Xcel Energy reports more than 71,000 without power

posted in: All news | 0

Xcel Energy reported more than 2,500 power outages in and around the Twin Cities on Tuesday morning, impacting more than 71,000 residents, following powerful Monday night thunderstorms that downed branches across the state.

About 2,600 power outages were reported statewide and into western Wisconsin, including 220 outages in St. Paul alone, cutting power to more than 5,200 people in the capital city.

It may take days for some homes to regain electricity, according to the utility.

South of Rochester, Minn., the MiEnergy Cooperative reported another 2,500 customers without power in the region that spans Fillmore, Mower and Houston counties and extends into northern Iowa.

The National Weather Service in Chanhassen reported hail, heavy rain and high winds in storms that moved across Minnesota and western Wisconsin from about 5 p.m. Monday to 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Xcel Energy maintains an online map of power outages at tinyurl.com/XcelOutage.

Related Articles


More severe weather on Monday as golf-ball-sized hail hits metro on Sunday


Keeping animals of all sizes, from cats to horses, cool during record heat


Steve Miller Band cancels Minnesota State Fair Grandstand show due to climate change


2 dead in New Jersey after flood waters carry away vehicle during heavy rains that hit Northeast


Could this Hawaii community be the next Lahaina? Some residents fear a similar wildfire fate

P&G to increase prices in part due to tariffs as shoppers remain cautious and delay purchases

posted in: All news | 0

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble offered an annual earnings outlook that was below analysts’ projections and said it would raise prices on about a quarter of its products in the U.S. in part due to higher costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The assessment delivered Tuesday comes a day after the Cincinnati-based maker of such products as Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, named Shailesh Jejurikar, currently chief operating officer, to succeed Jon Moeller as the company president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Moeller, who has been at the company’s helm since November 2021, will become P&G’s executive chairman.

FILE – This is a display of Procter and Gamble Crest toothpaste in a Costco Warehouse in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The price increases, which will be implemented starting next month, will be in the mid-single digit percentages and will also be combined with improved features in the products, P&G’s Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten told reporters on a call on Tuesday after the release of its fiscal fourth-quarter results.

In April P&G said it was doing whatever it could to reduce higher costs from Trump’s expansive tariffs, from shifting sourcing to changing formulation to avoid duties. Back then, Schulten told reporters on a call that the consumer products giant still would likely have to pass on higher prices to shoppers as early as July.

P&G on Tuesday estimated that tariffs will increase its costs by about $1 billion before tax for fiscal 2026.

The price increases come as P&G said its consumers have become more cautious, digging deeper into their pantry inventory before going on a shopping trip, focusing on larger pack sizes at clubs and focusing on deals.

Related Articles


Who wants to be a millionaire? 1 in 10 Americans already is but the status loses its luster


Wall Street gains as investors eye US trade talks with China, Fed rate decision and earnings reports


Gunman who killed 4 at Manhattan office building was targeting NFL headquarters, mayor says


Federal Reserve likely to stand pat on rates this week, deepening the gulf between Powell and Trump


Today in History: July 29, USS Forrestal accident

“The consumer clearly is more selective in terms of shopping behavior in our categories, and we see a desire to find value,” Schulten told reporters Tuesday.

But Schulten believes that when price increases are combined with improved features on products they resonate with customers. He declined to give specifics but noted that with its baby care brand Luvs, the company boosted prices while making some improvements a few months ago, and it was able to increase market share.

P&G reported net income of $3.62 billion, or $1.48 per share, for the quarter ended June 30. That compares with $3.14 billion, or $1.27 per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts were expecting $1.42 per share, according to FactSet analysts.

Sales rose to $20.89 billion, in line with what analysts predicted. That was up from $20.53 billion in the year-ago quarter.

For the current year, P&G expects earnings per share in the range of $6.83 to $7.09. That was below the $7.23 per share that analysts predicted. The company expects annual sales to be up anywhere from 1% to 5% for the year.

Trump caps his Scottish visit by opening a new golf course

posted in: All news | 0

By WILL WEISSERT and DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

BALMEDIE, Scotland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump opened a new golf course bearing his name in Scotland on Tuesday, capping a five-day foreign trip designed to promote his family’s luxury properties and play golf.

“Let’s go. 1-2-3,” Trump said before he used a golden pair of scissors to cut a red ribbon and fireworks popped to mark the ceremonial opening of the new Trump course in the village of Balmedie on Scotland’s northern coast.

“This has been an unbelievable development,” Trump said beforehand. He thanked his son Eric for his work on the project, saying it was “truly a labor of love for him.” Son Don Jr. also was present.

Eric Trump said the course was a “passion project” for his father.

Immediately after the opening, Trump, Eric Trump and two professional golfers teed off on the first hole. Trump rarely allows the news media to watch his golf game, though video journalists and photographers often find him along the course wherever he plays. Trump planned to play 18 holes before he arrives back in Washington on Tuesday night.

The overseas jaunt let Trump escape Washington’s sweaty summer heat and humidity while questions about the case of Jeffrey Epstein followed him across the Atlantic Ocean. But it added to a lengthy list of ways the Republican president has used the White House to promote his brand.

Billing itself as the “Greatest 36 Holes in Golf,” the Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, was designed by Eric Trump. The course is hosting a PGA Seniors Championship event later this week before it begins offering rounds to the public on Aug. 13. Signs promoting the event were seen all around the course on Tuesday, while temporary signage on the highway guided drivers onto the correct road.

Golfers hitting the course at dawn as part of that event had to put their clubs through metal detectors as part of the security procedures for Trump’s arrival.

The day combined two things close to Trump’s heart: golf and Scotland. His mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born on the Isle of Lewis and eventually went to New York. She died in 2000 at age 88.

“My mother loved Scotland,” Trump said Monday during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at another of his golf courses, Turnberry, on Scotland’s southern coast. “It’s different when your mother was born here.”

He appeared to be in such a good mood that he even praised the throng of journalist who had assembled to cover the event, saying there was no “fake news” on the course.

“I didn’t use the word ‘fake news’ one time, not one time,” Trump said.

Trump worked some official business into the trip by holding talks with Starmer and reaching a trade framework for tariffs between the U.S. and the European Union’s 27 member countries — though scores of key details remain to be settled. But the trip has featured a lot of golf, and the presidential visit is sure to raise the new course’s profile.

Trump’s assets are in a trust, and his sons are running the family business while he’s in the White House. Any business generated at the course will ultimately enrich the president when he leaves office, though.

Visible from around the new course are towering wind turbines lining the coast, part of a nearby windfarm Trump sued to try to block construction of in 2013.

He lost the case and was eventually ordered to pay legal costs for bringing it — and the issue still enrages him. During the meeting with Starmer, Trump called windmills “ugly monsters” and suggested they were part of “the most expensive form of energy.”

Related Articles


Democrats press Trump officials for ‘large-scale’ effort to address Gaza starvation


Trump’s tariffs could squeeze US factories and boost costs by up to 4.5%, a new analysis finds


Government shutdown talk is starting early ahead of a difficult funding fight in Congress this fall


Federal Reserve likely to stand pat on rates this week, deepening the gulf between Powell and Trump


States file lawsuit against Trump administration over efforts to collect SNAP recipients’ data

“I restricted windmills in the United States because they also kill all your birds,” Trump said. “If you shoot a bald eagle in the United States, they put you in jail for five years. And windmills knock out hundreds of them. They don’t do anything. Explain that.”

Starmer said in the U.K, “we believe in a mix” of energy, including oil, gas and renewables.

The new golf course will be the third owned by the Trump Organization in Scotland. Trump bought Turnberry in 2014 and owns another course near Aberdeen that opened in 2012.

Trump golfed at Turnberry on Saturday, as protesters took to the streets, and on Sunday. He invited Starmer, who famously doesn’t golf, aboard Air Force One so the prime minister could get a private tour of his Aberdeen properties before Tuesday’s ceremonial opening.

“Even if you play badly, it’s still good,” Trump said of golfing on his course over the weekend. “If you had a bad day on the golf course, it’s OK. It’s better than other days.”

Superville reported from Washington.

Chicago foodie travel: The history (and mystery) of ice cream sundaes

posted in: All news | 0

The origin story behind the ice cream sundae comes swirled with mystery, history, as well as chocolate and even a cherry on top.

When Edward Berners died at 75 on July 1, 1939, the Chicago Daily Tribune published an obituary the next day headlined “Man Who Made First Ice Cream Sundae Is Dead.”

Ann Marie Borek and Michael Paulukonis enjoy sundaes at The Washington House Museum in the tiny Wisconsin town of Two Rivers on July 5, 2006. The store inside the museum is a replica of Berners’ Ice Cream Parlor, believed to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae in 1881. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

The paper wrote that Berners claimed he originated the sundae at his ice cream parlor in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, about 40 years before his death, when George Hallauer asked him to put chocolate soda flavoring directly on a dish of ice cream.

But according to the Two Rivers and Wisconsin historical societies, Berners made that first chocolate sundae at Berner’s Confectionery in 1881 — nearly 20 years earlier than his obituary estimated.

A number of places claim to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae, including Evanston (William Garwood at Garwood’s drugstore in 1890) and Plainfield (Charles Sonntag at his pharmacy, circa 1893).

Then there’s Ithaca, New York, which says Chester Platt first served a “Cherry Sunday” at his Platt & Colt’s Pharmacy on April 3, 1892. That is, in fact, 11 years after Two Rivers’ chocolate sundae. Ithacans, however, cite a paper trail as their evidence.

If you were wondering, pharmacists, aka druggists, once made medicinal and recreational soda drinks, sometimes mixing flavorings and cocaine. Those soda fountains became family-friendly social hubs, eventually offering ice cream sodas, then soda-free ice cream sundaes, wherever it was invented.

One detail shared across the origin stories is that the name sundae came from Sunday. But theories vary as to why, from respect for the Christian day of worship or due to a decidedly secular trademark attempt.

Whatever the story, the ice cream sundae lives on, with old-fashioned chocolate and cherry, which you can find at Margie’s Candies with lots of whipped cream, of course, to more modern creations made by top chefs around Chicago.

— Louisa Kung Liu Chu

Chocolate fudge sundae at Betty’s Ice Cream

A hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and peanuts from Betty’s Ice Cream in the Gage Park neighborhood on July 16, 2025. (Lauryn Azu/Chicago Tribune)

Memories of summers past stand frozen in time at this Southwest Side ice cream window, where a vintage sign holds the sacred image of a banana split sundae and reads “good ice cream for good people.”

That’s the heart of Betty’s Ice Cream in Gage Park, where owners Juan and Beatriz Gonzalez for decades have served cold treats with warm smiles.

As a first-time visitor, I wasn’t sure which direction to take my sundae, but I did make sure to bring cash. Select chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ice cream for the base, and fudge, strawberry or pineapple sauce for the topping, plus adornments such as wafers and maraschino cherries. For me, a crispy waffle cup tied my fudge and peanut-covered scoop together — the perfect treat for an idyllic Chicago summer afternoon. — Lauryn Azu

$8. 5840 S. Kedzie Ave., 773-737-7634

Dubai chocolate sundae at Karak Café

The Dubai sundae at Karak Café in Lisle on July 17, 2025. The ice cream dessert features scoops of vanilla drizzled with chocolate and pistachio cream. (Zareen Syed/Chicago Tribune)

The now-everywhere Dubai chocolate trend can be traced back to a pricey bar of chocolate made by United Arab Emirates-based chocolatier, Fix, which dreamed up a milk chocolate bar filled with shredded phyllo pastry known as kataifi and a pistachio cream filling. The actual name of the bar is “Can’t Get Knafeh of It,” referencing the traditional Palestinian-Jordanian dessert, knafeh, or kunafe, which is made by layering kaitefi with cheese, pistachios and a dousing of rose water syrup. Since it took off on social media, it’s been reinvented into everything from pastries, cakes and doughnuts to lattes and cold coffee drinks.

At Karak Café in Lisle, Dubai chocolate has become an ice cream sundae. The easily shareable dessert has two scoops of classic vanilla ice cream on a bed of chewy, chocolatey brownie pieces and melted milk chocolate gracing both the brownies and the ice cream. It’s topped with a generous drizzle of green pistachio cream. Typically, it’s served with a sugar cone on the side or a wafer stick.

A solid sundae — indulgent, sweet, texturally pleasing and messier with each dig — but it would be even better with a sprinkle of chopped up pistachios. The unassuming Muslim-owned cafe also makes a halwa sundae, based on a Desi confection with a fudge-like texture. — Zareen Syed

$7.99. Karak Café, 2004 Ogden Ave., Lisle, 331-775-2077, karakcafes.com

Sundae Mondays sundae at Longman & Eagle

Sundae with gochujang caramel, rice vinegar macerated peaches, crushed Honey Butter Chips, sesame seeds and Maldon sea salt over vanilla ice cream by chef Won Kim of Kimski restaurant for Sundae Monday at Longman & Eagle in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago on July 14, 2025 (Louisa Kung Liu Chu/Chicago Tribune)

Award-winning pastry chef Dana Cree of Pretty Cool Ice Cream and then-executive chef Max Robbins at Longman & Eagle launched a charitable series that was a beacon in the dark of 2020. Sundae Mondays at L & E in Logan Square, featuring toppings from an extraordinary roster of chefs, restaurateurs and creators — benefiting a charity of their choice — still persists every summer. A recent sundae by chef Won Kim of Kimski offered subtly spicy gochujang caramel with aromatic rice vinegar macerated peaches, crushed Honey Butter Chips, Maldon sea salt and nutty sesame seeds over a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream. It benefited The Montessori School of Englewood (with 70 low-income children ages 3 to 5 years old, many who are unhoused and rely on the school for food, clothing, health care and more), which will have to shut down if it does not receive federal funding by December. — LKLC

$5. 2657 N. Kedzie Ave., 773-276-7110, longmanandeagle.com

Dark Chocolate Citrus Sundae at Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio

Citrus and chocolate are a common Italian duo as well-suited as strawberry is to cream. Some experimental scoop shops blithely sprinkle orange peel or extract in chocolate, but it can feel hollow or overly clever. They might take notes from Monteverde’s citrus dark chocolate sundae, which is plated alongside a whirlpool of marmellata, mandarin olive oil and toasted pistachios swirling in an umber cocoa sea.

Citrus and chocolate both can dabble in varying intensities of sweet, sour, bitter and florality — here, the focus is textural congruity and balance, not tartness or sweetness. The citrus isn’t infused into the ice cream, but that flavor still ripples through every bite, sans acidity, thanks to the shapely and precise pieces of fruit and peel.

And the biggest achievement of all? It’s actually a dark chocolate sorbet sundae, completely smooth, creamy and devoid of any crystalline ice. The dish is quietly, confidently vegan and gluten-free.

The West Loop restaurant offers the dish year-round and has different iterations depending on the citrus season and availability. Some intriguing possibilities include Cara Cara oranges and kumquats. — Ahmed Ali Akbar

$14. 1020 W. Madison St., 312-888-3041, monteverdechicago.com

Sunda Sundae at Sunda New Asian

The Sunda Sundae, featuring shaved ice, ube ice cream and assorted toppings, at Sunda Fulton Market on July 5, 2025. (Kayla Samoy/Chicago Tribune)

OK, yes, this might be a bit of an unconventional pick. But what makes a sundae a sundae? For the Chicago Tribune food team, we settled on there needing to be some sort of ice cream base and, of course, lots of toppings. And Filipino halo-halo is all about the toppings, which can range from sweet beans and fruit to bits of ube jam or even sprinkles of cereal for crunch.

Sunda’s take — which they do label as a sundae — features plenty of crunchy shaved ice topped with scoops of ube ice cream, chewy pandan coconut gels, red mung beans, lychee and flan. The mixture is well-balanced, served just cold enough so it doesn’t all melt into an unsightly ice cream soup. It comes plated beautifully in a glass for the perfect photo opp, but the accompanying bowl allows you to mix everything together just right so you can build the ideal bite without getting too messy. — Kayla Samoy

$15. 110 W. Illinois St., 312-644-0500, and 333 N. Green St., 312-900-0033, sundanewasian.com

Seasonal sundae at Void

The seasonal sundae with salted vanilla gelato, blueberry sorbet, cornbread toffee and buttermilk caramel at Void in Avondale. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Chefs Tyler Hudec and Dani Kaplan, along with co-owner and general manager Pat Ray, will always have a shot of house-made No-Lört waiting for you at their whimsical Italian American restaurant, but probably not the same dish of ice cream. The seasonal sundae at Void in Avondale changes constantly, utilizing creative techniques, but is always served in a silver coupe. One variation paired tangy-sweet blueberry sorbet with delicately salted vanilla gelato, topped with a crackling cornbread toffee and buttermilk caramel drizzled with the carefree abandon of summer. — LKLC

$12. 2937 N. Milwaukee Ave., 872-315-2199, voidchicago.com