In a video we assume was shot at his Minnesota cabin, actor Josh Duhamel declares war on beavers. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4ejC7i1
Why do Minnesotans call it Duck Duck Gray Duck when others call it Duck Duck Goose? LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4owlqof
Media consolidation continues – Fox this morning announced it’s buying streaming service Roku for $22 billion. READ: https://fluence-media.co/3S0EKOv
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Here are the two MNSiders with insight from the state party conventions:
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Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4vOuOpE
Sunday Take featured DFL Reps. Kelly Moller and Mike Howard remembering the life and legacy of Melissa Hortman one year after her passing. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4gfrsri
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FASHION-FORWARD
TARGET: Via Vogue, VERBATIM: “Isaac Mizrahi has been named Target’s creative director at large, a newly created role for the retailer that’s a homecoming of sorts for the designer. Mizrahi was the first major fashion designer Target collaborated with, starting back in 2002, creating a high-low fashion playbook that has since become commonplace.” QUOTE: “You don’t have to spend $8,000 on a sweater for it to be amazing. A good sweater can be $45,” says Mizrahi. “And I feel like Target invented that — we did that. So it’s fertile ground now for me to continue to prove that. It’s a bigger world now, but I feel like now it’s time for Target to claim that original stake.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vdPQOT
MORE: Via Fashionista, VERBATIM: “In this new role, Mizrahi will serve as a creative advisor to Target’s internal design organization, mentor design talent and elevate Target’s design credibility and cultural relevance. Target is launching a new mentorship program this summer where select Target designers will work with Mizrahi through design workshops and consultations, one-on-one sessions and creative immersion experiences.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/449dPCC
WORKFORCE: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “As many teenagers struggle to find work for the summer, local businesses are seeing applications far outpace their hiring needs. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development data from spring points to a tough job market for teens. The employment rate reached 13.2 percent in March 2026. The article said that this is worse than past years, when teen unemployment rates have hovered between five percent and eight percent. The data can be seen in action in the northwest suburbs.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4emoQ8r
MOVE: Via news release from the Governor’s office, VERBATIM: “Governor Tim Walz today congratulated Nicole Blissenbach on her appointment to the bench and thanked her for her years of service to the people of Minnesota as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). Deputy Commissioner Kate Perushek will succeed Blissenbach as commissioner.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xqE1q1
FROGTOWN: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “A cluster of vacant lots and empty buildings in St. Paul’s University Avenue could become ... something. In theory. If the right developer comes along. St. Paul is hoping to make that future a little easier for the high-profile corridor to find new life for half a dozen Frogtown parcels by buying an empty building for $600,000 that is surrounded by city-owned vacant lots, and making a half-block mega-property out of lots that once held small businesses and houses.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aOmcXY
SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “3000 athletes, 1500 coaches, and more than ten-thousand volunteers will participate in the games, which start June 20th in the Twin Cities . . . Organizers say the games could have a $70 million economic impact on the metro. It’s a welcome change from January and February, when the Minneapolis Downtown Council says hotel occupancies were down, up to 50%.” QUOTE: “We’re going to have more people staying in our downtown hotels, more people having lunches and dinners going out,” notes council CEO Adam Duininck. “Hopefully that continues to grow because the first part of the year was a real struggle for a lot of businesses downtown.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v6Bdwt
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)
THE CITIES
ST PAUL: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Organizers of a St. Paul campaign to empower tenants to make repairs to their rental housing, then bill their landlords for the work, announced they’ve gathered the signatures to put their measure on the November ballot. Why it matters: If enacted, the ‘right-to-repair’ ordinance would join St. Paul’s first-in-the-Midwest rent control policy and sweeping tenant protections as another local law giving renters more leverage.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4osCxax
BROOKLYN CTR: Via Insight News, VERBATIM: “Currently, there are two Black members on the five-member Brooklyn Center City Council, including the mayor — [April] Graves and council member Teneshia Kragness. Both of their terms expire after the November election. Black leadership on the council could disappear after this year’s elections because of shifting political dynamics and the makeup of the candidate fields competing in the city’s mayoral and council races.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4a0kJxF
MEDIA: The Star Tribune’s plan to pivot to a nonprofit business model landed CEO Steve Grove on NPR over the weekend. GROVE: “We haven’t yet launched this new structure. Part of the reason we talked about it last week as we restructured is we wanted to begin to build it with members of the community who care about our journalism. So we’re on a journey. We’re not at the finish line yet. But I think importantly, we’re not sure we ourselves would become a nonprofit, but our owner, Glen Taylor, wants to make sure the Strib lasts long into the future, that it remains independent and that others can contribute to it in a meaningful way.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3SqlzO1
BEER: The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports Trove Brewing in Burnsville has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but will remain open. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uH4WLF
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)
GREATER MINNESOTA
TONIGHT: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “It’s been almost a year since a devastating storm hit Bemidji. The derecho brought with it hurricane strength winds that downed a vast number of trees and caused nearly $10 million in damages to city infrastructure. At Monday’s city council meeting Mayor Jorge Prince will be recognized for his leadership throughout the storm’s aftermath with a national award.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vNJDc7
PIPELINE: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Members of the public have until June 22 to comment on a proposed oil pipeline near the pristine prairielands of Pipestone National Monument in southwest Minnesota, a source of a rare stone that is spiritually significant to Native Americans from more than 20 tribal nations. Magellan Pipeline Co. is seeking permission from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to rebuild a petroleum pipeline between Marshall, Minnesota and Sioux Falls.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vaD9nE
MINING: Via KQDS-TV, VERBATIM: “A memorial dedication recognized the more than 200 miners who lost their lives on the job throughout the mines in the Ely area on Sunday. At the Pioneer Mine site, two granite monuments now bear the names of 218 people who lost their lives working in the 6 mines around Ely.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3S6YVdz
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
SURVEY: Via Minneapolis-based Jamf, VERBATIM: “Jamf, the standard in managing and securing Apple at work, today released findings from a survey of 687 IT and security leaders that reveal a growing challenge for organizations adopting AI: the more deeply AI becomes embedded into daily work, the more likely organizations are to encounter cost or security issues. The survey found that 72.9% of organizations have already deployed AI in some form. But adoption isn’t reducing risk. Organizations with deeply integrated AI are 40% more likely to report an AI-related incident than organizations still in the exploratory stage.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3SGAyU6
$50 MILLION: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Two years after hitting the market, Lake Point Estate, the most expensive listing ever for a home built in Minnesota, still awaits its first residents. A modern-day monument to Midwestern opulence, the eight-acre estate sits on roughly 650 ft. of the eastern shoreline of Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata. On the property are a massive main residence and five other buildings: a boathouse, pool house, lake porch, and two guest houses.” READ/PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/4vuBNoh
$1 BILLION: Via Blaze, VERBATIM: “Blaze is proud to announce the Blaze Retirement + Investment Services program offering securities through Osaic Institutions has exceeded $1 billion in assets under management. Since June 2014, when the program managed $11 million in assets, Blaze Retirement + Investment Services has experienced remarkable growth driven by a combination of consistent organic expansion, strategic development, and an unwavering commitment to member success.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4eK6GPi
MEAT MARKET: Via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “Visiting Conger, Minnesota, is like stepping back in time. The town had a population of just 153 as of the 2020 census, and several buildings in the tiny downtown—like the post office—date back to the turn of the 20th century, when the railroad came through southern Minnesota. On William Avenue, one small-town butcher shop has been operating for more than 90 years—and has withstood all those decades of change, including changes in the way people eat and shop for groceries. Now, family-owned Conger Meat Market is expanding its offerings to grocery stores around Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vbZWQb
FISHING LURES: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A Maple Grove business is proving to be quite the catch. What started as a one-man operation in a garage has grown into world-class brand of custom fishing lures. Workers at Throwback Swimbaits create highly realistic lures that attract big-game fish like musky. Kyle Buchholz, a father of six, started the company after his wedding videography business stalled out during the pandemic.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4vQZuqt
NORTH LOOP: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “I looked up into the vest-pocket space of Gavin Kaysen’s new 50-seat North Loop bistro, Bellecour—which is very, very different from his Edina quick-serve of the same name—and beheld the gunmetal fog of blue on the walls, the soaring woodwork, the pale veined marble of the bar, the inescapable sense that you stepped through a portal straight into a Parisian bistro in Manhattan, and I thought, ‘What am I even doing here? Just watching Gavin Kaysen play T-ball?’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vefsLq
GLOBAL TRADE BOLSTERS AG ECONOMIES: Via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “Each year, Minnesota’s exports of corn, ethanol, corn-fed meat, and dried distillers grains (DDGS) alone support over 11,500 jobs and add billions to the state’s economy. They also help ensure that consumers around the world have access to affordable protein and dairy products. In May, during World Trade Month, Minnesota Corn celebrates that important role trade plays in all our lives—in the U.S. and abroad. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4dqEqB1 (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
WHAT’S NEXT?
TODAY: Via BCA, VERBATIM: “A news conference to announce a reward of up to $25,000 offered in the investigation into the disappearance of Carla Beth Anderson of Wadena. The case is being investigated by the Wadena Police Department.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43DQjxz
NEXT MONTH: Via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “Aquatennial is back. Now in its 87th year, Minneapolis’ signature summer celebration returns July 18-26 with a packed lineup of free events, returning favorites, and several new additions.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43xSqmD
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
JUNETEENTH: Via My North News, VERBATIM: “Northsiders got a headstart on the Juneteenth celebrations with events this past weekend at Shiloh Temple International Ministries, Bethune Park and Webber Park.” PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/3SI3M51
MORE: Via Sahan Journal and Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, guides to upcoming Juneteenth events. SJ: https://fluence-media.co/4v50CXs MSR: https://fluence-media.co/4vOnDxK
BDAYS: Rep. Paul Anderson, photographer Chris McDuffie, First Lady Gwen Walz, ag leader Amber Glaeser, environmental leader John Curry, lobbyist Jennifer Breitinger, conservative advisor Lonny Leitner, attorney Matt Pelikan
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