Against concerns from state lawmakers about the dwindling state budget surplus, the city of St. Paul and Minnesota Wild have retooled their planned renovation of the downtown Xcel Energy Center, chopping millions off the total price tag and their nine-figure legislative request.

The proposed $769 makeover of the Xcel Energy Center has been slimmed down to a $488 million upgrade, freezing improvements to the adjoining RiverCentre convention center complex and Roy Wilkins Auditorium until an unspecified later date. The request to also been dropped from nearly $400 million in state bond funds to a relatively tidy $50 million.

Of the trimmed price-tag, the city and “local partners” will provide $200 million, and the Minnesota Wild would provide $238 million, plus any cost overruns for the rest of the renovation, according to a statement released by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office on Thursday.

The revised project still includes the renovation of the entire Xcel Energy Center into a “modern, best-in-class facility,” according to the statement. The state’s contribution will help expand the north wall along Fifth Street to improve the northeast entrance security area, increase disability access, update restroom plumbing and reduce pedestrian congestion.

Carter said the slimmer plan still continues the city’s and team’s shared long-term strategy to revitalize the downtown entertainment district and improve player and customer experiences at the arena, while also respecting “the state’s current financial realities.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Seated shoulder to shoulder during legislative presentations in late March, Carter and Wild owner Craig Leipold made the case to key House and Senate infrastructure and capital investment committees that the fate of the X, downtown St. Paul and the city as a whole were all closely entwined.

“Xcel Energy Center is now at the edge of its intended life span,” said Leipold, addressing House lawmakers on March 20. “Over the last few years, we’ve visited arenas in downtowns across the country, and seen firsthand how similar investment can literally transform communities. … This is the vital economic engine driving St. Paul. It’s hard to imagine St. Paul without it.”

Key allies appeared unconvinced

Not all lawmakers appeared convinced. The request at the time — $394 million in state appropriations bonds — may raise the state’s debt service some $30 million or more annually, though key details such as the payback timeframe have yet to be introduced in a formal bill.

Sen. Sandy Pappas (Courtesy photo)

Key potential allies such as state Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, and state Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega, both of whom represent downtown St. Paul, questioned the timing, given that the state surplus is projected to dwindle into a shortfall by 2028-2029 and there’s talk of a recession.

State Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul, told members of the Senate Committee on Capital Investment in March she would introduce a bill on behalf of the city and the team, but that has yet to happen, and lawmakers have little more than two weeks left to produce the next two-year state budget.

House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman and others have questioned criticized hefty public subsidies for stadiums leased by privately-owned sports teams, though some conservative lawmakers appeared more supportive in committee hearings.

The Xcel Energy Center, which opened in 2000, welcomed 1 million visitors to Wild and Frost hockey games, concerts, performances and other gathering in the first three months of this year alone. The arena complex draws more than 2.1 million visitors and $383 million in spending annually, according to the city.

The mayor’s office said the city is still committed to renovating the 27-year-old St. Paul RiverCentre and the 93-year-old Roy Wilkins Auditorium, and the city and Wild are likely to seek additional funding coming years. The city maintains project fact sheets at stpaul.gov/arena.

The “X” will soon lose its name as a 25-year-old naming rights agreement with Xcel Energy expires this summer. A new corporate naming rights sponsor is expected to be announced before the next hockey season.

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By ZEKE MILLER, AAMER MADHANI and SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House national security adviser Mike Waltz is set to depart the administration, according to two people familiar with the matter on Thursday, marking the first major staff shakeup of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Waltz came under searing scrutiny in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on the encrypted messaging app Signal, which was used to discuss planning for a sensitive March 15 military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen. A far-right ally of the president, Laura Loomer, has also targeted Waltz, telling Trump in a recent Oval Office conversation that he needs to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the “Make America Great Again” agenda.

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Waltz’s deputy, Alex Wong, is also expected to depart, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move not yet made public. The National Security Council did not respond do a request for comment.

Waltz, who served in the House representing Florida for three terms before his elevation to the White House, is the most prominent senior administration official to depart since Trump returned to the White House. In his second term, the Republican president had been looking to avoid the tumult of his first four years in office, during which he cycled through four national security advisers, four White House chiefs of staff and two secretaries of state.

The Signal chain also showed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop. Waltz had previously taken “full responsibility” for building the message chain and administration officials described the episode as a “mistake” but one that caused Americans no harm. Waltz maintained that he was not sure how Goldberg ended up in the messaging chain, and insisted he did not know the journalist.

Trump and the White House — which insisted that no classified information was shared on the text chain — have stood by Waltz publicly throughout the episode. But the embattled national security adviser was also under siege from personalities such as Loomer, who had been complaining to administration officials that she had been excluded from the vetting process for National Security Council aides. In her view, Waltz relied too much on “neocons” — referring to hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party — as well as others who Loomer argued were “not-MAGA-enough” types.

Waltz was on television as late as Thursday morning, promoting the administration’s agreement with Kyiv that would allow the U.S. to access Ukraine’s critical minerals and other natural resources. As reports began to circulate that Waltz could be leaving the administration, Loomer appeared to take credit in a post on the social media site X, writing: “SCALP.”

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Planned negotiations between Iran and the United States this weekend over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program have been postponed, Oman announced Thursday.

A message online from Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X.

“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd,” he wrote. “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as being “postponed at the request of Oman’s foreign minister.” He said Iran remain committed to reaching ”a fair and lasting agreement.”

Meanwhile, a person familiar with the U.S. negotiators said that America “had never confirmed its participation” in a fourth round of talks in Rome. However, the person said the U.S. expected the talks to occur “in the near future.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

The talks Saturday were to be held in Rome, which soon will see the Vatican begin the conclave on Wednesday to pick a new pope after the death of Pope Francis. Two other rounds of talks have been held in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing in on a half-century of enmity. The negotiations have been led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran’s program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues an airstrike campaign, called “Operation Rough Rider,” that has been targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who long have been backed by Iran. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth early Thursday warned Iran over the rebels.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” he wrote. “You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Last Saturday’s round of talks, which included experts drilling down into the details of a possible deal, also took place as an explosion rocked an Iranian port, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

The deal has closed, the merger is complete.

Old National Bancorp announced on Thursday the closing of its previously-announced merger with St. Paul-based Bremer Financial Corporation.

Bremer Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Bremer Bank.

This merger means that Old National is the third-largest bank to the Twin Cities and among the top 25 banking companies headquartered in the United States.

Bremer, one of the nation’s largest farm lenders, maintains 70 branches in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Old National will increase its previous five-year “Community Growth Plan” commitments of $9.5 billion to $11.1 billion, it announced in a news release.

“This adds approximately $1.6 billion in lending, investments and philanthropy commitments in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin,” the news release stated.

Also, the Otto Bremer Trust will maintain an 11% ownership stake in Old National, and Daniel Reardon, the co-CEO and trustee of Otto Bremer Trust, is joining the Old National board of directors.

As for Bremer Bank, it will operate as a division of Old National Bank “prior to the facilities and systems conversion,” which is anticipated to occur in mid-October, according to Old National.

The combined organization will operate under the Old National Bancorp and Old National Bank names, a news release stated.

For now, clients will continue to be served through their respective Old National or Bremer branches, websites, mobile apps, financial advisors and relationship managers until the systems conversion is complete. Clients can continue to use the full ATM network of both banks for cash withdrawals at no charge, according to Old National.

Jeanne Crain, chief executive officer of Bremer Bank, announced mid-April she would step down from the role on May 16, once the merger was complete.

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