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Minnesota United Sells Oluwaseyi, Shows Need For MLS Calendar Switch

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Minnesota United Sells Oluwaseyi, Shows Need For MLS Calendar Switch


In the end, Minnesota United Sporting Director Khaled El-Ahmad had no good options as Villareal pursued Loons star striker Tani Oluwayesi.

He could either separate his squad from its most productive attcking player just in time for the MLS stretch run and next month’s U.S. Open Cup final. Or he could risk alienating the 25-year-old Oluwaseyi by denying a preciously rare chance to move from MLS directly to a Big Five European league, not to mention leaving a club record transfer fee of reportedly $8.5-$9 million on the table.

In the end, El-Ahmad did what was definitely in Oluwaseyi’s best long-term interest, and probably the club’s as well, officially sending the Canadian international on to an enticing new opportunity in a move announced Friday.

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And in doing so, he also illustrated why so many clubs – even those who experience frigid winters like those in Minnesota – are coming around on a potential MLS calendar switch that feels like an eventuality more than a question.

Dollars Out Require Dollars In

With the close of the league’s incoming window earlier this month, MLS smashed its previous record for outlay on new players, with 30 clubs combining to spend roughly $336 million in deals during the league’s two 2025 windows.

But the long-term sustainability of such an approach depends on MLS also to increase its volume as a player exporter. And the only real way to continue that work is to be willing to sell when most clubs with money are doing most of their buying: the summer season that precedes the beginning of most European seasons.

Minnesota is far from the first MLS club to suffer from this misalignment. And in particular, teams with in-form strikers like Oluwaseyi have repeatedly found the terms of mid-season sales too good to refuse.

In 2022, the New England Revolution sold striker Adam Buksa to RC Lens in early June. Later that year, New York City FC loaned Valentin Castellanos to Girona for the start of their La Liga campaign.

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Last summer, the Philadelphia Union sold Julian Carranza to Feynoord just hours before the calendar turned to July. Not long after Real Salt Lake sold Andres Gomez to Stade Rennais.

All four of those clubs made genuine attempts to reload before the year ended. Only 2022 NYCFC won a playoff match. Neither 2022 New England nor 2024 Philadelphia reached the postseason.

Weathering The Storm

Minnesota’s sale comes even later, meaning the Loons can no longer make incoming transfers and can only add to their rosters via free agent signings. That said, the club were clearly planning on this eventuality when they added forwards Mamadou Diengo from Hartford Athletic and Kenyel Michel from LD Alajuelense.

They were also one of the few MLS teams with two productive center forwards, and Kelvin Yeboah will now perhaps get more chances to add to his haul of nine goals and two assists. But there’s bound to be a drag on the Loons’ performances for the rest of the season with Oluwaseyi’s departure.

Switching the schedule will come with challenges. Playing through the coldest part of the winter in Minnesota is not only inadvisable, it’s more or less impossible, as an infamous World Cup qualifier between the United States and Honduras in early February of 2022 proved.

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But the combination of a winter break, some additional scheduling imbalances to help the league’s coldest markets, and perhaps even the shifting of Leagues Cup on the annual schedule should make those challenges solvable.

In exchange, clubs like this year’s Loons or last year’s RSL wouldn’t have to face the prospect of sandbagging their season for a club-record payday nearly as often. Instead, they could do much of that business at the start of their own campaign, giving sporting directors, managers and even fans a lot more time to adjust to their side’s new reality.

If MLS is serious about becoming a league that rivals some of the world’s most famous, that change needs to come as soon as is reasonably possible.



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Minnesota

Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota

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Shorthanded Clippers can’t keep pace with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota


Anthony Edwards scored 31 points, Donte DiVincenzo added 18 and the surging Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Clippers 94-88 on Thursday night.

Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu each scored 12 points and Rudy Gobert had 13 rebounds to help the Timberwolves improve to 5-1 since Feb. 9 and 3-1 since the All-Star break.

Edwards, returning to the site of the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP, was 12 for 24 from the floor and sealed the victory with a step-back three-pointer over two defenders for a 92-88 lead with 42.9 seconds left.

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Minnesota improved to 2-0 on a three-game trip.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 14 for the Clippers, who struggled from the outset with a season-low 38 points in the first half. Kris Dunn had 11 points for the Clippers (27-31), who have lost three consecutive games for the first time since December.

The Clippers struggled on offense without star Kawhi Leonard, out because of ankle soreness. The Clippers shot 40.5% from the floor, including 18.2% (four for 22) in the second quarter. Minnesota shot 43.4% in the game.

The Timberwolves (37-23) scored just 15 points in the second quarter and still topped the Clippers, who had 11. Minnesota led 44-38 at halftime behind 12 points from DiVincenzo and 11 from Edwards.

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The Clippers led by six in the third quarter and were up 68-63 heading into the fourth. Edwards’ drive and reverse layup put the Timberwolves up for good at 76-74 with 7:40 remaining.

The Clippers pulled within one three times in the last 2½ minutes, but Edwards answered each time. He scored the Timberwolves’ last nine points.

Up next for Clippers: vs. New Orleans on Sunday night.

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Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters

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Church congregant filed lawsuit against alleged Minnesota church protesters


A St. Paul church member has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of individuals, including journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, unlawfully disrupted service last month as part of a coordinated political demonstration.

The complaint, filed by Ann Doucette in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, alleges that a Jan. 18 demonstration at Cities Church interfered with her ability to worship and caused her to suffer damages, including emotional distress and trauma.

In addition to the former CNN anchor and Armstrong, the complaint names journalist Georgia Fort and activists Will Kelly, Jerome Richardson, Trahern Crews and Jamael Lundy. It also names St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen.

Doucette and seven of the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doucette filed the complaint without the representation of an attorney. In an emailed statement to NBC News, Crews denied the lawsuit’s allegations “with empathy and compassion.”

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The lawsuit accuses the group of civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with religious exercise and trespassing.

“As a result of Defendants’ actions, the worship service was disrupted, congregants experienced fear and distress, and Plaintiff’s ability to freely exercise her religion in a private place of worship was unlawfully interfered with,” the lawsuit states.

All eight defendants are also facing federal charges for conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and for interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom. Lemon has pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying outside the court, “I wanted to say this isn’t just about me, this is about all journalists, especially in the United States.”

Fort, Crews and Lundy were released on bond and entered not guilty pleas, according to The Associated Press.

Don Lemon reporting from an anti-ICE demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.@TheDonLemonShow via YouTube

This is the latest legal action tied to protests in the Twin Cities, where tensions remain over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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According to the lawsuit, the demonstrators engaged in “coordinated conduct” by organizing meetings ahead of the “Operation Pullup” protest and promoting it on social media.

The lawsuit alleges that on the morning of Jan. 18, a coordinated group of individuals entered Cities Church, halting the worship service, and chanting “‘ICE Out!’ and ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!’” while obstructing aisles. Protesters could allegedly be seen “confronting the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner,” the lawsuit says, noting that their chanting and “aggressive gestures” caused “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” and caused children “terror.”

Demonstrators gathered at the church because they said its pastor, David Easterwood, was the acting director of an ICE field office in the city, the lawsuit says.

Lemon was arrested in January in California and accused of violating federal civil rights law after covering the protest on Jan. 18. He was released on a personal recognizance bond before a federal grand jury in Minnesota returned the indictment against Lemon and eight co-defendants, all of whom are also named in Doucette’s lawsuit.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, Cities Church protest arraignment, St. Paul, Minn., February 2026
Nekima Levy Armstrong in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 13.Carlos Gonzalez / Star Tribune via Getty Images

In the lawsuit, Doucette alleges that Lemon specifically livestreamed the protest, “noting congregants’ fear and distress, and appeared to take satisfaction in the disruption.”

Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and activist, was also arrested for her participation in the St. Paul protest. Her arrest drew national attention after the White House shared on social media doctored photos where she appeared to be crying.

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Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator

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Man arrested, charged with threatening to kill a state senator



A Hubbard County man was arrested and charged after threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator on Facebook. 

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Court documents filed on Wednesday state the Minnesota State Patrol were investigating a threat posted by John Tobias saying that he would “kill every one of you treasonous [expletive] immediately” if he did not get money back that he claims he lost during the 2020 COVID shutdown. 

Court documents go on to say that Tobias then called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asking for something to be done about “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19. 

The Minnesota State Patrol contacted Hubbard County deputies regarding Tobias. Court documents state Hubbard County investigators were already familiar with Tobais after speaking with him regarding similar threats he made in Jan. 

The charging documents state that investigators searched Tobias’ residence on Tuesday and found an arsenal of guns and 45 boxes of ammunition. 

Tobias was taken into custody. During an interview with law enforcement, Tobias admitted to making the threat on Facebook. He also told investigators that “he did not have any intention of killing anyone, but admitted he was trying to get people’s attention,” according to court records. 

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In late 2025, Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol, who oversees Capitol security, told a panel of lawmakers that threats to lawmakers had doubled between 2024 and 2025. 

Tobias made his first court appearance Wednesday morning and is expected back in court early next month.  



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