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Dreamer entrepreneur behind new Mexican flavored markets in Minneapolis

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Dreamer entrepreneur behind new Mexican flavored markets in Minneapolis


Daniel Hernandez, the owner of Colonial Market and Restaurant in south Minneapolis, points up to a sea of brightly colored pinatas in the store.

“The most traditional pinata is the one that is the star,” he said. He’s giving a tour of the store’s various offerings. The star pinatas are the top sellers and are made in the U.S., including in Minnesota, by Mexican employees.

He also gushed about the various meats in the butcher shop that are popular and showed off the space where his workers produce tortillas, which he said are served in half of all Mexican restaurants in Minnesota.

Hernandez has another section that’s special: vegetables.

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“I’m very proud that we bring number one tomatoes,” he said, referring to Grade A produce. “They’re really, really beautiful … Cilantro, I love the smell of cilantro.”

The outside view of Colonial Market & Restaurant on Sept. 12 in Minneapolis.

Sophia Marschall | MPR News

A boy who dreamed of success

Hernandez, who grew up just outside of Acapulco, Mexico, has always been excited about work and figuring out how to make money. 

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At 10, he would take people’s garbage to a dump three miles away for three pesos. He hired his older brother to help him carry the refuse.

“I will knock on the doors and say, Hey, can I take your garbage?” he said. “I was making money. I was always an entrepreneur. I always have my own little businesses, which I really enjoy and like.”

Like thousands of others in Minnesota, Hernandez said he came to the U.S. as teenager and has DACA status — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

As an adult, the hustle continued. Hernandez, now 40, has worked in restaurants, construction, landscaping, car washing, and dishwashing. 

“I did everything, anything I could in order to make it,” he said.

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By the time he was 24, Hernandez started up an event photography business. He later moved on to magazine publishing; he opened a tax and accounting business and later invested in a car dealership.

In mid-2019 his business partner told him about a smaller market, Marisa’s, that was up for sale.

“So I said, ‘All right, let’s do that.’”

Bringing fresh produce to a food desert

Produce is on display in a grocery store.

Pineapples and bagged garlic on display at the Colonial Market and Restaurant in south Nicollet Ave in south Minneapolis.

Regina Medina | MPR News

Hernandez hopes that the fresh vegetables he is so proud of will also be a hit with customers at the grand opening of the second Colonial Market.

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In February 2023, Aldi Supermarket closed its north Minneapolis store at Penn and Lowry Avenues, leaving nearby community members frustrated that another supermarket had shut its doors. 

Earlier this summer, Minneapolis city leaders announced Colonial Market and its Mexican restaurant will take over the site.

City council member LaTrisha Vetaw, who represents the neighborhood, said she remembered what questions came to mind when she learned Aldi would close.

“What’s next? How can we ensure that people don’t go deeper into a food desert?,” Vetaw said.

She said she met Hernandez more than a year ago and he told her about his vision for the space and Vetaw said she looks forward to walking or biking to the new supermarket.

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“I’m excited for the future of what Colonial is going to bring, not only the fresh fruits and vegetables but the jobs right here in this community,” she said.

The new Colonial Market will be located in a zip code where 34 percent of residents identify as African American; 34 percent identify as white and 14 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino.

And while the market will have a Mexican restaurant and sell ingredients used in Latin American dishes, it will also stock foods and ingredients for customers with different tastes.

Not only will Colonial Market bring fresh food back to this part of north Minneapolis, Hernandez said it will create 40 jobs paying between $18 to $20 per hour that come with healthcare benefits and paid time off. 

The north Minneapolis store is expected to open in December. Hernandez also plans to open a second store in the Hi-Lake Shopping Center in October. And he says there are another five locations in the Twin Cities metro region in the works.

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Colonial Market & Restaurant

The inside of Colonial Market and Restaurant on Sept. 18, in Minneapolis. Daniel Hernandez, the store owner, hopes to open the store in the next few months.

Sophia Marschall | MPR News



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Minnesota weather: Gorgeous Sunday with a warmer Monday ahead

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Minnesota weather: Gorgeous Sunday with a warmer Monday ahead


A sunny and warm Sunday is in store for the Twin Cities, with even higher temperatures expected on Monday before a chance of rain and cooler air returns later in the week.

Sunday forecast

Local perspective:

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Sunday is starting with some cloud cover before sunshine moves in with highs near 70 degrees around the metro and southern parts of the state. 

Winds will be much lighter than Saturday, coming from the south at 5 to 10 mph with only occasional gusts up to 15 mph. 

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The Brainerd Lakes area will see temperatures in the 60s, while the North Shore will be cooler, which is typical for this time of year. 

Sunday’s weather is expected to be dry and pleasant.

Overnight, temperatures will drop to the upper 30s and lower 40s, with some clouds moving in ahead of Monday. 

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Extended forecast 

What’s next:

Monday could be the warmest day of the week, with highs in the lower 70s for the Twin Cities and some spots in southern Minnesota possibly reaching close to 80 degrees.

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Winds will shift from southerly to southeasterly and then easterly as the day goes on, but should remain light. 

After the warm start to the week, a cold front will move through on Tuesday, bringing a chance for a few rain showers in the early morning. 

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Temperatures will likely drop to the upper 40s by Wednesday and Thursday, with another front possibly bringing showers late Friday into early Saturday.

The rest of the extended forecast calls for temperatures close to or just below average, with highs in the upper 40s to lower 50s.

The Source: This story uses information from the FOX 9 weather forecast.

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Man found dead in south Minneapolis house fire

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Man found dead in south Minneapolis house fire


Firefighters are investigating the Minneapolis’s second fire fatality of the year after a man died in a house fire Saturday afternoon. 

Fatal fire on 28th Avenue South

What we know:

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According to the Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD), fire crews arrived shortly after 1:00 p.m. and found smoke coming from the second floor of a single-family home on 28th Avenue South. Bystanders alerted firefighters that someone might be trapped inside.

Crews had to work through heavy debris to reach the upstairs area. It took about 40 minutes to fully put out the fire.

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During the primary search, firefighters found a man in his 60s dead on the second floor. No one else was found after searching all the floors.

Minneapolis Animal Care and Control took in a dog found outside the home.

Assistant Chief Wes Van Vickle said, “The department is grateful to the neighbors who alerted fire crews that someone may still have been inside, allowing them to act quickly.”

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Fire safety reminders and community response

What they’re saying:

“This afternoon’s tragic loss of life weighs heavily on all of us, and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” said Van Vickle.

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He also encourages the public to regularly check and maintain smoke detectors and fire extinguishers at home.

There were no other injuries reported. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner is working to confirm the man’s identity.

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What we don’t know:

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and the man’s name has not been released.

FireMinneapolis
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Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump

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Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump


ST. PAUL, Minn. — Organizers of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies across the country are predicting that the protests against the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration could add up to one of the largest demonstrations in U.S. history, with Minnesota taking center stage.

Organizers say more than 3,100 events have been registered in all 50 states, with more than 9 million people expected to participate.

And they’ve designated the rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul as the national flagship event, in recognition of how the state where federal agents fatally shot two people who were monitoring Trump’s immigration crackdown became an epicenter of resistance.

Headlining that observance will be Bruce Springsteen, performing “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote in response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter. Springsteen’s Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, which has a “No Kings” theme, kicks off Tuesday in Minneapolis.

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Minnesota organizers have told state officials they expect 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol grounds, where last June’s event drew an estimated 80,000 people.

The St. Paul rally will also feature singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda,Sen. Bernie Sanders and a long list of other activists, labor leaders and elected officials.

The White House dismissed the nationwide protests as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.

“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Rallies are also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events, said in an interview. Countries with constitutional monarchies call the protests “No Tyrants,” he said.

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For those unable to attend in person, another activist group, Stand Up For Science, is hosting a “virtual and accessible” event online.

National organizers told reporters in an online news conference Thursday that they expect Saturday’s protests to be larger than the first two rounds of No Kings rallies, which they estimate drew more than 5 million people in June and more than 7 million in October.

“This administration’s actions are angering not just Democratic voters or folks in big blue city centers – they are crossing a line for people in red and rural areas, in the suburbs, all over the country,” said Leah Greenberg, the other co-executive director of Indivisible. “The defining story of this Saturday’s mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting,”

Two-thirds of the RSVPs have come from outside of major urban centers, Greenberg said, listing registration surges in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in competitive suburban areas of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

“Millions of us are rising up from all walks of life, from rural communities to big cities at No Kings,” said Katie Bethell, executive director of MoveOn, another major organizer. “And as we do so, we will send the loudest, clearest message yet that this country does not belong to kings, dictators, tyrants. It belongs to us.”

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Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



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