By that time, Furst, now 78 and retiring Friday as a Minnesota Star Tribune reporter after more than a half-century at the newspaper, was already a seasoned veteran of the Twin Cities journalism scene. He was also a regular thorn in the side of generations of Twin Cities politicians, police forces and other powerful institutions.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hC120R
WILD ABOUT READING: More than 500 Minnesota classrooms and 15,000 students are participating in the “Wild About Reading” program, a partnership with Flint Hills Resources which encourages students to read more using Minnesota Wild-branded posters, reading logs, and bookmarks. Teachers set weekly reading goals and give certificates to students who complete the four-week program. Fun program incentives include classroom visits from the Wild’s mascot, Nordy – and the team dog, Rookie; a pair of tickets to a Wild home game, player signed pucks and photos; and a pizza party for a classroom. LEARN MORE: Wild About Reading SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources
DEI: Via Insider, VERBATIM: “The daughters of one of Target's cofounders say they're ‘shocked and dismayed’ at the company's recent DEI rollback. In letters to the editor published in the Financial Times and the Los Angeles Times, Anne and Lucy Dayton said their father, Bruce Dayton, believed in clear principles of happy customers and strong communities.” QUOTE: "We are alarmed how quickly the business community has given in to the current administration's retaliatory threats," they wrote. "It is not 'illegal' for a company to create a business model based on what it believes to be important ethical and business standards." READ: https://fluence-media.co/3EFs0pN
MORE: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Target is far from being the only Minnesota company stepping back on its public-facing DEI policies following President Donald Trump’s executive order that instructed federal agencies to identify private-sector entities to investigate over their diversity efforts. 3M wiped its website of prominent mentions of such policies — work lauded in diversity audits and held up as examples in national diversity training. The Minnesota Star Tribune surveyed Minnesota’s largest public companies, and some offered general statements of diversity remaining valuable at the company. Others declined to comment.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CTSbbJ
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: From Liz Fedor via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Twin Cities Business interviewed several top business and community leaders to hear their assessments of the state of CEO civic involvement, understand the roots of Minnesota’s public-private partnerships, identify obstacles to civic engagement, and learn how corporate responsibility in the Twin Cities is evolving.” QUOTE: “There’s been a precipitous decline in involvement by the leadership of our major companies,” says Russ Nelson, retired president/principal of NTH Inc., a real estate firm based in downtown Minneapolis. Not all corporations and their CEOs have retrenched in their civic engagement, but many of them have, he says. “Covid had a major impact,” Nelson says. “I get it. That slowed the train down tremendously, but that excuse is [wearing] thin now.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CTQE5t
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep.-Elect Kari Rehauer
Rep.-Elect Wayne Johnson
Rep. Elect Julie Greene
Rep. Elect Keith Allen
Rep. Elect Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
MED DEBT: Via news release from the Attorney General, VERBATIM: “Today, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Senator Liz Boldon, and Representative Liz Reyer announced the Minnesota Medical Debt Reset Act (SF 1347), legislation which makes a one-time, $5 million appropriation to buy and forgive the medical debt of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans through a partnership with Undue Medical Debt, a national medical debt-forgiveness nonprofit. Undue Medical Debt estimates that $5 million could relieve approximately $500 million in medical debt from roughly 250,000 – 400,000 Minnesotans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gHoXux
CANADA: From Tony Kennedy via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Darin Fagerman, a former Minnesota state trooper and retired conservation officer, built a solar-powered cabin eight-tenths of a mile into Canada on Saganaga Lake. Far from any roads, it is a remote wilderness paradise. Fagerman can reach his cabin in less than two hours from his home outside of Grand Marais, Minn., by crossing the international border with Ontario on his boat with a Remote Area Border Crossing Permit from the Canadian government. But now Canada has put an indefinite ‘pause’ on that option. That means Fagerman instead must drive four hours to the Pigeon River port of entry near Grand Portage and then backtrack to Saganaga Lake on the Canadian side by vehicle and either two boat rides or a 25-mile snowmobile trek.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Qnnyyg
EDEN PRAIRIE: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “Bluestem Brands will lay off half its staff at its Eden Prairie headquarters this spring. The company, which owns Minnesota-based retailer Fingerhut, recently informed the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development of the upcoming layoffs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43311OO
MISSING: From Katrina Bailey via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) will display a teenager’s poster at more than 1,900 gas stations across Minnesota and neighboring states throughout March, according to a press release. Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he went missing from a family member’s home on Oct. 31, 2016. His 26th birthday just passed on Feb. 2. Putting Jeremy’s poster up across Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin hopes to renew attention in his case, the press release said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hBdKg5
AUDIT: From Estelle Timar-Wilcox via MPR, VERBATIM: “The Minneapolis City Council is requesting an independent report and analysis of how police responded before and after a woman’s death a year ago, as her family alleges officers didn’t do enough to prevent or investigate her death. Allison Lussier, a 47-year-old Indigenous woman, was found dead in her apartment in February 2024. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death involved a subdural hematoma — a blood buildup between the brain and the skull. But the medical examiner’s office said it could not determine the manner of death, or what caused the subdural hematoma.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ENFMqa
MHA NATION-ENBRIDGE AGREEMENT: “IT’S AN AWESOME DAY” - Enbridge has sold its Plaza/Wabek Pipeline in North Dakota to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation, paving the way for the MHA Nation to become the first Tribal shipper on the Enbridge liquids pipeline network. The pipeline will “create an avenue” from the MHA Nation’s Thunder Butte facility, notes Mark N. Fox, Chairman of the MHA Nation, “to move our very valuable assets and resources to the marketplace.” Adds Bernie Fox, Thunder Butte’s CEO: “I’m thankful to Enbridge, because now they’re part of our history. They’re our partner.” As part of Enbridge’s Indigenous inclusion strategy, “we want to provide even more opportunities,” says Mike Koby, VP of our U.S. Liquids Pipelines group, “to partner with the MHA Nation and other Tribal communities along our operations.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/47ozrun (SPONSORED: Enbridge)
RETAIL: From Dustin Nelson via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “A new Warby Parker is ready to open its doors in Woodbury. The eyewear hub's sixth Minnesota outpost will open at 9020 Hudson Rd. in the Woodbury Lakes shopping center on Saturday, Feb. 15.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QiXfta
TACO BELL: From Dan Niepow via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Aaron Engler’s ascendence to chief executive of the company his father and uncle built might not be surprising, but it was not a foregone conclusion. Already serving as president of Taco Bell franchisee Border Foods since 2019, Engler officially added CEO to his title at the beginning of February, succeeding his uncle Lee Engler . . . Border Foods, founded by Jeff and Lee Engler in 1996, today operates just shy of 250 Taco Bell locations in the Upper Midwest. The company’s 250th store will open in Davenport, Iowa. Now, holding the top job at the company, Aaron Engler says it’s a ‘personal goal’ of bump that number up to 350.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40XwP5m
AOR: Via The Minneapolis Egotist, VERBATIM: “SixSpeed, a globally recognized marketing agency with a reputation for disrupting industries, announced it has been named agency of record for Batteries Plus.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/432YjZE
TODAY: From Ryan Paris via KTTC-TV, VERBATIM: “The Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center (HVMHC) is expanding its harm reduction efforts by installing a 24-hour Naloxone distribution box at its Winona clinic. HVMHC said the box functions ‘like a newspaper dispenser,’ and will be available on Friday, Feb. 14, offering life-saving resources to the community.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3WXRtRu
From yesterday’s Fluence newsletters:
RFK JR: Via NPR, VERBATIM: “Despite millions of dollars spent by groups opposed to his nomination, the Senate voted to install Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy faced opposition from the left for his decades of espousing conspiracy theories on vaccines and from the right for his past support of abortion rights. For several weeks, it was uncertain whether he had enough senators backing him to get through. Yesterday, Democratic senators made speeches on the floor past midnight in protest. But on Thursday morning, he had the votes to be confirmed. The vote was 52 to 48. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former Republican majority leader and a polio survivor, was the sole Republican joining Democrats to vote against Kennedy.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40WJwgG
MORE: Via CNN, how each Senator voted, including Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith who both voted “no.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4hAhLS3
MORE: Via Politico, VERBATIM: “From drugmakers to doctors’ organizations, groups thought to have the clout to steer policy and funding in Washington because they enjoyed bipartisan support and huge lobbying budgets have remained silent about Kennedy. They haven’t spoken up even though he has accused them of fraud and conspiracy, and promised to hold them accountable. That’s not because they aren’t worried, but because they didn’t think they could stop him — or think the cost of speaking out would be too steep, five people representing health groups, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said. By staying mum, they hope to limit the fallout if Kennedy follows through on his plans to strip the industry to the studs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40VYJP8
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TENNANT: From Eden Prairie-based Tennant via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Directors of Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) authorized a new share repurchase program of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, effective February 11, 2025.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41g4WGS
WINNEBAGO: From Eden Prairie-based Winnebago via Globe Newswire, VERBATIM: “Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO), a leading manufacturer of outdoor recreation products, announced today that Steve Speich will be joining the organization as senior vice president, enterprise operations, effective March 3, 2025.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4kdsow7
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
DOUGHNUTS: From Serena Maria Daniels via Eater Twin Cities, VERBATIM: “Minneapolis and St. Paul have a fantastic doughnut scene. Some of the Cities’ best shops have been around for decades, wafting the sweet, tantalizing scents of fried dough, sugar, and cinnamon over their neighborhoods across generations. Others are newer to the scene, innovating these classic pastries with cereal and candy toppings, doughnut vending machines, and chewy rice flour blends.” LIST/MAP: https://fluence-media.co/3EFoOdN
BDAYS: fmr. Rep. Barb Haley, fmr. Sen. Vicki Jenson, comms pro Gail Nosek, BBY’s Ryan Furlong, hockey and politics guy John Evans, union leader Valerie Holthus. SAT: real estate guy Joe Abraham, busines leader Bob Gardner, retiree Doug Spong, comms pro Greg Zimprich. SUN: Farm Bureau’s Karin Schaefer
Fluence Media curates, produces and distributes specialized media products to thought leadership audiences across the Midwest and about the region. Our publications cover, politics, public policy, health care, agriculture, business, real estate, sports and more. Visit www.fluence-media.com to learn more.
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