Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

Walz Watch: Walz Still Watchable

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz lost his bid for VP last night but, in a way, he kinda won? Local strategists and DFL leaders seem to agree that Walz was overall good for Kamala Harris’s campaign. “There’s no doubt that Gov. Walz helped energize the ticket and bring voters into this coalition,” DFL Party Chair Ken Martin tells the Minnesota Reformer. “It would be really unfair to say that the reason that they lost this race was because of the addition of Gov. Walz, I think just the opposite.”

While it feels way too soon to be thinking about 2028, J. Patrick Coolican and Michelle Griffin posit in that same Reformer article that his VP run could put him in contention for the Democratic nom in next presidential election. “He’s shown himself to be skilled at the retail campaigning that is a staple of early state presidential nominating contests. He’s a proven fundraiser with a newly fat rolodex. And he’s got a long list of legislative victories,” they write.

Ryan Faircloth at the Star Tribune points out that Walz will be under greater scrutiny now. “Some had questioned the upside of picking a running mate from a state that hasn’t supported a Republican presidential candidate in more than 50 years,” he writes. Still, others believe he at least had a hand in Minnesota’s win. “Walz has consistently had an approval rating of more than 50% and his personal popularity has played a role in keeping the state blue,” Carleton College political science professor Steven Schier tells Ana Radelat at MinnPost.

In the meantime, Walz still has two years left as Minnesota’s Governor, and will be tackling the state budget in January.

The Good News and the Bad News

Last night might have been a shitshow on a national level, but Minnesota has... some things to celebrate? Former state Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (DFL-Minnetonka) won a special election against Republican Kathleen Fowke, which means the chamber will hold its 34-33 DFL majority. The Minnesota House is still tied at 67-67 and most likely headed for a recount, but legislators seem optimistic either way. “The system absorbed a lot of change in '23 and '24 — and so going forward, it was likely to be a less change-oriented session and biennium, regardless of who was in control,” a pretty chill sounding Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman tells MPR. But yes, as it looks now, the DFL trifecta is broken.

Rep. Ilhan Omar was reelected for a fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, as was Rep. Angie Craig, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily beat former b-baller Royce “The Bad Guys Won WWII” White. Minnesota's Third Congressional District is getting an upgrade with Democrat Kelly Morrison taking Rep. Dean Phillips’s seat. Phillips, as you almost certainly recall, didn’t run for reelection, instead vying for the presidency in an awkward campaign that lasted about three months.

And then, there are the weird ones. Remember Marisa Simonetti, the family values candidate who was arrested this summer for throwing a live tarantula at a woman she was subletting to? She lost her campaign for Hennepin County District 6 commissioner to Heather Edelson. Meanwhile, for some reason, Nisswa elected Jennifer Carnahan—the ousted MN GOP chair who's buds with imprisoned sex trafficker Tony Lazzaro, ran a sketchy charity org, and got into a fist fight at her husband’s funeral—as mayor. The Star Tribune points out that her new gig pays $350 a month. Sure hope she has a side hustle!

Animals Are Rising Up Against Us

Or, as last night’s election results suggest, people are just getting shittier. That’s my hot take today after learning that reported dog and cat bites in Minneapolis are up 30% from last year, according to Minneapolis Animal Care and Control. That’s 600 bites in 2024 versus 480 in 2023. Why are the gentle beasts of the world attacking us? MACC director Tony Schendel tells Katrina Bailey at The Minnesota Daily that incidents are more likely when residents don’t follow the leash law—something he believes is on the rise. Veterinarian Dr. Kristi Flynn says we need to watch for animal body language cues and respect that not all pets do Minnesota Nice. “If we could just ask that people give each other and their dogs space in public instead of everybody kind of rushing in to meet each other’s dogs and those kinds of things, I think that would help,” she says.

Coors Closes Leinenkugel's, Trove Needs Cash

We’ve seen it before, many times. In 2023, workers at the Leinenkugel's production facility in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, voted to unionize. Now, about a year later, brand owners Molson Coors has decided to shut the site down, Bring Me the News confirmed via a statement. The tourist facility and pilot brewery will remain open, while production moves to Milwaukee. Founded in 1867 in Chippewa Falls, Leinenkugel's is one of the oldest breweries in the U.S. Former Leinie's President Dick Leinenkugel tells Wisconsin's WTMJ that he and his family weren’t consulted or given a heads up before the announcement. “Today, on behalf of the Leinenkugel family, I thank [our customers and clients] again and will toast them this evening with a Leinenkugel’s Original and a tear in my eye," he says.

Over in Burnsville, Trove Brewing Co. is in need of a major cash infusion. We’re talking $75K to help pay for recent rent hikes and the rising costs of beer making supplies. “Right now, the sales aren’t there to keep the company running,” co-owner Jeffrey Crane tells Alyxandra Sego for Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Since opening in October of 2023, the owners say that business hasn't picked up and distribution deals have fallen through. They’ve launched a Givebutter fundraiser; so far 21 supporters have pledged $2,675.

Racket's Jay and Em discussed the topic of failing food and drink businesses that turn to crowdfunding last month on the debut episode of RacketCast, which you can listen to here. How do we feel about this one, gang?

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Over 100,000 people have ridden on Amtrak’s new route between St. Paul and Chicago, according to Amtrak officials.

The Borealis train hit the ridership milestone on Oct. 24, five months since opening the route to riders. The passenger line is Amtrak’s second daily train connecting St. Paul to Milwaukee and Chicago, with some stops in between.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the excitement and ridership that the new service has created and couldn’t be prouder of our partnership. The number of full trains, even at mid-week on the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago corridor, is leading Amtrak and our state partners to look at how we can add capacity,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris.

Frequent Amtrak riders like Robbie Young of La Crosse, Wis., usually take the Empire Builder route, which goes from Chicago to Seattle with a stop in St. Paul along the way. But on Sunday, he rode the Borealis Amtrak for the first time with two friends to get back home.

“Just having another travel option during the day was really nice. Coming from La Crosse, the [Empire Builder] leaves at 8 [p.m.] and gets up here around 11 [p.m.], if it’s on time, and arriving to St. Paul and trying to get to Minneapolis that late at night is tricky,” Young said. “So just having another option during the day is kind of what made this trip possible.”

Young regularly makes visits to the Twin Cities with friends on the weekends and prefers taking Amtrak because he doesn’t need a car to get to places when he’s in the Twin Cities.

He also says the Borealis seemed to be more on-time than the Empire Builder.

“We actually had to skip taking the Empire Builder once because it was 10-plus hours late, and ended up driving ourselves to Chicago,” Young said.

Others, like Chicago resident Larry O’Donnell, traveled to the Twin Cities via the Borealis to take a weekend solo trip. For him, the commute is about seven-and-a-half hours.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “It's about the same as … driving, but much easier. Much less stressful.”

He says he likes that he can read a book, listen to a podcast and “not have to worry about other people’s road rage.” And he plans to make more trips to the Midwest using the new route.

For rider Ax Delessio, it’s important to prioritize sustainable transportation. “The train is much better than even driving, right? It's a collective form of public transport, and something we absolutely need in this day and age to make our world more sustainable.”

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Bauhaus Brew Labs has a NA Helles called Nah that I really like, but the only place I've found it is Whole Foods, which I'd rather not shop at. I'm guessing the brewery sells it, but they're not super conveniently located - anyone know of anywhere else in the Twin Cities that sells it? Bonus points for being near the Green Line, or possibly by Free Geek because it's always nice to have an excuse to stop in there.

Also got any recommendations for other tasty local NA beers? I'm not really a fan of IPAs, but maybe someone else will be interested if you've got suggestions?

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For those unaware, a local blog with some great resources on some of the smaller, less covered local elections this (and every) year. Always worth a read.

This fall, Minnesotans will vote on whether to renew a proposal earmarking some money from the state lottery to fund environmental programs, including parks projects, conservation and clean water efforts.

Back in 1988, voters approved a Minnesota constitutional amendment dedicating a portion of lottery proceeds to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Since then, voters have thrice renewed the proposal. However, a new provision this year reserves 1.5 percent of funds for projects in underserved communities.

Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, sponsored the 2023 bill to reauthorize the earmark and told MPR News that the change would help ensure money doesn’t just go to large organizations.

“Think like University of Minnesota, Conservation Minnesota, groups that have been well established and also have the time and staffing to be able to apply to this grant process,” she said. “And so what we're trying to do is provide an opportunity for other organizations, maybe smaller organizations, organizations that are more community-led and focused, grassroots, to be able to access a tiny amount of this money and hopefully then grow to be able to participate in the full LCCMR process.”

LCCMR, or Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, is a group of legislators and citizens that makes funding recommendations to the legislature for the use of the trust’s money. Through that process, it’s allocated $1.5 billion to more than 2,600 projects since its founding in 1963.

Last month, a group of more than 130 conservation and environmental organizations and businesses announced they’d campaign together to convince voters to support renewing the amendment which needs a clear majority to pass. Since it’s a constitutional amendment, leaving the ballot question blank counts as a no-vote — and some proponents told MPR News they were worried the presidential election and other races would overshadow this.

“I think when people understand the question, they are wholeheartedly in favor of it, and I think it’s one of the things that unites us as Minnesotans: We love the outdoors, and we will protect it,” Hollins said. “It’s really important that people not just look at it and say, ‘Well, that sounds like a good idea.’ They need to proactively vote yes for it.”

Eleven people were released from the Hennepin County Jail on Wednesday following their arrests at a protest on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus on Monday calling for divestment from Israel.

Prosecutors charged 23-year-old Robyn Harbison with fourth-degree assault. Harbison is a U of M alum and was released from custody pending a future court date, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

The other 10 people arrested are not facing charges at this time.

“After review, decisions on felony-level charges in 10 cases have been deferred pending additional routine investigation, including any information connecting specific individuals to specific acts, damages, and costs,” a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said.

About 30 people waited outside the jail to greet the 11 arrestees as they left on Wednesday. The group of arrestees included eight current students and three recent graduates, according to student organizers.

The 11 protesters entered Morrill Hall on the university’s Twin Cities campus on Monday, following a student march calling on the university to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers. Students were also protesting campus policies limiting protests to certain hours and locations.

“We’re gonna keep being here as long as it takes for the university to divest its weapons manufacturer investments and bonds from Israel,” Harbison said after being released from jail Wednesday.

The arrested protesters were among those who occupied Morrill Hall on Monday, blocking some entrances and exits with furniture and bike locks. Campus administrators say protesters spray painted over security cameras and broke windows inside.

Police entered the building later that evening and made arrests. Students continued protests over recent days following the arrests, rallying outside the Hennepin County Jail and leading rallies on campus.

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The city of Minneapolis is taking advantage of a workaround to a federal rule blocking the construction of new public housing units.

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority will use federal, state and local funds to construct 15 new affordable apartments as part of a larger renovation of Spring Manor, a 221-unit public housing complex in northeast Minneapolis.

It’s one of about 15 projects nationwide using a new federal funding program to work around the restrictions imposed by the Faircloth Amendment, which effectively froze the number of public housing units any one public housing authority can manage in 1999.

The $65 million project is the largest rehab project in MPHA history. Residents have long asked city and state leaders to fix up the 57-year-old high rise, which has dilapidated floors, poor ventilation and dysfunctional air conditioning, according to residents and local representatives.

“You had me over last year — you put my feet to the fire,” Ward 3 Council Member Michael Rainville told residents in the audience at a Tuesday press conference.

For the existing buildings, MPHA will replace and improve plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems; upgrade kitchens, bathrooms, appliances and finishes; rework the ventilation system; add accessibility features to some units; and repair windows and roofs.

The agency will also construct a four-story addition, which will contain a gym, office space, internet lounge, bike storage and community space on the first floor. The top three floors will house residents in nine one-bedroom and six two-bedroom disability accessible units.

“When this project is done, these spaces will be worthy of the people who live here,” said U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., at the Tuesday press conference.

Smith introduced legislation last month that would repeal the Faircloth Amendment and create a new department within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund and develop affordable housing.

The $65 million price tag will be paid for with a complex scheme of federal, state, city and MPHA funds. It will only make a small dents — around $10 million — in MPHA’s $260 million maintenance backlog.

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In general open governance is good. These requests look silly at the same time, e.g. asking about CRT. At the same same time,

The Owatonna People’s Press last month reported the Owatonna school district spent $300,000 to fulfill a data request related to an equity plan and assessment and a word search of district correspondence containing words and phrases such as “Black Lives Matter,” “systemic racism” and “critical race theory.”

It's crazy that it cost $300k to do that. I think ideally, requests like this wouldn't be an issue even if they're not really in good faith, because responding to them would take someone a few button clicks.

The drumbeat of anticipation for Triumph apples dates back to at least 2021, when KARE 11 teased the University of Minnesota's long-awaited new entry into the apple canon.

"Most of what you see behind me is most of the world’s supply," U of M research scientist David Bedford told the station, gesturing to just four trees. "It was 31 years from the time that the breeding was done on this one until we released it this year, so it’s definitely a long game."

While orchards have been planting Triumph trees since '21, the hybrid fruit—part Honeycrisp, part Liberty—that touts "excellent scab tolerance, good fresh eating qualities, and long storage life" isn't expected to hit the retail market until 2025, according to the U. (Its name stems from its resistance to the fungal disease known as apple scab—"a triumph over apple scab!")

But, beginning earlier this week, a narrow avenue has opened for local apple-freaks to obtain Triumphs: Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market, the neighborhood grocer/bodega hybrid situated blocks from the U of M's ag-focused St. Paul campus. Ted Spreigl, the owner and produce director, managed to tap into the supply due his connections at Fireside Orchard in Northfield.

"I've built a pretty good relationship with them over the past four years, and it was simply a matter of asking them: 'Hey, can I get a few bags?'" Spreigl says. "To my knowledge, and to the orchard's, we're the first retailer selling them. It's a big deal, actually. I was shocked we were able to do it."

Speedy Market snagged 24 Triumph bags from Fireside, and 12 reportedly remain today. Scoot your butt over to St. Paul to score a $9.99 bag. Spreigl is an early Triumph fan.

"It is delicious," he says, noting that customers have been excited to get a sneak peek. "It's not too tart, not too sweet. It has a nice crunch to it, and it's perfect for dipping into caramel. Just a great, juicy eating apple."

That more or less tracks with our taste test. The Triumph is airier and crispier than the mighty, U of M-launched Honeycrisp, though it manages to pack a similar (albeit more muted) tart-sweet balance. We weren't familiar with the second strain in this hybrid, Liberty, which one upstate New York nursery describes as: "a large McIntosh-style fruit… sweet-tart, aromatic, crisp, and juicy—perfect for fresh eating or for cider blends."

"I haven’t been able to find a Liberty apple yet but I’ve been on the lookout," Brian Frange, the Long Island comedian/rigorous apple critic behind Apple Rankings, tells us when prompted for a Liberty review. "This Triumph apple sounds like a real legendary apple potential. I can’t wait to try it!"

Oh, yeah! Quick shoutout to Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market, a family-run Como Avenue staple since 1995. Aside from scoring generational apple scoops, the place is generally delightful and was buzzing with lunch energy during our Wednesday visit.

"It's an interesting store—kind of a cross between a Kowalski's and a bodega," says Spreigl, whose dad founded Speedy Market and whose brother co-owns it. "We have a full-service butcher, full deli, fresh produce form local producers, organic, imports; we run the gamut, and we fit it into a really tiny space."

How do ya like them apples?

Alright take us out, Charli!

Charli xcx - Apple

Winning an election in our divided, distracted culture with its hopelessly fragmented media landscape requires a deft mix of political strategy but also something else: brand marketing. Kamala Harris and her party navigated the politics of this wild summer with nary a misstep. To my eyes informed by decades in the advertising business, they’re also winning the marketing fight.

While Donald Trump has been using his platform to hawk merchandise – printed-in-China bibles and crypto currencies – the Harris campaign has done a sophisticated job of building a positive emotional brand to contrast the deep negativity of the Trump/Vance campaign. That’s worth keeping in mind as we enter the final stretch of a fraught campaign.

Not everyone is so optimistic about all these emotions bubbling to the surface of the election. Patrick Healy of the New York Times opinion page wrote flatly of the Harris campaign, “Joy is not a strategy.”

But if we dig a little deeper into what’s driving all that joy you might have a different opinion.

I find it useful to distill a marketing strategy down to a few key words. Earlier this year I put together my own wish list. It’s been fascinating to watch so many of them emerge as themes of the Harris-Walz campaign, and I’d encourage Democrats at every level of the campaignto focus on these words even as they make the case that Trump is unfit for another term.

“New” is at the top of my list. Originally it was there as a hope-to-have. Now it’s what the Democrats have given the voters, improbably enough given that Harris is an incumbent. In the ad biz we have a saying that that new is the most powerful word in the language. It signifies hope. We shouldn’t be surprised it’s driving a lot of momentum. Symbolism is also helping. Trump’s grumpy old-billionaire scowl vs. Harris’s meme-friendly smile.

With the initial head rush wearing off, the campaign’s job is to keep finding ways to contrast a steady stream of energetic new ideas with a Trump campaign that, for now at least, is doing them the favor of re-running the same tired old show from 2016 and 2020.

“Unity” comes next. At one point I wondered if the word unity could work much the way the word “hope” fueled Obama’s first campaign, given the unsettling feeling among voters that the whole country might be breaking apart.

It’s more complicated than that, but we have been hearing the word a lot from both parties. I’ll fearlessly predict that Trump reached his highwater market when he said his brush with an assassin’s bullet had made him a changed man out to unify the country. Now that he’s disavowed that vow and reverted to form, unity is ripe for the Democrats to own. It can be as simple as using the word “we” rather than breaking everything down into party or identity. Harris hit the perfect note by offering, “A chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

“American” is a word I’ve been waiting to hear more of from the Democrats, and it was a great thing to see them reclaim patriotism at their convention. In the past they’ve tended to leave the cynical flag-waving to the other party. But there is deeper, more authentic kind of patriotism. It is serious high ground. By becoming the party of Trump with all his badmouthing of the country we all share, the Republicans have given the Democrats a rare opportunity to claim it for their own.

“Freedom” is the other word from the Republican lexicon that the Harris campaign has been busy taking ownership of. It’s a neat bit of marketing jujutsu to defend something better than tax cuts and deregulation with the kind of soaring rhetoric Ronald Reagan once used.

Given the swamp of disinformation and misinformation we’re all living in, “truth” carries special significance. Some strategists will tell you everyone knows Donald Trump is dishonest; he is after all a convicted felon. Why waste time and money repeating it?

Standing on the side of truth is useful as a defense against the barrage of false attacks being aimed at Democratic candidates all up and down the ballot, and it’s an easy case to make as we see Republican lies do real harm to hurricane survivors or the people of Springfield, Ohio.

Here’s a positive way to frame it. Lying is lazy leadership that holds this country back. Moving forward means facing hard truths together.

There’s a marketing strategy in five words: new, unity, American, freedom, truth. Easy to remember. Easy to share. I don’t know if that’s the way people advising the Harris/Waltz campaign would describe their efforts, but it’s a good way to understand what they’ve achieved in an astonishingly short time.

They’re good words to keep in mind by any Democratic candidate who doesn’t want the emotional advantage of late summer to get lost in the hard politicking that’s sure to come with the campaign’s final days.

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