1/27/2025 -- Target Slashes DEI

❄ You might not believe which US city is on track to have more snow in January than the Twin Cities. Good news — substaintial snow is in the forecast for early February.

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Boundary Waters Permits Go On Sale This Wednesday! 🛶

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📅 Mark your calendars! Boundary Waters permits go on sale this Wednesday! See Ely Outfitting Company for free custom route options and trip planning.

➡ Go to Ely Outfitting Company to learn more about buying a permit and booking a trip.

Business

Target Scraps DEI Initiatives, Gets Booted From Twin Cities Pride Festival 🎯

The Summary: Target is rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The decision comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive orders aimed at ending DEI programs across the federal government and encouraging private sector companies to follow suit.

Target's DEI Rollback

1. Ending its three-year DEI goals and the Racial Equity Action and Change initiatives.

2. Discontinuing participation in external diversity-focused surveys, including the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index.

3. Terminating a program designed to increase products from Black- or minority-owned businesses.

4. Rebranding its "Supplier Diversity" team as "Supplier Engagement."

Corporate Trends and Reactions Target's decision reflects a broader trend among major U.S. companies including Walmart, McDonald's, Ford, and John Deere have also reduced or phased out their DEI commitments. Some companies, like Costco, have resisted pressure to end DEI programs.

Booted From TC Pride: In response to Target's decision to scale back its DEI efforts, Twin Cities Pride has announced that the retailer will not have a presence at the 2025 Pride festival and parade. This marks a significant change, as Target has been a long-standing sponsor and participant in the event for about 18 years

“As a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape.” -Kiera Fernandez, Target Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer

Healthcare

University of Minnesota and Essentia Health Propose $1 Billion Partnership for Academic Medicine

The Summary: The University of Minnesota and Duluth-based Essentia Health have announced a proposed framework for a new nonprofit entity focused on academic medicine. This ambitious plan is being described as an "all-Minnesota health system solution.”

Key Elements of the Proposal: The proposed framework envisions a new nonprofit entity that would provide patient care while supporting the university's academic health training programs. This new organization would be led by Dr. David Herman, the current CEO of Essentia Health.

Financial Commitment and Structure: The proposal includes a significant financial commitment of $1 billion over five years. University President Dr. Rebecca Cunningham emphasized that this funding would not come from taxpayers but could be sourced from the U, its clinical partners, philanthropy, and bond debt.

Where’s Fairview: While the U and Fairview have been negotiating for the university to acquire its teaching hospital campus, Cunningham indicated a shift in focus towards this new proposal. Fairview expressed surprise at the announcement, stating they were only informed of the discussions between the U and Essentia just 24 hours before.

Timeline and Next Steps: Cunningham expressed hope for having a "bold vision in place before the end of 2026," when the current agreements with Fairview end. The university and Essentia have begun conversations with Fairview about the new proposal.

Government

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of DFL, Invalidates Previous GOP Actions 👩‍⚖️

The Summary: The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party's interpretation of quorum requirements in the state House. The court determined that 68 members need to be present to meet the quorum threshold, not 67 as Republicans had argued.

Background of the Dispute: The dispute arose from a vacant Roseville-area seat, which gave Republicans a one-seat advantage. Republicans had been conducting chamber business with 67 members present, while Democrats boycotted the session to deny quorum.

Court's Reasoning: The justices stated that the Constitution's definition of quorum applies to the total number of seats in the chamber, regardless of vacancies. They emphasized that the total number of seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives is 134, and therefore, a quorum requires 68 members.

Implications of the Ruling: This decision invalidates all actions taken by the Republican majority since the start of the session. The House will essentially have to start over, though the court did not provide specific instructions on how to proceed.

What Else We’re Reading…

Ellison Among 22 Attorney Generals Suing Trump Over Birthright Citizenship

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined a coalition of 22 state attorneys general in filing lawsuits against President Donald Trump's executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for children of unauthorized immigrants. The lawsuits argue that Trump's order violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Ellison and other attorneys general contend that the executive order is an unconstitutional breach of presidential power and would render thousands of children stateless if implemented.

🏠 💲 Real Estate Feature: Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s Most Expensive House Listings

Check out the five most expensive houses that are currently on the market in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minneapolis

• House 1 — $7.5M

• House 2 — $4.6M

• House 3 — $3.9M

St. Paul

• House 1 — $2M

• House 2 — $2M

• House 3 — $1.2M

💲 And if you’re curious what the most expensive listing is in the entire Twin Cities metro, that would be this Edina mansion.

Sports 🏀

🏀 The Gopher Men’s Basketball team’s hot streak has continued after they defeated #15 Oregon. It’s their third win in a row and second win over a ranked opponent. The Barn was rockin’ after the game.

🏒 The Gopher Men’s hockey was swept by #2 Michigan State over the weekend and were outscored 12-6 across the two games.

🏒 The Minnesota Frost broke their three game losing streak with a win over Boston. The Frost were led by two goals from Taylor Heise.

🏀 The Minnesota Timberwolves dominated the Denver Nuggets from start to finish. During the game, Anthony Edwards became the Wolves all-time leader for 3pt field goals made.

🏒 The Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night by a score of 4-2.

🏀 The Gopher women’s basketball team got back on track with a win over the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday. They are now in 4th place in the Big 10.

Quick hits

Headlines From Around The Twin Cities & Greater Minnesota ✔

❯ A woman has been indicted in the car crash that killed Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson (AP)

❯ Wuollet Bakery has closed their flagship Minneapolis store (Bring Me The News)

❯ St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali is stepping down (KSTP)

❯ A St. Paul resident was arrested by ICE on Thursday (WCCO)

The Final Word: Cutest Puppy Contest 🐶

If you read our weekend preview newsletter this last week you’ll notice that we advertised a custest puppy event that took place at Back Channel Brewing. The votes are still being tallied, but here are some of the contestants from this year’s competition.

-Patrick