If KARE11 photojournalist Gary Knox ever needs a new gig, a 2013 Tweet indicates basketball scout may be an option. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/42KI7M7
Excluding COVID impacts, Monday’s Twins game had the lowest attendance since Target Field opened. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3XZimoG
A Twin Cities store opening had people lining up around the building. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Y09MpO
Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4cudMEO
GOP Rep. Dave Baker and DFL Sen. Nick Frentz were on Sunday Take to discuss the final stretch of the legislative session. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3ElxhTu
Blois
tips/feedback bloisolson@gmail.com
All Fluence Media tip sheets are now available to read and share online at our website, The Daily Agenda:
RESPONSIBLEGAMING: Legal sports betting platforms offer responsible game tools that offshore and illegal sports betting don’t offer. In fact, age verification is not required with most offshore providers. Learn more about why legalized sports betting is more responsible. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4kgJoS4 (SPONSORED: Sports Betting Alliance)
CRAIG: From Axios’ Torey Van Oot via X, VERBATIM: “U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, who announced $1.2M quarterly haul in her #MNO2 campaign acct this morning, says she'll announce 2026/U.S. Senate decision by end of month. (If she runs for Senate, she'll be able to transfer House campaign $ to new bid)” TWEET: https://fluence-media.co/4ilePrX
MORE: Rep. Craig talked this morning with Vineeta Sawkar on WCCO-Radio’s The Morning News. CRAIG: “I think this state deserves a fighter, somebody who’s ready to stand up and take on this administration and, frankly, ready to work with him if they wanna work back across the aisle. At the end of the day, Republicans are gunning for this seat and a lot of seats across Minnesota right now and the state’s moving right, not left, so we gotta do everything we can to hold this Senate seat and I’ll make an announcement soon.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4jj9X8o
TARIFFS: Via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Running out of inventory and options as she looks for a path to save her company wrecked by tariffs, Beth (Fynbo) Benike is trying to crowdfund $229,000 to pay what describes as a ‘ransom’ on three months' worth of Busy Baby products stranded in China, where they were made. Benike, who last month was named Minnesota's Small Business Person of the year by the Small Business Administration, said it was not an easy decision to turn to a GoFundMe campaign to keep her business afloat.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ielUdV
ELLISON: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says a conservative group is trying to ‘smear’ him for political reasons in a response to secret audio recordings posted by the Center of the American Experiment. The nearly hour-long audio recording includes a conversation between Ellison and a group of East African business leaders in 2021, some of whom later were charged in the $250 million ‘Feeding our Future’ federal criminal fraud case.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4cCVgKG
TAXES: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “The average refund for Minnesotans who got money back after filing their federal return was $2,838 for tax year 2022, the latest data available. That's below the national average of $3,288 and the sixth smallest of any state.” MAP: https://fluence-media.co/3GnMxQj
VISAS: Via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “Nearly two dozen states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin, are suing the Trump administration over canceled student visas. The administration has now canceled the visas of nearly 530 students, faculty and researchers across 88 colleges and universities. At least 40 student visas have been revoked at schools within the University of Wisconsin school system, with more than two dozen from UW-Madison alone.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Rk6vOj
MARSHALL: Via Marshall Independent, VERBATIM: “Aditya Wahyu Harsono, a 33-year-old resident of Marshall and Indonesian citizen, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 27. He was in the United States on an active F-1 student visa, which was revoked without warning four days prior to his detainment. According to court documents submitted by Harsono’s attorney, Sarah Gad, his visa was issued to him on June 15, 2021, and is valid through June 13, 2026, entering the country lawfully to complete a master’s degree at Southwest Minnesota State University in business administration and management.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3G5Ak2T
MOVE: From Dorsey & Whitney via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Laura Morgan has rejoined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Healthcare Transactions and Regulations practice group in Minneapolis, the international law firm announced today. Prior to rejoining Dorsey, Laura was a Senior Counsel in the Industry Guidance Branch of the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43Omxrc
PRODUCING THE FUELS THAT HELP KEEP MINNESOTA MOVING: Flint Hills Resources, one of the Midwest’s leading producers of transportation fuels is hiring! With openings in IT, accounting, engineering, operations, procurement and asset management, Flint Hills Resources’ goal is to match talented individuals with their passions and interests to truly shine. APPLY TODAY: Flint Hills jobs (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
TODAY: Via TakeAction Minnesota, VERBATIM: “Today at 4:30 PM CT, parents and community leaders will join TakeAction Minnesota's Minneapolis Families for Public Schools to release new data from a district-wide survey from 1000 parents and caregivers exposing growing dissatisfaction with the direction of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). The results highlight deep, systemic issues impacting students and educators across the entire district—from North to South Minneapolis and every school in between. The event will shed light on MPS’s alarming proposal to slash SPED funding and draw connections between local challenges and national threats to public education, calling on elected officials to push back against failed policies from Washington and fight for the schools Minneapolis families deserve.”
SCHOOLS: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Gov. Tim Walz, facing a modest surplus in the coming two years and then a potential $6 billion deficit in the next biennium, has proposed the total elimination of $109 million in nonpublic pupil aid over the next two years — funds that cover not just busing but also textbooks, nurses and guidance counselors. Last week, Senate DFLers signed on to all but a fraction of that cut in a school finance bill approved in a party-line committee vote. The proposal faces tougher sledding in the evenly divided House. There, DFL and Republican leaders still are negotiating an education bill of their own.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jdg1z8
ST PAUL: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Recent drama over temporarily filling a vacant St. Paul City Council seat marked another public flare-up of behind-the-scenes tensions at City Hall. Why it matters: Governing by consensus isn't always pretty, but this conflict raises questions about city leaders' working relationships as they confront massive challenges, including housing, safety and a teetering downtown.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lB54sQ
DULUTH: Via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “A former engineer and city employee announced her Duluth City Council campaign Monday. Diane Desotelle is running for the District 2 seat, which covers the Congdon, Kenwood, and UMD areas. Now retired, Desotelle was a civil engineer and natural resource planner.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4imVKG7
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. Kari Rehrauer
Rep. Wayne Johnson
Rep. Julie Greene
Rep. Keith Allen
Rep. Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
BANK: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “In St. Cloud, Stearns Bank has built a national reputation. Largely, it’s that of an anomaly—for both central Minnesota and the banking industry. It boasts majority-women leadership and ownership, is employee-owned, and has secured a niche in community-specific banking. Stearns says its Islamic banking services provider—Salaam Banking, opened last year—is the only national banking division designed to meet the needs of Muslim customers. The bank’s new loan and deposit office in St. Paul’s HmongTown Marketplace, too, caters to the ambitions and desires of the Hmong community there.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3EocBdC
SPIRIT MT: Via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “Spirit Mountain leaders laid out their nearly $8 million budget plan for next season at Monday’s City Council meeting. Councilors unanimously approved the plan. Executive Director for Spirit Mountain, Ann Glumac, said after losing money due to last year’s ‘winter that wasn’t,’ they expect to be back in the black this season.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4j3iImG
GROCERIES: The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal cites Chain Store Guide data in reporting Walmart continues to lead the Twin Cities in grocery market share. Target, Cub, Costco, and Lunds & Byerly’s round out the top five. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4jBtzUN
ROCKS: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “At Rock Candy, a new store in Excelsior, terrestrial wonders from agates to amethyst show off nature’s beauty. The tables and display cases are covered with a veritable rainbow of polished rocks and gems. Their prices range from $1 to $3,000, and they’ve come from all over the world. Owners Christa and Jay Kalk celebrated the store’s grand opening this weekend.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4jacUHZ
SATURDAY: A canoe maker’s new retail location opens in northeast Minneapolis. MSPBJ: https://fluence-media.co/4jdqPxc
From yesterday’s Fluence newsletters:
TARIFFS: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Soybeans are Minnesota’s largest export, $2 billion annually, more than taconite and medical devices. Some beans get trucked to elevators on the Mississippi River. But the largest share are loaded on rail cars and shipped to the Pacific Northwest for transport on freighters to Asia . . . soybean farmers rely on foreign markets, none more than China, where the high-protein crop largely feeds livestock.” QUOTE: “I am very confident that this is effectively an embargo,” said Jason Ward, a market analyst with Northstar Commodity. “It doesn’t matter [if the tariff is] 84 percent or 9,000 percent. It’s not going to get purchased.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jcygEW
MORE: Via Red River Farm Network, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and 18 of her colleagues have sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer seeking information on the Administration’s tariff agenda. The lawmakers want to determine if an analysis was done to consider the tariffs’ impact on agriculture.” KLOBUCHAR: “Are you looking at just what the President wants to do that day or are you actually looking at how this affects farmers?” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4ik6vJl
GARLIC & LAMBS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Mark Anema and Kate Ritger met at a garlic harvest party. He was looking for land to realize a dream. She was running a community supported agriculture venture for the Sisters of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. Together they started a small farm near Watkins growing produce and garlic. That partnership has worked pretty well, growing over seven years into marriage, a baby and now lots of lambs on the way.” READ/PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/42dgYBu
SPEED LIMIT: Via WJON-Radio, VERBATIM: “The maximum speed limit for farm equipment on Minnesota roads has changed. Governor Tim Walz signed into law Senate File 1360 which increases the speed limit for certain pieces of farm equipment to 35 miles per hour. Under the old law, some agricultural and livestock equipment had a speed limit of 30 miles per hour and others had a limit of 35 mph. The new law standardizes the speed limit and makes law enforcement and compliance easier.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3G5mfT7
Subscribe to other Fluence newsletters: https://fluence-media.co/TheDailyAgenda
NEXT MONTH: Via Hopkins-based Digi, VERBATIM: “Digi International Inc. (NASDAQ: DGII) will release its financial results for the second fiscal quarter 2025 on Wednesday, May 7, after market close, at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. Ron Konezny, CEO, and Jamie Loch, CFO, will host a conference call later the same day, at 5:00 p.m. ET, to briefly discuss the results and will take questions and provide answers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RW5oo5
NEXT MONTH: From Minneapolis-based Sezzle via Globe Newswire, VERBATIM: “Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) (Sezzle or Company) // Purpose-driven digital payment platform, Sezzle, will release its first quarter 2025 results after the market close on May 7, 2025. The Company will host a conference call and webcast at 5:00pm ET that same day.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3REgOwZ
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
4/20: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Since the sugar-filled spring holiday lands on the notorious counter-culture day celebrating marijuana this year, and since THC is officially legal in Minnesota, we thought we’d put together an adult bunny basket with locally made THC confections for anyone over 21.” LIST: https://fluence-media.co/42go9sF
BDAYS: lobbyist Abby Parta, PA pro Mark Kulda, online pioneer Steve Clift, communication pro Angie Andresen
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