The 31st annual St. Paul Area Athena Awards ceremony is set for Wednesday at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.
The Athena Awards recognize outstanding achievement for female athletes for the school year. Forty-Eight East Metro athletes have been honored for their dedication and excellence in sports during the 2024-25 school year.
The keynote speaker at Wednesday’s ceremony will be Andrea Carroll-Franck, founder of Minnesota Aurora FC. KARE 11 TV sports reporter Julia Daniels will serve as the emcee.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Stephanie and Ryan Burnett were perplexed. The crowd was enormous. The line snaked endlessly between buildings. Were they in the right place?
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As the mother and son approached an aging college basketball arena in Salt Lake City, the mass of people seemed way too big for the Bernie Sanders rally they were planning to attend in one of the most conservative states in the country.
“We’re not used to that in a place like Utah,” said Ryan, a 28-year-old server and retail manager from South Weber, about 20 miles north of the arena.
Outside Boise on Monday, the Ford Idaho Center arena was filled to capacity, with staff forced to close the doors after admitting 12,500 people. There are just 11,902 registered Democratic Party voters in Canyon County, where the arena is located, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s office.
While Utah, Idaho and Montana will almost certainly remain Republican strongholds for the near future, the events offer a glimpse of widespread Democratic anger over the direction of President Donald Trump’s administration and a dose of hope to progressives living in the places where they’re most outnumbered.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during his “Fighting Oligarchy” event at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are among a cadre of Trump critics venturing into potentially hostile territory as Democrats are thinking about how to reverse their fortunes in next year’s midterms and the following presidential election. Ocasio-Cortez, 35, is seen as a potential successor to Sanders’ mantle — the 83-year-old Vermont senator jokingly called her his “daughter” in Salt Lake City — and a contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee last year, toured Ohio last week to better understand working-class voters in a state that has moved sharply to the right after backing Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from Silicon Valley, also went to Ohio, hoping to put a spotlight on Vice President JD Vance in Cleveland.
“Democrats have got to make a fundamental choice,” Sanders told The Associated Press after his Salt Lake City rally that filled the 15,000-seat University of Utah basketball arena, with thousands more unable to get in. “Do they want these folks to be in the Democratic Party, or do they want to be funded by billionaires?”
Trump won Utah 60% to 38% and Idaho 67% to 30%. Neither state sends any Democrats to Congress. Republicans control all of the statewide offices and dominate the legislatures.
“Utah, I know that it can look or feel impossible sometimes out here for the Republicans to be defeated, but that is not true,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Then she evoked her own improbable victory over a powerful member of the Democratic leadership in a 2018 primary: “From the waitress who is now speaking to you today, I can tell you: impossible is nothing.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little mocked progressive ambitions on Monday, the day Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez rallied outside Boise. Little posted on his X account a famous meme of Sanders in a winter coat with the caption: “I am once again asking for you to not bring your failed policies to Idaho.”
Pockets of Salt Lake City and Boise have strong counter-culture scenes; but elsewhere, being liberal can be isolating.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, greets Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as they speak during a stop of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that filled Civic Center Park, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, speaks as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., responds to calls of support during a stop of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that filled Civic Center Park, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
An attendee hugs Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., after his “Fighting Oligarchy” event at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks to the City Club of Cleveland, in Cleveland, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Attendees cheer as Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks during a “Fighting Oligarchy” event at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks during a “Fighting Oligarchy” event at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during his “Fighting Oligarchy” event at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green)
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks to the City Club of Cleveland, in Cleveland, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, greets Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as they speak during a stop of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour that filled Civic Center Park, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“Being progressive in a place like this, people are almost masked or something, kind of seem like the quiet minority,” Ryan Burnett said as he waited to enter the Utah rally. “But this is a space where it’s the opposite of that. This kind of event is especially meaningful right now.”
His mother, a 52-year-old caregiver with an online reselling business, said it was refreshing to be around like-minded people. She’s feeling increasingly like an “outcast” at her congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where the parking lot is filled with Trump bumper stickers.
“I went to our church this morning. I’m coming to this now because I feel more accepted here,” Stephanie Burnett said.
Democrats need to project a kinder, less judgmental image to make progress in red America, said Owen Reeder, 63, an accountant from Bountiful, Utah.
“You’re never going to make a friend by lecturing and pounding somebody on the head with a sledgehammer,” Reeder said. “You’ve got to be nice to everybody.”
Meghan Nadoroff, 36, and their mother, Kathy Franckiewicz, 59, went to the Idaho event Monday. They both live in in the small farming community of Kuna about 17 miles southwest of Boise.
They’ve felt disenfranchised by both parties – bullied by some of the far-right policies of the Idaho’s GOP supermajority, and ignored by the national Democratic Party because Idaho has been written off as a lost cause, said Franckiewicz.
“We have so little presence in Idaho overall,” Nadoroff said of Democrats. “It’s easy to just kind of give up, politically.”
In what feels to many Democrats like dark times, hope and camaraderie are especially valuable.
“It feels safe, to know that there are more of us out there and we’re not just a blue dot in a red state,” said Jaxon Pond, 20, of Meridian, Idaho.
That’s a sharp contrast to everyday life, Pond said.
“Especially as a gay man, I feel like I have to walk on extra eggshells about what I say because Idaho’s not necessarily the safest place to be gay,” he said.
Orono High’s Nolan Groves had received only one scholarship offer as of last summer and he took it, committing to Yale in June. Then in his senior season last winter, he led the state of Minnesota in scoring with 34.1 points per game, adding 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assist and 3.0 steals in 29 games.
Groves was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and led the Spartans to the Class 3A state boys basketball tournament. With that rise, the combo guard began to wonder.
“He just kept developing as the year went on, and came to me and says, ‘Coach, I just feel like I’ve improved a lot. I just think I can play at a higher level,’ ” Orono coach Barry Wohler told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “A few months later, he de-committed (from Yale) and they are coming after him.”
As of Monday, Groves had received scholarship offers from the Gophers, Wisconsin and Texas Tech. Maybe the biggest change is the interest from Minnesota since Niko Medved took over as coach late last month.
“Ben Johnson showed zero interest, and it’s unfortunate,” Wohler said. “… Niko wants him bad.”
Groves’ plan is to visit Texas Tech in Lubbock on Thursday and head to Dinkytown on Monday. Wohler didn’t know if Groves has planned a visit to Madison. The players’ goal, Wohler said, is to make a decision in the next few weeks.
One factor is how the Gophers’ Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) fund trails that of Texas Tech — it’s why point guard Elijah Hawkins left the U for the Red Raiders a year ago — and is possibly behind Wisconsin’s, as well.
But Wholer said Grovers’ college choice will be about more than money.
“I think what’s important is the fit with the staff and the players,” Wohler said. “I think the style of play of all three teams he’ll fit. He’s a true combo guard. He can handle the ball for you if needed. He can score at all three levels, and he can guard. He’s a freshman coming in that’s already strong. A lot of times, that strength can be an issue defensively, but he’s really strong, so I think he’ll get on the floor.”
Groves’ lighter recruitment was a byproduct of him being a “late bloomer” in high school, starting his freshman year at 5-foot-10 and seeing the floor as a 6-1 sophomore because of his shooting ability. He ticked up to 6-3 as a junior but was not a focal point on summer team JSizzle.
Groves didn’t reach his current 6-foot-5, 205-pound frame until before his senior season, and that’s when he truly blossomed. He scored 40 points or more in nine games, including 57 in a win over St. Louis Park.
“He had an amazing year. He carried us at times offensively, but his mindset, work ethic and leadership is like nobody I’ve ever coached,” said Wohler, who is in his 18th year Orono. “He wouldn’t let us have an off game.”
Groves was a finalist for the Mr. Basketball Award that went to Alexandria’s Chase Thompson, who is headed to Clemson (the Tigers also showed some interest in Groves, according to 247Sports). His Gatorade Player of the Year honor came with recognition for a 4.4 grade-point average and volunteering as a Special Olympics basketball coach.
“He’s so focused,” Wohler said. “He’s a great, great leader. He’s kind of a quiet leader. He just probably is the best competitor I’ve ever coached.”
And the competition to sign him for next year is heating up.
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ORONOCO, Minn. — Running out of inventory and options as she looks for a path to save her company wrecked by tariffs, Beth (Fynbo) Benike is trying to crowdfund $229,000 to pay what she describes as a “ransom” on three months’ worth of Busy Baby products stranded in China, where they were made.
Benike, who last month was named Minnesota’s Small Business Person of the year by the Small Business Administration, said it was not an easy decision to turn to a GoFundMe campaign to keep her business afloat.
“This is the very LAST thing I ever wanted to have to do … I will not teach my kids how to quit when bad things happen. I’m going to set my ego aside and ask for help and keep fighting,” Benike wrote on the GoFundMe campaign that she launched on Sunday.
As of Tuesday morning, the campaign had collected more than $17,000, almost 8% of the overall goal.
The roadblock of tariffs struck as Benike is fully leveraged, with loans using her house as collateral. She took out additional loans to finance making more products to fulfill an expanded contract with Walmart.
Bringing the shipment of about three months’ worth of products to the U.S. isn’t a long-term solution to the tariff problem, but it would buy her some time to map out a plan to save her 8-year-old company.
“There are some viable potential paths, but none that I can execute quickly enough to save our business. I’ve got to pay the ransom and get our products here so we can have a little more time to figure this out,” she wrote.
The business at stake — Busy Baby — makes eight baby-related products, including a patented signature product, the Busy Baby Mat. The soft silicone placemat features suction cups to stay in place with stretchy tethers to attach baby toys.
Benike, who is a U.S. Army veteran, created the prototype for the placemat in her kitchen in Oronoco. Helped by economic development groups including the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation in Owatonna, she started to grow Busy Baby and even made an appearance on the “Shark Tank” TV show that features start-up pitches.
She now co-owns the company with her brother Eric Fynbo. They have a warehouse/distribution center in Zumbrota with five employees. Millions of Busy Baby mats are now being used in houses around the world.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China were not a surprise, and Benike had budgeted $31,000 to cover the tariff she expected on her current shipment of products in China. However, she did not anticipate the tariff climbing over a few days to 145%.
Given that making products here is not financially or logistically in a timeline to save Busy Baby, Benike said she is looking at transforming her business into a global brand to sell to international customers instead of in the U.S.
Paying the tariff and getting her product shipment to the U.S. will give her the time to hammer out that plan or other options for keeping Busy Baby busy.
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