We haven’t hit 100 degrees in the Twin Cities since 2022. Despite some earlier predictions, we likely won’t reach it this week. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4pl5kyk
The Consumer Price Index dropped to 3.5% in June. NYTIMES: https://fluence-media.co/4pphiqO
How’s confidence in U.S. institutions? Not great.
More from GALLUP: https://fluence-media.co/3RfS7Ky
Kayla McBride and Olivia Miles had a combined 70 points Monday night against the Mercury at Target Center. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4vynUo2
Fluence Advisory has released its Insights memo on “The Next Legislature”. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aNNSMV
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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/4wHyw50
Sunday Take featured a preview of the CD2 DFL primary and Sec. Steve Simon discussing how federal changes could affect state elections. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4pB3865
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STEAMY TUESDAY
NO AC: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “It’s the hottest week of the year so far, and more than 89,000 Minnesota households are enduring it without air-conditioning. The big picture: An estimated 3.9% of Minnesota households lack AC, including some 37,000 in the Twin Cities, according to data the U.S. Census Bureau released in May. Households without AC face the greatest risk from the massive heat dome parked over the Great Plains this week.” READ/MAP: https://fluence-media.co/4aPOku1
FIRE UPDATE: Via Facebook, a map posted by the U.S. Forest Service this morning:
VERBATIM: “Lake County Emergency Management has initiated GO for Hwy169/Fernberg Corridor from the Garden Lake Bridge to the end of the Fernberg at the Lake One Entry Point. A public shelter has been established at the Babbitt Municipal Building, located at 71 S Drive Babbitt. It will be open and staffed at 8:30am today. GO! Evacuate immediately!” POST: https://fluence-media.co/4vEPr7y
MORE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said fallen trees from previous blowdowns in the Boundary Waters are fueling the fires, and led to explosive growth of the Camp Fire on Monday.” RAMSAY: “That Camp Fire grew from literally minimal in the morning … and by the end of the day, that fire was 1,500 acres. So that is really indicative of the fuel that is in that area, and with these conditions, it’s just ripe to make them explode, like happened yesterday.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fdrAFL
RESCUES: Northern News Now reported Monday evening that 17 people had been airlifted from the Boundary Waters since the fire began. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Tye8ou
HOW: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “It will take U.S. Forest Service rangers at least a week to clear visitors from the million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness after the agency ordered the area closed beginning at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, July 14 . . . Four teams, two to a canoe, are paddling through the BWCAW to notify campers and other visitors that they need to exit. The rangers have been at it since Friday when the wildfire threat triggered a partial closure at entry points north and west of Ely toward Crane Lake.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f1Eg3J
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)
POLITICS
VOTING: Via release from Rep. Morrison, VERBATIM: “U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) introduced the Voter Choice Act, which makes it easier for states and local governments to implement ranked choice voting . . . In Minnesota, five cities (Bloomington, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul) have already implemented ranked choice voting for their elections, and have seen historic voter turnout since switching to ranked choice voting. Rep. Morrison’s Voter Choice Act will help incentivize more states and local governments to adopt ranked choice voting by providing $40 million in federal grants to governments who make the switch.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/44YqVTM
ENDORSEMENT: Via news release from the Craig campaign, VERBATIM: “Today, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack endorsed Angie Craig in her campaign for U.S. Senate. Vilsack served as the 30th and 32nd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 2009 to 2017 and again from 2021 to 2025 during the Obama and Biden administrations. Vilsack is known for his work to strengthen rural economies and facilitate agricultural pandemic relief and climate-friendly initiatives.”
ENDORSEMENT: Via The Advocate, VERBATIM: “The Christopher Street Project has endorsed Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the state’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, choosing a longtime LGBTQ+ ally over lesbian Rep. Angie Craig. The national political organization that supports pro-trans rights candidates said its decision rested in part on Craig’s failure to co-sponsor the Trans Bill of Rights, along with Flanagan’s support from transgender and queer leaders in Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/44pfswn
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)
DEVELOPING STORIES
DATA CENTERS: Via KEYC-TV, VERBATIM: “The Mankato City Council met on Monday, July 13, to address several agenda items, but one of the most pressing was a moratorium on data centers and high-impact utility consumers. There were several Mankato residents in attendance with many of them citing concerns regarding farming, agriculture, water, resources, along with health and climate impacts . . . Ultimately, the moratorium did pass and it will be in place for about a year for the City Council and its staff to conduct a research study on the localized impacts and how other communities regulate data centers.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/44vODql
MINING: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “For the past three years, Talon Metals has refined its plan to open an underground nickel mine in the swampy forest just north of the tiny town of Tamarack, responding to more than 1,600 comments as part of the state Department of Natural Resource’s environmental review scoping process. Talon’s project has flown a bit under the radar compared to more high-profile fights over the proposed Twin Metals mine and the NewRange Copper Nickel project — formerly known as PolyMet — that has been stalled by lawsuits and pulled permits. But it faces the same question that has dogged those other proposals.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4fB4Bpe
FIRST BLAST: Via Mesabi Metallics, VERBATIM: “American iron ore mining is growing. Mesabi Metallics Company LLC (Mesabi Metallics) today announced the successful completion of its first production blast, a defining milestone in the company’s drive to become the first new iron ore mine and pellet plant built in Minnesota in fifty years, and an on-schedule step toward first pellet production later in the third quarter.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4faO9w5
HABITAT RESTORATION: Flint Hills Resources has earned Tandem Global WHC Gold Certification for habitat restoration at its Cottage Grove fuel terminal. The certification comes after two years of work in partnership with Friends of the Mississippi River to implement a restoration and monitoring plan to re-establish the 6.5-acre site’s natural prairie and savannah. Flint Hills has held gold certification for its work done with community partners over the past 25 years to restore more than 200 acres of the Pine Bend Bluffs, a critical natural area along the Mississippi River that is adjacent to Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery. This makes two Flint Hills gold certified sites in Minnesota and the first two gold-certified sites ever in the Twin Cities. LEARN MORE: Environmental Stewardship (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery)
COMMERCE
REMOTE WORK: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Despite a number of employers calling employees back into the office, ‘remote work has nonetheless remained sticky,’ writes Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Regional Analyst Haley Chinander in a new report. Chinander analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that, over the past two years, the share of workers who work from home at least some of the time has stayed steady at about 22 percent. And the report states that Minnesota ranks 12th in the nation for its share of workers (24 percent) doing their jobs at least part of the time from home.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4wAOGgq
MORE: Via Minneapolis Fed, from the report:
FED REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/4f7ydu9
BURGER + FRIES: St. Paul made DoorDash’s list of the top 10 value cities in its Cheeseburger Index. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4aRXCFW
FASTENAL: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Fastenal Co. (FAST) on Tuesday reported second-quarter profit of $382.8 million. The Winona, Minnesota-based company said it had profit of 33 cents per share. The results met Wall Street expectations . . . The maker of industrial and construction fasteners posted revenue of $2.39 billion in the period, which topped Street forecasts.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RgFHSx
ACQUISITION: Via Minnesota-based Wealth Enhancement, VERBATIM: “Wealth Enhancement, a national independent wealth management firm dedicated to enriching clients’ lives, announced it has acquired the investment advisory business of Raleigh-area WealthShield Partners, led by Managing Partner Robert Leggett, and its affiliated wealth management practice, Madison Oaks Wealth Partners, led by Managing Partner Scott Lord and partners Kenny Bollinger, Stuart Gay, and John Maher. Madison Oaks Wealth Partners operated as a DBA of WealthShield Partners. Together, the organizations managed more than $993 million in client assets and have joined Wealth Enhancement as the Emerald Team and Madison Oaks Team.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vEXBwI
WHAT’S NEXT?
TOMORROW: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Bastille Day, or La Fête Nationale, commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789, a pivotal moment in the French Revolution. More than two centuries later, the French national holiday is celebrated with Francophone pride around the world—including in the Twin Cities, where you can mark the occasion with these local events.” LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4fsCUyQ
THIS WEEKEND: Via Insight News, VERBATIM: “Crews will close the northbound Interstate 35E ramps to and from Highway 77 in Eagan and Apple Valley, 9 p.m. Friday, July 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 20, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f2N49m
NEXT WEEK: Via Minnesota Chamber, VEBATIM: “The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce will host its 2026 Women in Business Minnesota Conference: Power Play on Wednesday, July 22, at Target Field, bringing together prominent women leaders from professional sports and business to explore how athletics fuel economic growth, inspire leadership and strengthen Minnesota’s economy. The conference will feature Olympians, professional sports executives and business leaders discussing the impact of sports both on and off the field.” AGENDA: https://fluence-media.co/4puwRxh
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
WICKED: Via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “Now playing at the Orpheum Theatre through Aug. 9, it remains a vibrant, high-stakes spectacle. On opening night, the atmosphere in the house was a palpable hum of anticipation, suggesting the audience was not merely attending a show but fulfilling a pilgrimage.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aRObGw
BDAYS: attorney Eric Swanson, comms pro Tim Post, golfer Ben Greve
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