Burrs may be key evidence in a suspected sheep rustling case in Bloomington. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4e6YeWK
22 years after the plane crash that claimed the life of Senator Paul Wellstone and seven others, a ceremony was held this morning at the memorial near Eveleth. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4easvUB
Today’s 6:20 morning take on WCCO Radio with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4f2244M
Sunday Take featured the only scheduled debate in the race for U.S. Senate between incumbent Amy Klobuchar and challenger Royce White. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4eYBKsw
Sign-up for Walz Watch: https://fluence-media.co/walzwatch
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U.S. SENATE: The latest Wall Street Journal U.S. Senate races outlook has Minnesota “safe” and Wisconsin “likely” for Democrats. MAP: https://fluence-media.co/4e04OON
TRUMP RALLY: From Joe Hiti via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized former President Donald Trump’s New York rally at Madison Square Garden, comparing it to a pro-Nazi event held in the same venue in 1939. Walz shared his thoughts while speaking at an event in Henderson, Nevada, on Sunday. He wasn't alone in that comparison between the Nazi rally and Trump's.” WALZ: “And don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NFE3oa
Sign-up for Walz Watch: https://fluence-media.co/walzwatch
VOTING: From Tom Olsen via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “An Itasca County woman faces three felony charges after allegedly attempting to vote twice in the general election. A criminal complaint says Danielle Christine Miller, 40, of rural Nashwauk, admitted to filling out and submitting an absentee ballot for her mother, who died in August. The fraudulent submission was flagged by election officials before it could be counted.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hiJwPj
TOMORROW: Via news release from the Secretary of State’s office, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon will highlight the restoration of voting rights for those who have left prison behind one week before the November 5 Election. This is the first statewide general election since the passage of the Restore the Vote Act in 2023, which restored voting rights for at least 55,000 Minnesotans.”
ST PAUL: From Frederick Melo via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “When the eight-story Gallery Professional Building at 17 W. Exchange St. went to auction in early October, it captured more money at sale than the advertised minimum starting bid of $125,000 but a small fraction of the $4 million estimated market value listed in Ramsey County property records. The Twin Cities Salvation Army has not made the exact sale price public yet until the purchase is finalized, but St. Paul developers with knowledge of the transaction say downtown building sales — or lack thereof, in some cases — have raised questions about whether downtown buildings have been overvalued in market estimates. These buildings tend to carry with them high maintenance and repurposing costs given their age, and in some cases bear the hefty financial burden of accumulated unpaid property taxes. Those challenges have raised the possibility that rather than be converted to new uses such as housing, some buildings will simply have to come down.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4e2mcT9
MEDIA: From Torey Van Oot and Sara Fischer via Axios, VERBATIM: “All 87 Minnesota counties have at least one local news outlet, and most have two or more, according to a new report from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Why it matters: Even with closures and consolidations, the state has been able to stave off complete ‘news deserts’ so far. The big picture: An uptick in newspaper closures this year has left more than half of the nation's 3,143 counties — or 55 million people — with just one or no local news sources where they live, the report found.” READ/MAP: https://fluence-media.co/4hoU8wk
MORE: Via the Medill report:
REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/3UrgWkS
ICYMI… from Friday’s lunch take… MEDIA: Via news release from the Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Star Tribune today announced it is launching a new statewide news partnership, powered by a grant from Google News Initiative. The partnership will enable content sharing between news organizations across the state, as well as forthcoming subscription bundling between participants, creating new revenue streams for local news. The partnership is kicking off in southern Minnesota, with the Albert Lea Tribune, the Austin Daily Herald, the Jackson County Pilot and the Lakefield Standard as pilot partners.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f9RMzo
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Flint Hills Resources makes fuels and other products people need and use every day, products that help keep Minnesota moving. The company does this while prioritizing safety and environmental stewardship and contributing meaningfully to the community. STEWARDSHIP WITH A PURPOSE: Four pillars of stewardship (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
VETOES: From Winter Keefer via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have both made headlines this month for basically saying they would ignore city council override votes of their vetoes. That turned some heads and certainly angered some city council members, but both mayors insist they would have legal grounding for choosing not to implement policy as instructed by their city councils. Both cases are very different from each other. In St. Paul, Carter is looking at a ballot referendum involving taxes to support child care, while in Minneapolis, Frey was reacting to new carbon emissions fees.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3UrNcVd
CLIMATE: From Christopher Ingraham via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “Northwest Minnesota has warmed by an astonishing 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or more than 3 degrees Celsius, over the past century, according to new estimates from the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership. The group has released data on both climate impacts so far, as well as projected changes in the future. Warming has been most intense so far in the northwest part of the state, with changes concentrated in the cold weather months.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3C256rk
MORE: Via University of Minnesota, climate change by region. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/48nTSJG
BEMIDJI: From Matthew Freeman via Lakeland PBS, VERBATIM: “A shortage of housing is something that has been affecting the nation for quite some time, and the city of Bemidji is no different. The Headwaters Landlord Association (HLA), a non-profit organization that facilitates communication between landlords, tenets, and city officials, held a forum Thursday with city council candidates to ask them questions about housing in Bemidji ahead of the upcoming election. The candidates discussed a number of solutions to the housing shortage that they believe would best solve the problem.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Ykh3QF
MINNEAPOLIS: From Vickie Evans-Nash via Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, VERBATIM: “Meet Minneapolis’ Melvin Tennant says it’s a good time to market the city of Minneapolis. As the organization’s president and CEO, he is “living the dream,” he says, ending a record-breaking summer that helped the city rebound from the effects of an economic decline.” TENNANT: “We suffered more than virtually any other city in the country at the start of the pandemic,” he says of the loss of leisure and business travel revenue. “We are the home of so many Fortune 500 companies where many of their vendors and employees come here on a frequent basis.” During the pandemic, he says, “that came to a screeching halt.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48tevV4
LISTENING, LEARNING AND REDEFINING INDIGENOUS PARTNERSHIPS - “We want to build partnerships with Indigenous Nations. We continue to listen to and learn from Indigenous leaders and communities, and that’s informing how we engage communities in B.C. and across North America,” said CEO Greg Ebel of Enbridge’s approach to be the “first-choice partner” for Indigenous Nation interested in pursuing energy infrastructure opportunities. READ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3Yht20R (SPONSORED: Enbridge)
UOFM: Via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “It might be homecoming in Gopher Nation, but another group on campus is focused on the war in Gaza. Protesters gathered to continue their call for the University of Minnesota to pull financial investments from companies that support Israel. But Saturday's demonstrations struck a calmer tone than earlier in the week. Eleven protesters were arrested after barricading themselves inside a campus building, leading to building lockdowns.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Cd3JpB
DNA: From Rob Olson via KMSP-TV, VERBATIM: “More than a month since the Hennepin County Crime Lab halted DNA testing, they believe they’re getting close to resuming, likely in the next two to three weeks. They’ve identified the likely source of a DNA contamination. And they staunchly defend the integrity of their work.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3YDFiL0
BROOKLYN CENTER: From Delane Cleveland via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A shuttered tire shop in Brooklyn Center now has a second life as a state-run vehicle inspection site. ‘The primary thing that Minnesotans will see here is that if they purchase a vehicle that was declared a total loss by an insurance company, they can have confidence that it was repaired legally through the inspections that we do,’ said Greg Loper, Driver and Vehicle Services program director. State officials were in Brooklyn Center Friday morning to celebrate the grand opening of the Brooklyn Center Vehicle Inspection Site, located at 5501 Xerxes Ave. N. The building was formerly home to a Big O Tires location.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40o8Ihy
AMTRAK: From Nicole Ki via MPR, VERBATIM: “Over 100,000 people have ridden on Amtrak’s new route between St. Paul and Chicago, according to Amtrak officials. The Borealis train hit the ridership milestone on Oct. 24, five months since opening the route to riders. The passenger line is Amtrak’s second daily train connecting St. Paul to Milwaukee and Chicago, with some stops in between.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3C3OGic
NOTE: Every day, we’re sharing significant political, business and other news in other newsletters. If you love lunch take, sign up for the other tip sheets HERE: fluence-newsletters.com
TOMORROW: From St. Paul-based Ecolab via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Ecolab will host a live webcast to discuss its 2024 third quarter results. A news release containing third quarter results is expected to be issued before market open on October 29th, 2024.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gs81t0
TOMORROW: From Brooklyn Park-based CVRx via Globe Newswire, VERBATIM: “CVRx, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVRX), a commercial-stage medical device company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing Barostim, an innovative extravascular implantable neuromodulation device for patients with cardiovascular diseases, today announced that it plans to release third quarter 2024 financial and operating results after market close on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The Company will host a conference call to review its results at 4:30pm Eastern Time the same day.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Nu5VvC
WEDNESDAY: Via Minneapolis-based Sleep Number, VERBATIM: “Sleep Number Corporation (Nasdaq: SNBR) will release its fiscal third quarter results through September 28, 2024, after market close on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/409NyUe
WEDNESDAY: From Duluth-based ALLETE via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “ALLETE Inc. (NYSE:ALE) will announce its financial results for the third quarter before the stock markets open on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NfT9Rb
WEDNESDAY: Via Eden Prairie-based C.H. Robinson, VERBATIM: “C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHRW), announced today that it will issue its third quarter 2024 results after the market closes on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. The company will hold a conference call from 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Eastern Time on the same day to discuss the quarterly results and answer live questions from the investment community.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dGB0qg
THURSDAY: From Sun Country via Globe Newswire, VERBATIM: “Sun Country Airlines (NASDAQ: SNCY) will hold its third quarter 2024 earnings call on Thursday, October 31, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hgqNE5
THURSDAY: From New Brighton-based APi via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “APi Group Corporation (NYSE: APG) announced today that it intends to release its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, before the market opens on Thursday, October 31, 2024.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/404Kitf
THURSDAY: From Xcel via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “On Thursday, October 31, 2024, Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) will host a conference call to review third quarter 2024 financial results. The earnings report will be released prior to the market open on the same date.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47KVr40
THURSDAY: From Eden Prairie-based Tennant via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) today announced that the company will report its third quarter 2024 financial results after the market closes on October 31, 2024, with a conference call to follow at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time/9:00 a.m. Central Time on Friday, November 1, 2024.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3YdKeon
FRIDAY: From Maple Plain-based Protolabs via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Protolabs (NYSE: PRLB) announced today that it will issue its financial results for the third quarter of 2024 before the opening of the market on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Protolabs will host a conference call to discuss the results at 8:30 a.m. EDT on the same day.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Y08QRj
From Friday’s Fluence newsletters:
HARVEST: Via Successful Farming, VERBATIM: “Minnesota soybean farmers are the nearest to closing harvest for the season. USDA’s report said that 95% of the crop was harvested as of Oct. 20, an increase of 7 percentage points for the week.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48mHslg
DAIRY: Crom Currey McCullough via RFD-TV, VERBATIM: “The dairy industry spent weeks this summer at hearings for modernizing the Federal Milk Marketing Order. Minnesota dairy leaders say they are happy with how those meetings turned out.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3BWpx99
EXPORTS: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “There’s some hope among farmers the recent uptick in corn and soybean export sales will improve prices. Bryan Biegler farms in southwest Minnesota. ‘It’s been nice seeing this little bump coming up here, certainly going to need a little higher prices just to cover input costs for next year.’ He tells Brownfield margins are tight.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/40jbhBj
VOTING: From Delane Cleveland via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “During an AP English class at Wayzata High School, the students’ ideas are free-flowing. Tuesday’s lesson: trying to determine whether a cheating scandal took place in a certain piece of literature. ‘‘Wayward’ is like, he’s a wayward lost soul,’ said Wayzata senior Markus Wessman, quoting a piece from the text . . . Wessman, however, has more than a passive interest in politics. He is the founder of The Youth Voter Project, it’s a student-led organization dedicated to registering or pre-registering youth throughout Minnesota.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/48CfdiV
SPECIAL OLYMPICS: From Minneapolis-based Donaldson via Business Wire, VERBATIM: “Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI), a leading worldwide provider of innovative filtration products and solutions, announced that it has committed to be a partner of the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games set to take place in June 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NC7SGn
AURORA: Via Minnesota Aurora, VERBATIM: “In the two months since launching its second Community Ownership campaign, Minnesota Aurora has raised over $500,000. Using the platform WeFunder.com, people can buy shares in Aurora starting at $100. Since launching the second round on August 29th, over 1200 people have invested.”
DOGS: From Kevin Miller via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “The therapy dogs in the Brooklyn Center police and fire departments are like any other staff member. Brooklyn, a golden retriever that was donated to the city, has ‘been a very welcome part of our fire family,’ said Brooklyn Center Fire Chief Todd Berg. ‘She comes and goes everywhere with me. She is involved with fire calls.’ Meanwhile, a second retriever named Rex is very much at home in the Brooklyn Center Police Department. He and Brooklyn are brother and sister.” QUOTE: “Almost every single call or place that I go to, [Rex will] go with,” said Brooklyn Center Police Cmdr. Tony Gruenig. “Rex is a very laid back, easy going, kind of like a Scooby Doo kind of dog.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40gvx6A
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HORMEL: Via Food Dive, VERBATIM: “Hormel Foods sold its Heath Labs business to Lyons Magnus, a global foodservice and ingredient maker. The price was not disclosed.
Heath Labs produces hundreds of products for consumers facing dysphagia, malnutrition, diabetes, wound healing, sodium restrictions and undergoing cancer treatment. The packaged goods company said in a statement to Food Dive that ‘the business is very solid and can grow with the right partner.’ The sale comes as Hormel and other food manufacturers make changes to their portfolios to focus on their core brands and position their businesses for higher growth.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hp0tYA
TARGET: From Target via PRNewswire, VERBATIM: “Target Corporation today announced it is lowering the price of its Thanksgiving meal. At just $20, it is $5 less than last year's offering.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48mlcrT
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
SPEAKEASYS: From Justine Jones and Alex Lodner via Eater Twin Cities, VERBATIM: “During the Prohibition era, when selling alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States, speakeasies quenched the public’s thirst for a smooth cocktail in dark, smoke-filled basements. Prohibition ended in 1933, but almost a century later, speakeasies — now operating under lower stakes — have been steadily gaining steam in bar scenes across the country.” LIST/MAP: https://fluence-media.co/3L7Qxnj
If you like podcasts, listen to Beers with Blois... https://fluence-media.co/3vkqhMN
BDAYS: Shoreview’s Sandy Martin