Senator Cory Booker’s speech protesting Trump administration policies started at 6:00 Minnesota time last night – it continues as of this writing. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3FNnd69
More than half of parents rely on secondhand items for their families – even if they can afford new. MORNING CONSULT: https://fluence-media.co/3Rt6CXN
How much snow will we get over the next couple of days? BMTN: https://fluence-media.co/3QXHUP5
Today’s WCCO Radio morning take at 6:20 with Vineeta Sawkar. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3FR5niE
Melisa López Franzen was on Sunday Take to discuss her upcoming Senate run, her plans if she wins, the political landscape of Minnesota and more. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4iOf4x5
Blois
tips/feedback bloisolson@gmail.com
All Fluence Media tip sheets are now available to read and share online at our website, The Daily Agenda:
RESPONSIBLEGAMING: Legal sports betting platforms offer responsible game tools that offshore and illegal sports betting don’t offer. In fact, age verification is not required with most offshore providers. Learn more about why legalized sports betting is more responsible. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4kgJoS4 (SPONSORED: Sports Betting Alliance)
REALITY TV: ProPublica looks back on the conviction of Edgar Barrentos-Quintana in a Minneapolis homicide – a conviction overturned after the recommendation of the Conviction Review Board to a Hennepin County judge. VERBATIM: “Both the report and the judge’s order also highlighted one unique issue: the role of ‘The First 48.’ ‘In the episode, events happened out of order, and Sgts. Dale and Gaiters staged scenes for the producers that were not a part of the investigation,’ wrote Judge John R. McBride. ‘What is more, the episode failed to include other, actual portions of the investigation, painting a wholly inaccurate picture of how the MPD investigation unfolded.’ Conviction Review Unit attorneys concluded that police and prosecutors became locked into a narrative they did not deviate from. In essence, the unit alleged, instead of the case shaping the show, the show shaped the case.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3DXF1Lp
TWINS: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Twins baseball is coming back to free, over-the-air television. The team announced Tuesday morning that locally, FOX 9 will air ten regular season night games starting April 15 when the Twins host the Mets. Each broadcast will include a 30-minute pregame show.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/43ubHqa
AURORA: Via Minnesota Aurora, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Aurora announced today a multi-year partnership with Allina Health to sponsor the front of the jersey for Aurora and also become the Official Health System Partner for the team.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43B2rRg
STATE LAND: Via Duluth News Tribune, VERBATIM: “St. Louis County officials are warning that cuts proposed by Gov. Tim Walz could have a disproportionate effect on local taxpayers due to the large percentage of land under state control in this part of Minnesota. At present, the state holds more than 36% of land in St. Louis County — totaling about 1.5 million acres preserved for natural resource purposes, including state parks, wildlife management areas and properties managed under a variety of trusts. With that much property removed from the local property tax base, Minnesota provides offsetting aid or ‘payment in lieu of taxes’ — what policy wonks commonly call ‘PILT’ for short. In the face of a projected state budget shortfall, Walz has proposed a 34% reduction in PILT payments statewide next year. For many jurisdictions, the reduction will mean a modest cut in funding. Not so for St. Louis County, however, which stands to become the biggest financial loser statewide if the proposed program cuts become reality.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iQ13Pf
TOMORROW: Via news release from Rep. Tom Emmer, VERBATIM: “Today, Congressman Tom Emmer announced that he will host a telephone town hall on Wednesday, April 2nd. This event will serve as an opportunity for residents of Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District to receive an update from Congressman Emmer, ask questions, and share their input.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ciP1LU
THIRD TERM: Via The Wall Street Journal, VERBATIM: “There is no debate that the 22nd Amendment renders Trump ineligible for election to a third term . . . An election victory, however, isn’t the only path to the presidency . . . One way it could work, Trump said, would be a ticket swap with his vice president. In that scenario, JD Vance would run for president in 2028, and Trump would be his running-mate. If elected, Vance could then step down and hand the reins back to Trump . . . A 1999 Minnesota Law Review article called ‘The Twice and Future President’ dug deeply into the history of presidential term limits and concluded that the text of the 12th Amendment was ambiguous enough to potentially leave the door open to a vice-presidential run by a term-limited president.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3DXhEl7
SUPCT: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Two Martin County foster parents are getting another audience in front of the Minnesota Supreme Court Tuesday, after arguing last fall that a nearly 50-year-old law that prevented them from adopting two Native children is unconstitutional. If the couple succeeds in their challenge, it could drastically alter the constitutionality of the law, which is meant to preserve tribal sovereignty and address decades of Native children being severed from their cultures.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hZ8Xol
BOATS: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “They start out with such promise, the boats that bear names like Sunseeker and Freedom and Voyageur, that it’s hard to believe anyone would just park their watercraft on the beach and walk away. And yet it happens. Sweet Destiny, the 54-foot motor yacht beached, bemoaned, and bewilderingly difficult to remove from Beer Can Island in the St. Croix River is just the latest example. The answer for future such boats might be prison time for the owners, according to a new bill drafted by a Wisconsin legislator. A Minnesota bill, meanwhile, doesn’t address prison but would make it a misdemeanor to dump a boat.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hTDeVD
PRODUCING THE FUELS THAT HELP KEEP MINNESOTA MOVING: Flint Hills Resources, one of the Midwest’s leading producers of transportation fuels is hiring! With openings in IT, accounting, engineering, operations, procurement and asset management, Flint Hills Resources’ goal is to match talented individuals with their passions and interests to truly shine. APPLY TODAY: Flint Hills jobs (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
DRUGS: Via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “On March 21, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota charged 11 people in a big meth bust involving multiple kilos and a kidnapping in St. Paul with ties to a Mexican drug cartel. [Interim U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick] told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the Twin Cities became a hub for the illegal drug trade because Interstate 35 travels nearly all the way to Mexico, there is an international airport here, and there’s access from other countries at the Twin Ports in the Duluth area.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3XFJYPC
ROAD WORK: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Road construction season is getting underway across Minnesota with work on a couple of major projects starting this week and next. That includes a project to add additional driving lanes to a well-traveled Twin Cities freeway and major changes to a busy freeway interchange near Rochester.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3XIBd7s
XEC: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “While the Minnesota Wild hockey team focuses on securing a playoff spot, owner Craig Leipold is competing for funding at the Minnesota Legislature for a Wild arena renovation project.” QUOTE: “We are ‘all in’ for this year,” Leipold said in a Friday interview with Twin Cities Business in his Minnesota Wild office in downtown St. Paul. During a wide-ranging interview, Leipold was joined by Matt Majka, the Wild’s CEO, during discussion of the arena-complex issue. “It’s priority No. 1 for the mayor.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3E279Nk
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep. Kari Rehrauer
Rep. Wayne Johnson
Rep. Julie Greene
Rep. Keith Allen
Rep. Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
LAW SCHOOL: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Minnesota's law schools are seeing a surge in applications this year. The big picture: While the high interest may be good news for local programs, it means more competition among those who want to pursue — or pivot to — a career in law. What's happening: A presidential transition, changes to the LSAT exam, and more attention being paid to the law and courts are leading more people to apply to law school across the nation.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4l94imj
TARIFFS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “President Donald Trump is promising to unveil a new set of tariffs Wednesday on U.S. trading partners, in addition to auto tariffs already set to go into effect Thursday. Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries, but these new taxes are not just impacting the prices of our T-shirts and televisions. Tariffs may even lead to higher insurance rates here at home in Minnesota. For more details, MPR News host Tom Crann spoke with Aaron Cocking, president and CEO of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, a trade association representing property and casualty insurance companies in our state.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3RuBqr7
(DISCLOSURE: Insurance Federation of Minnesota is a Fluence client)
SALES TAX: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Gov. Tim Walz wants to tax people when they get financial and legal advice, a proposal that critics say hurts vulnerable residents while leaving businesses unscathed. ‘The proposal would be extremely detrimental to the Minnesotans who can least afford it, especially during the most stressful, challenging and unexpected moments of their lives,’ said Samuel Edmunds, president of the Minnesota State Bar Association, in testimony before the Senate Taxes Committee on Tuesday. But Walz’s revenue team says it would make the state tax system fairer, plus add over $200 million a year to state coffers, even as the governor’s budget also would slightly decrease the state’s sales tax rate from 6.5% to 6.425%.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3YeZOAP
“MY WHOLE LIFE CHANGED:” EMPOWERMENT TRAINING OPENS PATHWAY INTO THE TRADES - Since 2019, a partnership between Five Skies Empowerment Training and Enbridge has broadened as unions, contractors and other groups look to connect Native American job seekers to meaningful careers. “They’re gonna open the door for you,” says Joel, a program graduate. “Before the 5 Skies program I wasn’t aware there were so many opportunities,” explains Ashley. “My whole life changed,” says Melissa. Click here to submit an application, and find out more on upcoming training. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3XoPg0D (SPONSORED: Enbridge)
MPD: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “It’s been one year since an independent monitor began overseeing the Minneapolis Police Department’s efforts to comply with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights settlement agreement. The police department is on track to meet about half of the policy and training goals set by the monitor for the first year, but both the monitor and head of the state’s human rights department say they are encouraged by some progress. Court-ordered reforms follow the state’s human rights investigation launched after the 2020 police murder of George Floyd.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iPVQHb
WISCONSIN: Via CBS News, VERBATIM: “Residents of the Badger State will have their last chance Tuesday to vote in an unusually high-stakes race for a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court . . . By Monday morning, 644,800 advance ballots had been returned, representing about a 40% increase over the advance total in Wisconsin's 2023 judicial race, and that year also set a turnout record. About a third of advance ballots so far have come from heavily Democratic counties of Milwaukee and Dane, in the Madison area, and that's roughly in line with their share of the advance vote in 2023.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3XEKkpA
RETAIL: Via Bring Me The News, VERBATIM: “Daiso, a Japanese bargain store chain with international popularity, will open three stores in the Twin Cities this year. Minnesota's first Daiso is set to open Saturday, April 12 in the former Broadway Pizza space in Crystal.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/447D35z
DOGS: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “Dogs love Kris and Mark Kuhn’s back yard. ‘They do,’ said Kris Kuhn of Maple Grove. ‘They can get up to high speeds and get their ‘zoomies’ out when they need to.’ It’s no wonder why their yard is one of the top-rated locations on the app Sniffspot. For the uninitiated, Sniffspot can best be described as Airbnb for dog parks.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3DXeVrT
FESTIVAL: Via The Minneapolis Egotist, VERBATIM: “Edition Studios, a creative agency based in Minneapolis, is proud to announce its latest partnership with Rise Festival, a nationally recognized music and lantern festival celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Edition Studios has been named the lead agency partner for branding, web design and development, marketing strategy, and both paid and organic social media efforts.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43v4XZ9
SATURDAY: Via Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, VERBATIM: “Tens of thousands of people in the United States and around the world are preparing to take to the streets on Saturday, April 5, in what organizers are calling the largest single day of protest since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. With more than 600 events planned across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and multiple international cities, the message is unified and urgent: Hands off our rights, our resources, and our democracy.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4jcS4rc
APRIL10: Citizens League will honor Peter Bell, former Metropolitan Council Chair and Sharon McMahon, at the 2025 Civic Celebration. The annual Civic Celebration is an inspiring evening, gathering hundreds of Minnesotans from diverse backgrounds, parties and ideologies to celebrate our state’s enduring civic culture, leadership, and commitment to public service. REGISTER: https://fluence-media.co/41txP1p (SPONSORED: Citizens League)
From yesterday’s Fluence newsletters:
PROCESSORS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture extended waivers for increased speeds while also moving to make the increases permanent. The federal agency also says it will stop requiring plants to submit worker safety data, though it’s still requiring companies to report injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Some workers are worried about the move. Ruth Schultz is meatpacking director for the Minnesota chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union representing workers at JBS Pork Processing in Worthington. She said line speed regulations are there to protect workers, but also consumers.” QUOTE: “There’s fecal matter, there’s infections in some of these hogs that go by,” Schultz said. “If they’re flying past, how are you gonna see the contamination of the meat if their speed is too fast?” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42cU6ko
MORE: From UofM Extension via Farm Forum, VERBATIM: “Paul Sobocinski believes the best way forward through any challenge is to get organized. This has been his philosophy since his early farming days. It’s also the philosophy guiding his current work addressing the meat processing bottleneck in Minnesota. Across Minnesota, the demand for meat processing far outpaces the availability of meat processing facilities. There are several reasons for this imbalance, including consolidation in the meat processing industry, a lack of skilled workers, and business owners nearing retirement who are unable to transition their businesses. With fewer processors and processing slots, Minnesota farmers often have to schedule their processing a year or more in advance.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42lJvol
FEEDLOTS: Via MPCA, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is opening the rule that regulates about 17,000 animal feedlots. This rulemaking will:
consider changes to improve land application of manure to address nitrates and fish kills.
establish additional technical standards to protect water quality and avoid fish kills.
address modern changes to livestock and poultry operations and business practices, account for new agency data services, and repeal outdated rule language.
These changes are necessary to protect human health and the environment.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hVyTkD
Subscribe to other Fluence newsletters: https://fluence-media.co/TheDailyAgenda
KINDEVA: From St. Louis- and Woodbury-based Kindeva via PRNewswire, VERBATIM: “Kindeva, a global CDMO and drug delivery expert, has appointed Daniel J. Speciale as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to strengthen its executive leadership team and drive financial strategy across the organization.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42haeRS
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
NE MPLS: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “The Ferris wheel is (almost!) back in action at the former Betty Danger’s in Northeast Minneapolis, where Big Star Tipsy Taco Bar opens this May. The new restaurant has retained much of Betty’s funky vibe—there are plenty of gloriously clashing color schemes‚ and the eight-foot gorilla statue still looms over the mini-golf course—but it has an Austin, Texas-themed spin (hence ‘Big Star’).” READ/PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/424CW9P
BDAYS: Sen. Mark Koran, GOP operative Preya Samsundar
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