Minnesota
Minnesota Strikes Show Growing Militancy Among Food Workers
It wasn’t such a merry Christmas for grocery store management in central Minnesota. Five hundred grocery workers in the Brainerd Lakes area walked out on an unfair labor practice strike, deserting five stores between December 22 and 25.
Management tried to keep the stores running, but workers said they turned into disaster zones. Why did two Cub Foods stores, two Super Ones, and a SuperValu find themselves on Santa’s naughty list last year? United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663 charges management with interrogation, surveillance, intimidation, and bargaining in bad faith.
Those misdeeds included infiltrating a WhatsApp group chat for workers and stationing “loss prevention” employees — who normally focus on catching shoplifters — near the store exits to intimidate workers out of participating in walkouts leading up to the strike.
The union’s top bargaining demand is a raise. Wages have been stagnant a long time and lag behind what grocery workers are making a few hours south in the Twin Cities. Part-time wages are especially uncompetitive; turnover is high.
The strike made waves in Brainerd Lakes, a metro area of thirty thousand. It “really united workers at our store,” said Doug Olson, who has worked at Baxter Cub Foods for seventeen years. “Men and women, part-time, full-time, people of all different political beliefs. It’s really heartening to see the unity we’ve had.”
Olson works on the clean team, sometimes called the courtesy or maintenance team. They wipe up spills, clean the bathrooms, take out the garbage, bag groceries, and shovel snow — and get paid on a lower scale than other grocery workers. The union is fighting to eliminate the separate pay scale and bring clean-team workers up to par.
Management hasn’t budged since the Christmas strike, refusing to put more money on the table even after its attorney admitted it can afford the union’s proposal. But the workers may be equally stubborn. On January 18, they voted to reject management’s latest proposal by 84 percent, laying the groundwork for another potential strike.
“I believe this contract could make or break this store,” said Olson, who would like to retire from Cub one day. “Things are just going to get worse and worse otherwise. We really need to win this one.”
It’s the first time in recent memory that there are buttons, walkouts, and raised expectations in Brainerd. Vigorous contract fights are the exception, rather than the rule, in the UFCW. That’s one of the chief complaints of the burgeoning UFCW reform movement anchored by Washington State’s Local 3000, the union’s largest local with fifty thousand members.
Four hundred Local 3000 members at Macy’s went on a three-day strike over Thanksgiving, and they were out on strike again as this story went to press. In 2022 the local spearheaded an ambitious coordinated bargaining effort with seven other UFCW locals representing one hundred thousand Kroger workers in Western states.
Local 663, which represents seventeen thousand members across Minnesota, did not support the proposals put forward by the reform group Essential Workers for Democracy at the UFCW international convention last April, which were backed by Local 3000 and a handful of other reform-minded locals.
But the union underwent a major shift at the beginning of 2023 when its former organizing director Rena Wong became president. She was voted in by the executive board to complete the term of the previous president, who had stepped down.
Before Wong, the union had conservative leaders for decades. “The union leadership failed us,” said Olson. “They were more interested in labor peace and getting along with the owners than in helping us secure better wages and benefits. They would settle for whatever management offered them. They just rolled over, over and over again.” That labor peace has now been decisively broken. Last spring, thirty thousand Cub Foods workers in the Twin Cities launched a contract campaign, voting to strike thirty-three stores.
When they threatened to strike all the stores over Easter — one of the biggest grocery-shopping holidays — management caved. The workers won raises of $2.50–$3.50 an hour and got rid of the lower pay scale for the clean team.
This success built an appetite among stewards and members to bring the same kind of organizing and militancy to the local’s other contract fights, according to Paul Kirk-Davidoff, a steward at Seward Community Coop in Minneapolis. “A base for continued change in the union came from the contract campaign at Cub,” he said. “It convinced a lot of people.”
Workers at Lunds & Byerlys stores, and then at Kowalski’s, mounted strike threats over the summer, winning raises of up to $4 over two years. In October, workers at Seward Community Coop won even higher raises of at least $6.50 over three years, as well as the right for cashiers to sit in chairs.
The new leadership has encouraged a new spirit of activism, taking a more open approach and bringing more rank-and-file workers onto the negotiating team — whereas the role of workers in the union used to be more like “window dressing,” Olson said. The energy has spread to Local 663’s fights for first contracts — workers struck last summer at four Half Price Books stores, jointly organized with Local 1189 — and to its members in meatpacking, the UFCW’s other traditional core sector.
Workers at the Hormel Foods plant in Austin‚ Minnesota — the site of the bitterly fought 1985 strike that pitted then Local P-9 against the international union itself — won a contract in October with record raises of $3–$6, as part of national negotiations across five plants. Workers at the Austin plant had voted to reject a “final offer” from the company, and hundreds marched through town in a Labor Day show of force.
The resistance at Hormel has been a bright spot for the UFCW in meatpacking, a sector where union density has fallen precipitously, once-reigning master contracts have been all but dismantled, and the workforce, largely immigrants and workers of color, is notoriously exploited.
Case in point: coming up next is Local 663’s contract fight with the chicken processor Tony Downs Foods, in Madelia, southwest Minnesota. The employer was fined $300,000 last year for employing children as young as thirteen to operate meat grinders, forklifts, and ovens.
Pittsburgh voted best Fourth of July celebration in America
In 2026, Pittsburgh gets the bragging rights for the nation’s Best Fourth of July Celebration, as determined by voters in USA Today 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards.
Voting in Minnesota’s 2026 primary elections began Friday morning, 46 days before the official Aug. 11 Primary Election Day.
Minnesotans confront a hugely important midterm election in the fall, when all constitutional offices, an open U.S. Senate seat, a highly competitive congressional district and the Legislature will be on the ballot. Control of both state government and Congress are at stake.
Before then, however, the parties will choose their nominees in a bevy of competitive races that will shape the fall election.
We don’t have party registration in Minnesota, which means anyone can vote in the primary.
Following the sweep of a progressive slate in several New York primaries this week, political analysts will be closely watching voters’ preferences, which will set the stage for the second half of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Here’s what you need to know.
Which races are on the ballot in Minnesota?
Every Minnesota citizen will have the opportunity to vote for statewide offices including governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor and U.S. Senator.
For this primary election, you can only vote for candidates from one political party. Your ballot will have Democrats on one column, and Republicans on the other. Choose one! If you vote for candidates from more than one political party, your votes will not count. You decide when you vote which one of the parties you will vote for.
The governor’s race is wide open for the first time since 2018, when Gov. Tim Walz won his first term. Walz initially announced he would run for a third term before ending his campaign in early January following Republican attacks on his record on stopping fraud in Minnesota’s social safety net programs.
The Senate seat is open following Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement announcement last year. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for governor, still occupies the other Senate seat. (If Klobuchar were to win the governor’s race and resign her Senate seat, she would appoint a successor to hold the position until a special election.)
The entire state Legislature is up for reelection in 2026, but not every race has a competitive primary.
Voters may see other local races on their ballots, including county commissioners, county attorneys and school board members.
You can use this tool from the Secretary of State’s Office to preview your ballot.
How do I vote in Minnesota?
Friday, June 26, is the first day of absentee voting. You can request an absentee ballot be mailed to you, which you can return in-person or through the mail.
Alternatively, you can vote “in person absentee” by going to your local early voting location, where you can request your absentee ballot, receive it, fill it out and submit it on the spot.
Starting July 24, you can vote in-person at the early voting locations in a process similar to that of voting on Election Day.
Who’s running in Minnesota?
There are several competitive primaries in statewide races that will determine the matchups in the general election later this year.
For governor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar is expected to win the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination after winning the party’s endorsement on the first ballot, over a challenge from Kobey Lane, a 26-year old trans activist and former Republican legislative assistant.
The Republican primary is competitive; after Army veteran and former health care executive Kendall Qualls won the party’s endorsement in May, the other front-runners refused to drop out of the race, citing voting irregularities at the convention. House Speaker Lisa Demuth and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell round out the three-way race.
In the race to replace Smith in the Senate, two Democratic powerhouses are facing off: U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Flanagan won the endorsement after Craig dropped out of the endorsement process; Craig is gunning for votes outside of the party’s activist base.
On the Republican side, GOP-endorsed former Navy Seal Adam Schwarze will face off against former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, whose name recognition and well-financed campaign could boost her performance in a primary.
With Craig’s highly competitive south metro seat in the U.S. House coming open, three top-tier Democrats are vying to replace her: former state Sen. Matt Little, state Rep. Kaela Berg and state Sen. Matt Klein. State Sen. Eric Pratt is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
A dangerous social media trend is circulating online, and Minnesota health experts are warning parents it involves allergy medication.
Doctors say the so-called Benadryl challenge involves teens taking large amounts of the medication and record themselves as the effects kick in.
“Our goal here at Children’s Minnesota is if a trend causes any sort of physical harm or mental harm to make sure that we’re taking care of our patients,” said Dr. Nita Gupta, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the trend first gained attention in 2020 when there were 184 reported cases tied to intentional misuse of the allergy medication. Cases continued to rise the years but dipped in 2024 and then more than doubled in 2025, reaching nearly 400 cases. Most of the cases involved teens ages 15 to 19.
Dr. Gupta believes the main draw is the hallucinogen aspect of it, but says there are so many other negative consequences that can happen.
Health experts say the allergy medication can become dangerous when taken in large doses. Symptoms can escalate quickly and may include agitation, blurred vision, seizures and in severe cases, death.
“The second the parent knows that their child consumed this is a reason to come in or at least call poison control, don’t even wait for the symptoms to start,” Dr. Gupta said.
Experts say the resurgence of this dangerous challenge shows how quickly trends can return, and they urge parents to talk to their children about what they are seeing online.
Dr. Gupta believes early conversations at home may help prevent serious injury.
The Minnesota Regional Poison Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for anyone with questions. The organization’s phone number is 1-800-222-1222.
Trading LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves will make the Charlotte Hornets worse in 2026-27. There is no denying that.
Ball was the lone driver of Charlotte’s top-five offense, speeding the Hornets’ fast-paced attack up and down and all around the floor to create open looks for himself and his talented teammates. LaMelo’s Gastonia shooting range, unorthodox handles, eagle-eyed passing, and his ability to heat up in a moment’s notice just simply cannot be aggregated in the interim.
With Ball on the floor, Charlotte’s offensive rating jumped by 11.6 points per 100 possessions, good for the 99th percentile among guards in the NBA. Kon Knueppel’s three-point percentage increased by 10.3 points when he shared the floor with Ball, and Brandon Miller shot 20.5% better at the rim (an area where he struggles) with LaMelo helping create looks for him.
Everyone who plays alongside LaMelo Ball gets better — the proof is in any publicly available number you can find.
Charlotte’s historically efficient offense cratered when LaMelo hit the bench, and trading him now, no matter what they got in return, will immediately set back the Hornets’ push to become the premier NBA franchise they aspire to be.
But what if I told you this move does make some sense in the Hornet’s long-term team build? And that Charlotte is justified to sell-high on their All-NBA caliber point guard? I’m not sure I believe it, so I’m going to try and convince myself as I attempt to convince you.
Justifying Charlotte’s Decision to Trade LaMelo Ball
I can understand some trepidation about building the whole plane out of LaMelo Ball. He only played a total of 105 games in the three seasons prior to 2025-26, and until that becomes the exception, not the norm, it will always be dangerous to have him as the centerpiece of a franchise.
LaMelo Ball played 72 games in 2025-26, the second-highest number of his young NBA career. The Hornets were cautious about over-taxing their star creator, only playing him 28 minutes per game, a career-low, and crafting a roster that was built to ease LaMelo’s burden.
Last summer, Charlotte targeted Tre Mann (which looks bad in hindsight), Collin Sexton, and Spencer Dinwidde to provide supplementary ball handling and lower the league-high 37.1% usage rate Ball racked up in 2024-25. Championships are won on the margins, and if you have to allocate extra resources to your point guard room as a parachute for a player like LaMelo, there’s a chance you’re missing out on some impact on the fringes of your roster.
Also, the skill sets of Ball, Knueppel, and Miller are quite redundant. They are all perimeter-focused offensive options who struggle to score in the paint. Charlotte could believe that it was necessary to move one of them in an attempt to diversify their offensive attack, and due to Kon and Brandon’s contract situation and LaMelo’s long-term health outlook (which the Hornets would know better than anybody, by the way), they decided that the time to sell-high on Ball was now.
How high would the ceiling of a fully-formed, maxed-out contractually Ball, Knueppel, and Miller trio even be? A second round exit assuming everything goes right? By trading Ball now, adding a talented front court piece in Naz Reid, creating the largest trade exception in league history, and setting yourself up to be a real player in trade talks about any disgruntled superstar, Jeff Peterson just created a number of avenues to rebuild this team around its burgeoning stars.
Could the package have been more robust? Sure. But there’s no guarantee another team with more assets to spare than Minnesota would have even registered more than nominal interst in LaMelo Ball. The market is the market. Peterson said last summer that he’ll push the chips in when the time is right, and if nothing else, he just added a few more to his stash.
There is also a chance that the Timberwolves look radically different when these swaps and picks are ready to convey. Minnesota’s asset reserves are bone dry, starting center Rudy Gobert is on the back-nine of his NBA career, and the Western Conference has a couple of well-positioned juggernauts that the Wolves will have to navigate every year that they employ Anthony Edwards and Ball.
And what if Edwards becomes disillusioned with his standing in Minnesota and forces his way out before his five-year, $244M contract expires in 2028-29? Or what if he leaves that summer in free agency? The Hornets will have the opportunity to pick up the pieces and feast off of the wreckage in Minnesota in that nightmare scenario for the Timberwolves.
There has to be more bubbling underneath the surface for Charlotte to be willing to take the massive PR hit of trading LaMelo Ball just weeks after the franchise played some of the best basketball in the league for an extended period. There is an argument to be made that this deal says more about Charlotte’s lack of belief in the ceiling of a LaMelo-led team than anything else.
And there is merit to that.
Ball has played in four Play-In Tournament games and struggled mighitly in three of them. When the game slows down and becomes increasingly more physical, Ball has failed to hold up. The Hornets must be projecting that Ball’s postseason struggles will continue in Minnesota, capping the long-term ceiling of the Timberwolves.
This is a bet against a couple of things: LaMelo Ball’s long-term health, the viability of a back court duo of Ball and Edwards, and Minnestoa’s asset-poor state. I’m not sure if it’s a bet I would have been willing to make, but it is the one Jeff Peterson and the Hornets decided to.
And whether you like it or not, the dice have been thrown.
There is now more pressure than ever on the shoulders of Jeff Peterson. He somehow pulled off the rare feat of making his team worse in the short term while sending the expectations of his fanbase through the roof. There has to be more moves coming from Charlotte. There has to.
Which is why I’m calling on you to holster your torches and pitchforks for now. In a vacuum, this deal is a tough one to swallow. LaMelo Ball brought unquantifiable joy to the city of Charlotte and spearheaded a run that awoke the long dormant basketball-crazed city. Not only did his impact on winning supersede the narratives around him, his impact on the franchise’s bottom line did as well. The city loved LaMelo, and it is a shame that he was sent packing just as things were starting to percolate for the first time in his Hornets career.
However, if it is a part of a larger plan that reshapes the Hornets’ roster into a group that can compete at a high level in the NBA playoffs, then I will tip my cap to Peterson and his team. Winning does cure all at the end of the day, right?
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