MIDWEEK MINDFULNESS
Overnight storms might have awakened you. Hope everyone is safe. Here is the Xcel Energy outage map. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4gbAZzy
Lynx win. Twins lose. Aurora wins. Stanley Cup tied 2-2.
Parts of Minneapolis were locked down and evacuated due to a standoff, but no injuries were reported and the suspect is in custody. KSTP: https://fluence-media.co/3RYZKoG
Esquire ranked Half Time Rec in St. Paul as one of the nation’s 14 best bars. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/4eiQByJ
Polling data from The Argument indicates that Minnesota’s 2026 elections could favor Democrats by 10 points. In 2024, Democrats led by 4 points. DATA: https://fluence-media.co/4uu5nsl
Even after years of buzz, the use of cryptocurrency has remained fairly stable in the United States. Today, about one-in-five U.S. adults (19%) say they’ve invested in or used a cryptocurrency. PEW: https://fluence-media.co/4uWRPqx
The U.S. launched new strikes on Iran after an Army helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz. The helicopter’s crew was rescued. AP: https://fluence-media.co/4dYVmyz
Happy National Frosted Cookie Day.
Blois - tips: bloisolson@gmail.com
SPONSOR: Sponsorships are available to reach over 30,000 readers per day on Fluence’s tip sheets and website, TheDailyAgenda.com – email BloisOlson@gmail.com.
RADIO: Sunday Take featured a recap of post-convention dynamics and CD1 DFL candidate Jake Johnson discussing his campaign priorities. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4easFO8
SPEAKING Lobbyist and trade associations that are killing time waiting today, let me know if you want me to speak to your summer and fall events about the “Signals vs. Noise” of the election. bloisolson@gmail.com
DEEPER: Check out a Fluence Forum podcast. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/FluenceForums
SMARTER: Long Term Care – Is Minnesota Ready? Care Providers Minnesota and LeadingAge Minnesota hosted providers, Senator Grant Hauschild (03, DFL), Representative Natalie Zeleznikar (03B, GOP), and Representative Nathan Nelson (11B, GOP) for a conversation about the future of careing for our seniors. This coming week the conversation moves to St. Cloud. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4ue3YXA
Want to manage your subscription to TheDailyAgenda.com ? HERE: https://fluence-media.co/managesubscription
A mindful midweek reflection. The primaries across the country and the news cycle of Minnesota, even since January 5th begin to make “Slow News Year ™️” in a daily cycle that yesterday had me honestly checking if there was a full moon. There wasn’t. Even peeling away the culture of social media trolling, the lack of self-awareness among the loudest voices – and the media’s coverage of them wonder “What are we even doing here?”
The most politically damaged in traditional scenarios are winning or doubling down after they have failed. The outliers are further outside the middle than ever, and the mere suggestion of something creates a hyper reaction from media. As a click-minded publication – the hunger for the clicks can clearly cloud judgement of credibility. I’m being click bait resistant more than ever.
The era of distrust seems to move at a speed that ignores the ability to pause, critically think, discuss and decide. Instant opinions can be dangerous, so letting things play out is best in a year that has filled the content limit like fishing in a bucket.
How do you the readers want coverage to pace this year? email: bloisolson@gmail.com
TONE: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Ten months after his parents were assassinated, Colin Hortman met privately with members of the Minnesota House to deliver a message that some lawmakers needed to hear again…Hortman hoped his visit to the chamber where his mother once presided would help slow the growth of vitriolic political rhetoric. Legislators who had vowed to soften their tone after the June 14 killing of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were again trading partisan attacks this spring as they debated immigration and school safety…But the broadsides continued in the weeks afterward, showing how quickly politicians abandoned their calls for civility after the Hortmans were killed.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4exCreh
AI: via Fox 9, VERBATIM: “One campaign ad stirring up controversy is what some view as an AI-generated deepfake attack ad against Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, who is running for U.S. Senate…Experts say this raises some questions that have yet to be tested… FOX 9 spoke with Manjeet Rege, the Director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence and Professor and Chair of the Department of Software Engineering and Data Science at the University of St. Thomas, who helped break down some tips to look out for to spot a deepfake video. Rege says look for duplicates in the background or rough edges on objects….”If I would pick two things, it would be the gaze. The gaze is the same, it is not moving. I’m also looking a little below the camera, not exactly at the camera. And the other is the speed, the rate at which I’m speaking and my tone of speaking,” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4e0LJ2s
SENATE RACE: Minnesota Jobs Coalition’s John Rouleau spotted that official accounts for the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner both posted the same message supporting Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign yesterday. Platner’s post has since been deleted — Rouleau speculated that the same staffer likely has access to both accounts and posted to the wrong one. TWEETS: https://fluence-media.co/4ejrMmn
CD2: Teamsters union leaders will announce today are endorsing State Rep. Kaela Berg in CD2. VERBATIM: “Teamsters Joint Council 32 announced their endorsement of flight attendant, State Representative, and candidate for Congress in MN-02 Kaela Berg. … A union flight attendant for more than 22 years, [Berg] has held leadership positions within her union and served as Director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uotLeU
DEBATE: Sen. Matt Klein, Rep. Kaela Berg and fmr. Sen. Matt Little have been invited to participate in a debate on WCCO Radio for the CD2 DFL primary.
GOP ADS: via MPR, VERBATIM: “The Republican side of the U.S. Senate contest hasn’t made it to the TV ad stage yet, but it will before long. Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya has placed her initial ad reservations. For now, those 30-second spots won’t start until the week of July 20 and continue through the leadup to the Aug. 11 primary. … So far, endorsed Republican candidate Adam Schwarze hasn’t locked in any time. Outside groups could also opt to get involved, as has happened on the DFL side.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/43qZp0t
PRIMARIES: Via MPR, six incumbent members of the Minnesota Senate — three Republicans and three DFLers — will face primary challenges this year: GOP Sen. Paul Utke, GOP Sen. Nathan Wesenberg, GOP Sen. John Jasinski, DFL Sen. Susan Pha, DFL Sen. Ron Latz and DFL Sen. Omar Fateh. There are 16 Senate primaries overall — 10 DFL, six GOP. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/43qZp0t
TRACKER: Follow all the races in Minnesota on the Fluence Election Tracker HERE: https://fluence-media.co/electiontracker
3RD PARTY: via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Steve Patterson, [an] Austin, Minnesota businessman, faced the longest of long odds in his run for the state’s top political office as a third-party candidate. But Patterson is a bit of an idealist and wasn’t afraid to try. … At the very least, Patterson and his running mate, JT Thompson, thought they could garner enough signatures to reach the ballot in November. It was not to be.” PATTERSON: “Some people were very nasty to me. It’s hard when people use political parties as their identity, and it’s part of their core make-up as a person. It’s really hard to get them to be open-minded to new things.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uoKTBu
A deep dive into the CD1 race between Rep. Brad Finstad and Jake Johnson for MNSider subscribers. HERE: https://fluence-media.co/49OqNJu
HEALTH CARE
MEDICAID: via FOX 9, VERBATIM: “Thousands of Minnesota Medicaid service providers lost funding after the state’s revalidation process ended [and] many providers are appealing, but families and organizations face uncertainty as paperwork issues and system problems persist. … GOP Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar said, ‘To just shut off the spigot and terminate everybody, that means you put all the good providers in the bad apple bag, and that’s wrong.’” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/43mO8hR
MORE: via KARE 11’s Jennifer Hoff, VERBATIM: “[At] a press conference where about 10 providers pleaded their cases, many say they have a clean reputation and did nothing wrong. … The lawmakers there are calling on the governor to create an incident command center and a dedicated 800 number now to help providers.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4ew8hbo
RURAL HEALTH: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “A health care clinic in southern Minnesota announced layoffs affecting 10% of its workers. … The decision means about 100 people will lose their jobs at Mankato Clinic, effective immediately. … There are no plans to close any of the clinic’s 12 locations, and no physician roles were eliminated, [but] the layoffs on Tuesday add to a trend of declining health care access in southern Minnesota.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ur6F7K
UMN: via Office of the Atty. General, VERBATIM: “Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that the University of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, and University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) have reached the agreements necessary to cement and operationalize the new 10-year partnership between the parties announced in January 2026. The University of Minnesota and M Physicians have reached a final agreement that secures M Physicians as the sole faculty practice group of the University of Minnesota Medical School–Twin Cities Campus, among other items.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vErhu6
MORE: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “Key elements of the agreement include a $1 billion investment from Fairview in its medical facilities on the University of Minnesota campus, along with $50 million in annual funding for the medical school. As part of the deal, the parties will explore a new program to support physicians practicing in greater Minnesota. The U’s Board of Regents, along with the boards of directors for Fairview and M Physicians, will meet Friday to vote on the agreement.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v13y7D
MORE: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Notably, the term ‘University of Minnesota’ will be removed from the U’s massive teaching hospital in Minneapolis. The agreement signals more distance between partners whose disagreements have often spilled out into the public. Fairview will provide less guaranteed money than in the past to the U Medical School, and the university will no longer have three people on the Fairview board of directors.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xljGlJ
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)
NATIONAL
CHINA: via Grand Forks Herald, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Defense [has] added Cirrus Design Corp. to a list of ‘Chinese military companies’ operating in the United States. The Duluth company, which has a manufacturing facility in Grand Forks, joins a list of 188 companies prohibited from contracting with the department. … Cirrus falls under the umbrella of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), which manufactures both airliners and military aircraft. … The Defense Department listing carries no immediate sanctions, though it could carry consequences for the aircraft manufacturer in the future.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gb98zu
USDA: via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “The USDA [is] consolidating offices across agencies, moving many workers out of Washington, D.C., and other locations into select hubs. … In Minnesota, the USDA lost 21% of its 1,800 employees between fiscal year 2025 and 2026, coinciding with the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. It was the hardest hit of the federal agencies operating in the state. The agency’s presence in Minnesota is dwindling further as the administration demands workers from a variety of agencies, including the [FNA], relocate to hubs like Indianapolis.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ey2VMP
ICE: via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “Federal prosecutors dropped charges against Juan Carlos Rodriguez Romero, a St. Paul man who immigration agents shot at on Dec. 21. The agents on the scene and the Department of Homeland Security accused Rodriguez Romero of ramming agents with his car, though agents’ stories contained contradictions. … Department of Justice officials filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss their case against Rodriguez Romero, citing insufficient evidence.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v6xsY0
CITIZENSHIP: Via Star Tribune, the Minnesota resident whose citizenship is under scrutiny by the federal government, seen in yesterday’s morning take, is also a convicted fraudster who was part of the Feeding Our Future scandal and awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in 2023. Denaturalization is a rare occurrence, but GOP Rep. Tom Emmer has proposed legislation to make it easier to revoke citizenship from anyone convicted of fraud. READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dYdXLb
Follow the 2026 Minnesota elections up close with the Fluence Election Tracker.
https://fluence-media.co/electiontracker
METRO NEWS
MPD: via WCCO Radio, VERBATIM: “The attorney representing a whistleblower within the Minneapolis Police Department says more could soon come out about the alleged misconduct of former Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. Chris Madel told WCCO Radio [that] his client has faced continued retaliation for bringing damaging information to light. … The 32-page lawsuit has not been filed in court. Madel says that decision is ultimately up to his client, who has not been named, but the allegations are damning.” READ/LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/4xC1vbV
ANOKA-HENN: via KARE 11, VERBATIM: “Some parents with students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District are well on their way to gathering enough signatures to put a levy on the ballot this fall. The nonprofit called Parents for Good hosted a petition drive Monday night in Anoka. Co-founder Sheighlyn Berbig says the group has gathered about 1,000 signatures. … The board has been split in the past about whether to support a levy. Berbig says it would help the district as it faces a $6 million deficit and has already laid off at least 75 employees.” READ/WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Sfo6ul
INVER GROVE HGTS: via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “Nearly 60 units of affordable senior housing are coming to Inver Grove Heights. The Dakota County Community Development Agency and the city of Inver Grove Heights recently broke ground on Crestview Pointe, a new senior living complex that will offer one and two-bedroom units for people who are 62 and older. … Crestview Pointe is expected to open in late summer of 2027.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4upr90m
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: https://fluence-media.co/3VASKg4 (SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources)
ACROSS MN
ROCHESTER: via Rochester Post Bulletin, VERBATIM: “Continued concern about fire department response in a growing Rochester is expected to fuel a request for federal support to help fund 15 new firefighters, even as concern about future local cost is being voiced. … [Rochester’s] 9.2 firefighters per 1,000 residents falls short of the 10.3 seen in Fargo [and] 14.9 in Duluth. Some council members, however, said the estimated $2.5 million for maintaining 15 firefighters after the potential federal grant ends could be too steep.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4utULdk
MANKATO: via MPR News, VERBATIM: “The sound of bulldozers, hammers and saws will fill the air where church bells once rang out and nuns sang hymns as construction work begins this week on new, affordable single-family homes on the grounds of the Our Lady of Good Counsel campus in Mankato. … Construction on eight of those homes is expected to be completed and the houses will be available to new homeowners by fall. Three additional single family homes will be built in 2027.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ot84sX
STEARNS CTY: via St. Cloud Live, VERBATIM: “Stearns County human services leaders are bracing for a wave of state and federal public assistance changes they say will increase workloads, create confusion for recipients and make it harder for some residents to maintain health care and food assistance benefits. Human Services staff briefed the county commissioners on Tuesday, June 9, about coming changes to Medicaid and [SNAP], outlining the effects on recipients, county staff and local taxpayers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xa5vzU
PROUD TO CHAMPION ATHLETES EVERYWHERE: Minnesota’s 24,000 family corn farmers may come from different fields than the athletes participating in the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, which are set for June 20-26 in Minnesota. But they share the same values, including dedication, hard work, and perseverance. This summer, Minnesota Corn salutes the talented athletes participating in the games. We’ll be cheering them on from our fields as they shine in yours. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn)
DAYBOOK
TODAY: Minneapolis City Council members and labor advocates will host a press conference announcing a proposal for “regulating business licensing for
commercial operation of autonomous vehicles,” per a release. The event is at 2:30 p.m.
TODAY: Governor Tim Walz will chair a meeting of the Board of Pardons.
TODAY: Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Ilhan Omar, both DFL, will co-host a “tele-town hall” on Wednesday, June 10 at 6:00 p.m.
TOMORROW: The Upper Midwest Law Center has a press conference today announcing a “Minnesota Supreme Court petition involving Minneapolis early voting procedures ahead of the 2026 election,” per a release. The event is at 9:30 a.m.
TOMORROW: Dēmos and People’s Action Institute have a virtual media briefing on their new report, “Solving the Affordability Crisis,” which examines “the connection between democracy and affordability,” per a release. The event is at 10:30 a.m.
THURS-FRI: COPAL and the Immigrant Defense Network will host a summit on “rising threats facing immigrant communities and democratic participation across the Midwest,” per a release. The event is in Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday, starting at 9:00 a.m. both days.
SATURDAY: ISAIAH will host a kickoff event for its “Childcare for All MN” campaign in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 13 at 12:00 noon.
We won’t ask for “membership” to list your BDAY, and we won’t have pledge drive but you can support the Fluence work by paying for premium content.
BDAYS: health care lobbyist Kelly Wolfe, St. Paul leader Tom Whaley, business guy Greg Daniel, activist Dan McGrath, communicator Melissa Champine
SPEAKER: If you’re looking for a speaker about the “Signal vs. Noise” dynamic of today’s politics and the 2026 election. EMAIL: BloisOlson@gmail.com.
SPONSORS: Sponsorships are available to reach over 30,000 readers per day on Fluence’s tip sheets and website, TheDailyAgenda.com – email BloisOlson@gmail.com.
Send us your tips at BloisOlson@gmail.com
IN MEMORIAM: morning take is dedicated in memory of Melissa Hortman.