lunch take | Few Crossing Border Into MN, Union Votes Down UofM Offer, Special Session Politics
9.3.25
A new poll finds parents who are Democrats are more likely to say they split household and parenting responsibilities evenly. In that same poll, Republican parents – moms and dads – often said they take on much more responsibility than their spouses. MORNING CONSULT: https://fluence-media.co/4g2dffa
A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds only 25% -- a record low dating back to 1987 – say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living. READ: https://fluence-media.co/45Mcpjd
Still no Powerball jackpot winner – it’s now up to $1.3 billion. Six $50,000 winning tickets were sold in Minnesota. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gpP2Qp
Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3I1fymd
Sunday Take featured Republicans Kendall Qualls and Rep. Kristin Robbins discussing their campaigns for governor at the State Fair. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4mIGp5F
Blois
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Fluence Advisory hosted a cannabis forum on the “State of Cannabis in Minnesota including an interview with Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management Eric Taubel.
BORDER: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “In between Canada Day on July 1 and Independence Day on July 4, the mayors of Fort Frances and International Falls signed a proclamation of friendship. They reaffirmed close ties between the communities located on either side of Minnesota’s border with Ontario. Fort Frances and International Falls are ‘neighbors by geography,’ the proclamation stated, and ‘friends by choice.’ Outside influences can strain the best of friendships, however, and in this case the stressors prompting the July 2 proclamation were ongoing federal tariff and trade disputes. While this spat between historically close allies plays out, fewer people are crossing the International Falls-Fort Frances border.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3JL0CsS
CRYPTO: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “[Minneapolis-based] U.S. Bancorp is restarting its bitcoin custody service after a more than three-year pause, as the Trump administration's pro-crypto posture has encouraged traditional financial institutions to delve deeper into digital assets. U.S. Bank's bitcoin custody program - which the firm first announced it would offer in 2021 - is geared toward institutional investment managers with registered or private funds, and for the first time, bitcoin exchange-traded funds.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g9q87i
REGIS: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Regis Corp. (RGS) on Wednesday reported earnings of $116.5 million in its fiscal fourth quarter. The Minneapolis-based company said it had profit of $42.58 per share . . . The owner of hair salon chains Supercuts and MasterCuts posted revenue of $60.4 million in the period.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3HIy3fb
HORMEL: Austin-based Hormel is Zacks’ “bear of the day.” QUOTE: “Hormel Foods continues to face mounting profitability challenges despite solid sales momentum in its latest fiscal quarter. Margins remain under strain as elevated input costs and inflationary headwinds weigh heavily on earnings, with pricing actions and cost-saving efforts proving insufficient.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pnenP1
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)
SENATE: This morning, Rep. Angie Craig released a list of seven state and local officials and leaders who have endorsed her in her race for U.S. Senate. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4mKRZNu
U OF M: Via Minnesota Daily, VERBATIM: “The University of Minnesota’s Teamsters Local 320, a Minneapolis worker’s union chapter, announced Wednesday morning it had voted down the University’s final offer, calling it an insult to the union. The Teamsters announced early August they filed an intent to strike with the University as labor bargaining negotiations stagnated. While votes on the University’s offer continue on the Duluth and Crookston campuses, the Teamsters said the offer is projected to be voted down and the strike initiated Friday.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mKU7Vz
FEMA: Via States Newsroom, VERBATIM: “Democratic attorneys general [including Minnesota’s Keith Ellison] have updated their complaint against the Trump administration in a lawsuit over whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency can refuse to spend pre-disaster mitigation grants approved by Congress. The attorneys general wrote in the new filing that FEMA hadn’t made a single award to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program between April 2 and Aug. 25 . . . The updated 83-page complaint filed Friday argues the two people President Donald Trump has installed as acting FEMA administrator did so unlawfully because they were never formally nominated to run the agency, didn’t receive Senate confirmation and didn’t meet the qualifications laid out in federal law.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lWbLoc
MORE: From the complaint, QUOTE: “In the State of Minnesota, BRIC funding is primarily used by counties to update their hazard mitigation plans on a five-year cycle. At the time of writing, terminated BRIC funding was slated to support thirty-four Minnesota counties in updating their current plans. The process of updating a plan requires substantial time and resources to ensure the inclusion of accurate, quantifiable data. BRIC funding enables jurisdictions to engage qualified consultants to support and guide this process. The hazard mitigation plans serve as foundational documents that provide jurisdictions with a comprehensive understanding of their current threat and risk landscape, and they outline specific strategies to reduce or eliminate risks associated with identified hazards. Moreover, these plans are a federal requirement for jurisdictions seeking eligibility for post-disaster assistance.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4nefuhX
SHOOTING: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “The person who killed two children and injured 21 others in the attack on Annunciation Church in Minneapolis last week was caught on surveillance video just five days earlier at a gun shop in St. Louis Park. The video from Frontiersman Sports, first obtained by 5 INVESTIGATES, shows Robin Westman spent 40 minutes inside the store handling a wide variety of guns shortly after 12:30 PM on Saturday, Aug. 23.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4mLbiWY
SPECIAL SESSION: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz plans to call a special legislative session to consider tougher gun laws following a shooting last week at a Catholic school in Minneapolis that left two children dead and 21 people injured. Walz, while visiting students on the first day of school, said he planned to reach out to Republicans on Tuesday to begin to talk about his plan. One of those key Republicans is Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (Cold Spring) who says Wednesday morning that she has talked with Walz about a special session to address gun control.” DEMUTH: "We would like to look at mandatory minimum sentences for something like that," says Demuth. "And then overall, the conversation and the need for additional mental health services, those are really topline things that have to be part of the conversation that will be in those committee hearings." LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41vGfGk
MORE: Speaker Demuth also spoke with MPR. DEMUTH: “What my caucus is most interested in is things that would make meaningful change going forward,” Demuth said. “I think it’s important for people to remember that people with criminal intent do not follow our current laws. They’re not going to follow new laws. If somebody is intent on hurting people, taking lives and causing destruction, they’re going to find a way to do it.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41X1npd
CITIES: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “Local officials across the Twin Cities want the ability to pass citywide gun reforms if lawmakers fail to enact statewide or federal bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The mayors of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, Stillwater, Vadnais Heights, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Richfield and Columbia Heights made the request Tuesday afternoon from the Minnesota State Capitol.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mLHgCL
UMD: Via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “Professor Scott Vollum, teaches a criminology class at UMD and says, ‘every time I teach this class, the world doesn’t disappoint us in terms of giving us awful tragic incidences to have as examples of things that are challenging to try to understand in terms of why do they happen?’ But for both parents and students it’s a difficult topic to navigate, considering we never really have an answer to why tragedies happen. Professor Vollum has dedicated the last 20 years to creating this class and is using it to teach students to understand violence, often using real world examples.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/41B6uen
MAPLE GROVE: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “With more than 1,100 students between Kindergarten through fifth grade, Fernbrook Elementary is the largest elementary school in the Osseo School District. Teachers and staff members spent the day helping students get acquainted with the building. But one person who wasn’t there to help the kindergarteners was Yvette Hoffman. An educational support professional at Fernbrook, Hoffman is still recovering after being shot in her home this past June.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4ngY04E
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SCHOOLS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “In St. Cloud, school district officials were taken a little by surprise by recent growth. Superintendent Laurie Putnam said they have about 450 students more than projected in a district with 9,500 total students. The biggest jump is in kindergarten. St. Cloud hired new teachers to accommodate the growth. Putnam would like to attribute the growth to the district’s efforts to promote values of safety, belonging and academic excellence. The economy and inflation also could be factors.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4g4IN45
ST PAUL: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “A gentle drizzle couldn’t stem the bubble of excitement as several hundred first to fifth-grade students streamed into Bruce Vento Elementary on St. Paul’s East Side for their first day of school on Tuesday . . . The students were returning to the district’s first magnet school with an environmental focus, and a new space to match.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g2isDE
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)
ACQUISITION: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Metronet announced Tuesday that it acquired U.S. Internet, which is headquartered in Minnetonka. Metronet said in a statement that the acquisition will extend the company's reach in Minnesota. The Evansville, Ind.-based company already provides internet services in parts of the Twin Cities metro, as well as Owatonna, Faribault and Rochester.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mhfuNr
CARIBOU: Via Restaurant Business, VERBATIM: “Scott Kennedy, the interim CEO of Caribou Coffee, is having the ‘interim’ removed from that title. The Minneapolis-based coffee chain gave the permanent job to Kennedy, who had been chief financial officer before he was named interim CEO in March following the departure of former CEO John Butcher.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4p6rvHM
EDINA: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Daniel del Prado is once again in cahoots with Ryan Burnet—with whom he opened North Loop Argentinian steakhouse Porzana, as well as Northeast Minneapolis's Minari—to bring a new restaurant to 50th & France. Burnet's Cocina del Barrio will close on October 1; Americana, as the new restaurant is named, is slated to open in the space in late 2026. (Don't stress, though, the downtown Minneapolis Barrio is staying open and will take your gift cards.)” READ/RENDERINGS: https://fluence-media.co/3VtQIhM
OAKDALE: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “After opening a series of its Buffalo Wild Wings GO quick-service concepts in Minnesota, the chicken chain celebrated the reopening of its Oakdale location over the weekend. The restaurant at 8346 3rd St. N. closed for roughly two weeks beginning in mid-August for a remodel.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/45LMQyR
PETS: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “In a northeast Minneapolis office, [Lindsey Campbell] and her business partner, Emily Stein, have developed a patented line of consumable products that essentially steer a pet’s mouth bacteria toward better behavior ‘Cavities and gum disease together are the most common infectious disease worldwide,’ said Stein, the other Primal Health co-founder. ‘And so it’s not, we’re finding, limited just to human mouths. It’s pervasive.’ In an effort to improve the oral health of pets, they founded their animal product line, TEEF.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4p6gXIR
SATURDAY: Three WNBA players will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Two of them – Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore – played for the Lynx. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4lWylNg
THIS MONTH: Via news release from Farm Aid, VERBATIM: “Farm Aid announced today that its music, food and farm festival, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will be broadcast live on CNN for the first time. Additionally, SiriusXM will produce an exclusive audio broadcast and the festival will stream live on nugs and FarmAid.org.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3JIha4Q
NEXT MONTH: Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend runs October 3-5. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/47kf2tQ
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
BOOKS: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Sometimes passion projects take years of thought, planning, and bouts of self-doubt and stress to get off the ground. But sometimes, the moment hits just right, the pieces fall into place—and you have no choice but to dive in headfirst and leave fear behind. That’s how local book lover (and influencer) Danielle Weber opened Rolling Chapters, her new mobile book trailer, within less than two months.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4neiU4h
BDAYS: Gov. Walz Press Secretary Claire Lancaster, journalist Kirsti Marohn, PR pro Alyssa Hayes, Rep. Pete Johnson, lobbyist Shep Harris, retired lobbyist Bob Ambrose, marketer Brendan Kearin, PPL’s Pauleen Le
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