DULUTH – Amy Klobuchar is once again Democrats’ choice the carry the party’s banner as its candidate for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seat.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

In what was largely an evening on Friday promoting DFL legislative accomplishments, Klobuchar, seeking her fourth Senate term, captured the vast majority of delegates. She will either face navy veteran and businessman Joe Fraser or Royce White, a far-right podcaster and former professional basketball player, in November’s election.

In her acceptance speech, Klobuchar highlighted Democrats’ work supporting unions, voter access, infrastructure, climate change, gun control and abortion.

“Together we have made Minnesota a better place,” Klobuchar told delegates. Klobuchar began her first term as senator in 2007.

Klobuchar also took aim at Republicans Friday, calling them “peddlers of lies,” and condemned the movement built by former President Donald Trump, the likely nominee of the Republican Party for 2024.

Nomination

In her speech, she also spoke about her experience walking through the U.S. Capitol building following the Jan. 6 riot, an act led by Trump supporters upset over unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. The events of the day led to five deaths in 36 hours and hundreds of arrests.

“We made sure that when the public woke up in the morning that yes, democracy prevailed,” she said.

Klobuchar was nominated Friday evening by Minnesota Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown, with a resounding second by the majority of the delegates gathered at the DFL State Convention in Duluth.

An attempt to nominate another candidate failed to reach a seconded motion by 25% of the delegates. A majority of delegates also failed to approve an official count of delegate votes on the issue.

“At this pivotal moment, Amy is standing up to monopolies and to extremists trying to take away rights away from women in Minnesota, and the DFL is proud to endorse her for reelection,” DFL Party Chair Ken Martin wrote in a news release.

Minnesota’s other senator, Tina Smith, touted her colleague’s bipartisan work in the Senate on Friday in Duluth.

“She’s not messing around ya’ll, she gets stuff done,” Smith said.

Campaign strategy

The mood in Duluth Friday is decidedly different than the Republican State Convention earlier this month.

There were lots of cheers and claps for DFL politicians and issues compared to mostly arguing during the GOP’s first convention day, where the focus was on who was a legitimate delegate.

In addition to Klobuchar’s endorsement, a DFL campaign strategy took shape Friday.

DFLers will lean towards touting their legislative successes, including securing abortion rights and free school meals for children, while also contrasting the differences between Democrats and a Republican Party largely controlled by Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.

Trump, freshly convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to actress Stormy Daniels, was a main target for DFLers Friday.

DFL Party Chair Ken Martin laid into the former President during his opening convention speech, calling Trump’s movement “authoritarian.”

“For me, it’s about two competing visions about how you govern,” Martin told Forum News Service, adding that Trump and Republicans had their time in power and “frittered it away on culture wars and going after people.”

“When we’ve had power in this state, what we’ve done is actually tried to deliver on the critical needs that Minnesotans are facing,” he said.

The fact that Republicans have not held a statewide political office since former Gov. Tim Pawlenty left office in 2011 is a sign that the state has not signed on to what Republicans have been selling, according to Martin.

Loss of support in Greater Minnesota

DFL legislators have led two of the last legislative sessions by thin margins where several campaign promises, like legalizing an amount of marijuana and providing paid leave for workers, were delivered, though voting trends over the last decade have shown a loss of support in Greater Minnesota.

However, Republicans continue their infighting, often between old-guard Republicans and die-hard Trump supporters, and polling data suggests the Presidential election is mathematically a toss-up at this point.

While there is disagreement among Democrats, Martin called on party members to unite in the face of a MAGA movement he called “scary.”

Trump was a main target for DFLers Friday.

Attorney General Keith Ellison also condemned Trump during a speech at Friday’s convention.

“His philosophy is not welcome around here,” Ellison told the crowd.

On Saturday delegates and party leaders are expected to discuss and vote on 113 resolutions, some of which have been highly charged across the nation, like the war in Gaza, and in Minnesota, like the conflict between union miners and environmentalists.

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Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was approximately midway through the second answer he supplied at his exit interview with the media Thursday when he first brought up Kyle Anderson’s name.

Specifically, Finch noted Minnesota could run more offense around Anderson and his playmaking skills to take some of the floor general burden off veteran Mike Conley.

“Assuming Kyle’s back,” Finch noted, “which I know I personally would love and we would love to have him back.”

That’s the crux of the issue. Anderson is the only member of Minnesota’s top eight players who is set to enter free agency this summer. And the Timberwolves are already slated to go well over the salary cap as extensions for Conley, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards all kick in.

Re-signing Anderson would likely push Minnesota toward the second-apron of the luxury tax, which would not only increase the financial bill for ownership — whoever that is come this fall — but that apron comes with rules that also greatly limit how the Wolves could operate regarding free agency and trades.

So the lower the contract number, the more likely it is Minnesota can keep Anderson in a Timberwolves jersey.

“We’d love to have Kyle back. He’s not just a great player. He’s a great guy,” Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “His voice and his toughness is hugely important to who we are, so again, you never know what’s going to happen, not going to happen, but we’d love to have Kyle back, and we’re not here without Kyle.”

Anderson was a major reason Minnesota survived Karl-Anthony Towns’ calf strain to still reach the playoffs a year ago. He was a perfect fit alongside Naz Reid or Rudy Gobert in any Wolves lineup. His strong play led many to wonder where he fit among the franchise’s all-time best free-agent signings.

But an eye injury stemming from an inadvertent strike from Anthony Edwards in Game 4 of Minnesota’s first-round loss to Denver in 2023 not only ended Anderson’s season, but he wasn’t cleared for basketball activities until midway through the summer. A few weeks after that, he was playing for China in the FIBA World Cup.

Anderson, who continued to struggle with his vision for a large chunk of this season, was essentially robbed of his usual offseason of development. It led to a level of play this season that was far lower than the standard the 30-year-old has established for himself.

“I wasn’t happy with the way I played this year. I think the key to having a good season is having that time in the offseason to put the work in,” Anderson said. “I just didn’t have that body of work, body of summer work behind me like I did in the past year. I was able to work out after we lost to Golden State when I was in Memphis (the year prior), I was able to work out that whole summer. Work on my shot, work on my handle, work on my game, and it showed. … I don’t think I played well this season, but that’s not who I am. Happy I made it to this offseason healthy. Gonna have a hell of an offseason, I’m in the gym all summer. I’m going to get back to the player I know I am.”

Will that benefit Minnesota, or Anderson’s next team? He said he hasn’t had any conversations about which team he’ll play for next season. He was entirely focused on the Wolves’ 2023-24 campaign until now.

He does know he likes a number of things about Minnesota, including Finch. The two have a clear affinity for one another.

“A lot of coaches I came across in my career, like you know sometimes kind of don’t know how to use me or don’t know what to do with me,” Anderson said. “For as long as I’ve been here, Finchy put me in positions to be successful, he trusted me with decision-making, trusted me to play my game, allowed me to have the ball in my hands. That meant a lot to me, because I came across a lot of coaches who haven’t let me do that, and it kind of gets weird at that point, but Finchy and Tim have given me the utmost confidence and put me in the most positions to succeed my two years here. I’m very thankful for those guys. It’s been really fun having the ball in my hands in the NBA.”

Finch trusts Anderson and views the forward as one of the team’s few true playmakers. Anderson showed his value in the West finals with his playmaking and defense. He gives Minnesota versatility on both ends of the floor, which can prove so valuable in the playoffs.

If he can regain the 3-point shot that was a weapon a year ago, Anderson will be a major asset for whichever team he goes to.

Anderson said he wants to be back with the Wolves. His family has settled in here. Anderson’s son is on the autism spectrum and is thriving in his current school system. That matters.

“That plays a part into it,” Anderson said. “But I don’t know where I’ll be.”

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Because contracts matter, too. This could be the last healthy payday Anderson sees in his career, should the market manifest itself for the do-it-all forward this summer.

“You know, I don’t even like to think about that stuff. Like, you know, when the time comes, you know, we make that decision,” Anderson said. “We cross that bridge when we get there. But obviously I want to be back here.”

Five Watt Coffee, one of few remaining tenants at St. Paul’s embattled Keg and Case market, is leaving the W. Seventh Street food hall this weekend, but retro arcade Starcade plans to stick around for the foreseeable future, the businesses’ respective owners confirmed this week.

The last day for the cafe, which has three other locations in Minneapolis, will be Sunday, owner Lee Carter confirmed.

Five Watt Coffee’s location at the Keg and Case food hall, shown after hours May 31, 2024, is set to close June 2. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

“Many variables were involved with this, including a potential sale of the building, as well as the widespread community confusion on whether or not the market was actually open anymore,” he said in an email.

Other recent departures from the more than 22,000 square-foot food hall include restaurants Pimento Jamaican Kitchen and O’Cheeze and soap company Soapy Toads. Anchor tenant Clutch Brewing Co. closed up shop at the end of 2023, a significant blow to the market.

Keg and Case and the neighboring Schmidt Brewery Rathskeller building were acquired and revitalized in the late 2010s by developer Craig Cohen, and both projects’ finances have fairly publicly collapsed over the past year.

In October 2023, lender MidWestOne Bank took over the deed to the Keg and Case building in a partial debt settlement with Cohen. The Rathskeller building, previously sold in a foreclosure auction last year, was bought by a Minneapolis investment group in May. Cohen filed for personal bankruptcy protection in April.

Despite the uncertainty, Starcade — which just took over a sizable footprint in the building last summer — is staying put for now, co-owner Paul Saarinen said, and even continuing to grow.

The arcade is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. They also serve pizza and nachos between noon and 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Earlier in the foreclosure process, MidWestOne had told Starcade they’d need to vacate, but the bank reversed course a few weeks ago, Saarinen said.

“We are here for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We had kind of jumped the gun, not expecting that the situation would change so quickly, but it did.”

Meanwhile, the arcade is working to build out a greater selection of fighting games, Japanese-style rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution and competitive esports to engage with niche enthusiast communities, Saarinen said.

The arcade’s pinball wing, called Bad Penny, also hosts weekly tournaments for all skill levels at 7 p.m. Fridays, and women’s tournaments at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of the month.

“We really enjoy the community and we’ll stay as long as we’re welcome,” he said. “It would be nice to be able to stay there and grow with the community, and grow what we’re doing there.”

Following Five Watt’s departure, apart from Starcade, the only remaining business operating at Keg and Case is Sana Farms, a CBD and THC product company that also sells products in Minneapolis and Taylors Falls.

Rathskeller changes

Nearby at the Rathskeller building, changes are underway as well.

The Rathskeller at the Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul on Tuesday, May 10, 2011. (Chris Polydoroff / Pioneer Press)

Rok Music Lounge and Bar, a venue that was formerly a cheffy Nordic/Japanese spot and briefly a taco bar, is still open for now, but owner Travis Wycislak said he’ll have a clearer picture of the business’ future in a few weeks.

Mancini’s, which had once signed on to use the ornate underground room for private events, has not been affiliated with the space since December 2023.

The West 7th/Fort Road Federation, a neighborhood council, lists the building online as the site of its offices but did not reply to a clarification request Friday afternoon.

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