3M spin-off Solventum seeks Eagan home at 1750 Yankee Doodle Road

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With 3M’s healthcare spin-off eyeing the former Blue Cross Blue Shield campus in Eagan for its new headquarters, city officials have sought to clarify exactly where Solventum’s more than 1,100 employees might land.

The 55-acre Blue Cross campus maintains a general address of 3535 Blue Cross Road, but Solventum — currently based at 3M headquarters in Maplewood — wants the building across the street from the original Blue Cross headquarters.

“Solventum is considering renovating a different building located at 1750 Yankee Doodle Road, on the west side of Highway 13,” city spokeswoman Sara Leier Horwath said Friday.

The Yankee Doodle Road location could host 600 to 800 employees per day, according to city staff documents prepared for the Eagan City Council.

Solventum and the city have been tight-lipped about other details, waiting instead for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to take the lead as it reviews the company’s requests for two types of relocation assistance this month.

The Eagan City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution supporting the company’s loan applications to both the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) and the state’s Jobs Creation Fund to renovate an existing building on the Blue Cross campus into “a high-tech medical research and development facility.”

The size of the two loan requests was not spelled out in the council documents. DEED would be responsible for reviewing and administering the loans. A spokesperson for DEED had no immediate details to share Friday.

The package would include $100,000 in loan forgiveness that would otherwise be paid to Eagan’s revolving MIF fund.

Also Friday, Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire released a brief written statement through Horwath, which said: “We’re thrilled about the prospect of Solventum joining the Eagan business community. Their presence would further strengthen our position as a hub for innovation and economic growth.”

The 55-acre Blue Cross Blue Shield site became available last year after many of the insurance company’s roughly 3,000 employees opted for a hybrid work model. Solventum, which maintains some 20,000 employees across 300 offices in 38 countries, spun off from 3M in March.

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Tommies football starting to heal just in time for conference opener

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St. Thomas football will forever be known as the program that was so dominant that it got kicked out of its league.

Success also came early for the Tommies in its move to Division I and the Pioneer Football League, so the type of adversity they are facing as they begin league play on Saturday against Stetson at O’Shaughnessy Stadium is unlike any they’ve experienced in years.

The 1-3 Tommies’ latest loss was a 64-0 drubbing at Lindenwood two weeks ago. The 64 points were the most given up by the Tommies since a 69-13 loss at St. John’s in 1993. After opening this season with a 34-13 loss to Division II Sioux Falls, the question has to be asked if this team, expected to contend for its second league title in four years, is underachieving.

Head coach Glenn Caruso said it depends on who is on the field.

“The answer will be told in the next month,” he said. “Once we get some guys healthy and are able to have some consistency, and play teams that are in our league and we are familiar with, this next month will tell us more than this last month did.”

As the Lindenwood score indicates, Caruso said the Tommies did not play well on offense, defense or special teams. The only significant changes that will come after the bye week, however, involve the return of some key starters.

“There are no major alarms going off that things have to change,” Caruso said. “We know what we have to do, and we worked really hard this week to get as many guys healthy and back as we possibly could.

“Once someone is ready to play a game, it doesn’t mean they’re game-ready to play 40 reps, let alone 70 reps. The ramping-up process is still something we are in the middle of.”

Caruso expects the Tommies’ top two running backs, Gabe Abel and Hope Adebayo, to play. Wide receiver Jacob Wildermuth also couple return, but in a limited role. The same is true of linebacker Nick Flaskamp.

A significant number of injuries over the past three-plus seasons have come against Division I opponents with players on athletic scholarship. St. Thomas will have to weigh the benefits of playing higher-caliber opponents against the physical strain it puts on its players.

“That’s something we’ll review at the end of the season,” Caruso said. “But I’m not going to negate the fact that when you do play bigger, tougher teams, the physical toll is something you absolutely have to account for.

“The hope is that, regardless of what the outcome is on the scoreboard, that we can go into the conference season as well prepared as we can. Right now we have an inordinate amount of guys who are out from game-day injuries.”

Caruso said two quarterbacks will see action on Saturday, but did not specify which two. Tak Tateoka and Michael Rostberg have started games this season, and Amari Powell got his first playing time of the season against Lindenwood.

“We need to find who is going to be the one who allows the rest of the offense to operate the game plan,” Caruso said.

Meanwhile, how the lopsided loss to Lindenwood plays on the team’s psyche is not something Caruso said he is concerned about.

“The belief in one another, the belief in this culture, is tremendously high,” he said. “Any college football season is a long season. Even in times that were perceived as our best years, there were times where we weren’t very good relative to what I though we could be.

“The opportunities are all over the place for us to grow. We just have to get the right guys in the right position to do it, and then get them the amount of reps they need to learn what they need to learn.”

 

Minnesota United at Vancouver: Keys to the match, projected starting XI and a prediction

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Minnesota United at Vancouver Whitecaps

When: 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday
Where: BC Place
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Betting line: Vancouver minus-105; draw plus-280; MNUFC plus-235

Form: MNUFC (13-12-6, 46 points) was held without a goal for the first time in 12 matches during a scoreless draw with Salt Lake on Wednesday. Vancouver (13-10-8, 47 points) was beaten 3-0 by Seattle on Wednesday and is winless in four straight games.

Check-in: MNUFC was riding on a coach bus in Utah when it clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs on Wednesday. “There is definitely a sense of satisfaction, but also a sense of we want to go again,” Ramsay said. “I think the next two games are really crucial in that.”

History: Vancouver beat Minnesota 3-1 in St. Paul on July 3, but the Loons had a 2.9-1.4 expected goals advantage and MNUFC’s roster was a shell of what it is now.

Look-ahead: The eighth-seeded Loons can jump over the seventh-seeded ‘Caps with a victory in British Columbia on Saturday. Vancouver, however, has played one fewer game and will go even during the international window next weekend against second-place LAFC. MNUFC won’t play again until the season finale on Decision Day against St. Louis on Oct. 19.

Absences: Teemu Pukki (adductor) and Zarek Valentin (lower leg) are out. Michael Boxall (yellow-card accumulation) is suspended. DJ Taylor (hamstring) is questionable.

Update: MNUFC had a conversation with MLS about removing Boxall’s yellow card Wednesday. “But I don’t think there was any sort of mechanism for that to be rescinded,” Ramsay said. “I’m sure the details will be revealed at some point as to the fallout of how that was dealt with and who suffered what, but not a nice instance in any way.”

The MLS Disciplinary Committee will be looked to for what kind of punishment will be coming to Brayan Vera, who spit at Boxall late in Wednesday’s match. He already received a red card.

Projected XI: In a 5-3-2 formation, FW Kelvin Yeboah, FW Tani Oluwaseyi; MF Hassani Dotson, MF Wil Trapp, MF Robin Lod; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Micky Tapias, CB Jefferson Diaz, CB Carlos Harvey, RWB Bongi Hlongwane; GK Dayne St. Clair

Scouting report: The Whitecaps will be without one — and maybe two — of their key goal-scorers. Fafa Picault, who has 14 goal contributions, will be suspended after a red card against Sounders. Ryan Gauld, who has 21 goal contributions, was questionable with a knee injury against Seattle and didn’t play. With 17 goal contributions, Brian White did played forward midweek.

Insight: When looking at Vancouver, Ramsay focused on the Whitecaps’ defense. “They defend in a really unique way, and they did when they came to our place,” he said. “They are almost a pure back three with no cover from the wingbacks, which is really hard to execute with players that are struggling physically. I think their manager made reference to that.”

Prediction: Both teams will be playing their third match in eight days, so fatigue figures to be a factor. Vancouver has had the pleasure of staying home, while Minnesota will play in its third stadium in a third time zone. The Loons’ recent form and squad depth will come in handy in a 2-1 win.

Biden says he doesn’t know whether Israel is holding up peace deal to influence 2024 US election

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By COLLEEN LONG

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had terse words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, and said he didn’t know whether the Israeli leader was holding up a peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

“No administration has helped Israel more than I have,” Biden said. “None. None, none. And I think Bibi should remember that. And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know but I’m not counting on that.”

Biden, in a rare appearance in the White House press briefing room, was responding to comments made by one of his allies, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who said on CNN this week that he was concerned Netanyahu had little interest in a peace deal in part because of U.S. politics.

The two leaders have long managed a complicated relationship, but they’re running out of space to maneuver as their views on the Gaza war diverge and their political futures hang in the balance.

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The president has long pushed for a cease-fire agreement and he and his aides have indicated several times over the past few months that such an agreement was close. But it never seems to materialize, and in some cases, Netanyahu has publicly resisted the prospect while U.S. and Israeli officials continue to talk in private about eking out a deal.

Meanwhile, Israel has pressed forward on two fronts, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. And the nation has vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack this week, as the region braced for further escalation.

Biden said there had been no decision yet on what type of response there would be toward Iran, though there has been talk about Israel striking Iran’s oil fields — and “I think if I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.”

Biden pushed back against the idea that he was seeking a meeting with Netanyahu to discuss the response to Iran. He isn’t, he said.

“I’m assuming when they make a decision on how they’re going to respond, we will then have a discussion,” he said.

Netanyahu has grown increasingly resistant to Biden’s public charm offensives and private pleading, prompting the president’s more assertive pushback. And Biden has in turn publicly held up delivery of heavy bombs to Israel and increasingly voiced concerns over an all-out war in the Middle East.

“I don’t believe there’s going to be an all-out war,” Biden said Thursday evening. “I think we can avoid it. But there’s a lot to do yet. A lot to do yet.”

Biden has remained consistent in his support for Israel’s defense and security and in the aftermath of the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. Since then, with few exceptions, Biden has supported ongoing and enhanced U.S. arms transfers to Israel while cautioning the Israelis to be careful in their responses to avoid civilian casualties.

Biden has also ordered the U.S. military to step up its profile in the region to protect Israel from attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran itself. In April, and again earlier this week, the U.S. was a leading player in shooting down missiles fired by Iran into Israel.