7/29/2024 -- Trump On The Attack During St.Cloud Rally

Politics

Donald Trump and JD Vance Speak At Rally In St. Cloud

Summary: Donald Trump held a campaign rally in St. Cloud over the weekend along with his newly announced running mate, JD Vance.

Flipping MN: Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in over 50 years, but Trump spoke about his goal of flipping the state red.

Attacks on Harris: During the rally, Trump focused his attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the likely Democratic nominee. Trump called Harris a “radical left lunatic” and accused her of supporting defunding the police, taking away guns, allowing millions of undocumented immigrants into the country, and limiting red meat consumption.

2020 Criticism: Trump also spent time criticizing the state's response to the protests and unrest in Minneapolis after George Floyd was murdered.

New Polls: A slew of polls have been released since Joe Biden dropped out, including a KSTP poll showing Harris with a 10 point lead over Trump.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis Parks Workers Reach Tentative Agreement with Park Board 🤝

The Summary: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and its workers reached a tentative agreement to end the first-ever strike in the park system's 141-year history. About 300 union workers had been on strike for 23 days.

Agreement Reached: The worker’s union announced the agreement early Friday morning, with both sides signing tentative agreements. Workers are expected to return to work on Monday.

The Context: Striking workers had voted down the most recent contract offer and called for a return to negotiations. Key issues included anti-worker language in the contract and the number of union stewards.

Tensions and Resolutions: Workers disrupted a park board meeting with chants, and both sides filed unfair labor practice charges. Despite these tensions, an agreement was finally reached, bringing hope for a resolution and a return to work.

Business

❯ Yacht Festival Success: According to TC Business, the inaugural Minnesota Yacht Club Festival at Harriet Island drew about 35,000 attendees over two days. Downtown St. Paul saw a boost in business, particularly at hotels and restaurants before and after the festival.

❯ Hotel Record Broken: Minneapolis broke its all-time hotel revenue record last week with $12.5 million, surpassing last year's Twin Cities Pride-Taylor Swift concert weekend record of $12 million. The increase was driven by four major events and conferences, resulting in 81.8% hotel occupancy.

❯ $250k For Artists: The City of Minneapolis has launched a $250,000 pilot program to fill vacant storefronts on the Downtown West-Loring Park border with artist studios, providing up to $50,000 annually in rent subsidies for selected artists over two years.

What Else We’re Reading…

Increasing COVID-19 Rates Linked Back To 4th Of July Weekend In Minnesota 😷

If you have noticed more people getting COVID-19 recently, you’re not crazy. Positivity rates of COVID-19 tests at urgent-care clinics in the east metro have risen from 3% in May to 10% in June to nearly 30% now. Minnesota is one of 42 states where COVID-19 levels are measurably increasing, according to the CDC.

Sports

⚾ The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers on Sunday to win the series. Bailey Ober dealt 11 strikeouts and only gave up one hit in eight innings.

🏀 The Timberwolve’s Anthony Edwards scored 11 points in Team USA’s win over Serbia. Aside from playing good basketball, Edwards also apparently thinks he is pretty good at ping pong.

🤸‍♀️ Saint Paul’s Suni Lee qualified for the Olympic gymnastics all-round final in Paris which will take place on Thursday.

Quick hits

Headlines From Around The Twin Cities ✔

❯ A North Minneapolis pool was closed over the weekend after an 'unknown substance' was dumped in water (Kare11)

❯ The Miracle of Birth Center at the Minnesota State Fair will be without birthing cows out of fear of bird flu within the cattle industry (AP)

❯ Measles have been confirmed in three unvaccinated children in Twin Cities (Bring Me The News)

❯ Minneapolis Police has reported 9 shootings, 1 stabbing and 3 homicides since Thursday (Fox9)

❯ Governor Tim Walz said he would do what is in the best interest of the country if asked to be Kamala Harris’ Vice President (NBC)

The Final Word: State Fair Chef Critic

If you’re on social media, especially Tik Tok or X, there is a chance you might be familiar with an account called “Chef Reactions.” The man behind the account is a chef who has gained huge popularity in providing sarcastic critiques of various food videos.

Well, vendors at the Minnesota State Fiar should get ready because Chef Reactions is coming to Minnesota — and he is bringing his extra stretchy pants.

-Patrick