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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934 October 29 - November 4, 2026
Vol. 93
No. 12
Phone: 612-827-4021 www.spokesman-recorder.com
Why the Nov. 3 midterms matter, and where Minnesota’s major-party candidates stand By James Trice Guest Columnist lections are not popularity contests, nor should they hinge on personal likes or dislikes. They are not about who has the most attractive website, speaks most eloquently, appears most charismatic or receives the most attention. Elections are not about Democrats or Republicans; they are about rights and resources.
When you vote, know whom you are supporting and why. Regardless of party, your chosen candidate should be prepared to defend your rights and fight for the resources your community needs. The Nov. 3 midterm general election may be the most consequential election of our lifetime. The president’s party controls the White House and both chambers of Congress, and a conservative major-
ity holds the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving little effective oversight or restraint. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you have felt the effects of the administration’s actions: higher food and gas prices, rising health care premiums and, for some people, the loss of health coverage. We are also involved in an unprovoked war. We have witnessed extreme and deadly immigration enforcement, book bans, attacks on
the Department of Education and civil rights, the erosion of voting rights, and threats to freedom of speech and the press, with no sign of these actions slowing. If the administration maintains its current course, the remaining foundations of our democracy could be dismantled. People generally vote for one of two reasons: to change current conditions or to preserve them. Those dissatisfied with the present situation vote for a different
direction, while those who approve of it vote to maintain the status quo. If you want to change our current course, I urge you to vote on Nov. 3. Our hardwon rights and the resources our community needs are at stake. To prevent further harm by the current administration, Democrats must win control of both the House and Senate on Nov. 3. To accomplish this, Democrats need a net gain of three
House seats and four Senate seats while retaining the seats they already hold. They must also hold key positions in local elections to help protect our communities. To be clear, I am not endorsing the Democratic Party or pledging loyalty to any party. However, I believe that if Democrats gain control of Congress, they will impose needed guardrails, defend our rights and help ensure that our communities receive the resources they need.
Where Minnesota candidates stand on issues affecting Black, brown, Indigenous and immigrant residents The Nov. 3 midterm elections are an opportunity for Black, brown, Indigenous and immigrant Minnesotans to evaluate not just what candidates promise, but what they are prepared to do to protect our rights, address racial disparities and ensure that our communities receive the resources they need. Below is a comparison of the two major-party candidates in key races, their priorities and the issues shaping their appeals to voters. Third-party and independent candidates also appear on some ballots.
MINNESOTA GOVERNOR Amy Klobuchar (DFL)
MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL
Lisa Demuth (Republican)
Balletopedia
Keith Ellison (DFL, incumbent)
Courtesy
National Association of Attorney Generals
Klobuchar’s campaign focuses on affordability, family support and government oversight.
Demuth’s campaign focuses on government accountability, spending and public safety.
Ellison’s priorities center on civil rights, public accountability and worker protections.
Economic and family priorities • Improve affordability • Expand access to housing • Make child care more accessible • Improve access to health care and strengthen workforce development
Government and spending • Increase government accountability and prevent fraud • Reduce government spending • Eliminate Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program
Criminal justice and accountability • Prosecute police misconduct and strengthen accountability • Reduce racial disparities in incarceration
Government and immigration • Strengthen oversight to prevent government fraud • Remove federal immigration enforcement agents from Minnesota
Public safety and immigration • Impose tougher criminal sentences • Increase law enforcement funding • Cooperate with federal immigration authorities
Minnesota Gov
Flanagan’s campaign focuses on health care, immigration and economic support for families. Health care and reproductive rights • Pass Medicare for All and end prior authorization by insurance companies • Protect Medicaid and food assistance • Preserve reproductive rights
Balletopedia
Schutz’s campaign centers on law and order, support for law enforcement and fraud prevention. Public safety • Emphasize law and order and tougher sentencing to reduce violent crime • Increase support for law enforcement • Cooperate with federal authorities while maintaining nonpartisan investigations of officer-involved incidents Taxpayer protection • Combat fraud in public assistance programs
How the attorney general’s office can support Black, brown, Indigenous and immigrant Minnesotans
U.S. SENATE Peggy Flanagan (DFL)
Civil and worker rights • Challenge federal agencies over immigration enforcement practices and alleged civil rights violations • Protect workers from wage theft
Ron Schutz (Republican)
Michele Tafoya (Republican)
Courtesy
Tafoya’s campaign focuses on public safety, social and education policy, and taxes. Public safety and immigration • Support law enforcement funding, cooperation with federal immigration authorities and tougher mandatory minimum sentences
Immigration • Overhaul ICE, which she has pledged to “rip apart,” and create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
Social and education policy • Oppose transgender participation in women’s sports • Ban abortion after 12 weeks • Support education reform that restores parental input
Family and economic support • Expand housing and child care assistance • Support paid family and medical leave • Increase educational opportunities
Taxes and elections • Oppose middle-class tax increases • Support the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote
Civil rights and accountability • Enforce state and federal protections against discrimination • Pursue legal action within the office’s jurisdiction and support lawful accountability measures • Challenge unlawful conduct that threatens residents’ rights Consumer and financial protection • Act against predatory practices, consumer fraud and unlawful discrimination • Enforce laws against deceptive business practices and financial exploitation • Challenge unlawful conduct involving public funds
My greatest fear is that one day we may wake up and our democracy is gone. — John Lewis
quote from the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble”
■ See ELECTIONS on page 5
2 Octobe 29 - November 4, 2026
Metro
Black Minnesotans rally for affordable, equitable health care By Izzy Canizares Contributing Writer Black Minnesotans gathered Wednesday, two weeks before the midterm elections, to call for a stronger, more equitable health care system and urge elected officials to address barriers to affordable, quality care. The rally, titled “Our Lives, Not Their Profits,” was organized by Faith in Minnesota and held Oct. 21 at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. The event brought together community members, advocates and elected officials to discuss the state of Minnesota’s health care system and hear directly from Black residents about the challenges they face in accessing affordable, quality care. “We did some deep listening last year in Black churches and in the Black neighborhoods to build an agenda,” said JaNaé Bates Imari, a minister and coexecutive director of Faith in Minnesota. “And that agenda was to find out what do Black Minnesotans really care about. Time and time again, people are in a health care crisis. As a matter of fact, it is getting even worse, because of the way in which health care corporations and even hospitals have been operating.” Despite affordability challenges for many Minnesotans, the health care industry continues to generate substantial revenue. UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation’s largest health care companies, reported $447.6 billion in consolidated revenue for 2025,
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Photos courtesy of Izzy Canizares/MSR according to the company’s financial reports. “This is a health care corporation that makes the fourth most profit in the whole world,” Imari said. “We crunched the numbers and if every single Minnesotan were to get affordable, quality health care, it would cost about $5 billion a year.” UnitedHealth ranks fourth among the world’s largest companies by revenue, according to the 2026 Fortune Global 500. The rally also gave community members an opportunity to share their experiences through a survey administered by the Black Church Power Project. Organizers said the goal was to better understand which health care challenges are affecting Black Minnesotans most significantly. Preliminary survey results presented Wednesday evening showed that 75% of participants believed profits too
often come before patients, while 95% agreed that every Minnesotan should be guaranteed access to quality, affordable health care. Alongside community advocates, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is seeking reelection, and state Rep. Cedrick Frazier, who is running for Hennepin County attorney, attended the rally to discuss their perspectives on improving access to health care. Ellison criticized the role of pharmaceutical companies in determining the cost of medications, arguing that public investment often helps make medical research possible before private companies profit from the results. “Your money goes into the research at the universities to figure out these complicated drugs; these universities carry the cost, the public carries the cost right up until it has a market value, then the companies
spokesman-recorder.com ten dismissed by medical professionals. “We’re not trusted, we’re not respected, we’re not believed when we go into the hospital, into these spaces that are supposed to be there for us and care for us,” Peterson said. “Black women are at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to not getting the health care that they deserve. That impacts everyone around us. It impacts our babies. It impacts our families; it impacts our neighbors and our friends around us.” As the rally concluded, organizers encouraged attendees to vote, cast their ballots early when possible and help friends and family members make a plan to vote.
completely ignore the fact that there are things that are due to us, that they have not delivered on,” Imari said. She also criticized the financial incentives within the health care industry, arguing that pharmaceutical companies and hospitals profit while patients struggle to afford treatment. “Not only is this an industry that is literally making money on our backs, out of our suffering, there are prescription drug folks making money, hospitals making money, all at our expense and at our expense of our health,” Imari said. Imari ended with a warning about the potential consequences of people losing access to Medicaid, the public
buy it, then the companies own it, and they jack you up for it. It’s wrong, five times wrong,” Ellison said. “We pay more for health care in the United States than anybody in the world. And guess what, you would think it’d be the best health care, right? Wrong.” Frazier reflected on his decision to run for office during the COVID-19 pandemic and the concerns he had about the virus’ potential impact on vulnerable communities, including his own family. “I think about that because when I was running at that time, I was terrified and we were thinking about how COVID was going to impact the people because a lot of my family has pre-existing conditions,” Frazier said. “Diabetes, hypertension, all those ills. And if you’re Black, many of those things we have.” Disparities in health outcomes and access to care between Black and white Americans have been documented for decades. Black women, in particular, face significant challenges in maternal health Imari argued that political health insurance program for and the treatment of chronic divisions can distract from eligible low-income individuconditions. the economic and health care als and families. According to the U.S. De- concerns affecting Minneso“People are literally dying. partment of Health and Hu- tans, including the rising costs This cliff that we’re headed toman Services’ Office of Mi- of medical treatment and ward where literally hundreds nority Health, the maternal potential changes to public of thousands of people are mortality rate for Black wom- health insurance coverage. about to get kicked off of their en in 2022 was more than “The reality is that what we Medicaid. That also equals twice the national rate. are seeing right here in Minne- death. And I’m not using hyCeMarr Peterson, a Black sota is a group of people who perbole,” she said. woman living with a chronic want the closing argument of illness, described experienc- Minnesota to be about fraud. Izzy Canizares is a contribing discrimination within Min- They would much prefer that uting writer for the Minnesota nesota’s health care system Minnesotans are fighting it Spokesman-Recorder. He weland said she believes Black out and are divided and are comes reader responses at isawomen’s concerns are too of- fearful so that they could bellacani0102@gmail.com.
Activists say Hennepin County tracked HERC opponents county withheld some pages different perspectives. marked “Attorney File” and “Summarizing meetings, that it has asked for the rest. sharing publicly available Audua Pugh, executive Activists working to close information, and reporting director of the Jordan Area the Hennepin Energy Recov- on community concerns and Community Council, said she ery Center (HERC), the coun- policy developments are orwas named in notes Vital ty-owned trash burner next dinary functions of governprepared. “The county would to North Minneapolis, said ment,” the statement said. say that this is community The county said it can Thursday that county records engagement, but the county show Hennepin County staff share a commitment to zero wasn’t just listening to our tracked their organizing for waste with community orgaconcerns, they were listening years and shared details with nizations while disagreeing in and reporting back to the the company that runs the on how to get there, includhigher-ups,” Pugh said. facility. At a press conference ing the role of landfilling and Pugh pushed back on outside Heritage Park, one waste-to-energy. It said evalleader named in the records uating and sometimes giving Hennepin Energy Recovery Center H Jiahong Pan/MSR notes that suggested others in the coalition control her. “I demanded that two county critical feedback on outside proposals is part of staff’s position on HERC earlier this Angie Timmons, asked him to make my own decisions,” she staff members resign. responsibility. year and that the county is attend, then sent notes that said. “I choose this advocacy The Minnesota Environ- professional mental Justice Table and the “This is a very complex and committed to zero waste “to listed attendees and attrib- on my own for my people and Zero Burn Coalition released personal issue, and we will accelerate the closure and uted plans and statements to my community.” She called for Timmons a report built on county continue to listen and engage repurposing of HERC.” Board named members. According to the report, and McNary to resign, saying emails and notes they ob- in conversations,” the state- Chair Irene Fernando said she opposes closing HERC until those notes reached Assis- their work undermined the tained through Minnesota ment said. there is an operational plan tant County Administrator County Board’s own 2023 Government Data Practices for the roughly 1,000 tons Lisa Cerney within hours. resolution calling for HERC’s Act requests. The report al"Hennepin County of trash that arrive each day, In August 2023, the report closure. “As far as I’m conleges that, beginning in 2023, says it's our and that she authored the says, McNary forwarded a cerned, these two should county staff attended or lisboard’s 2023 resolution to coalition rally alert to Tim resign today, not tomorrow,” tened in on coalition events partner, but Steinbeck, president of GRE Pugh said. She also criticized plan for its closure. and meetings, wrote up what partners don't Advocates say the permit HERC Services, who replied Fernando, who represents they saw and sent those is the central issue. HERC’s by asking whether there was the district, saying it appears notes up the county’s chain take notes on us operating permit has not “any opportunity to share the the chair has failed to address of command and, in some and hand our been substantively updated ‘facts.’” staff actions that cut against cases, to the private operaThe report also says that since 1998, MSR has reportthe board’s commitments. tor of the burner, GRE HERC organizing over ed, and the county says the in March 2024 McNary sent Kent Mori of the Climate Services. to the company.” facility’s emissions from 2016 private emails from envi- Justice Committee addressed The Zero Burn Coalition to 2025 averaged 80% below ronmental justice advocates a line in the notes quoting has called on the county to about a state bill that would him as saying “further esGRE HERC Services did permitted levels. close HERC no later than Jan. The report cites county let cities phase out polluting calation is needed.” He said not respond to MSR’s request 1, 2028. In a statement to MSR, for comment. KSTP reported page numbers for each ex- facilities to industry repre- he does not remember the Hennepin County said the co- that the county has previous- ample. It says Environmen- sentatives, including the op- meeting but that it sounds alition “mischaracterizes the ly stated it operates well be- tal Engagement Coordinator erator’s president, and asked like something he would say. county’s community engage- low permitted emission limits. Joe Vital emailed notes on a who was opposing it. McNary “Escalation in mobilizing, esIn statements to MSR last February 2023 coalition cam- is treasurer-secretary of the calation in organizing, escalament work and staff responsibilities.” The county said staff week about the closure cam- paign launch to Environment Minnesota Resource Recov- tion in fighting government routinely attend public com- paign, before the report was and Energy staff, including ery Association, an incinera- repression,” Mori said. Patty O’Keefe of the munity meetings and stake- released, Hennepin County Assistant Director David Mc- tor industry group, along with holder discussions and follow Chief Public Relations Offi- Nary. It says Vital sat in on Steinbeck, the report says. Zero Burn Coalition said the county has treated residents social media to listen, share cer Carolyn Marinan said the a June 13, 2023, coalition The bill did not pass. The coalition said the as adversaries. “Hennepin information and understand County Board reaffirmed its Zoom call after a manager, By Jasmine McBride Editor
County says it’s our partner, but partners don’t take notes on us and hand our organizing over to the company that burns the trash that we breathe,” she said. She called on the county to be transparent about how the information was collected and shared and to support a clear closure date. Adina Black, associate director of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, said that as of September 2026 there is active litigation over living conditions at Heritage Park, and that the two fights are connected. “Residents should not have to fight their own government institutions for safe housing and clean air,” she said. Kenya McKnight-Ahad, founder of Black Women’s Wealth Alliance, CEO of ZaRah Integrated Root Center and a member of the One Heritage Park Coalition, said Heritage Park residents have lived with mold and health problems including asthma and respiratory illness, and that some are being evicted and retaliated against. She said the city, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and the state have stepped up, but the county has not, and that Fernando told residents Heritage Park was not the county’s business. “The county needs to step up,” McKnight-Ahad said. The report and the county pages it cites are available at zeroburncoalition.org. Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Health
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UNDERSTANDING
3
Confused about insurance? Don’t let it block your mammogram
The report also found that more than 70% of commercially insured patients faced out-of-pocket costs for followup diagnostic tests such as diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds, MRIs and biopsies. No one should put off a potentially lifesaving screenSponsored by ing because they’re worried about their wallet. Understanding how your coverage works can take some of that uncertainty off the table. By Dr. Angela Porter and Start with the good news: Andrew Marshall For many people, a routine October is Breast Cancer mammogram costs nothing. Awareness Month, and by Under the Affordable Care Act, now most of us have heard most health plans must cover preventive the message: Early detection recommended breast cancer screenings withsaves lives. But knowing you should get out cost-sharing. In many cases, a mammogram and actually that means a screening mambooking the appointment are mogram from an in-network two different things. For many provider comes with no copay, people, the barrier isn’t aware- coinsurance or deductible. Many people know the ness. It’s uncertainty. Will my insurance cover it? What hap- guideline to begin screenpens if they find something? ing at age 40, but when you What if the nearest screening should start can depend on center is miles away? What if your personal risk factors and the follow-up tests cost more the recommendations you and your health care provider than I can afford? Those worries are more choose to follow. Coverage makes a real difcommon than many people realize. A January 2025 report ference in who gets screened. from the American Cancer So- According to Susan G. Komen, ciety Cancer Action Network among women ages 50 to 74, (ACS CAN) estimated that only 50% of those without more than 1 million women insurance reported having a delay recommended follow- mammogram in the previous up testing after a mammo- two years, compared with 83% gram because of cost con- of women with private insurcerns and that about 378,000 ance. Still, the rules vary dependmay skip future mammograms altogether for fear of what ing on your plan, your age, additional testing would cost. your risk factors and whether
RKlaus Nielsen a service is considered preventive or diagnostic. Before you schedule, call your health plan or log into your member portal and ask: • Is the screening provider in-network? • Is the mammogram considered preventive care under my plan? • Do I need a referral? Are 3D mammograms covered? • What will I owe if additional testing is needed? For some people, the challenge isn’t coverage. It’s access. Research continues to show that women in rural communities are less likely than women in urban areas to be up to date on breast cancer screenings, with transportation, distance and a shortage of nearby providers all playing
A Celebration of the Life of
Joe Willie Morrison Sunrise October 12, 1936 – Sunset October 22, 2026
oe Willie Morrison, 90, passed away on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 2:04 AM, surrounded by his family. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, greatgrandfather, Deacon, and veteran, Joe lived a life rooted in faith, family, and service. He was born October 12, 1936, in Luxora, Arkansas, to Pauline and John Morrison. Joe entered the United States Army in 1956. On Christmas Day that year, he married Eva Mae Metcalf, beginning a partnership that spanned more than seventy years. Joe and Eva moved to East Moline, Illinois, in 1959, where they began to raise their family. Joe worked at International Harvester and served as a union steward with the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1304. He established Qualified Painting Company in 1969. Ordained as a Deacon at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Moline in 1980, Joe carried his commitment to church service throughout his life. After retiring and moving to Minnesota in 1991, he and Eva became two of the founding members
of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church in Saint Paul, under the leadership of Pastor Emeritus Dr. Earl F. Miller. Since the founding of Progressive, Joe served in many leadership and ministry roles. He was the first Chair of the Deacon Board and later served as Vice Chair, Mission and Benevolence Chairman, Building Project Manager, Finance Chair Manager, and Chair of Transportation. He helped care for the church through building maintenance and was a staunch supporter of Women in Ministry. Joe shared a special bond with Pastor Emeritus Dr. Earl Miller, who was not only his pastor but also his friend. Their friendship was a treasured part of his life. Joe is lovingly remembered by his devoted wife, Eva; his seven children, Brenda, Melvin, Calvin (Victoria), Debra, Kenneth (Barbara), Gregory, and Hope; 11 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. He is also lovingly remembered by Amy, Tammy, Jerin, and Emilia, who remain dear to the family, along with a host of other relatives and his Progressive Baptist Church family. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Morrison and Pauline (Morrison) Forman; his stepfather, Rozell Forman; and his brothers, Rozell Ritemon, Jr. and John Willie Morrison. The Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Visitation: 1:00 PM Celebration Service: 2:00 PM Location: Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, 1505 Burns Avenue South, St. Paul, Minnesota. Interment: Private burial at Fort Snelling, 601 34th Ave S, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder October 29, 2026
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a role. That’s where mobile mammography comes in. These units bring screening directly into communities, and a recent study found that the women who use them are more likely to come from rural and lower-income areas where traditional imaging centers are hard to reach. For some women, the nearest mammogram may not be at a hospital at all. It may be a mobile unit parked at a community center, a church lot, a workplace or a neighborhood health fair. Don’t assume your insurance won’t cover a mobile mammogram. Coverage is usually tied to the service and the provider, not the building where the screening happens. Check with both the provider
and your health plan ahead of questions about your benefits early and often. time to confirm. It also helps to plan for the Men shouldn’t tune this out either. Breast cancer is much costs that never show up on less common in men, but it a medical bill. A diagnosis can does happen, and the possi- mean paying for transportability is often overlooked be- tion, gas and parking, lodgcause so many people think of ing if treatment is far from it as a women’s disease. Men home, child care, meals and who notice a lump, swelling, help around the house durskin changes or nipple dis- ing recovery, along with time charge should talk with their away from work. Depending health care provider. Routine on your circumstances, help screening coverage is differ- may be available through your ent for men, but diagnostic health plan, your employer, testing ordered to evaluate your health care provider, symptoms may be covered. nonprofit organizations or Medicare, for example, covers community programs. Asking diagnostic mammograms for about those resources matters men when they are medically just as much as understanding necessary. your medical coverage. Then there is the quesBreast cancer screening tion many people fear most: saves lives, but confusion What happens if something is about coverage, cost and found? access still keeps too many Being called back for more people from getting screened. imaging does not mean you The reality is more encouraghave cancer. Follow-up test- ing than many expect. Many ing after a screening mam- mammograms are covered as mogram is relatively common, preventive care. Mobile opand it often turns up findings tions may be closer than you that are not cancerous. think. And health plans often If you do need more testing offer support people don’t or treatment, your insurance know exists. plays a role at every stage. This month, take a few Depending on your diagnosis minutes to learn what your and treatment plan, coverage plan covers and what screenmay include diagnostic imag- ing options are near you. ing, biopsies, specialist visits, Knowing what to expect can surgery, radiation, chemother- remove one more barrier beapy, prescription drugs and tween you and a screening follow-up care. Most plans that could save your life. cover medically necessary cancer treatment, though deDr. Angela Porter is senior ductibles, copays, coinsurance medical director at Medica. Anand out-of-pocket maximums drew Marshall is a market presidiffer from plan to plan. Ask dent at Medica.
397 Words
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October 29 - November 4, 2026
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Constructing a legacy: Two Buckner generations lead Moltron a merchandise analyst for Target Corp. Babette started by helping with administration, drafting business plans Sponsored by and managing billing. After the birth of their son, P.J., Pat asked her to join the business By Damenica Ellis full time. Before leaving corpoContributing Writer rate retail, Babette introduced the company to Target, which In 1991, Pat Buckner took a became one of its first major risk and became his own boss clients and a vital springboard by incorporating Moltron Enter- for growth, she said. prises. He built the company on The company’s strength something he saw as an African lies in a deliberate division of American man: one of the great- expertise, Babette said. Pat est economic stresses in the understands the field and the country is finding a job. Coming assembly process through his from a family of contractors and union training, while Babette, entrepreneurs, Pat entered the who has a degree in economunion trades early to earn certi- ics, oversees corporate operafications and knowledge. tions. She said entrepreneurs “Construction for me is with deep trade knowledge like art, like a musician with should pair with leaders who an instrument, an artist with can manage the backroom, a paintbrush,” he said. “So I including accounting, human didn’t go to work, went to resources, legal affairs and school, and got paid to learn regulatory requirements. more about my art.” In 2007, the Buckners esBy starting his own enter- tablished Moltron Builders Inc., prise, Pat set out to bypass the the company they run today. job search entirely and create Pat’s earlier company, Mola lasting economic engine for tron Enterprises, is no longer his family, drawing inspiration in operation. In 2019, Babette from historically prominent became Moltron Builders’ mafamily legacies. jority owner and CEO, working In 1994, Pat married Ba- in an industry where federal bette Buckner, who was then set-asides were available to
structure ensures that goals and responsibilities reflect input from the whole family, not directives from the top. For Pat, working alongside his wife and children is the realization of a lifelong ambition. For more information on Moltron Builders Inc., call 612685-8388.
From left: Babette Buckner, P.J. Buckner, Bella Buckner, and Patrick Buckner
Courtesy Babette Buckner
women-owned businesses. She acknowledged the complexity of supporting her family while keeping the company accountable, and said objective metrics and financial data must guide business decisions. Pat wants Moltron’s crew to reflect the community. “When we get a project, I go to the community I know, and I hire them,” he said. Following the models of his industry mentors, he recruits and hires locally on projects to build economic strength from within. Two of Pat and Babette’s five children, P.J. and Bella
Buckner, work in the business. Bella joined around 2022 after a yearlong internship with Opus Construction. She came from customer service and banking, and she was looking for a workplace away from client hostility and corporate structures that treat workers as replaceable. She is now Moltron’s project coordinator. Working for the family company brought clear advantages, Bella said, including negotiating fair pay, flexible scheduling and a real focus on personal well-being. Running a business with family
takes deliberate management, though. Bella and P.J. work to separate business decisions from personal relationships, and they advocate for clear boundaries inside and outside the office so home dynamics don’t bleed into daily operations. For Babette, managing her adult children means balancing a mother’s instincts with professional standards. To keep everyone’s voice in company decisions, Moltron holds annual business planning through four-hour sessions that Pat, Babette, Bella and P.J. take turns facilitating. The
How to take part To learn more about Black businesses like this one, attend the Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder and Sister Spokesman’s second annual Best of Black Business Awards on Nov. 7. Honorees in five categories (Food & Drink, Hair & Nails, Health & Wellness, Retail & Merchandise, and Professional Services) will learn their first-, second- and third-place finishes live on stage. Tickets are available at spokesman-recorder.com/sister-spokesman/. Damenica Ellis welcomes reader responses at dellis@ spokesman-recorder.com. On the Radar highlights established Black-owned businesses and the people behind them. To have your business considered for a future feature, email dellis@spokesman-recorder.com.
Black business takes center stage Nov. 6–7 locally By MSR News Minnesota’s Black business community has a packed calendar the first weekend of November. Three organizations are hosting events Nov. 6 and 7 to celebrate, connect and equip Black entrepreneurs. The weekend opens with
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center, with expert-led workshops, business resources, networking and plenary conversations. The summit is one of the Chamber’s largest events of the year. It follows the Chamber’s August gala, where it inducted the inaugural class of
com/e/best-of-black-busi- and CEO Tracey Williams-Dilat blackbusinessball.com. lard was inducted into the MinBBE is a Minneapolis non- ness-awards-2026/tickets. nesota Black Chamber of Comprofit founded by Nancy KorDisclosure: MSR Publisher merce’s inaugural Minnesota sah. It supports Black entrepreneurs through resources, connections, mentorship and economic opportunity from its downtown Minneapolis location. Proceeds from the ball support that work.
BIG IDEAS. BEAUTIFULLY PRINTED.
Attendees visit vendor at The Black Market
The Black Market
the Minnesota Black Business Hall of Fame. That evening, Black Business Enterprises (BBE) will host its 6th Annual Black Business Ball, themed “Secret Garden: Honoring the Legends,” at Quincy Hall, 1325 Quincy St. NE in Minneapolis. The blacktie fundraising gala recognizes minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs making a positive impact on the community. Festivities begin at 5 p.m., and organizers expect more than 400 guests. Tickets start at $225 and are available
Readers who want to keep shopping Black-owned after the weekend can visit The Black Market’s Black Business Is Beautiful marketplace. It’s held from 2 to 6 p.m. Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 at The Lab, 767 N. Eustis St. in St. Paul. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and Sister Spokesman will host the second annual Best of Black Business Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 7, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Center for Performing Arts, 3754 Pleasant Ave. in Minneapolis. Fourteen honorees chosen by the community in five categories (Food & Drink, Hair & Nails, Health & Wellness, Retail & Merchandise, and Professional Services) will learn their first-, second- and thirdplace finishes live on stage. The afternoon also includes shopping with local vendors, a meal and networking. Tickets are $25. To find out more and purchase tickets, visit tix.spokesman-recorder.
the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce’s Strengthen the Strong Summit & Expo. The two-day event will bring together entrepreneurs, business leaders, corporate partners, resource organizations and community members around business growth, education, connections and opportunity. It kicks off the evening of Friday, Nov. 6, at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, with doors opening at 5 p.m. and the program starting at 5:30 p.m. The summit continues Saturday, Nov. 7, from
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Black Business Hall of Fame class in August. MSR and Sister Spokesman host the Best of Black Business Awards.
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October 29 - November 4, 2026
5
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U.S. House, 5th Congressional District
U.S. House, 4th Congressional District
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District includes all or parts of Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Golden Valley, Crystal, New Hope, Fridley, Richfield, St. Louis Park, Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Hilltop, Edina, St. Anthony and Spring Lake Park.
Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District includes St. Paul, Roseville, Maplewood, Shoreview, White Bear Lake, Oakdale, Mahtomedi, Lake Elmo and parts of Woodbury.
CONGRESS Ilhan Omar (DFL, incumbent)
CONGRESS
John Nagel (Republican)
Courtesy
Omar’s platform emphasizes racial and economic equity, civil rights, and support for marginalized and immigrant communities. Economic opportunity • Raise wages through the Raise the Wage Act and end subminimum wages for workers with disabilities • Expand affordable housing and studentdebt relief Immigration and civil rights • Protect immigrant rights and expand pathways to citizenship • Address systemic racial and economic inequality Health care and criminal justice • Move toward a single-payer health care system and codify the protections of Roe v. Wade • Legalize recreational cannabis nationwide and end mandatory minimum sentences for low-level offenses
Betty McCollum (DFL, incumbent)
Balletopedia
Nagel, a retired Minnesota state trooper, centers his campaign on public safety, border security, education and government spending. Public safety • Support stricter law enforcement and stronger accountability measures • Create a Department of Justicesupported gang task force to address violence in the Twin Cities Immigration and education • Strengthen border enforcement and tighten immigration controls • Refocus schools on educating students and emphasize shared American values Taxes and spending • Support the tax and spending policies in President Trump’s budget legislation • Reduce federal spending
Courtesy
Wikstrom’s platform focuses on border security, public safety and economic opportunity.
Immigration and refugee policy • Oppose mass deportations, expanded federal immigration enforcement and travel bans • Support comprehensive immigration reform and pathways for vetted refugees
Immigration and government programs • Strengthen border security and tighten immigration enforcement • Eliminate fraud in government-funded programs
Public safety and prosecution • Prioritize repeat and violent offenders with a more effective prosecution strategy • Revise juvenile charging policies to increase accountability for gun crimes, violent crimes, repeat offenses and auto theft Victims and partnerships • Support crime victims and strengthen public safety partnerships • Restore and strengthen trust with law enforcement partners Policy review and immigrant communities • Review the office’s policies from the past four years and prioritize measurable public safety outcomes • Pursue potential prosecution of federal agents who violated Minnesota law during “Operation Metro Surge”
Economic opportunity • Expand tax cuts, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay • Increase domestic manufacturing employment
Immigrant communities • Defend Minnesota’s immigrant communities, including Somali Americans, against the cancellation of temporary protections
RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY
Cedrick Frazier
Folk’s campaign emphasizes stronger prosecution, juvenile accountability, public safety outcomes and a review of existing policies.
Public safety • Support law enforcement efforts to address violent crime, carjackings and open-air drug dealing in Twin Cities neighborhoods
Civil rights • Address systemic racism and racial profiling • Oppose federal law enforcement operations, including “Operation Metro Surge,” that she says disproportionately target minority communities
HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY
Wikipedia
Balletopedia
McCollum’s platform focuses on immigration and refugee policy, civil rights and support for immigrant communities.
This is a nonpartisan race, so candidates do not appear with party labels.
Anders Folk
Paul Wikstrom (Republican)
John Choi (incumbent)
Ramsey County
Courtesy
Frazier’s campaign emphasizes victimcentered leadership, equitable justice, community collaboration and a broader range of legal and social protections. Public safety and victims • Prosecute violent crime while pairing enforcement with broader protections and community engagement • Establish a Victim and Survivor Advisory Council on his first day Community and justice reform • Build on relationships with community leaders, law enforcement, mayors, legislators and labor organizations • Pursue a more equitable legal system shaped by the voices of people affected by crime Broader protections • Protect immigrant communities from unjust deportations and address wage theft • Defend abortion access and make environmental protection a priority
Choi, first elected in 2010, is running unopposed for a fifth term. His record reflects a focus on youth justice, victims’ rights and reducing gun violence. Youth and community justice • Expand community-based responses to youth offenses through his (Re)Imagining Justice for Youth initiative • Prosecute sex traffickers rather than the young people they exploit Public safety and gun violence • Support the Ramsey County Gun Safety Initiative, which promotes safe firearm storage and harm prevention • Back a non-fatal shooting initiative aimed at reducing gun violence in St. Paul Accountability and victims’ rights • Advocate for sexual assault victims • Defend the independence of prosecutors
Other Minnesota U.S. House races 1st District: Jake Johnson (DFL) vs. Brad Finstad (Republican, incumbent) 2nd District: Matt Little (DFL) vs. Eric Pratt (Republican) 3rd District: Kelly Morrison (DFL, incumbent) vs. Tyler Bass (Republican) 6th District: Doug Chapin (DFL) vs. Tom Emmer (Republican, incumbent) 7th District: Erik Osberg (DFL) vs. Michelle Fischbach (Republican, incumbent)
James Trice is the founder and CEO of The Public Policy Project. Email him at James_publicpolicyproject@msn.com.
8th District: Trina Swanson (DFL) vs. Pete Stauber (Republican, incumbent) For candidate information and links to campaign websites, visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s candidate filing records.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Vote early
to avoid lines or any unnecessary frustrations Most locations open for in person absentee voting 46 days before an election, but some "pop-up" locations might be open for as little as one day. Early Voting.
6 Octobe 29 - November 4, 2026
Finance
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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Would your bank really ask that? Sponsored by
By Tyler Berends, Taylor Fox and Barbie Minzel, Sunrise Banks Scams are nothing new, but the rise of artificial intelligence is allowing fraudsters to work more quickly and try to fool people in new ways. If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you’re not alone. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of U.S. adults have experienced some type of scam or fraud. Many of these attacks are targeting your money, with scammers working to access your bank accounts. Some impersonate your financial insti-
you on the line. A real, credible bank or financial institution will never do that. If you have any doubts about who you’re talking to, hang up, find the bank’s phone number (go to their official website; don’t What are the most common trust AI to give the correct scams? Many scams are very mun- number) and call them back. dane and aren’t very creative. Fraudsters are looking What information will and to catch you in a vulnerable won’t your bank ask you for? There are a few things at moment and take advantage when you aren’t giving full at- Sunrise Banks we will never tention to what’s happening. ask you for: • Your digital banking passSome of the most common word scams we see are: • Your Secure Access Code • Text messages about a (SAC) or multifactor authentispeeding ticket • Phone calls pretending cation code • Your full debit card numto be your bank, or from your ber or PIN bank’s fraud department • Ask you to verify your • Romance scams personal or account informa• Grandparent scams If you are talking to some- tion through unsolicited links • Tell you to move your one on the phone, the scammer will act with urgency and money to another account say the issue needs to be tak- “for your safety” If a customer does call in, en care of immediately. They will also try to keep you on the we may ask them for some phone, and if you say you’re information like the last four going to hang up, they will numbers of their Social Secudo whatever it takes to keep rity number or what their last tution, using specific tactics to get your personal information. If you are being targeted, there are actions you can take to protect yourself and your money.
$1.1B data center tax break near civil rights trail By Joseph Williams In Lowndes County, Alabama, a nearly 70% Black county, commissioners voted 3-2 on Oct. 13 to give a Texas developer a 20-year, $1.1 billion tax abatement for Project Red Clay, an 800-acre data center planned about a half mile from a Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights trail campsite. The project would run on 1.5 gigawatts of power, according to reporting by Joseph Williams of Word In Black, and residents say they were given little information or chance to weigh in.
es already bearing environmental harm, “for the vague possibility of economic gain.” Residents also worry whether the county has the water, power and sewer capacity for the project, in a county where many homes still lack modern sewage systems. The same questions are being asked in Minnesota, where a data center’s cost can show up in two places on a household budget: the property tax and electric bills. About a dozen mega-scale data centers have been proposed across Minnesota, and
Project Red Clay Abre’ Conner, the NAACP’s director of environmental and climate justice, said the deal reflects a national trend of forcing data centers into plac-
only one, a Meta data center in Rosemount, is under construction, MPR News has reported. In Hermantown, the City Council tabled a vote in
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for information about what your passwords might be. A reputable organization will never call just to chat. If that’s what’s happening, hang up immediately. In today’s technology age, it’s also easy for scammers to mimic a bank’s phone number. It may look like your bank is calling you, but it could be a bad actor who has taken over their number. Listen to the questions they’re asking you. Would your bank really try to stay on the phone with you for three hours? Would they really try and get you to move money just to “protect” it? Hang up, look at the number on the back of your debit card or on the bank’s official website and call back.
How can you protect yourself? Fraudsters are good at getting people to talk and share information about themselves. While it may feel like a friendly conversation, if they’re asking about your kids or pets, for example, they’re fishing
The best things you can do to protect yourself from scams are: • Sharing minimal information online so scammers can’t use that against you. • Turning on all your notifications for online banking so you see when changes are
How to take part in future rate cases. • Watch the commission. Whether those protections hold is being tested. On Oct. The Public Utilities Com1, Attorney General Keith Elli- mission accepts public comson’s office filed comments on ments on utility agreements an agreement between Xcel and tariffs, and the Attorney May on a property tax break and Google for a proposed General’s Residential Utilities that could reach $80 million data center in Pine Island, say- Division represents residential for a nearly $2 billion Google ing electric service to the fa- customers. complex. “We’re talking about cility could significantly affect • Ask your city. Property a multi-trillion dollar company Xcel’s other ratepayers, includ- tax abatements are decided that wants a tax break. Period,” ing households. The commis- by city councils and county resident Jonathan Thornton sion has not decided the issue. boards in public meetings. Ask told MPR News. City officials have argued that without incentives, other communities will win the projects. At the state level, Minnesota is one of 38 states that offer data center tax incentives. Data centers still receive a sales tax exemption on equipment, but in 2025 lawmakers repealed the exemption on their electricity use, expected to raise about $140 million over four years, the Minnesota Reformer reported. Electric bills are the other concern. Minnesota passed a law in 2025 requiring very large customers, including data centers, to pay all utility costs attributable to them. In May, the Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s rules for these customers, including 15-year minimum contracts, an 80% demand charge if a large facility leaves a contract early and a separate rate class for data centers so their costs can be tracked
Before others covered our communities. Before others celebrated our achievements. Before others recognized our leaders. The Black press was already there.
Ninety-two years later, it still is.
deposit was because we are working to verify their identity and want to ensure we’re giving information to the correct person. If you’re uneasy about giving that information over the phone, you can also walk into a branch and talk to someone in person. There are only a few times we would reach out directly to you. One is if you have alerts set up when fraudulent activity is detected. In that case, we will send you a text message. Or if you have a dispute on your debit card, we will call you with specific questions about that case. If you aren’t expecting a call from us, hang up and call us at the number listed at www.sunrisebanks. com/.
made. • Turning on multifactor authentication so you have an extra layer of security. • If you do get something that looks suspicious, ask a friend or family member what they think. If you have fallen for a scam, notify your bank immediately. We’ll do everything in our power to protect you, your money and your information. Visit our Sunrise Banks Security Center at https://sunrisebanks.com/resources/securitycenter/ for more information on how to protect your accounts and your money from fraudsters and bad actors. Member FDIC. Tyler Berends is the Chief Information Security Officer at Sunrise Banks. Taylor Fox is the VP – Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Officer at Sunrise Banks. Barbie Minzel is the Fraud Manager at Sunrise Banks. what a project will pay, what it will cost and what residents get in return. • Follow the ratepayer watchdogs. The Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota tracks data center protections at cubminnesota.org. Alabama reporting by Joseph Williams, Word In Black. Minnesota reporting by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
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Arts & Culture
October 29 - November 4, 2026
7
Rondo historian Artika Tyner named Reister Award finalist By Jasmine McBride Editor
who built an economic blueprint; and Russel and Sarah Ballenger, who taught a reDr. Artika R. Tyner, a fifth- storative justice framework. The construction of Intergeneration Rondo native, was named a finalist for the 2026 state 94 through the heart of Ruth & Ray Reister Award for the neighborhood cost Rondo Historical Contributions to the more than 700 Black-owned Humanities, presented by the homes and 300 Black-owned Minnesota Humanities Center. businesses, Tyner said. She said She was one of seven finalists communities across the counhonored Oct. 20 at the Minne- try, from Tulsa to the Gullah/ sota History Center in St. Paul. Geechee Nation, faced similar The award recognizes removal and economic harm. “Now is the time for justice people whose work deepens public understanding of Min- to address the economic imnesota’s history and cultural pact and restore our vibrant heritage. Tyner, an author, ed- community ecosystem in ucator, civil rights attorney and Rondo and Black communities community historian, founded across the nation,” Tyner said. Planting People Growing Jus- “This recognition has provided tice Leadership Institute and me with a platform to speak Planting People Growing Jus- truth to power.” Tyner said the ceremony tice Press and Bookstore. “Being named a finalist is felt “like a family reunion,” with a great honor for our Rondo historians, creatives and artcommunity,” Tyner said. “This ists in attendance, including award is a celebration of our Nasra Noor, a teacher and auhistory and culture. It is a re- thor; Davu Seru, curator of the minder that Rondo is an an- Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life; chor of Minnesota’s history.” She credited Rondo elders and Antonio Espinosa, founder for the values and strategies of Arts from the Inside. The that guide her work: Marvin other finalists were Pam BrunAnderson, who outlined the felt of Ely, Penny Kagigebi of community’s values; Nathan- Detroit Lakes, Dr. Rose Miron iel Khaliq and Victoria Davis, of Woodbury, Dr. Anton Treuer
that preserves heritage through said. The institute has donated the arts and humanities. The inmore than 50,000 books, stitute’s programs include: - Leaders Are Readers, a Tyner said, many to Title I monthly literacy program at schools and through the LeadJimmy Lee Recreation Center. ers Are Readers program in - The Dr. Josie Johnson Li- partnership with the JK Movebrary, a redesigned library ment. It works with a network at Saint Peter Claver Catho- of 106 community partners, lic School, supported by the including Little Free LibrarMike and Linda Fiterman Fam- ies, Read with Me MN and Irreducible Grace Foundation. ily Foundation. - Cultural tours of Rondo The goal, she said, is for every and “Rondo Royalty,” a photo family to have a home library. exhibition of youth, elders and Tyner said she wants young community members. people to understand that - Books include “R Is for change takes effort and tenacRondo,” “Violet Loves Rondo,” ity. She wrote the first line of “Joey and Grandpa Johnson’s her first book on a church bulDay in Rondo” and the anthol- letin during a prayer meeting, ogy “Rondo: History & Values.” and she now has more than Next, she said, the institute 40 books. She said a converDr. Artika R. Tyner, left, and Rondo elder Readus Fletcher. is building a Rondo curriculum sation with the late CongressPlanting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute to teach young people the man John Lewis about leading change in your community of Bemidji, Karen Sieber of Each led to one of her busi- neighborhood’s values. Tyner called her Differstill guides her, particularly his ness enterprises. Saint Paul and Mai Vang Huizel encemakers children’s seadvice to start by inspiring She said Rondo elder Reaof Apple Valley. ries, which features Dr. Josie and mobilizing young people. dus Fletcher, pictured with The moment that stood out, Johnson, Mary K. Boyd, Grant The institute is hosting its her, taught her early that “a vishe said, was the announceWest and the Rev. Carl Walk10th Anniversary Fundraiser brant economy is the foundament of the top 25 Minnesota er, her most important project and Community Celebration tion of safe communities and stories, when she saw Rondo for preserving Rondo’s history. Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 to strong families.” Tyner said an honored in every category, She said it focuses on every11 a.m. at the JK Movement. inclusive economy is the overfrom people to places. day heroes. One day in line at Tickets are available at www. looked chapter of the civil Her work grew out of a the post office, she said, she ppgjli.org/ppgjli10. rights movement, and that family of entrepreneurs, Tyner said. Her motto is “when we persistent disparities in entre- asked everyone whether they Disclosure: Dr. Tyner writes see a problem, we create a preneurship, homeownership knew who was standing near them, and no one recognized the First Educator column for the and educational attainment solution.” She named three elder Debbie Montgomery, a Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. show the work is unfinished. problems that pushed her to pioneer on the police force Through the institute’s Ronact: the lack of representation Jasmine McBride welcomes in children’s books, the need do Renaissance work, Tyner said, and in City Council chambers. “Our community is the anreader responses at jmcbride@ her team is building an intergenfor community spaces and swer to our own prayers,” Tyner spokesman-recorder.com. erational community of learning the lack of affordable housing.
Ms. Nique turns her story into a community writing experience
hopes to bring the program to “Chains We Can’t See,” “Just Let Me Heal” and “Love WithMinnesota soon. Her writing continues out Scars.” She is now writing alongside the program. She “Crown Work,” a book for men has published a five-book that she describes as giving trauma healing series, The But- them “permission to be human.” mentary journal and pen. Partic- to building something, she said By Jasmine McBride terfly Healing Effect, available Leaders of boys’ organizations ipants can pass on any prompt there was no single moment. Editor on Amazon: “Bruised But Not in the Dallas area have already It came when people began and are not required to share. Broken,” “Secret Silent Battles,” asked for copies, she said. There are three versions, telling her they related to her Years after Minnesota story, and some shared things Spokesman-Recorder contribu- each tied to its own journal: - Signature uses an 8.5-by- they had never told anyone. tor Dwight Hobbes reviewed “I realized that my vulnerabilher memoir, Monique Cru- 11-inch journal with prompts soe-Cheeks, who goes by Ms. already written in. It usually ity wasn’t weakness,” she said. Nique, is back in touch with the runs over several days or once “I realized that I couldn’t change paper and with a new chapter a week for four weeks, and what happened to me, but I to share. The poet and author participants can work through could absolutely be the thing that changed what happened has created Empowering the the book at their own pace. - After Dark uses a 6-by-9- to people moving forward.” Pen, an interactive writing exShe said vulnerability is perience for people who have inch journal with no prompts. sessions use her “superpower” and that she never thought of themselves as Facilitated writers, and she says she plans prompt cards in categories wants to create spaces where such as “Don’t Lie Now,” “Say people feel “seen, heard and to bring it to Minnesota. Ms. Nique, a mother of 10, What,” “Quick Hit,” “Art Check” empowered.” Ms. Nique said she has held nine of them boys, is originally and “Go Deeper.” - Unfiltered is aimed at a family “think tank” session from Chicago and spent 16 years in Minnesota. She now younger participants, though and was preparing to lead her lives in the Dallas area. “Minne- anyone can use it, and also first senior-community session sota’s still home,” she said. “My uses prompt cards, with cat- the next day, with a group she mom and everybody’s still there.” egories such as “Plot Twists,” knew from earlier work. She Hobbes reviewed her mem- “Keep It 100” and “See It With said she has signed three contracts with cities in the Dallas oir, “If My Past Wasn’t So Dark, Your Chest.” My Future Wouldn’t Shine So Bright.” Since then, she said, she has become an awardwinning author of 14 books, a motivational speaker and what she calls a “transformation coach.” SITI Women of Prestige named her its 2026-27 Author of the Year. “I went from a woman who was simply trying to find her voice through writing to becoming an award-winning author,” she said. “My work has evolved beyond simply sharing my own story. I’m now helping other people find the courage to share theirs.” Ms. Nique is careful about the word. Empowering the Pen is not Monique “Ms. Nique” Crusoe-Cheeks courtesy a class, she said, because she is Ms. Nique said the sessions area to bring Empowering the not teaching anyone to write. “There’s no judgment, there’s are not only about trauma. Pen to residents. She declined no grammar police, there’s no Sometimes, she said, they to name them. She said she has also conpressure for you to tell your are about “rediscovering your story a certain way,” she said. dreams, celebrating yourself, tacted Minnesota organizations. Twice she was a keynote “You don’t have to be a writer. recognizing your strengths.” “For me, writing became a speaker for the group once You don’t have to know how to place where I could completely called the Minnesota Coalition even form a sentence.” She likens it to a paint-and- live honestly without fear or for Battered Women, which sip night, with writing in place judgment,” she said. “I could she said has since changed of painting. “The book and the put things on paper that I its name. She said the orgapen are their canvas,” she said. wasn’t necessarily ready to say nization asked to share her information with its network She stands in front of the room, out loud.” Asked when she realized of about 90 other groups, brings music and snacks, and gives every participant a compli- she had moved from surviving and she gave permission. She
For more Information about Empowering the Pen and Ms. Nique’s books are available at www.empoweringthepen. com/. Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@ spokesman-recorder.
8 Octobe 29 - November 4, 2026
Opinion
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FOURTH JUDICIAL
Department/MN PROBATESpokesman-Recorder MENTAL HEALTH DIVISION PHONE: 612-827-4021 NOTICE OF INFORMAL APPOINTMENT
To force talks, bring out the big trade guns In Re: Estate of
OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
FOR BILLING
Deanne Marie Hild, FILE NO. 27-PA-PR-25-934 INQUIRIES also known as, & TEARSHEETS Deanne Marie and Deanne Elmquist, companies, causing American unless BerlinBratton comes to itsMarie Deceased PLEASE CONTACT
senses and enacts President an R&D investment bonanza ACCOU N T I NG that creates thousands of new reforms. For more than a year, Ger- Trump’s TO ALLdesired INTERESTED PERSONS ANDDEPT CREDITORS: U.S. jobs and leads to the creBut the administration man July officials @ BILLI NG@SPOKESMinnesota Spokesman-Recorder 10, 2025 have obstructed Notice is given that an application for informal appointment of personal represenation of presented multiple new drugs stop with Germany. one of the Trump administra- shouldn’t tative has beenM filed with the Registrar.DER No will.COM has been for probate. The A N-R ECOR every tion’s most important reform Nearly application has beenmajor granted. trading each year. Germany is Europe’s larginitiatives. And the president’s partner engages in similarly unNotice is hereby given that informal appointment of Michael Ryan Hild, whose adest economy. And with more fair pricing practices that harm patience just ran out. DISPLAY dress is 4034EMPLOYMENT 40th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55406 as personal representative of than 83 million people, it’s patients and workers. The White House has re- American SIZE 2 COLdecedent, X 2 INCH the estate of the above-named has been made. Any heir, devisee or other one of the world’s largest, and Japan, for instance, sets peatedly asked allied couninterested person may be entitled PCI to appointment as personal representative or may RATE: $44.60 thus most pharmapricesof for new representative tries to roll back their price artificially object to the low appointment the personal andinfluential, the personal represenTOTAL: $178.40 tative is empowered fully administer including, after 30 days from the ceutical markets. So targeting and tothen repeat-the estate controls on prescription drugs. medicines date of issuance of letters, the power to sell, encumber, lease or distribute real estate, cuts those prices every it for the first Section 301 inIf those nations started pay- edly unless objections thereto are filed with the Court (pursuant to Section 524.3-607) and vestigation makes sense. or two. ing market prices for medi- year the Court otherwise orders. The email Trumpconfirmation administration cines invented and manufacPlease proof, respond with to ad has already proven thatarehavtured in the United States, it Notice is further given that ALL CREDITORS having claims against said estate spokesman-recorder.com “The Trump required to present the same to said personaling representative or to thethis Probate Court and using leverage would relieve the pressure on Administrator within four months after the date of this notice or said claims will be works. The United Kingdom American patients, employThe MSR handles billing digitally. administration barred. recently agreed to double its ers and taxpayers, who are This means you will get e-tears and e-mailed invoice has already spending innovative currently forced to fund a unless you specifically request on a hard copy. drugs as a share of GDP after the disproportionate share of the Dated: June 24, 2025 Lindy Scanlon proven that Registrar administration threatened to research and development having and using initiate a Section 301 investhat benefits the entire world. ProSe Sara Gonsalves this leverage tigation. And it would boost America’s District Court Administrator But for the sake of Ameripower. biotech companies and spur works.” Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder 10, 17, 2025 can July workers and patients, In 1964, civil rights activist more job-creating research this must be merely the first, Mary Hamilton stood in an Al- investments. abama courtroom and refused Canada lacks critical regu- not the last, Section 301 inBut German leaders have to answer a judge who insist- refused to cooperate. In fact, latory data protections, em- vestigation. America cannot ed on calling her “Mary” in- the German government just boldening Canadian firms to remain the world leader in stead of “Miss Hamilton.” Her doubled down on its long- copy U.S. pharmaceuticals. pharmaceutical innovation if demand for respect became a standing price controls by Canada also sets drug prices it tolerates chronic free-riding Supreme Court case, because passing a law that increases far below their market value, by other wealthy countries. even her name was treated as the mandatory rebates bio- restricting companies’ ability Ambassador Jeffrey Gerrish a provocation. tech companies must offer to fund research and develIn the 1970s, Angela Davis German insurers. opment and bring lifesaving served as deputy U.S. trade representative for Asia, Europe, the was falsely implicated in a vioThat escalation left the medications to patients. lent courthouse takeover. She Trump administration with no For decades, Republican Middle East and Industrial Comspent more than a year in jail choice but to formally launch and Democratic administra- petitiveness from 2018 to 2020. a Section 301 investigation tions alike have complained This piece originally ran in into Germany’s pricing prac- about this foreign freeloadtices. It’s the first step in a ing, which deprives American Newsweek. For the original, visit process that could allow the companies of hundreds of bil- www.newsweek.com/to-forceWhite House to impose le- lions of dollars in annual sales. other-countries-to-the-negotiThat added revenue would ating-table-bring-out-the-biggally airtight tariffs and other trade penalties on Germany, disproportionately accrue to trade-guns-opinion-12353073
The war on Black women isn’t new, and isn’t over By Sharon M. Holder, Ph.D. History lingers. It sits beside us like an old witness, reminding us that what we call progress is often unfinished work. After a long conversation with one of my dearest friends, I found myself naming something I had long felt but never said plainly: There has always been a political war on Black women. Not metaphorical. Not abstract. A war: patterned, intentional and persistent. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, prohibited states from denying the right to vote based on sex and legally enfranchised millions of American women. But Black women were not welcomed into that promise. Instead, they continued to face poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation and Jim Crow laws that made voting a dangerous act. It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, nearly half a century later, that Black women gained full access to the ballot. This is why remembering the Nineteenth Amendment matters. Not as a celebration, but as a caution. It reminds women of color that rights can be granted on paper and denied in practice. It reminds us that enfranchisement is not the same as safety, and that voting is not only a civic act but a psychological one. As a behavioral-health researcher, I see this clearly: Fear, silence, stigma and trau-
ma shape political participation just as powerfully as laws do. When a system repeatedly harms you, you learn to expect harm. When your voice is punished, you learn to quiet it. When your dignity is challenged, you learn to protect it by withdrawing. These are not personal failings. They are patterned responses to patterned violence. Consider the women who dared to step into public life and were punished for it.
“When Black women rise, the backlash rises with them.” In 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first Black woman admitted to the D.C. bar. Brilliant and accomplished, she still faced barriers so severe that practicing law became nearly impossible. Her excellence was treated as a threat. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her seat on a Montgomery bus. Her arrest was not simply about transportation. It was about punishing a Black woman who asserted her dignity in public. In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer attempted to register to vote in Mississippi. For that act alone, she was arrested and brutally beaten. Her body became a battleground for a state determined to keep Black women out of political
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before being acquitted, becoming an international symbol of how the state targets Black women who challenge its authority. These women were not targeted randomly. They were targeted because of who they were: Black, female, brilliant and unwilling to bend. There is a rhythm to destruction. It begins quietly, with a whisper, a justification, a story told in the wrong direction. Then the cycle begins again. And here we are. Today, Black women in positions of power are facing coordinated attacks that echo the past. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali American in Congress, have all faced political assaults that go far beyond policy disagreements. In Omar’s case, opponents have even attempted to strip her of her citizenship after 26 years. The pattern is unmistakable. When Black women rise, the backlash rises with them. This is why voting matters, especially for Black women and women of color. Not out of memory alone, but out of survival. Voting is a refusal to be silenced. It is a counternarrative to stigma. It is a behavioral-health intervention in a nation that has repeatedly tried to make us afraid. The war on Black women is woven into the nation’s political DNA, but so is our resistance. The question now is whether the country will finally confront the pattern or continue repeating it.
The Black church writes AI’s next chapter By the Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey
come unclear or difficult to follow for someone early in For generations, the Black their walk of faith?” It shows church has stood strong in our me gaps in my preparation, communities through every like where I incorrectly ashistorical change this coun- sumed everyone would know try has experienced. During the context of who the Pharithe civil rights movement and sees were. Then any change in recent times, faith leaders comes from my own pen, not have helped uplift Black sanc- the robot. The tool helps me tuaries to register voters, keep reach the person in the back food pantries open for people pew while the message still in need and sit with families in comes from me. If I could have my wish, our hospital rooms in their most desperate moments. When our whole community would take people faced new trials, they a similar posture. We must could always look to our faith use these tools, understand leaders and the church to help them and, most important, be ensure we were included in present to help shape them if these transformative changes. we want to be included in the Artificial intelligence is the coming change. latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much “42% said like other transformations before us, underserved commuthey use or nities often get left behind. experiment with I was recently featured in a report titled “Faith, CommuAI in ministry.” nity & AI,” which found that people send ChatGPT more I implore my fellow faith than 70 million messages a week about religion. Nearly leaders to use these tools. 22 million involve studying Start now and use them with sacred texts, and 16 million wisdom. We count on each ask about religious practices and every one of you to make and holy days. Our members sure our communities help make up part of those num- write the next chapter of this bers. They bring questions of story. This rapid change is not faith to these tools every day. as unfamiliar as it may sound. Pastors have noticed. Ac- My first understanding of AI cording to a September 2025 came from using a calculaLifeway Research survey of tor for the first time in grade 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42% school. We did not call it AI, said they use or experiment but it was a tool that helped with AI in ministry. I count me work through mathematical equations hours more efmyself among them. I write my sermons by ficiently. It starts with training. There hand, through prayer and study. When I finish a draft, I is no involvement without unSharon M. Holder, Ph.D., is a ask ChatGPT this question: derstanding. Free AI trainings behavioral-health researcher. “Where might this sermon be- have begun in our churches
and community centers across the nation. Every faith leader should sign up and, when possible, encourage members of your congregations to join you. By learning how to use AI, we can better understand what it can do, make up our own minds about its impact and have a say in how it shapes our communities. Next, we must be at the tables where the builders of these tools make decisions. Presence is the first step toward understanding, and that gap is only bridged through a coordinated effort. How can any tool serve a community well if that community is not part of the conversation? Our traditions, needs and concerns must be accounted for, and Black faith leaders are already making that happen. OpenAI’s recent faith report states plainly that AI should never become an arbiter of religious truth. I fully intend to hold the company to its word, and the most effective way I can do that is from inside. I will close with this: We must diligently protect what only the church can give. A believer in Seoul quoted in the report warned, “If you pour every struggle into a private chat, your pastor and your friends may never learn you need help.” A chatbot will not sit with a grieving family or pray with you at 2 a.m. As we adopt this technology, it is up to us to ensure it keeps people connected to each other and to their church. The Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey is senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.
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PREP
Continued from page 10
Gee), my wife (Kimberly Svenkeson), friends, the community, and my faith,” he said. “I would not be here without their support.”
That was evident on Sunday, Oct. 4, when he held a celebration at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul. Working from a list he had made, he gave heartfelt thanks to every one of the roughly 50 people in attendance for helping him become the person he is today.
Sports In return, each guest spoke of their relationship with Svenkeson and his perseverance, development and growth as a Black man. Twenty years after graduating from high school, D’Angelos Svenkeson continues to make a difference. He closed the interview
October 29 - November 4, 2026
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by naming the main ingredient in his success. “The main thing is that I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do since childhood,” he said. “I’m doing something that I love.” Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses at mcdeezy05@gmail.com.
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JOE AND JOJO Continued from page 10
son through that whole recruiting journey. There’s a lot of things that you go through as a father and son when you begin sifting through the different schools and the different pluses and minuses and things like that.” “There’s no exact blueprint or guide to help you or to help guarantee the process Frederick Richard Threads goes seamlessly without any hiccups. So, it’s really trial a freshman in high school all he admitted. “I’m good on the the way to his senior year. You ball but being better off the and error.” Joseph’s second-oldest really want to try to put your ball helps the team. It just put son eventually settled on and child with a coach … who val- us in better positions to score ues family and really taking in transition.” signed with St. Thomas. Threads Joseph added that he’s Skye Blakely “A lot of hard work went care of your child in the next looking forward to watching into it but for St. Thomas, phase of their life.” JoJo said that he knows his son play college ball, to ketball down the street from business. “I like to make monwhat really separated them from the rest, I would have to he’s far from being a com- watch his growth without hav- your home,” observed Joseph. ey. I like to negotiate. I like to say would be Coach Johnny plete player at this stage of his ing to travel too far from home. JoJo said college life, es- talk,” he said. “It’s always been a dream pecially his classes, hasn’t Tauer,” reiterated Joseph. “The career, but he’s working on it: Joseph’s next-youngest deciding factor was Coach “Definitely my off-ball defense being born and raised from surprised him so far. “One son, Judah, is a junior at Tauer being able to see Jo- and my offensive rebounding Minnesota to see your kids of the easiest parts for sure,” Bloomington Kennedy, where Jo’s complete journey from and defensive rebounding,” be able to play Division I bas- he added. He plans to study he is progressing as well.
Haskins both won national titles in the same season. Continued from page 10 Haskins won the first of Minnesota’s two NIT titles in 1998. of his father, who later Smith was fired at Mincoached at UCLA (1984-88). nesota in 2013 after six seaTubby Smith “built a re- sons, the day after the team markable career spanning lost to Florida in the NCAA more than three decades Tournament. He first learned and seven Division I pro- his fate on ESPN’s Bottom grams.” He led five differ- Line the night before he ent programs, including was canned. He went on to Minnesota, to the NCAA coach at three more schools. Tournament and is on the “I know it’d be a chalvery short list of Black head lenge” coming to Dinkytown, coaches to win a national Smith pointed out, but he title, which he did when he bought then-Minnesota led Kentucky to the 1998 AD Joel Maturi’s sales pitch national championship in his to leave Kentucky. Maturi, first season at the school. by the way, didn’t fire the Ironically, Smith and for- HOF coach. “I think people mer Minnesota Coach Clem don’t realize that we won
VIEW
The Smith family. From left: Saul Smith, Donna Smith, Tubby Smith, G.G. Smith, Brian Smith. Photos courtesy of Charles Hallman/MSR
24 games my last year, beat UCLA and lost to Florida.” But we never heard a negative word from Smith in the aftermath of his disingenuous firing. “Being a Black coach … he’s always trying to be presentable, trying to make sure he was a great example, especially for people of color,” stressed Saul Smith, one of Tubby’s three sons. Smith also has a daughter. “For the younger generations to see that someone of color that can make it this far and achieve the achievement, being inducted to the Hall of Fame, it gives kids hope, just something to look forward to. He made it from a small town in Maryland, and now he’s a national champion, he’s a Hall of Famer.” Smith told me that he heard from several former Gophers who played for him such as Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins (no relation) in the days leading up to last week’s induction. Minnesota also placed a congratulatory ad in the induction ceremony program. Coach Smith told this longtime Gopher beat writer, “Do let the people back in Minneapolis, back in Min-
basketball history.” He led the University of Michigan to the 1989 national championship, one of the most improbable runs in college hoops history. The Flint native scored a tournament-record 184 points in six NCAA games, including 31 points in the overtime title game against Seton Hall, and won Most Outstanding Player. “We realized that we had all the tools to win the national championship. We just had to go out there and play much harder than we did in the regular season,” recalled Glen Rice Rice. He earlier said at the press conference, “I give a lot nesota, we loved it there. We of the credit to my coaches really appreciate you being and teammates” who put here covering this great hon- their trust in him that he inor, this celebration, and this deed could lead the Wolverinduction.” ines to cut down the nets Glen Rice “is one of the after the title game. greatest scorers in college The other three inductees
cable and satellite. A team official said the team owes it Continued from page 10 to the fans to still be able to follow the Pistons on television at no cost. shown on KARE 11: Golden An appropriate seasonState (Oct. 28) and LA Clip- long musical theme for pers (Oct. 30). Wolves broadcasts: the O’Jays’ Other than national tele- “For the Love of Money.” casts, Wolves games (65) this season are on the DAZN Finally … streaming service, with subLegendary Michigan scriptions starting at $20 a State Track and Field Coach month, and can’t be seen on Jim Bibbs passed away Oct. cable or satellite. 10 at age 97. He was the Comparatively, 71 Detroit first Black coach in MSU Pistons games will be on free history, starting as an asover-the-air television in the sistant in 1968, and was apMetro Detroit area and on pointed head coach in 1977,
becoming the school’s first Black head coach and the first Black head track coach in the Big Ten. He was the program’s longest-tenured coach (1968-95). Bibbs retired in 1995. He was elected to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015 and several other halls of fame. Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com.
Finally … Black gymnasts Skye Blakely and Frederick Richard put on a show last weekend at the 2026 Artistic World Championships in the Netherlands. Blakely (Frisco, Texas), the reigning world all-around champion, took gold in the women’s all-around, and Richard (Stoughton, Mass.) did the same in men’s floor exercise. Blakely also collected a silver in the women’s team event for the U.S. and bronzes in vault and uneven bars. Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com. Copyright © Charles Hallman
were Ted Owens, 97, who coached at Kansas for 19 years; Jay Wright, who won two NCAA titles as Villanova coach in 2016 and 2018; and Danny Ainge, who scored at least 2,500 points at BYU before there was a three-point line. The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is housed within the College Basketball Experience, an interactive fan destination where visitors can explore hands-on exhibits and learn about the college game’s history and traditions. Our first time there last week was a memorable one. More on our time in Kansas City in next week’s MSR. Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@ spokesman-recorder.com. Copyright © Charles Hallman
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“I think that JoJo and Judah are a reflection of some young men, some young fathers who sacrifice their time with a group of young boys to help them all pursue their dreams,” concluded Joseph.
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Former student-athlete making a difference He graduated in 2006 as the school’s all-time leading tackler, a four-year starter and a three-year all-conference player. He earned a bachelor’s degree in planning and community development from St. Cloud State, where he also played football, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Jackson State University, a historically Sports Columnist Black university in Mississippi. The leadership, teamwork ’Angelos Svenkeson and discipline he learned knew at a young age from playing football, from his that he wanted to beuncles Carl, Anthony, Leon, come an entrepreneur.
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JoJo Mitchell III finds a home at St. Thomas By Charles Hallman Sports Columnist first saw JoJo Mitchell III on the court as a high schooler at Cretin, where he stood out as the game’s best player that night. While in the lobby during the game, I ran into Joseph Mitchell Jr., whom I have known for quite a while. To my surprise, he told me that JoJo was his son. From then on, I kept track of the younger Mitchell. Although I primarily cover pro and college sports, I felt that JoJo would be an ideal fit for St. Thomas.
“I knew JoJo well. I’ve seen him play a lot.” Lo and behold, a couple of years later, the 6-2 Mitchell is a UST freshman this season. “I knew JoJo well. I’ve seen
him play a lot,” said Tommies Assistant Coach Cameron Rundles of Mitchell. Speaking with him after a practice, the first-year player pointed out that the speed of the game is obviously different from prep to college. “I feel like that was the biggest difference from high school to college,” said Mitchell. “In high school guys could shoot. Guys in college, they might not be able to shoot like that, but they can hit open shots. That’s been the biggest jump. “From the beginning of summer workouts, to now, I’ve definitely gotten a lot quicker, a lot stronger too,” he stressed. The elder Mitchell earlier told us, “It was a very important decision with JoJo deciding on where he wanted to continue his education and his basketball dreams and hopes, and it was tough. We grew up as a family and as a father and ■ See JOE AND JOJO on page 9 JoJo Mitchell III
Charles Hallman/MSR
Three Black greats join college basketball Hall of Fame ANOTHER
VIEW D’Angelos Svenkeson
NEOO Partners Inc
“The seeds were planted Darryl and Antonio Brown, early in my childhood,” he and from countless members said while being interviewed of the community have carat the Raum Mit restaurant in ried over into his work as an downtown St. Paul. “I always entrepreneur. He was named to the Minwanted to have my own busineapolis/St. Paul Business ness and contribute to the Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in community I grew up in.” 2005 and was recognized as That community, St. Paul’s an entrepreneur by the MetRondo neighborhood, is where he grew up and be- ropolitan Economic Develcame an outstanding student- opment Association. He was also named a Most Admired athlete at St. Paul Central. CEO for his leadership at Today, Svenkeson is CEO of NEOO Partners. NEOO Partners, a real estate Throughout the interview, development company he coSvenkeson emphasized that founded with Denetrick Powhis recent success is about ers in 2018. On Monday, Oct. 5, he more than him. “My mother (Rhonda Mcwas inducted into the St. Paul Central Athletic Hall of Fame. ■ See PREP on page 9
GOPHER WBB PREVIEW
Charles Hallman
Sports Columnist
First of two parts ansas City, Mo. – Three of the six members of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 are Black: Glen Rice, Tubby Smith and the late Walt Hazzard. The Hall of Fame was founded in 2006 by the National Association of Basket- Jalessa Hazzard (left) and Rasheed Hazzard Charles Hallman/MSR ball Coaches (NABC) Foundation. “The country needs ketball Experience CEO Kevin don’t discriminate here: Divito understand that there is Henderson told the MSR, the sion I, II, III, NAIA. If you fit no other Hall of Fame in the only Minnesota media outlet the bill and if you have the country for men’s collegiate in attendance at the Oct. 22 career, you will get that conbasketball,” The College Bas- induction celebration. “We sideration to go in if you’re
nominated.” At last Thursday’s press conference, MSR talked with Rice, Smith and Hazzard’s son in separate interviews. Walt Hazzard, who passed away in 2011, was “a foundational figure in UCLA’s early dynasty.” He led the Bruins to a 30-0 season and the program’s first national championship under legendary Coach John Wooden, and he won Final Four Most Outstanding Player and National Player of the Year honors in 1964, capping his three seasons in Westwood (1961-64). “He will be extremely proud because his time at UCLA is the greatest time of his life,” said Hazzard’s son, Rasheed. He and his mother, Walt’s widow Jalessa, accepted the HOF induction. “I like that he is going in as a player today, but he was a remarkable coach,” stressed Rasheed ■ See VIEW on page 9
Gophers face new questions after McKinney injury
step,” explained Horn. Horn and Braker are the only Black coaches on the innesota hosts HarGophers’ staff, and the rosvard on Nov. 2 in ter features six Black players. women’s basketball. They have a new point guard, The Gophers entered the junior transfer Leah Harmon. 2026-27 season with high “She’s a very shifty scoring hopes, ranked in two top-20 point guard,” observed Horn preseason polls (No. 17 AP, on the 5-6 Harmon from PaNo. 18, USA TODAY WBCA), terson, N.J., who played her mainly on the strength of freshman year at Miami and last season’s Sweet 16 finish. her second season at UCF. However, junior Tori McKin“A kid that you can probably ney’s season-ending injury, put the ball in her hands and suffered in a recent practice, go get a basket,” he pointed raises a question as the seaout. That description recalls son begins: Amaya Battle, a multiyear allCan this season’s Gophers conference combo guard who be a true Big Ten title congraduated last season and is tender and make another postnow playing overseas. season run to the Sweet 16 or Minnesota also has size in beyond, or will they be a team the post with 6-6 fifth-year whose high hopes slowly ditransfer Gracie Merkle from minish as the year wears on? Ariel Braker (left) and Aaron Horn. U-M Athletics Penn State. U-M Associate Head “I’m glad that we are able Coach Aaron Horn and Assis- the MSR about the season at native, was injured. to finally make it work, and I tant Coach/Recruiting Coor- the team’s practice court be“Now we got to take what think she is going to be a great dinator Ariel Braker talked to fore McKinney, a Minnetonka we learned and take a bigger
fit,” stressed Braker. “I’ve been think her ceiling is so high.” As for Minnesota’s conhunting down Gracie since she was a junior in high school. ference chances this season, I recruited her when I was at “The Big Ten was the best conOakland. I recruited her the ference in the history of womfirst time she was in the portal en’s basketball last year, and a (and) the second time she was lot of teams that added a lot in the portal (again), so (the) of players from different conferences that had some great third time’s the charm.” experience,” said Horn. The Gophers’ nonconfer“Now we got to ence home schedule features take what we four teams with Black head coaches, including Harvard. learned and take “I think representation is a bigger step.” important,” said Braker. “It is good for us to see all different “We have seven newcomers. styles of play.” We have some experience,” continued Horn, referring to Wolves stream while Pistons transfers Harmon, Merkle and stay free The issue of how fans can junior Tayla Thomas, along with freshmen Adit Kuol, Nat- see Minnesota Timberwolves alie Kussow, Tori Oehrlein and games on television continues to draw criticism. Two of the Kylee Paben. “Natalie is very versatile. 15 games scheduled for free Kylee is a great athlete. Tori is over-the-air television will be to be a treat. And then Adit, I ■ See SPORTFOLIO on page 9