Niko Medved was introduced as the next coach of the Gophers men’s basketball team on Tuesday afternoon in Dinkytown.

He spoke for nearly 30 minutes during his introductory press conference that, in many ways, was the antithesis of the performance P.J. Fleck put on when he was introduced as the next coach of the Gophers football team nearly a decade ago.

No talk of being elite. No talk of running into the fire. No talk of eating difficult conversations for breakfast.

It was much more pragmatic approach from Medved, a Roseville native who oozed Minnesota Dad Energy while detailing a path that started with him serving as a student manager with the Gophers roughly 30 years ago, then came full circle this week when he was hired as the man in charge of leading the program into the future.

“Now is the time,” Medved said. “Now is the time more than ever that Minnesota is poised to take the next step.”

Is it? That might hinge on Medved’s ability to channel his inner Fleck.

It’s not going to be an easy task stepping into the spotlight with the Gophers struggling to stay relevant amid the changing landscape of college athletics. The lack of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) budget compared to some of their peers has made the transfer portal a nightmare to navigate.

Just ask Ben Johnson, the former U basketball coach who struggled to keep some of his best players from leaving for more money elsewhere.

In an interview with KFAN radio host Dan Barreiro last week, Richard Pitino offered some advice to whoever took over, and he’d be a pretty good person to listen to as another former coach of the Gophers men’s basketball team.

Though he covered many topics about the program itself, perhaps his most interesting point came when speaking about the importance of establishing a brand that can become recognizable to even the most casual fans.

If Medved needs an example of how to do that, he doesn’t have to look any further than Fleck.

Never mind that Fleck’s personality might rub people the wrong way. The man knows how to build a brand in a way that is authentic to who he is at his core. He has stayed true to himself since his introductory press conference and has established his “Row The Boat” slogan as a brand in the process.

All the catchphrases from Fleck that might illicit an eye roll here and there have been woven into the fabric of the program. The culture that Fleck has cultivated gets players to stick around, fans to show up, and maybe most importantly, boosters to write checks.

It would be wise for Medved to mold himself in Fleck’s image.

That doesn’t mean Medved needs to act like Fleck. He simply has to connect with people the same way Fleck does.

You have to get people to care. It’s the only way the Gophers are going to succeed in a game that’s seemingly rigged for them to fail.

The elephant in the room was something Medved addressed multiple times in his introductory press conference as it seemed like every other question led back to Name, Image, and Likeness in some way, shape or form.

“I believe there are plenty of people here who want to get behind and support this program,” Medved said. “It’s our job getting people to believe in what we’re doing and be like, ‘This is a program that I really want to get behind.’”

That will start and stop with Medved. He has to be the person who can make up for all of the other shortcomings. That’s what the Gophers hired him to be.

You got a glimpse of how Medved will go about his business when brought up his “Team Together” slogan that will be coming with him.

“It’s going to take everybody to be successful,” Medved said. “I’ve seen Minnesotans come together and support something unlike anything. I’ve seen it done here before. I believe we can do that again.”

That sounds nothing like Fleck, and that’s kind of the point.

The authenticity with which Medved speaks will be his biggest superpower. He’s a Minnesotan himself, so he knows Minnesotans better than most. He knows what resonates with them, and he will have to use that to his advantage.

“I can’t wait to pour my heart and soul into this,” Medved said. “You can count on me to do that.”

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By MICHAEL PHILLIS, ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency illegally canceled grants worth more than $1.5 billion focused on improving the environment in minority communities hit hard by pollution, Senate Democrats say.

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Hundreds of grants were awarded by former President Joe Biden’s administration under a 2022 law that directed the EPA to spend $3 billion on grants to help low-income and minority communities improve their air, water and protect against climate change. Those environmental justice efforts were a major priority under Biden.

President Donald Trump’s administration, however, has cut funding, grants and people focused on environmental justice. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced March 10 that that he was canceling more than 400 “DEI and Environmental Justice grants” totaling $1.7 billion. In a post on X, Zeldin said the cuts were the fourth — and biggest — round of EPA/Department of Government Efficiency cuts.

All nine Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works signed the letter to Zeldin dated Monday. It demands information from the EPA about the terminated grants and eliminated environmental justice employees, and asks the agency to explain its plans to “combat pollution specifically in marginalized communities.”

“The vast majority of the targeted grant awards were made using funds appropriated by Congress with a statutory mandate that they be distributed to disadvantaged communities,” according to the senators’ letter.

The senators also accused the EPA of violating court orders and rules for terminating grants.

An EPA statement said the terminations will not stop.

“We have received the letter and will respond through appropriate channels. As the Trump administration reins in wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, EPA will continue terminating assistance agreements in line with terms and conditions,” the statement said.

An internal EPA list of the roughly 400 grantees that was shared with The Associated Press detailed the cuts.

They included a wide swath of recipients for clean air and water initiatives. The Childhood Lead Action Project was granted $500,000 for a lead poisoning prevention program. Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice was granted $474,000 for a community air quality system, while the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection was granted $1 million for a pilot project in communities affected by PFAS contamination in drinking water, as examples.

To carry out the spending in the Inflation Reduction Act, the agency funded several environmental justice grant programs during the Biden administration. Community Change Grants, for example, focused on community-driven projects for places “facing legacy pollution, climate change, and persistent disinvestment,” per the EPA.

“Unsurprisingly, the illegal termination of these grants puts communities at risk and does nothing to lower costs for families,” said Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat.

Trump signed an executive order overturning decades worth of environmental justice policies and purging DEI efforts from the government. Zeldin has in turn dismantled the Biden administration’s climate program and environmental justice work.

“EPA continues to work diligently to implement President Trump’s executive orders,” Zeldin has said.

For example, the agency directed a bank to freeze $14 billion in funding spent during the Biden administration on a green bank to finance climate-friendly projects — a program authorized by Congress. Zeldin accused the nonprofits administering the program of mismanagement and self-dealing and terminated the grants. That move was paused by a federal judge who said the government’s accusations of fraud were “vague and unsubstantiated.”

Senate Democrats are pushing back against the Trump administration’s effort to withhold congressionally authorized spending, called impoundment. They argue Zeldin is violating a promise he made during his Senate confirmation hearing to follow the law.

“The illegal termination of these EPA grants not only violates congressional appropriations law, contractual agreements, and multiple court orders, but it also undermines essential programs aimed at eliminating childhood lead poisoning, reducing toxic air pollution, and mitigating health risks from heat and wildfires,” said Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the committee.

The Washington Post was first to report on the letter.

Last year, the EPA changed the terms and conditions for its grants, eliminating its ability to do policy-based cancellations. An internal EPA Office of General Counsel email obtained by Senate Democrats and provided to The AP says that even though EPA officials knew some grants had this updated language, they were terminated anyway.

Phillis reported from St. Louis and St. John reported from Detroit.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Gov. Tim Walz Tuesday announced that he will require state workers to be in the office at least 50 percent of their work days beginning around June 1.

The governor noted that the policy change supports the economic vitality of office districts like downtown St. Paul, which depend on foot traffic back to businesses and public spaces that public employees provide.

“This approach balances the flexibility of telework with the workplace advantages of being in office,” Walz said in a statement. “Having more state employees in the office means that collaboration can happen more quickly and state agencies can build strong organizational cultures more easily.”

Approximately 60% of state employees currently work in-person and did so through the pandemic.

There is an exemption for workers living more than 75 miles away from where their main work site.

The governor’s announcement noted that the move will support downtown districts, such as St. Paul, that rely on foot-traffic form employees.

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By JAMIE STENGLE

The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart near the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 would avoid the death penalty under a plea offer announced Tuesday, abruptly ending years of efforts by prosecutors to see that he face execution by lethal injection.

El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya said his decision in the prosecution of Patrick Crusius for one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history was driven by victims’ families who wanted the case behind them.

“I could see a worst-case scenario where this would not go to trial until 2028 if we continued to seek the death penalty,” he said.

But Montoya also acknowledged that not all families agreed with the reversal by his office, which under previous leadership had committed to taking the case to trial and seeking the death penalty.

Under the plea offer, Montoya said, Crusius would receive life in prison with no possibility of parole. Crusius, 26, was already sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences at the federal level after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crime charges.

FILE – In the is Oct. 10, 2019 file photo, El Paso Walmart shooting suspect Patrick Crusius pleads not guilty during his arraignment in El Paso, Texas. (Briana Sanchez/El Paso Times via AP, Pool, File)

Mark Stevens, an attorney for Crusius, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table but did not explain why. In addition to the federal case, Crusius was also charged in state court with capital murder.

Montoya said he supports the death penalty and believes Crusius deserves it. But he said he met with the families of the victims and there was an overriding desire to conclude the process, though some relatives were willing to wait as long as it took for a death sentence.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” said Elise Hoffmann-Taus, whose father, Alexander Hoffmann was among those killed. “This is the outcome I wanted.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also said Crusius deserved to die.

“I’ve heard about it. I think the guy does deserve the death penalty, to be honest,” Abbott said Tuesday about the announcement. “Any shooting like that is what capital punishment is for.”

Montoya, a Democrat, took office in January after defeating a Republican incumbent who was appointed by Abbott.

Crusius, who is white, was 21 years old and had dropped out of community college when police say he drove more than 700 miles from his home near Dallas to El Paso.

Moments after posting a racist screed online that warned of a Hispanic “invasion” of the state, he opened fire with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store.

Before the shooting, Crusius appears to have been consumed by the immigration debate, posting online in support of building the border wall and other messages praising the hardline border policies of President Donald Trump, who was in his first term at the time. He went further in the rant he posted before the attack, saying Hispanics were going to take over the government and economy.

In the years since the shooting, Republicans have called migrants crossing the southern border an “invasion” and dismissed criticism that such rhetoric fuels anti-immigrant views and violence.

FILE – In this Aug. 6, 2019, file photo, police officers walk behind a Walmart at the scene of a mass shooting at a shopping complex in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

In the U.S. government’s case, Crusius received a life sentence for each of the 90 charges against him, half of which were classified as hate crimes. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said after the sentencing that “no one in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence.”

One of his attorneys told the judge before the sentencing that his client had a “broken brain” and his thinking was “at odds with reality.”

Federal prosecutors did not formally explain their decision not to seek the death penalty, but they did acknowledge that Crusius suffered from schizoaffective disorder, which can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings.

The people who were killed ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to several grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, teachers, tradesmen including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.

In 2023, Crusius agreed to pay more than $5 million to his victims. Court records showed that his attorneys and the Justice Department reached an agreement over the restitution amount, which was then approved by a U.S. district judge. There was no indication that he had significant assets.

Associated Press writer Nadia Lathan contributed from Austin, Texas.