Wild trade for veteran defenseman Petry from Florida Panthers

posted in: All news | 0

LAS VEGAS – Wild general manager Bill Guerin said the team was pretty well set defensively as recently as Sunday.

That didn’t stop him from adding a veteran on the blue line.

On Thursday afternoon, the club announced it acquired veteran defenseman Jeff Petry from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 draft. The draft pick becomes a fifth-round selection in the 2026 draft if Minnesota wins two playoff rounds and Petry plays in 50% or more of the Wild’s playoff games during those first two rounds.

Petry, 38, has eight assists, 22 penalty minutes and 45 shots on goal in 58 games for Florida this season. He’s played 16 NHL seasons and has appeared in 45 playoff games, most recently for Montreal in 2021.

The 6-foot-3, 207-pounder is a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., and played collegiately at Michigan State.

He is expected to join the team for their Friday night game in Vegas. Minnesota has assigned him sweater no. 2.

Related Articles


Mizutani: Bill Guerin isn’t thinking about the future. Neither should Wild fans


Kirill Kaprizov passes Marian Gaborik as Wild’s top goal scorer


Wild beat Lightning to get back on track ahead of trade deadline


Wild trade for 6-foot-6 forward Michael McCarron


What are the Wild getting in new addition Robby Fabbri?

As Out On A Limb marks 25 years of dance theater, ‘The Snow Queen’ uses movement as storytelling

posted in: All news | 0

When Kim Martinez saw the dance musical “Illinoise” on Broadway in 2024, she heard critics and promoters praise it as innovative; as the first time dance had taken center stage in mainstream theater.

She loved the show but had to laugh at that line, she said — because she’s been creating dance theater in St. Paul for 25 years as artistic director and co-founder of Out on a Limb Dance Theater Company.

The company’s spring show is an adaptation of the “The Snow Queen,”  the Hans Christian Andersen story that loosely inspired Disney’s “Frozen.” The show runs March 5, 6 and 7 at the Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis; 700 N 1st St. Tickets ($30 for general admission, $25 for students) are available online at https://my.luminaryartscenter.com/2864.

“I think dance is a medium, unlike a lot of theatrical art forms, that it doesn’t tell you what to think. It invite you to feel,” Martinez said. “We’re in a world right now where we’re constantly being told what to think. But isn’t it kind of nice to not have that; to have an opportunity to experience your own emotions?”

The show, as many of Out On A Limb’s productions do, features music from Minnesota bands The Suburbs and Soul Asylum, among others. But the company in recent years has also formed a close working relationship with Suburbs frontman Chan Poling, who now works more as an orchestral composer. “The Snow Queen” features six of Poling’s compositions, including a piece he wrote specifically for this show.

Of course, Martinez said, dance forms like ballet have long been used as storytelling, and Broadway musicals are choreographed. But what makes dance theater unique as a genre, she said, is using a variety of styles of movement as the main narrative tool. Just as a musical uses songs to communicate plot and emotional moments, dance theater pulls in ballet and jazz and hip-hop and tap and acrobatics all as different narrative tools.

“Every scene has a different emotional arc to it, and you can utilize those genres (of movement) just like you would music,” she said. “In some ways, it’s easier to understand than dialogue, because movement is a language.”

Martinez has been dancing her whole life and started teaching when she was 9 years old at her mother’s dance school, she said. And in over six decades in the dance world, she has seen a trend away from professional artistic dance companies and toward competitive dance teams.

This change, from her perspective, makes it nearly impossible for the dancers themselves to earn a sustainable living through dance itself. So besides just telling stories through movement, part of Martinez and co-founder Marcey Mastbaum’s goal when they launched Out on a Limb was to develop audiences for dance theater to actually be able to support dancers’ careers, Martinez said.

“While I thought it’s great that somebody’s monetizing dance, it’s not going to the dancers,” she said. “You’re working your body as hard as any athlete but you’ve got nothing to show for it, and it breaks my heart. When you love it as I love it — I know what it does for kids; I know what it did for me as a kid, and how it kept me believing in myself — I just wanted to make space for that.”

And throughout the years, unexpectedly and unintentionally, Out On A Limb has bumped up against world news events that Martinez said only make the work feel even more poignant and timely.

The organization’s first day, for example, was Sept. 10, 2001.

And this spring’s show, “The Snow Queen,” was chosen before federal immigration agents swarmed the Twin Cities in January and February of this year. The show happens to tackle themes of family loss, grief and the power of caring for those around you, she said.

“When I decided to do ‘The Snow Queen,’ I had no idea how what an incredible reflection it would be on what’s happening in our community,” she said. “We’re in a time right now where so many people feel unsafe and frightened, and it makes the world seem ugly right now. … But even though things seem really ridiculously grim sometimes, if we remind ourselves just how deeply we’re loved and how deeply we love others, we can get back to beauty.”

Related Articles


Broadway at the Ordway season includes quirky Tony-winning smash ‘Oh, Mary!’


Laura Leffler named the new artistic director at St. Paul’s History Theatre


Here’s what happens at a sensory-friendly live performance


‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘The Outsiders’ and ‘Hamilton’ on tap for new Broadway on Hennepin season


Celebrity chef Katie Chin tells the story of her immigrant mother Leeann Chin in one-woman show

Berkshire Hathaway resumes buybacks and CEO supports Kraft’s decision to pause its split

posted in: All news | 0

By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway is buying back shares for the first time in nearly two years, and new CEO Greg Abel said he has no immediate plans to sell off Kraft Heinz shares now that the packaged food giant has shelved its plan to split the company into two.

FILE – Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Greg Abel is seen at the CenturyLink Center, May 5, 2018, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Abel appeared on CNBC Thursday — less than a week after releasing his first letter to shareholders after taking over the top job at Berkshire from legendary investor Warren Buffett in January. Berkshire also took the unusual step of filing a formal notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had begun repurchasing its shares Wednesday for the first time since May 2024.

When Kraft first announced its plan to split the company in two last fall, Abel and Buffett expressed concerns about that because of the costs involved and the current struggles for some of the brands. So Abel said he agreed with new Kraft CEO Steve Cahillane’s decision to pause the split.

“For Steve to come in and say we’re pausing it, there’s opportunities within Kraft Heinz to fix things and get the business back on track and then he’ll evaluate things. We thought that was absolutely the right approach,” Abel said.

Berkshire has long been Kraft’s biggest shareholder with 325 million shares ever since Buffett and the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital orchestrated the merger of Kraft and Heinz in 2015 because they already owned Heinz and believed in the power of their brands.

FILE – Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett speaks during an interview with Liz Claman on Fox Business Network’s “Countdown to the Closing Bell,” May 7, 2018, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Over the years since Buffett had made comments about how Kraft’s competitive moat around its brands wasn’t as strong as he thought and Berkshire likely overpaid for the investment. Berkshire even took a $3.76 billion write-down on its Kraft-Heinz stake last summer. But until January there had been no hint that Berkshire might sell off its Kraft shares.

Abel also told CNBC that he felt it was important for Berkshire to let shareholders know that its approach to buybacks hasn’t changed. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate will continue to use some of its $373.3 billion cash to repurchase shares whenever Abel and Buffett conclude that the stock is worth more than what it is selling for. It’s Class A shares gained more than 2% to sell for $745,451.75 apiece Thursday.

Abel also disclosed Thursday that this week he used all $15.3 million of his take-home pay for 2026 to buy Berkshire stock, and he told CNBC that he plans to continue doing that as long as he remains CEO so that his interests will be aligned with shareholders.

Related Articles


Elon Musk defends tweets in lawsuit alleging they caused Twitter stock to fall before acquisition


Average US long-term mortgage rate ticks up to 6%, ending a three-week slide


Best tax software of 2026


US jobless claims filings unchanged from previous week at 213,000 as layoffs remain low


US stocks sink after oil spikes to its highest price since the summer of 2024

“As CEO, I absolutely obviously believe in Berkshire with — with the transition from Warren. And I inherited a company that has an incredible foundation. I believe in its — you know, future, the opportunities that exist there,” Abel said.

In his letter that was released last Saturday, Abel promised not to make any significant changes in the way Buffett has run Berkshire for the past six decades. The two men talk regularly because Buffett remains chairman and continues to come into the office every day to hunt for new investments.

Abel said that includes not paying a dividend because he and Buffett believe that they can generate better returns for shareholders by keeping Berkshire’s cash and reinvesting it instead or returning it in a dividend.

Berkshire owns dozens of companies, including major insurers like Geico, the BNSF railroad, well known brands like Dairy Queen, several major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing, retail and service businesses like fractional private jet company NetJets.

Yellowjackets and JazzMN Orchestra to headline Twin Cities Jazz Festival

posted in: All news | 0

Yellowjackets and JazzMN Orchestra with Michael Mayo will headline the 28th annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival on June 19 and 20 in and around Mears Park in Lowertown St. Paul.

The free festival was founded in 1999 as a nonprofit organization with “a mission to keep the art form of jazz alive and well in our community.” It has since grown into one of the largest free civic jazz festivals in the Midwest.

While the full schedule will be released in April, organizers have announced a handful of acts. They include the following concerts at Mears Park:

Long-running jazz fusion band Yellowjackets; 8:30 p.m. June 19.
Composer and drummer Yogev Shetrit’s trio; 6 p.m. June 19.
Selby Avenue Brass Band with Thomasina Petrus; 4 p.m. June 19.
Jazz ensemble JazzMN Orchestra with vocalist Michael Mayo; 8:30 p.m. June 20.
Pianist Sullivan Fortner’s trio; 6 p.m. June 20.
Local favorites Zacc Harris Group; 4 p.m. June 20.
Saxophonist Lucia Sarmiento; 2 p.m. June 20.
Students from Walker West Music Academy and MacPhail Center for Music; noon June 20.

For further details, see twincitiesjazzfestival.com.

Related Articles


Justice Department lawyer says concert ticket industry is broken because of Ticketmaster


Eric Clapton books September show at Grand Casino Arena


Tommy James and the Shondells and Herman’s Hermits to play MN State Fair


Minnesota Orchestra names first principal guest conductor in 40 years


Concert review: Brandi Carlile proclaims her love for Minnesotans at joyous Target Center show