An Arizona golf course operator just sold a bunch of courses and is looking to reinvest at least some of the proceeds in Minnesota. MSPBJ: https://fluence-media.co/3RylLuD
All access points to the BWCAW will be closed beginning tomorrow due to dangerous heat and wildfires. UPDATES: https://fluence-media.co/4eZH0i0 UPDATES: https://fluence-media.co/4vqmRGA
RIP Sam Neill
Fluence Advisory has released its Insights memo on “The Next Legislature”. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aNNSMV
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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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MONDAY NEWS FEED
LIST: We count 20 Minnesota companies on a new “best companies” list from Time, SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4eUURWM
FEDS SHOOTINGS: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “Federal investigators have begun sharing evidence related to three shootings by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Monday. The update comes nearly four months after Moriarty, Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sued to compel the Department of Justice to share evidence related to the three Minneapolis shootings by federal immigration agents that killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti and injured Julio Sosa-Celis.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4porDTW
MORE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Monday that the evidence includes hard drives containing statements and body camera footage, as well as the vehicle Renee Good was driving when she was fatally shot. The evidence also covers the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and the wounding of Julio Sosa-Celis.” MORIARTY: “After receiving this evidence, we immediately began to analyze it in the context of the evidence we already had in hand,” she said. “It will be thorough, fair and complete. We are committed to seeing this through, to making a decision and being transparent about it no matter where the evidence takes us.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QQrMmf
MORE: Via release this morning from Hennepin County Attorney candidate Cedric Frazier, QUOTE: “The Trump administration made every effort to obstruct justice in these cases. Today’s announcement is a testament to local leaders who refused to back down in the face of intimidation and persisted until they secured the evidence needed to move this investigation forward. I have been clear since the day Jonathan Ross killed Renée Good: as the next Hennepin County Attorney, I will prosecute the ICE agents who terrorized our communities and violated our laws. Today’s announcement marks a major step toward delivering the accountability our communities have demanded from the beginning. Our next County Attorney must continue to pursue these cases with the persistence and strength that our communities deserve. I will do exactly that.”
ACQUISITION?: via Bloomberg, VERBATIM: “The aviation industry has seen plenty of deals activity in recent years, but the battle between two US funds for EasyJet Plc stands out because the volatile, low-margin airlines business rarely draws financial suitors. On Friday, the UK budget carrier received a surprise £5.7 billion (US$7.6 billion) counter offer from Apollo Global Management Inc. That beat a rival £5.5 billion proposal from [Minneapolis-based] Castlelake LP, which had crawled to a tentative agreement with the airline’s board over the space of a month and multiple improved bids. Apollo’s move suddenly puts two US investment funds in pursuit of the pioneer in no-frills flying.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ynOK56
NEXTGEN: Via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “The Iron Workers Local 512 training facility is expanding to twice its current size ahead of an anticipated increase in demand. ‘We took the opportunity with the work scope coming in front of us to add on and be in front of some of the major projects like the Blatnik Bridge,’ said Keith Musolf, the business agent for the training facility. The building on Midway Road in Hermantown currently includes four trade-specific classrooms and a large shop where students practice heavy construction and industrial maintenance skills, setting them up for a career to work on large buildings and structures.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RaLf0Q
MOTORCYCLES: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Motorcycle advocates calling attention at the State Capitol Friday concerning the staggering number of motorcycle fatalities this year. It’s already been a deadly start to the riding season, according to Mike Hanson with the Office of Traffic Safety.” QUOTE: “So far 37 motorcycle riders have been killed on Minnesota roads this year,” Hanson says. “That compares to 24 at this time last year.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4w0izqN
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)
INFRASTRUCTURE
TARGET CTR: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “As the Timberwolves/Lynx search for a new home, the debate will soon heat up over what to do with the Target Center and its $53.5 million debt balance. Why it matters: This is a big and important piece of downtown real estate, and what to do with it should have developers, elected officials and urbanists dreaming. It will also become a key piece in the negotiations between the city of Minneapolis and team owners if they work out a deal for a new downtown arena.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bkQ6U4
POWER: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved site permits for a big solar power generation and energy storage project in rural Martin County in the southern part of the state. The Lake Charlotte Solar project would generate 150 megawatts of solar electricity and it would store 600 megawatt hours of power in a batter energy storage system in Rutland Township in Martin County. It would be built by Geronimo Power on more than 1,000 acres of land in the township. Supporters of the project say it will help Minnesota meet the state’s clean energy mandate that will require 100 percent of the state’s electricity to be generated by carbon free sources by 2040.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vpF2fK
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)
SAINT PAUL
MIDWAY: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “After years of mounting vacancies, a shopping complex in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood appears poised for a comeback. Driving the news: A banner announcing an 80,000 square-foot indoor playground ‘coming soon’ to the Midway Marketplace appeared last week on the former Herberger’s store, which has sat empty since 2018 . . . A company with ties to the grocery chain H Mart recently bought other parts of the shopping complex that, until recently, housed a Cub Foods and an At Home store.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4yyn6T0
SKYWAY: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “The largest publicly owned skyway system in the world (Minneapolis’s skyway, almost entirely privately owned, is still larger overall), the St. Paul skyway is a much-beloved feature of the city’s downtown architecture, but according to advocates, years of neglect and poor management have left it empty—a symbol of St. Paul’s struggling downtown. But there’s hope. The community advocacy group Friends of the St. Paul Skyway has been hard at work bringing attention and, hopefully, change to the city’s skyway. ‘It’s about showing them the value of the system,’ Jacob Ramos, Friends of the Skyway technical director, said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ThED1r
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
ACQUISITION: Via Eagan-based Tavoron, VERBATIM: “Tavoron, a national leader in industrial automation, robotics, compressed air, motion control and engineered solutions, today announced the acquisition of Fluidraulics Inc., an automation component and system distributor that has served customers across Pennsylvania and Ohio since 1967. The acquisition strengthens Tavoron’s motion control offerings and expands its geographic reach into the Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vsdN4g
GRANOLA: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Soul Grain is a St. Paul-based small-batch granola company founded in May 2022 by longtime friends Liza Maya, a functional nutritionist, and Sylvia Williams, a pastry chef. The brand cleverly deconstructs iconic, nostalgic flavors into wholesome, gluten-free snacks . . . Soul Grain will release Lemon Tarte on July 13th, one day before Bastille Day celebrated annually on July 14th to commemorate the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, a pivotal turning point in the French Revolution which symbolized the end of the absolute monarchy and the birth of the modern French Republic.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wF6Ptp
COFFEE: Via Dunn Brothers, VERBATIM: “Dunn Brothers Coffee, the Minneapolis-based coffee company known for roasting premium coffee in small batches daily, is proud to announce a new partnership with the University of St. Thomas, becoming the university’s Official Coffee Partner ahead of the upcoming academic year. St. Thomas is Dunn Brothers Coffee’s first official partner in higher education.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/44mQ6iJ
NOG: Via Minnetonka-based NOG, VERBATIM: “Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) today provided an update on several business matters including second quarter hedging results, an update on ground game transactions and shareholder returns.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vszdxY
MOVE: Via Minneapolis-based Rise, VERBATIM: “Rise Baking Company, home to some of the baking industry’s most trusted brands and a leading manufacturer for in-store bakeries and foodservice operators, announces today the relocation of their Tucker, Georgia Innovation Center to Uptown Atlanta, a hyper-accessible, 47-acre mixed-use destination located between Midtown and Buckhead. The move reflects the company’s continued growth and is an investment in how its teams work, collaborate, and serve customers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bafNH9
WHAT’S NEXT?
THURSDAY: Via U.S. Bank, VERBATIM: “U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) will release its second quarter 2026 earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, July 16, 2026.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/448yiI0
SATURDAY: Via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “One of Aquatennial’s newest events debuts this year with the Floating Lantern & Asian Street Food Night Market, bringing an evening of culture, community, and waterfront views to Bde Maka Ska North Beach on Saturday, July 18, from 3-10 p.m.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wJPobw
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
FOUNTAIN: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “After turning off the water at the Berger Fountain in 2018 due to deferred maintenance, with restoration efforts delayed further by the pandemic, Loring Park finally has the funding to bring what’s commonly known as the dandelion fountain back to life. The city has looked into plans to reconstruct the fountain for nearly 30 years, according to interior designer, realtor, and member of the Berger Fountain Task Force Jay Nuhring. The issues included aging plumbing and wiring, deteriorated concrete, leaking pools, and a lack of funding to fix it.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fxcg87
BDAYS: WCCO Dave Harrigan, business guy Korey Bannerman, media pro Amanda Oleson, fmr. Ramsey Commissioner Carlos Mariani
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