Only 34% of Jewish adults say they feel very or somewhat safe living in the U.S., with one in ten reporting physical assault or property damage to someone in their household and two in ten reporting verbal harassment. AP/NORC: https://fluence-media.co/4vXBimQ
On Isle Royale, one of the campgrounds is closed because a wolf has been getting too bold – sniffing and pawing at tents – even walking into one – and dragging backpacks away. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/450ax52
Where can you catch a 28-pound, 36.25-inch bigmouth buffalo? Golden Valley. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3SX7lEG
There was a 63% chance of a “Super El Niño” – now it’s an 81% chance. WHAT THAT MEANS: https://fluence-media.co/4fuh6D2
Thursday’s morning take had the new State Fair foods. This morning, Jason DeRusha ranks them. RANKING: https://fluence-media.co/4bzFHnw
Fluence Advisory has released its Insights memo on “The Next Legislature”. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aNNSMV
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Sunday Take featured Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan discussing her Senate campaign, her time in state government and more. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3SBPx1V
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FRIDAY NEWS FEED
FIRST: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “Federal officials announced Friday that they have deported a child sex offender who was pardoned in Minnesota last month. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Tou Lue Vang, originally of Laos, was revoked of his legal status. Rubio said federal agents took Vang into custody and, as of Friday, the now 42-year-old sex offender has been removed from the country. Gov. Tim Walz faced federal scrutiny after pardoning Vang of his crimes in June, in which Homeland Security said the pardon would prevent Vang from being deported.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3R6T5IQ
LIST: Minnesota ranks 5th on CNBC’s list of top states for business – high scores for infrastructure, economy, and quality of life, lower for workforce and cost of doing business. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3SSDZYg
POLL: Via Alpha News, VERBATIM: “An internal poll from a conservative nonprofit group says Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth has a slight lead in the Republican primary for governor of Minnesota. The poll was obtained by Alpha News earlier this week . . . According to the survey, 29.1% of respondents said they would vote for Demuth if the GOP gubernatorial primary were held today. Meanwhile, business executive Kendall Qualls got 23.9% of the vote, and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell got 20.4% of the vote.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gPqFxN
FUNDRAISING: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Email fundraising brings about $360 million a year into political campaigns, said Eric Wilson, the executive director for The Center for Campaign Innovation . . . Campaigns build their own lists of potential donors and might also buy email lists from past campaigns or political list brokers. That’s why donors find that once they give to one candidate, they’re suddenly getting messages from others.” QUOTE: “The best indication of a future behavior is past behavior, and so if someone has donated in the past, they’re very likely to donate again in the future,” Wilson said. “And so campaigns want to be sending emails to those people.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4gxoO0f
SENATE: Via The Bemidji Pioneer, VERBATIM: “Mere weeks ahead of the Aug. 11 primary election, Lt. Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan visited Pine Pals Intergenerational Learning Child Care and Preschool in Bemidji to discuss child care affordability as well as her plans to advocate for universal child care should her Senate bid be successful. Flanagan’s Tuesday visit coincides with ongoing discussion of child care accessibility and affordability, worker wages and benefits, and what a universal child care model may look like.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aOsZkB
CD1: Via KEYC-TV, VERBATIM: “Candidates are hitting the campaign trail with the primary election a month away. Democratic candidate Jake Johnson for District 1 Congress held a roundtable on July, 9 outside of Madelia. ‘What I do is usually facilitate a conversation where I get to listen and I take notes and I’ll ask follow-up questions.’ said Johnson. There are around twenty people in attendance, most of which were Saint James residents.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/44qQmNB
A deep dive into the CD1 race between Rep. Brad Finstad and Jake Johnson for MNSider subscribers. HERE: https://fluence-media.co/49OqNJu
ELECTION BETS: Via Gray, VERBATIM: “The Wisconsin Elections Commission adopted new guidance Thursday reminding voters that betting on an election’s outcome on platforms such as Kalshi or Polymarket and then voting in that same election is a felony offense. Doing so constitutes election fraud, which, in addition to the felony charge, could also result in a voter’s ballot being thrown out, the bipartisan commission said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Tc2JdT
FLAG: Via St. Cloud Live, VERBATIM: “A St. Cloud Somali community leader apologized Thursday, July 9, after an American flag was mistakenly flown upside down for ‘15 minutes or so’ during a Somali Independence Day celebration on Friday, July 3, at Lake George, drawing complaints to police and criticism from a St. Cloud City Council member days later. Omar Podi, executive director of Internal Housing Assistance, said in a written statement to St. Cloud LIVE that he was responsible for raising the flag during the event and that no one else should be blamed.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Ruaont
HOUSING: Via Minnesota House GOP, VERBATIM: “Rep. Spencer Igo (R-Wabana Township) issued the following statement after Governor Tim Walz announced $40 million in funding for Minnesota’s Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP), emphasizing that the investment was approved by the Legislature as part of one of the most bipartisan housing packages in state history.” QUOTE: “I am flattered that the governor is taking credit for a bipartisan legislative initiative for FHPAP funding passed in a package of housing bills that was one of the most bipartisan housing bills in state history,” said Rep. Igo. “This funding was the product of Republican and Democrat legislators working together for all Minnesotans, not Governor Walz.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3RuujCL
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)
OUTSIDE INVESTMENTS
MANKATO: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Rolls-Royce opened a new $24 million logistics operations center in Mankato this week . . . This investment increased the local workforce by 20 percent, making Rolls-Royce one of the largest manufacturers in Mankato, and created more than a hundred jobs, said Andy Wilke, executive vice president of Greater Mankato Growth.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vW2ulI
CHICK-FIL-A: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “Chick-fil-A plans to open five new restaurants across Minnesota by the end of 2028, including three in the Twin Cities, where the chain has been steadily growing for more than two decades. The first of the state’s new Chick-fil-A locations is expected to open this summer in Mankato, bringing the fast-food chain’s first standalone restaurant to that area of southern Minnesota, according to a Wednesday announcement.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4yfm6Tw
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
WIND ENERGY: Via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration’s de facto freeze on wind energy puts 1,200 construction jobs, 4,400 ‘indirect and induced’ jobs and more than $168 million in economic impact at risk for Minnesota, according to a new report from a St. Paul-based progressive think tank. The U.S. Department of Defense has stopped completing the mandated — and once-routine — national security review process for proposed wind farms. As a result, Minnesota could lose four wind energy projects that could generate enough power for several hundred thousand homes, North Star Policy Action says.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4voARRh
MORE: Via North Star Policy Action, the report. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f7T9QM
SHINGLES: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Federal regulators found multiple Clean Air Act violations at a shingle factory on Minneapolis’ north side after inspections prompted by odor complaints from residents. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a June 15 finding of violation to Owens Corning, an asphalt shingle factory adjacent to Shingle Creek, according to documents obtained by Sahan Journal.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Rac4lP
LIGHT RAIL: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “When the official studies began that led to the METRO Blue Line Extension project, George W. Bush was still in the White House . . . Nearly two decades later, estimated costs have more than doubled and optimistic projections offer a start date in 2033. Now there’s yet another hurdle to clear: A funding gap hundreds of millions of dollars wide that must be closed before Met Council – the regional planning body tasked with overseeing the project – can file for the project’s federal grant funding, allowing construction to finally – maybe – begin next year.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QJUTrm
PFAS: Via Investing, VERBATIM: “New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday sued several of the nation’s largest chemical manufacturers, including 3M, DuPont, Chemours, Corteva and EIDP, alleging they knowingly caused decades of toxic PFAS contamination through consumer products while concealing the chemicals’ health and environmental risks.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3TrMgCq
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
WALLPAPER: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “The beloved local creative duo behind She She—illustrator Kate Worum and interior designer Jennifer Jorgensen—has unveiled A Perfect Day, its third wallpaper collaboration with New Jersey-based peel-and-stick wallpaper company Tempaper.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wFyJWy
THIS MONTH: Via Maple Plain-based Protolabs, VERBATIM: “Protolabs (NYSE: PRLB) announced today that it will issue its financial results for the second quarter of 2026 before the opening of the market on Friday, July 31.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SOGHxT
NEXT MONTH: Via Minnetonka-based NOG, VERBATIM: “Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) announced today that it plans to issue its second quarter 2026 financial and operating results on Thursday, August 6, 2026, after the market closes.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4eTFuxP
WHAT’S NEXT?
FRI/SAT: The Minneapolis Textile Center hosts its annual “Slow Fashion Sale.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4f9PNMW
THIS WEEKEND: The Northfield Jazz Festival begins tonight. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4pi3LkH
THIS WEEKEND: Via Lucky Shots Pickleball Club, VERBATIM: “Get ready for our second annual Lucky Shots Summer Classic—an open invitation to all pickleball players, whether you’re chasing medals, memories, or the prize money.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4wEZRVC
TOMORROW: Inbound BrewCo and The Loft host a Book Fair for Grown Ups at the State Fairgrounds. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4ygc3O3
SUNDAY: The City of Lakeville will set off the fireworks planned for the 4th but postponed due to weather. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4eTum41
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
PEACE: Via Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, a look back on the life of Cooper Johnson, founder of Bricksworth Beer Co. in Burnsville. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4h6xP0t
BDAYS: Emmer staffer Tayor Reaves, KARE 11’s Matt Kummer. SUN: MNGOP comms leader Rachel Aplikowski, House candidate and MCEA comms guy Aaron Klemz, retiring Rep. Paul Torkelson
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